Defining urban and rural areas: a new approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arellano, Blanca; Roca, Josep

2017-10-01

The separation between the countryside and the city, from rural and urban areas, has been one of the central themes of the literature on urban and territorial studies. The seminal work of Kingsley Davis [10] in the 1950s introduced a wide and fruitful debate which, however, has not yet concluded in a rigorous definition that allows for comparative studies at the national and subnational levels of a scientific nature. In particular, the United Nations (UN) definition of urban and rural population is overly linked to political and administrative factors that make it difficult to use data adequately to understand the human settlement structure of different countries. The present paper seeks to define a more rigorous methodology for the identification of rural and urban areas. For this purpose it uses the night lights supplied by the SNPP satellite, and more specifically by the VIIRS sensor for the determination of the urbanization gradient, and by means of the same construct a more realistic indicator than the statistics provided by the UN. The arrival of electrification to nearly every corner of the planet is certainly the first and most meaningful indicator of artificialization of land. In this sense, this paper proposes a new methodology designed to identify highly impacted (urbanized) landscapes worldwide based on the analysis of satellite imagery of night-time lights. The application of this methodology on a global scale identifies the land highly impacted by light, the urbanization process, and allows an index to be drawn up of Land Impacted by Light per capita (LILpc) as an indicator of the level of urbanization. The methodology used in this paper can be summarized in the following steps: a) a logistic regression between US Urban Areas (UA), as a dependent variable, and night-time light intensity, as an explanatory variable, allows us to establish a nightlight intensity level for the determination of Areas Highly Impacted by Light (AHIL); b) the delimitation of

[Fertility in rural and urban areas of Mexico].

PubMed

Garcia Y Garma, I O

1989-01-01

Data from 6 fertility surveys conducted in Mexico between 1969-87 were used to compare rural and urban fertility and to determine whether a significant level of contraceptive usage could be achieved in rural areas despite their lack of socioeconomic development. Age-specific marital fertility rates were calculated for the 4 national-level and 2 rural fertility surveys. The index of fertility control developed by Coale and Trussel was calculated for rural, urban, and all areas. The marital total fertility rate in rural areas declined from 10.6 in 1970 to 7.4 in 1982, a decline of 2.5% annually. From 1982-87 the annual rate of decline in rural fertility slowed to 1.6%, reaching 6.8 children in 1987. The urban marital total fertility rate declined from 7.72 in 1976 to 5.03 in 1987, while the marital total fertility rate for Mexico as a whole declined from 9.04 in 1976 to 5.85 in 1987. The indices of fertility control showed slowly increasing use of contraception in rural areas starting from the very low level of 1969. The urban index of fertility control showed some contraceptive use for all age groups in all surveys. The increases in contraceptive usage were considerable in rural areas from 1976-82 and much less marked in urban areas. From 1982-87 the inverse was observed and the fertility decline in urban areas was more marked. The condition of natural fertility found in rural areas in 1969 subsequently disappeared. Over time, fertility decline and use of contraception have intensified. Contraception is widely practiced in urban areas and is continuing to become more prevalent. The rural fertility decline in 1976-82 suggests that at least sometimes increases in fertility control are more important in rural areas than in urban areas. The theory of modernization, which holds that fertility decline in developed countries is attributable to factors associated with the process of modernization, thus comes into question. However, it is probable that a sustained fertility

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.

Homeowner interactions with residential trees in urban areas

Treesearch

Jana Dilley; Kathleen L. Wolf

2013-01-01

Urban forests are a critical element in sustainable urban areas because of the many environmental, economic, and social benefits that city trees provide. In order to increase canopy cover in urban areas, residential homeowners, who collectively own the majority of the land in most cities, need to engage in planting and retaining trees on their properties. This...

Urban planning and agriculture. Methodology for assessing rooftop greenhouse potential of non-residential areas using airborne sensors.

PubMed

Nadal, Ana; Alamús, Ramón; Pipia, Luca; Ruiz, Antonio; Corbera, Jordi; Cuerva, Eva; Rieradevall, Joan; Josa, Alejandro

2017-12-01

The integration of rooftop greenhouses (RTGs) in urban buildings is a practice that is becoming increasingly important in the world for their contribution to food security and sustainable development. However, the supply of tools and procedures to facilitate their implementation at the city scale is limited and laborious. This work aims to develop a specific and automated methodology for identifying the feasibility of implementation of rooftop greenhouses in non-residential urban areas, using airborne sensors. The use of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and Long Wave Infrared (LWIR) data and the Leica ALS50-II and TASI-600 sensors allow for the identification of some building roof parameters (area, slope, materials, and solar radiation) to determine the potential for constructing a RTG. This development represents an improvement in time and accuracy with respect to previous methodology, where all the relevant information must be acquired manually. The methodology has been applied and validated in a case study corresponding to a non-residential urban area in the industrial municipality of Rubí, Barcelona (Spain). Based on this practical application, an area of 36,312m 2 out of a total area of 1,243,540m 2 of roofs with ideal characteristics for the construction of RTGs was identified. This area can produce approximately 600tons of tomatoes per year, which represents the average yearly consumption for about 50% of Rubí total population. The use of this methodology also facilitates the decision making process in urban agriculture, allowing a quick identification of optimal surfaces for the future implementation of urban agriculture in housing. It also opens new avenues for the use of airborne technology in environmental topics in cities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

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,...

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…

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.

The role of urban forest to reduce rain acid in urban industrial areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slamet, B.; Agustiarni, Y.; Hidayati; Basyuni, M.

2018-03-01

Urban forest has many functions mainly on improving the quality of the urban environment. One of the functions is to increase pH and reduce dangerous chemical content. The aim of the research is to find out the role of vegetation density of urban forest around the industrial area in reducing the acid rain. The condition of land cover was classified into four classes which are dense, medium, sparse and open area. The water of the throughfall and stemflow was taken from each type of land cover except in the open area. Parameters measured in this study are water acidity (pH), anion content (SO4 2- and NO3 -), cation content (Ca2+, Mg2+, and NH4 +) and electrical conductivity (EC). The results indicated that urban forest vegetation was able to increase the pH of rain water from 5.42 which is in an open area without vegetation to be 7.13 and 7.32 in dense and moderate vegetation cover by throughfall mechanism, respectively. Rain water acidity also decreased through stemflow mechanism with a pH ranged from 5.92 - 6.43. Urban forest vegetation decreased sulfate content (SO42-) from 528.67 mg/l in open area to 44 - 118 mg/l by throughfall mechanism and ranged from 90 to 366.67 mg/l through stemflow mechanism. Urban forest vegetation significantly decreased the rainwater nitrate content from 27 mg/l to 0.03 - 0.70 mg/l through the mechanism of throughfall and between 1.53 - 8.82 mg/l through the stemflow mechanism. Urban forest vegetation also increased the concentration of cations (NH4+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+) compared with open areas. Urban forest vegetation showed increased the electrical conductivity (EC) from 208.12 μmhos/cm to 344.67 - 902.17 μmhos/cm through the through fall mechanism and 937.67 - 1058.70 μmhos/cm through the stemflow mechanism. The study suggested that urban forests play a significant role in reducing rainwater acidity and improving the quality of rainwater that reached the soil surface.

Recreation in urban-proximate natural areas

Treesearch

P.L. Winter; D.J. Chavez

1999-01-01

Recreation in urban proximate wildland and wilderness areas and resulting management concerns and challenges have proven a fertile ground for social science research. As the demand for recreation opportunities adjacent to large urban centers has increased, so has the variety of recreational interests, patterns, and preferences, a reflection of the diverse...

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

Assessing the earthquake hazards in urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hays, W.W.; Gori, P.L.; Kockelman, W.J.

1988-01-01

Major urban areas in widely scattered geographic locations across the United States are a t varying degrees of risk from earthquakes. the locations of these urban areas include Charleston, South Carolina; Memphis Tennessee; St.Louis, Missouri; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle-Tacoma, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and Anchorage, Alaska; even Boston, Massachusetts, and Buffalo New York, have a history of large earthquakes. Cooperative research during the past decade has focused on assessing the nature and degree of the risk or seismic hazard i nthe broad geographic regions around each urban area. The strategy since the 1970's has been to bring together local, State, and Federal resources to solve the problem of assessing seismic risk. Successfl sooperative programs have been launched in the San Francisco Bay and Los Angeles regions in California and the Wasatch Front region in Utah. 

Urban Groundwater Mapping - Bucharest City Area Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaitanaru, Dragos; Radu Gogu, Constantin; Bica, Ioan; Anghel, Leonard; Amine Boukhemacha, Mohamed; Ionita, Angela

2013-04-01

Urban Groundwater Mapping (UGM) is a generic term for a collection of procedures and techniques used to create targeted cartographic representation of the groundwater related aspects in urban areas. The urban environment alters the physical and chemical characteristics of the underneath aquifers. The scale of the pressure is controlled by the urban development in time and space. To have a clear image on the spatial and temporal distribution of different groundwater- urban structures interaction we need a set of thematic maps is needed. In the present study it is described the methodological approach used to obtain a reliable cartographic product for Bucharest City area. The first step in the current study was to identify the groundwater related problems and aspects (changes in the groundwater table, infiltration and seepage from and to the city sewer network, contamination spread to all three aquifers systems located in quaternary sedimentary formations, dewatering impact for large underground structures, management and political drawbacks). The second step was data collection and validation. In urban areas there is a big spectrum of data providers related to groundwater. Due to the fact that data is produced and distributed by different types of organizations (national agencies, private companies, municipal water regulator, etc) the validation and cross check process is mandatory. The data is stored and managed by a geospatial database. The design of the database follows an object-orientated paradigm and is easily extensible. The third step consists of a set of procedures based on a multi criteria assessment that creates the specific setup for the thematic maps. The assessment is based on the following criteria: (1) scale effect area - how the groundwater is interacting with urban structures >, (2) time , (3) vertical distribution and (4) type of the groundwater related problem. The final

[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)

The Wildland-Urban Interface in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Treesearch

Susan I. Stewart; Volker C. Radeloff; Roger Hammer

2003-01-01

Wildland urban interface (WUI) issues are significant for urban foresters. An analysis of 12 metropolitan areas shows that The WUI is concentrated in these metro areas relative to the rest of their respective states.

Patterns and determinants of malaria risk in urban and peri-urban areas of Blantyre, Malawi.

PubMed

Mathanga, Don P; Tembo, Atupele Kapito; Mzilahowa, Themba; Bauleni, Andy; Mtimaukenena, Kondwani; Taylor, Terrie E; Valim, Clarissa; Walker, Edward D; Wilson, Mark L

2016-12-08

Although malaria disease in urban and peri-urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa is a growing concern, the epidemiologic patterns and drivers of transmission in these settings remain poorly understood. Factors associated with variation in malaria risk in urban and peri-urban areas were evaluated in this study. A health facility-based, age and location-matched, case-control study of children 6-59 months of age was conducted in four urban and two peri-urban health facilities (HF) of Blantyre city, Malawi. Children with fever who sought care from the same HF were tested for malaria parasites by microscopy and PCR. Those testing positive or negative on both were defined as malaria cases or controls, respectively. A total of 187 cases and 286 controls were studied. In univariate analyses, higher level of education, possession of TV, and electricity in the house were negatively associated with malaria illness; these associations were similar in urban and peri-urban zones. Having travelled in the month before testing was strongly associated with clinical malaria, but only for participants living in the urban zones (OR = 5.1; 95% CI = 1.62, 15.8). Use of long-lasting insecticide nets (LLINs) the previous night was not associated with protection from malaria disease in any setting. In multivariate analyses, electricity in the house, travel within the previous month, and a higher level of education were all associated with decreased odds of malaria disease. Only a limited number of Anopheles mosquitoes were found by aspiration inside the households in the peri-urban areas, and none was collected from the urban households. Travel was the main factor influencing the incidence of malaria illness among residents of urban Blantyre compared with peri-urban areas. Identification and understanding of key mobile demographic groups, their behaviours, and the pattern of parasite dispersal is critical to the design of more targeted interventions for the urban setting.

Carbon dioxide fluxes dynamics comparison in Moscow urban forest and adjacent urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yaroslavtsev, Alexis; Meshalkina, Joulia; Mazirov, Ilya; Vasenev, Ivan

2017-04-01

In the beginning of the 2014 in northern district of Moscow was installed eddy covariance tower on the edge of Timiryazevskiy urban forest and Timiryazevskiy district of Moscow. Tower 34m high was constructed inside the territory of LOD (Lesnaya Opytnaya Dacha) experimental station in the south-eastern part of the forest. Main tree species of urban forest and neighboring urban areas are Acer Plantanoides, Tilia cordata, Betula pendula, Quercus robur, Pinus sylvestris. Forest itself is mixed with some small plots dominated only by deciduous or coniferous species, whether trees in urban areas was mainly deciduous. Mean canopy height is about 30m. in both forest and urban areas. The soil cover of the studied sections is represented by sod-podzolic soils with different degree of development of the humus horizon. All soils have well-developed profile of sod-podzolic soil with low power litter (only in forest area) and developed humus-accumulative horizon with high humus content (3,24%) Carbon dioxide daily fluxes from investigated area was calculated for six months of 2014 (from April till October) utilizing eddy covariance method. Most (90%) of fluxes footprints was no longer than 500m for all wind directions during the time of monitoring. Forest in 500m radius around tower is a zone of active recreation with several roads and wide path network. On the other hand closest to tower urban area characterized by a low-rise buildings (in most cases no more than 5 floors) which are mainly administration ones and have wide green areas around them very few roads and low traffic. As a result difference in calculated fluxes was not so dramatic, as it was expected. Diurnal carbon dioxide fluxes dynamics was pretty the same for all months except August, due to long period without precipitation and higher soil moisture under the forest canopy. Estimated daily fluxes values was higher in forest areas for the whole period of investigation, except August, and ranged from -2 to 8 g C CO

Universal scaling of the distribution of land in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riascos, A. P.

2017-09-01

In this work, we explore the spatial structure of built zones and green areas in diverse western cities by analyzing the probability distribution of areas and a coefficient that characterize their respective shapes. From the analysis of diverse datasets describing land lots in urban areas, we found that the distribution of built-up areas and natural zones in cities obey inverse power laws with a similar scaling for the cities explored. On the other hand, by studying the distribution of shapes of lots in urban regions, we are able to detect global differences in the spatial structure of the distribution of land. Our findings introduce information about spatial patterns that emerge in the structure of urban settlements; this knowledge is useful for the understanding of urban growth, to improve existing models of cities, in the context of sustainability, in studies about human mobility in urban areas, among other applications.

Are streams in agricultural and urban areas contaminated by pesticides?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kimbrough, R.A.

1995-01-01

To answer this question, a study of pesticides in streams in a small agricultural area and a small urban area in Colorado was conducted in 1993 by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as part of the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program. The results indicate that pesticides are present in streams, and both agricultural and urban areas are probable sources of the contamination. In the agricultural area, 30 pesticides were detected and in the urban area, 26 pesticides were detected at least once during the thirteen month study. In the agricultural area, the herbicides alachlor (two samples) and cyanazine (four samples) and the insecticide diazinon (one sample) were the only pesticides that exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) or health advisory levels (HALs) for drinking water. No pesticides exceeded MCLs or HALs in the urban area.

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.

Green Urbanism for the Greener Future of Metropolitan Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaręba, Anna; Krzemińska, Alicja; Widawski, Krzysztof

2016-10-01

Intensive urbanization is swallowing municipal green areas which causes intensification of erosion, decrease in biodiversity and permanent fragmentation of habitats. In the face of these changes, a risk of irreversible damages to urban ecosystems is growing. That is why planning of solutions within the framework of Green Urbanism in metropolitan areas inhabited by over 55% of the global population is of extraordinary importance. The task of the paper is to present patterns of the Green Urbanism using selected examples of metropolitan areas as case studies. The main goal of the research is to make comparison between GU practices in different countries, in various spatial settings. The principles of triple zero framework: zero fossil-fuel energy use, zero waste, zero emissions (from low-to-no-carbon emissions) introduce not only the contemporary trends in theoretical urban planning but are dictated by practical considerations to create a healthy environment for a healthy society with a minimized environmental footprint. The research results help to identify Green Urbanism techniques used for multiple functions, including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic and other uses and present opportunities for implementation of Green Urbanism solutions in metropolitan areas. To achieve healthier society and environment, highly congested and polluted cities have to be recreated through working with the existing landscape, topography and natural resources particular to the site.

Retrieval of AOD and PM2.5 Concentrations over Urban Areas of Shenyang City using MODIS Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Z.

2016-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols play an important part in the Earth's radiation balance as well as global climate change, aerosols also have very important impact on environment as well as human and other organisms' health, PM2.5 and other small particle aerosols, can enter bronchi directly, thus causing bronchitis, cardiovascular disease, asthma and so on.Detection of AOD by satellite and remote sensing is currently one of the hotest issues , diffierent from the traditional monitoring method, this method has much more advantanges, for emample wide area coverage, fast and convenient etc. So it is possible for people to know the regional changes of AOD real time over large area. Now, detection aerosol by RS technology has reached a high level in marine and dense vegetation land areas, but result is not ideal for urban areas, the higher surface reflectance in urban areas is a bottleneck of AOD retrieval. Focus on the high surface reflectance and low accuracy of the AOD products of urban areas, this paper propose an algorithm coupled with surface reflectance to get red band surface reflectance, based on Dens Dark Vegetation algorithm and geometrical optics model theory, to distinguish urban reflectivity from other targets. Considering the appropriate aerosol model which adapt to season and other proper parameters, this paper uses 6S model to establish look-up table, thus retrieve AOD for urban as well as other high reflectance areas. This paper take Shenyang region as pilot area, then retrieve the AOD and PM2.5 concentration of Shenyang in 2015 based on MODIS data, thus get 1km resolution distribution map, and then analyzed the results in spatial, intensity and temporal. At last, real-time monitoring data from the ground monitor station is used to verify the outcome, the results have good accuracy and the the correlation reached 0.9004 when the weather is sunny. The research shows that this algorithm has relatively higher precision and certain universality. This method has

Rainfall-induced landslide vulnerability Assessment in urban area reflecting Urban structure and building characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, C.; Cho, M.; Lee, D.

2017-12-01

Landslide vulnerability assessment methodology of urban area is proposed with urban structure and building charateristics which can consider total damage cost of climate impacts. We used probabilistic analysis method for modeling rainfall-induced shallow landslide susceptibility by slope stability analysis and Monte Carlo simulations. And We combined debris flows with considering spatial movements under topographical condition and built environmental condition. Urban vulnerability of landslide is assessed by two categories: physical demages and urban structure aspect. Physical vulnerability is related to buildings, road, other ubran infra. Urban structure vulnerability is considered a function of the socio-economic factors, trigger factor of secondary damage, and preparedness level of the local government. An index-based model is developed to evaluate the life and indirect damage under landslide as well as the resilience ability against disasters. The analysis was performed in a geographic information system (GIS) environment because GIS can deal efficiently with a large volume of spatial data. The results of the landslide susceptibility assessment were compared with the landslide inventory, and the proposed approach demonstrated good predictive performance. The general trend found in this study indicates that the higher population density areas under a weaker fiscal condition that are located at the downstream of mountainous areas are more vulnerable than the areas in opposite conditions.

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.

76 FR 53029 - Urban Area Criteria for the 2010 Census

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-24

... methodology is designed to identify unpopulated wetlands and floodplains adjacent to water that separate areas.... Inclusion of Noncontiguous Bodies of water and Bodies of Water. Territory Separated by wetlands as Exempted... urban area and the urban area and water. water. [[Page 53031

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT IN URBAN AREAS

EPA Science Inventory

Uncaptured stormwater runoff from urban and urbanizing areas has negative impacts on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Alters hydrologic regimes through conversion of precipitation to runoff, lowers extent of infiltration. Aggravates nonpoint source pollution issues.

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.

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

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.

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

Report card on low level ozone in urban areas

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

Onischak, M.

1994-12-31

It has been four years since the Clean Air Act was amended in November of 1990. Much work has been done in this time, and the country is beginning to see real air quality benefits. Although these changes have not completely licked the urban ozone problem yet, they have made a lot of progress. All of the urban areas which have been required to reduce their ozone levels have done a good job of lowering their emissions. While the urban areas have not all been able to meet every federal deadline, the areas have all been able to achieve themore » control milestones before the mandatory Clean Air Act sanctions have taken effect. Some areas are even ready to declare their ozone problems solved.« less

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

Geodiversity assessment in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilic, Marina; Stojković, Sanja; Rundić, Ljupko; Ćalić, Jelena; Sandić, Dejan

2017-04-01

Conflict over natural resources figured prominently in the urban areas. On the one hand there is a constant need for space for the construction of new buildings for housing, agriculture and industrial production, and on the other hand the resources need protection because of the threat of degradation or even complete destruction. Considering the fact that urbanization is one of the most serious threats to geodiversity, it is important that this issue is taken into account in spatial development plans and georesource management strategies in urban areas. The geodiversity, as well as natural resource, must be managed in a sustainable manner in which it is very important its protection. The mapping of specific categories of geodiversity (geological, geomorphological, hydrological and soil) on the basis of quantitative assessment with the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can allow spatial planners and managers to take further steps that would reduce threats and protect the natural values. This work presents the application of geodiversity evaluation method by using the geodiversity index (Gd), based on the quantity of abiotic elements and relief roughness within a spatial unit in the case of the City of Belgrade, Serbia. The acquired results are analyzed in the context of sustainable use of georesources and the threats to which geodiversity is exposed due to the development of the city.

Adjustment of Turbulent Boundary-Layer Flow to Idealized Urban Surfaces: A Large-Eddy Simulation Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Wai-Chi; Porté-Agel, Fernando

2015-05-01

Large-eddy simulations (LES) are performed to simulate the atmospheric boundary-layer (ABL) flow through idealized urban canopies represented by uniform arrays of cubes in order to better understand atmospheric flow over rural-to-urban surface transitions. The LES framework is first validated with wind-tunnel experimental data. Good agreement between the simulation results and the experimental data are found for the vertical and spanwise profiles of the mean velocities and velocity standard deviations at different streamwise locations. Next, the model is used to simulate ABL flows over surface transitions from a flat homogeneous terrain to aligned and staggered arrays of cubes with height . For both configurations, five different frontal area densities , equal to 0.028, 0.063, 0.111, 0.174 and 0.250, are considered. Within the arrays, the flow is found to adjust quickly and shows similar structure to the wake of the cubes after the second row of cubes. An internal boundary layer is identified above the cube arrays and found to have a similar depth in all different cases. At a downstream location where the flow immediately above the cube array is already adjusted to the surface, the spatially-averaged velocity is found to have a logarithmic profile in the vertical. The values of the displacement height are found to be quite insensitive to the canopy layout (aligned vs. staggered) and increase roughly from to as increases from 0.028 to 0.25. Relatively larger values of the aerodynamic roughness length are obtained for the staggered arrays, compared with the aligned cases, and a maximum value of is found at for both configurations. By explicitly calculating the drag exerted by the cubes on the flow and the drag coefficients of the cubes using our LES results, and comparing the results with existing theoretical expressions, we show that the larger values of for the staggered arrays are related to the relatively larger drag coefficients of the cubes for that

Air quality and urban form in U.S. urban areas: evidence from regulatory monitors.

PubMed

Clark, Lara P; Millet, Dylan B; Marshall, Julian D

2011-08-15

The layout of an urban area can impact air pollution via changes in emissions and their spatial distribution. Here, we explore relationships between air quality and urban form based on cross-sectional observations for 111 U.S. urban areas. We employ stepwise linear regression to quantify how long-term population-weighted outdoor concentrations of ozone, fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)), and other criteria pollutants measured by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency depend on urban form, climate, transportation, city size, income, and region. Aspects of urban form evaluated here include city shape, road density, jobs-housing imbalance, population density, and population centrality. We find that population density is associated with higher population-weighted PM(2.5) concentrations (p < 0.01); population centrality is associated with lower population-weighted ozone and PM(2.5) concentrations (p < 0.01); and transit supply is associated with lower population-weighted PM(2.5) concentrations (p < 0.1). Among pollutants, interquartile range changes in urban form variables are associated with 4%-12% changes in population-weighted concentrations-amounts comparable, for example, to changes in climatic factors. Our empirical findings are consistent with prior modeling research and suggest that urban form could potentially play a modest but important role in achieving (or not achieving) long-term air quality goals.

The limits to cumulative causation: international migration from Mexican urban areas.

PubMed

Fussell, Elizabeth; Massey, Douglas S

2004-02-01

We present theoretical arguments and empirical research to suggest that the principal mechanisms of cumulative causation do not function in large urban settings. Using data from the Mexican Migration Project, we found evidence of cumulative causation in small cities, rural towns and villages, but not in large urban areas. With event-history models, we found little positive effect of community-level social capital and a strong deterrent effect of urban labor markets on the likelihood of first and later U.S. trips for residents of urban areas in Mexico, suggesting that the social process of migration from urban areas is distinct from that in the more widely studied rural migrant-sending communities of Mexico.

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.

The Concentration of Severely Disturbed CMI in a Core Urban Area.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shern, David; Dilts, Stephen L.

1987-01-01

Conducted two needs assessment studies of chronically mentally ill (CMI). Examined differential concentration of CMI persons in areas of Colorado, finding a disproportionate concentration on CMI persons in core urban area of Denver. Comparison of core urban clients to national sample revealed that Denver's core urban CMI population was severely…

Perceptions of an ideal career versus perceptions of six health careers.

PubMed

Palumbo, Mary Val; Rambur, Betty; McIntosh, Barbara; Naud, Shelly

2008-01-01

This study was intended to compare and contrast young adults' perceptions of an ideal career versus their perceptions of six health professions: medical laboratory science, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, radiation technology, and respiratory therapy. The study used a survey developed by May et al., which was modified and tested for application to the allied health workforce. The instrument measures 17 parallel items on a five-point Likert scale and has been assessed for reliability (coefficient a, 0.81-0.84) and content validity by a panel of experts. Analysis included descriptive statistics and paired t tests, with Bonferroni adjusted a significance set at p < 0.0028. The study used a convenience sample of 720 young adults aged 18 to 24 yrs who were recruited between January and September 2005 at job fairs and community events in one urban area and two adjacent rural communities in a northeastern U.S. state. All six health professions were perceived as significantly less desirable (p < 0.001) than the ideal career in the areas of "being respected" and "working with high technology." "Care for people" was the third highest ranked attribute of an ideal career, and pharmacy and radiation technology were found to be statistically significantly lower in this area (p < 0.001). Only nurses were perceived as having job security that matched the ideal, with the other professions perceived as offering significantly less job security than the ideal (p < 0.001). Health care is increasingly dependent on highly collaborative multidisciplinary teams. Inaccurate perceptions of allied health occupations likely hamper the development of an adequate pipeline of new recruits to these professions, which has the potential to impact all health disciplines. This points to the importance of increased media/marketing portrayal of the positive aspects of careers in the allied health professions. Strategies to address this challenge and areas for further research are outlined.

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.

Identifying forest lands in urban areas in the Central Hardwood Region

Treesearch

Thomas W. Birch; Rachel Riemann Hershey; Philip Kern

1997-01-01

Forests in urban areas are an important component of urban and suburban environments. They provide places for recreation and environmental education, wildlife habitat for species adapted to living near humans, contribute to general human physical and psychological health. Knowing how much and what type of forest exists in urban areas provides critical baseline data for...

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.

[Blood donation in urban areas].

PubMed

Charpentier, F

2013-05-01

Medical and technical developments increase the difficulty to provide sufficient safe blood for all patients in developed countries and their sociodemographic and societal changes. Sufficient national blood supply remains a reached, however still actual, challenge. Tomorrow is prepared today: the management of blood donation programs both in line with these developments and with social marketing strategies is one of the keys to success. If the main components of this organization are well known (mobile blood drives in various appropriate environments, and permanent blood donation centers) their proportions in the whole process must evolve and their contents require adaptations, especially for whole blood donation in urban areas. We have to focus on the people's way of life changes related to increasing urbanization of the society and prominent position taken by very large cities. This requires targeting several goals: to draw the attention of the potential blood-giving candidate, to get into position to collect him when he will decide it, to give meaning and recognition to his "sacrifice" (give time rather than donate blood) and to give him desire and opportunity to come back and donate one more time. In this strategy, permanent blood centers in urban areas have significant potential for whole blood collection, highlighted by the decrease of apheresis technology requirements. This potential requires profound changes in their location, conception and organization. The concept of Maison Du Don (MDD) reflects these changes. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier SAS.

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

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...

Lessons Worth Remembering: Combat In Urban Areas

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-10

areas, realize that indigenous groups are best at resolving local problems, accept operating decentralized, and value the importance of supreme firepower...that foments within urban areas, realize that indigenous groups are best at resolving local problems, accept operating decentralized, and value the...permeated stability throughout Ramadi. Second, 1BCT transitioned areas of responsibility to a competent and capable indigenous force to maintain the

Assessing the Impact of Urbanization on Direct Runoff Using Improved Composite CN Method in a Large Urban Area.

PubMed

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Shi, Tuo; Zong, Min; Walter, M Todd

2018-04-17

Urbanization is one of the most widespread anthropogenic activities, which brings a range of physical and biochemical changes to hydrological system and processes. Increasing direct runoff caused by land use change has become a major challenge for urban ecological security. Reliable prediction of the quantity and rate of surface runoff is an inherently difficult and time-consuming task for large ungauged urban areas. In this study, we combined Geographic Information System and remote sensing technology with an improved Soil Conservation Service curve number model to evaluate the effects of land use change on direct runoff volume of the four-ring area in Shenyang, China, and analyzed trends of direct runoff at different scales. Through analyzing trends of direct runoff from 1984 to 2015 at different scales, we explored how urbanization and other potential factors affect direct runoff changes. Total direct runoff volume increased over time, and trends varied from the inner urban area to suburban area. Zones 1 and 2 had a tendency toward decreasing direct runoff volume and risks, while Zones 3 and 4 showed gradual increases at both regional and pixel scales. The most important influence on direct runoff change was urban surface change caused by urbanization. This study presents a framework for identifying hotspots of runoff increase, which can provide important guidance to urban managers in future green infrastructure planning, in the hopes of improving the security of urban water ecological patterns.

Assessing the Impact of Urbanization on Direct Runoff Using Improved Composite CN Method in a Large Urban Area

PubMed Central

Li, Chunlin; Liu, Miao; Hu, Yuanman; Shi, Tuo; Zong, Min; Walter, M. Todd

2018-01-01

Urbanization is one of the most widespread anthropogenic activities, which brings a range of physical and biochemical changes to hydrological system and processes. Increasing direct runoff caused by land use change has become a major challenge for urban ecological security. Reliable prediction of the quantity and rate of surface runoff is an inherently difficult and time-consuming task for large ungauged urban areas. In this study, we combined Geographic Information System and remote sensing technology with an improved Soil Conservation Service curve number model to evaluate the effects of land use change on direct runoff volume of the four-ring area in Shenyang, China, and analyzed trends of direct runoff at different scales. Through analyzing trends of direct runoff from 1984 to 2015 at different scales, we explored how urbanization and other potential factors affect direct runoff changes. Total direct runoff volume increased over time, and trends varied from the inner urban area to suburban area. Zones 1 and 2 had a tendency toward decreasing direct runoff volume and risks, while Zones 3 and 4 showed gradual increases at both regional and pixel scales. The most important influence on direct runoff change was urban surface change caused by urbanization. This study presents a framework for identifying hotspots of runoff increase, which can provide important guidance to urban managers in future green infrastructure planning, in the hopes of improving the security of urban water ecological patterns. PMID:29673182

Exploring interspace: open space opportunities in dense urban areas

Treesearch

Paul H. Gobster; Kathleen E. Dickhut

1995-01-01

Using ideas from landscape ecology, this paper explores how small open spaces can aid urban forestry efforts in dense urban areas. A case study in Chicago illustrates the physical and social lessons learned in dealing with these spaces.

Assessing Grant Allocation Methods for Federal Homeland Security Urban Area Assistance Funding

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

ALLOCATION METHODS FOR FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY URBAN AREA ASSISTANCE FUNDING by Craig Mohar December 2015 Thesis Co-Advisors: Kathleen...REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE ASSESSING GRANT ALLOCATION METHODS FOR FEDERAL HOMELAND SECURITY URBAN AREA...the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is critical for building and sustaining preparedness in urban areas. According to the 9/11 Commission Report

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.

Large-Eddy Simulation of Chemically Reactive Pollutant Transport from a Point Source in Urban Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Tangzheng; Liu, Chun-Ho

2013-04-01

Most air pollutants are chemically reactive so using inert scalar as the tracer in pollutant dispersion modelling would often overlook their impact on urban inhabitants. In this study, large-eddy simulation (LES) is used to examine the plume dispersion of chemically reactive pollutants in a hypothetical atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in neutral stratification. The irreversible chemistry mechanism of ozone (O3) titration is integrated into the LES model. Nitric oxide (NO) is emitted from an elevated point source in a rectangular spatial domain doped with O3. The LES results are compared well with the wind tunnel results available in literature. Afterwards, the LES model is applied to idealized two-dimensional (2D) street canyons of unity aspect ratio to study the behaviours of chemically reactive plume over idealized urban roughness. The relation among various time scales of reaction/turbulence and dimensionless number are analysed.

Comparison of positive allergy skin tests among asthmatic children from rural and urban areas living within small geographic area.

PubMed

Bibi, Haim; Shoseyov, David; Feigenbaum, David; Nir, Pnina; Shiachi, Rosa; Scharff, Shimon; Peled, Ronit

2002-04-01

Evidence of increased asthma and allergic response among urban versus rural residents has been reported. To evaluate the prevalence of allergic response among asthmatic children from urban and rural areas living within close proximity. In all, 448 asthmatic children from urban (363) and rural (85) areas were studied. The study group consisted of 234 9-year-olds and 214 12-year-olds. A health questionnaire was completed on each child who subsequently underwent allergic skin prick tests (SPTs). There was significantly more positive SPT response to house-dust mite, mold, cat, and cypress among asthmatic children from urban areas compared with children living in rural areas: 58.3% versus 37.6%, 46.1% versus 31.8%, 17.45 versus 5.9%, and 26.2% versus 15.3%, respectively. Positive SPT for indoor allergens were significantly greater among asthmatic urban residents than asthmatic rural residents: 63.3% versus 45.5%, respectively (P < 0.02). Positive SPT response to all the allergens checked was higher among the 12-year-old age group when compared with the 9-year-olds, 34.6% versus 22.7%, respectively (P = 0.05). Allergic response measured by SPT is significantly more common among asthmatic children from urban areas as opposed to rural, even though both areas are within small distance of one another. Further, asthmatic children living in urban areas demonstrated more allergic response to both indoor and outdoor allergens. The allergic response tends to increase with increased age in both urban and rural asthmatic children.

Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas.

PubMed

Fotso, Jean-Christophe

2006-07-11

To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are used. The selection criteria were set to ensure that the number of countries, their geographical spread across Western/Central and Eastern/Southern Africa, and their socioeconomic diversities, constitute a good yardstick for the region and allow us to draw some generalizations. A household wealth index is constructed in each country and area (urban, rural), and the odds ratio between its uppermost and lowermost category, derived from multilevel logistic models, is used as a measure of socioeconomic inequalities. Control variables include mother's and father's education, community socioeconomic status (SES) designed to represent the broad socio-economic ecology of the neighborhoods in which families live, and relevant mother- and child-level covariates. Across countries in SSA, though socioeconomic inequalities in stunting do exist in both urban and rural areas, they are significantly larger in urban areas. Intra-urban differences in child malnutrition are larger than overall urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition, and there seem to be no visible relationships between within-urban inequities in child health on the one hand, and urban population growth, urban malnutrition, or overall rural-urban differentials in malnutrition, on the other. Finally, maternal and father's education, community SES and other measurable covariates at the mother and child levels only explain a slight part of the within-urban differences in child malnutrition. The urban advantage in health masks enormous disparities between the poor and the non-poor in urban areas of SSA. Specific

PM levels in urban area of Bejaia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benaissa, Fatima; Maesano, Cara Nichole; Alkama, Rezak; Annesi-Maesano, Isabella

2017-04-01

Air pollution is not routinely measured in Bejaia City, Algeria, an urban area of around 200,000 inhabitants. We present first time measurements of particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations for this city (PM10, PM7, PM4, PM2.5 and PM1) over the course of one week, from July 8 to July 14, 2015. This study covered eight urban sampling sites and 169 measurements were obtained to determine mass concentration levels. Air pollution is not routinely measured in Bejaia City, Algeria, an urban area of around 200,000 inhabitants. We present first time measurements of particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations for this city (PM10, PM7, PM4, PM2.5 and PM1) over the course of one week, from July 8 to July 14, 2015. This study covered eight urban sampling sites and 169 measurements were obtained to determine mass concentration levels. The average city-wide PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations measured during this sampling were 87.8 ± 33.9 and 28.7 ± 10.6 µg/m3 respectively. These results show that particulate matter levels are high and exceed Algerian ambient air quality standards (maximum 80 µg/m3, without specifying the particle size). Further, PM10 and PM2.5 averages were well above the prescribed 24-hour average World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (WHO AQG) (50 µg/m3 for PM10 and 25 µg/m3 for PM2.5). The PM1, PM2,5, PM4 and PM7 fractions accounted for 15%, 32 %, 56% and 78% respectively of the PM10 measurements. Our analysis reveals that PM concentration variations in the study region were influenced primarily by traffic. In fact, lower PM10 concentrations (21.7 and 33.1 µg/m3) were recorded in residential sites while higher values (53.1, and 45.2 µg/m3) were registered in city centers. Keywords: Particulate matter, Urban area, vehicle fleet, Bejaia.

Estimating leaf area and leaf biomass of open-grown deciduous urban trees

Treesearch

David J. Nowak

1996-01-01

Logarithmic regression equations were developed to predict leaf area and leaf biomass for open-grown deciduous urban trees based on stem diameter and crown parameters. Equations based on crown parameters produced more reliable estimates. The equations can be used to help quantify forest structure and functions, particularly in urbanizing and urban/suburban areas.

Juvenile paracoccidioidomycosis in urban area: report of two cases.

PubMed

Carneiro, Rodrigo da Costa; Miranda, Bianca Grassi de; Camilo Neto, Carlos; Tsukumo, Marina K; Fonseca, Cibele Lc; Mendonça, João Silva de

2010-01-01

We present two cases of juvenile form of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM), a systemic mycosis frequently found in rural areas, whose prognosis is poor in children and young adults. They are a 14-year-old boy and a 25-year-old woman, both residents in an urban area in São Paulo - Brazil, without any history of travelling to an endemic area. They have been admitted to the hospital due to fever, weight loss and lymphadenopathy. The diagnosis was confirmed by serologic and histopathologic study. Patients have recovered after therapy with oral itraconazole and were discharged from hospital, maintaining outpatient visits. In this article, the authors discuss the unusual presentation of PCM in an urban area.

The Urban Ecology Institute's field studies program: utilizing urban areas for experiential learning and ecological research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starry, O.

2005-05-01

The Urban Ecology Institute (UEI) promotes the stewardship of healthy urban ecosystems by improving science and civic education for middle and high school youth and by working with urban communities to protect and transform natural resources. Established in 1999, UEI's field studies program engages over 1000 youth in the greater Boston area. A substantial component of this program involves water quality monitoring. We have recently adapted protocols from published leaf breakdown studies for incorporation into the UEI water quality curriculum. A 2004 pilot study of these leaf breakdown activities, conducted at four sites, compared rates of red maple breakdown to those of Norway maple, a potentially invasive urban street tree. Preliminary data from this successful pilot study suggest that leaf litter inputs from the two different tree species have varying effects on stream ecosystem function. We present this study as an example of how urban areas can be utilized for both ecological research and inclusive experiential learning through which science and mathematic knowledge can be effectively communicated.

23 CFR 470.105 - Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification. 470.105 Section 470.105 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND RESEARCH HIGHWAY SYSTEMS Federal-aid Highway Systems § 470.105 Urban area boundaries and...

23 CFR 470.105 - Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification. 470.105 Section 470.105 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND RESEARCH HIGHWAY SYSTEMS Federal-aid Highway Systems § 470.105 Urban area boundaries and...

23 CFR 470.105 - Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification. 470.105 Section 470.105 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND RESEARCH HIGHWAY SYSTEMS Federal-aid Highway Systems § 470.105 Urban area boundaries and...

23 CFR 470.105 - Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Urban area boundaries and highway functional classification. 470.105 Section 470.105 Highways FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND RESEARCH HIGHWAY SYSTEMS Federal-aid Highway Systems § 470.105 Urban area boundaries and...

Regional collaboration among Urban Area Security Initiative regions: results of the Johns Hopkins urban area survey.

PubMed

Errett, Nicole A; Bowman, Calvin; Barnett, Daniel J; Resnick, Beth A; Frattaroli, Shannon; Rutkow, Lainie

2014-01-01

Regional collaboration has been identified as a potential facilitator of public health preparedness efforts. The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 2003, has provided 64 high-risk metropolitan areas funding to enhance their regional preparedness capabilities. This study describes informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure, as well as regional collaboration-related activities and assessment methods, in FFY2010 UASI regions. A cross-sectional online survey was administered via Survey Monkey from September through December 2013. Points of contact from FFY2010 funded UASI metropolitan areas completed the survey, with a response rate of 77.8% (n=49). Summary statistics were calculated to describe the current informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure. Additionally, the cross-sectional survey collected rates of agreement with 8 collaborative preparedness statements at 3 time points. The survey found that UASI regions are engaging in collaborative activities and investments to build capabilities, with most collaboration occurring in the prevention, protection, and response mission areas. Collaborative relationships in preparedness among emergency managers and municipal chief executive officers improved during the FFY2010 UASI performance period compared to the pre-UASI award period, with lasting effects. The majority of UASI regions reported conducting independent assessments of capabilities and their measurement at the UASI region level. Urban areas that received a FFY2010 UASI grant award are engaging in collaborative activities and have established interjurisdictional relationships in preparedness. The use of grant funds to encourage collaboration in preparedness has the potential to leverage limited resources and promote informed investments.

Regional Collaboration Among Urban Area Security Initiative Regions: Results of the Johns Hopkins Urban Area Survey

PubMed Central

Bowman, Calvin; Barnett, Daniel J.; Resnick, Beth A.; Frattaroli, Shannon; Rutkow, Lainie

2014-01-01

Regional collaboration has been identified as a potential facilitator of public health preparedness efforts. The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 2003, has provided 64 high-risk metropolitan areas funding to enhance their regional preparedness capabilities. This study describes informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure, as well as regional collaboration–related activities and assessment methods, in FFY2010 UASI regions. A cross-sectional online survey was administered via Survey Monkey from September through December 2013. Points of contact from FFY2010 funded UASI metropolitan areas completed the survey, with a response rate of 77.8% (n=49). Summary statistics were calculated to describe the current informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure. Additionally, the cross-sectional survey collected rates of agreement with 8 collaborative preparedness statements at 3 time points. The survey found that UASI regions are engaging in collaborative activities and investments to build capabilities, with most collaboration occurring in the prevention, protection, and response mission areas. Collaborative relationships in preparedness among emergency managers and municipal chief executive officers improved during the FFY2010 UASI performance period compared to the pre-UASI award period, with lasting effects. The majority of UASI regions reported conducting independent assessments of capabilities and their measurement at the UASI region level. Urban areas that received a FFY2010 UASI grant award are engaging in collaborative activities and have established interjurisdictional relationships in preparedness. The use of grant funds to encourage collaboration in preparedness has the potential to leverage limited resources and promote informed investments. PMID:25398073

Global loss of avian evolutionary uniqueness in urban areas.

PubMed

Ibáñez-Álamo, Juan Diego; Rubio, Enrique; Benedetti, Yanina; Morelli, Federico

2017-08-01

Urbanization, one of the most important anthropogenic impacts on Earth, is rapidly expanding worldwide. This expansion of urban land-covered areas is known to significantly reduce different components of biodiversity. However, the global evidence for this effect is mainly focused on a single diversity measure (species richness) with a few local or regional studies also supporting reductions in functional diversity. We have used birds, an important ecological group that has been used as surrogate for other animals, to investigate the hypothesis that urbanization reduces the global taxonomical and/or evolutionary diversity. We have also explored whether there is evidence supporting that urban bird communities are evolutionarily homogenized worldwide in comparison with nonurban ones by means of using evolutionary distinctiveness (how unique are the species) of bird communities. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to quantify the effect of urbanization in more than one single diversity measure as well as the first time to look for associations between urbanization and phylogenetic diversity at a large spatial scale. Our findings show a strong and globally consistent reduction in taxonomic diversity in urban areas, which is also synchronized with the evolutionary homogenization of urban bird communities. Despite our general patterns, we found some regional differences in the intensity of the effect of cities on bird species richness or evolutionary distinctiveness, suggesting that conservation efforts should be adapted locally. Our findings might be useful for conservationists and policymakers to minimize the impact of urban development on Earth's biodiversity and help design more realistic conservation strategies. © 2016 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Child health inequities in developing countries: differences across urban and rural areas

PubMed Central

Fotso, Jean-Christophe

2006-01-01

Objectives To document and compare the magnitude of inequities in child malnutrition across urban and rural areas, and to investigate the extent to which within-urban disparities in child malnutrition are accounted for by the characteristics of communities, households and individuals. Methods The most recent data sets available from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are used. The selection criteria were set to ensure that the number of countries, their geographical spread across Western/Central and Eastern/Southern Africa, and their socioeconomic diversities, constitute a good yardstick for the region and allow us to draw some generalizations. A household wealth index is constructed in each country and area (urban, rural), and the odds ratio between its uppermost and lowermost category, derived from multilevel logistic models, is used as a measure of socioeconomic inequalities. Control variables include mother's and father's education, community socioeconomic status (SES) designed to represent the broad socio-economic ecology of the neighborhoods in which families live, and relevant mother- and child-level covariates. Results Across countries in SSA, though socioeconomic inequalities in stunting do exist in both urban and rural areas, they are significantly larger in urban areas. Intra-urban differences in child malnutrition are larger than overall urban-rural differentials in child malnutrition, and there seem to be no visible relationships between within-urban inequities in child health on the one hand, and urban population growth, urban malnutrition, or overall rural-urban differentials in malnutrition, on the other. Finally, maternal and father's education, community SES and other measurable covariates at the mother and child levels only explain a slight part of the within-urban differences in child malnutrition. Conclusion The urban advantage in health masks enormous disparities between the poor and the non

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

Mapping urban climate zones and quantifying climate behaviors--an application on Toulouse urban area (France).

PubMed

Houet, Thomas; Pigeon, Grégoire

2011-01-01

Facing the concern of the population to its environment and to climatic change, city planners are now considering the urban climate in their choices of planning. The use of climatic maps, such Urban Climate Zone‑UCZ, is adapted for this kind of application. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate that the UCZ classification, integrated in the World Meteorological Organization guidelines, first can be automatically determined for sample areas and second is meaningful according to climatic variables. The analysis presented is applied on Toulouse urban area (France). Results show first that UCZ differentiate according to air and surface temperature. It has been possible to determine the membership of sample areas to an UCZ using landscape descriptors automatically computed with GIS and remote sensed data. It also emphasizes that climate behavior and magnitude of UCZ may vary from winter to summer. Finally we discuss the influence of climate data and scale of observation on UCZ mapping and climate characterization. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large-eddy simulation of pollutant dispersion from a ground-level area source over urban street canyons with irreversible chemical reactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, T. Z.; Liu, C.-H.; Zhao, Y. B.

2014-10-01

In this study, the dispersion of chemically reactive pollutants is calculated by large-eddy simulation (LES) in a neutrally stratified urban canopy layer (UCL) over urban areas. As a pilot attempt, idealized street canyons of unity building-height-to-street-width (aspect) ratio are used. Nitric oxide (NO) is emitted from the ground surface of the first street canyon into the domain doped with ozone (O3). In the absence of ultraviolet radiation, this irreversible chemistry produces nitrogen dioxide (NO2), developing a reactive plume over the rough urban surface. A range of timescales of turbulence and chemistry are utilized to examine the mechanism of turbulent mixing and chemical reactions in the UCL. The Damköhler number (Da) and the reaction rate (r) are analyzed along the vertical direction on the plane normal to the prevailing flow at 10 m after the source. The maximum reaction rate peaks at an elevation where Damköhler number Da is equal or close to unity. Hence, comparable timescales of turbulence and reaction could enhance the chemical reactions in the plume.

Resilient landscapes in Mediterranean urban areas: Understanding factors influencing forest trends.

PubMed

Tomao, Antonio; Quatrini, Valerio; Corona, Piermaria; Ferrara, Agostino; Lafortezza, Raffaele; Salvati, Luca

2017-07-01

Urban and peri-urban forests are recognized as basic elements for Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), as they preserve and may increase environmental quality in urbanized contexts. For this reason, the amount of forest land per inhabitant is a pivotal efficiency indicator to be considered in the sustainable governance, land management, planning and design of metropolitan areas. The present study illustrates a multivariate analysis of per-capita forest area (PFA) in mainland Attica, the urban region surrounding Athens, Greece. Attica is considered a typical case of Mediterranean urbanization where planning has not regulated urban expansion and successive waves of spontaneous growth have occurred over time. In such a context, an analysis of factors that can affect landscape changes in terms of PFA may inform effective strategies for the sustainable management of socio-ecological local systems in light of the NBS perspective. A total of 26 indicators were collected per decade at the municipal scale in the study area with the aim to identify the factors most closely associated to the amount of PFA. Indicators of urban morphology and functions have been considered together with environmental and topographical variables. In Attica, PFA showed a progressive decrease between 1960 and 2010. In particular, PFA progressively declined (1980, 1990) along fringe areas surrounding Athens and in peri-urban districts experiencing dispersed expansion of residential settlements. Distance from core cities and from the seacoast, typical urban functions (e.g., multiple use of buildings and per capita built-up area) and percentage of agricultural land-use in each municipality are the variables most associated with high PFA. In recent years, some municipalities have shown an expansion of forest cover, mainly due to land abandonment and forest recolonization. Findings from this case study have allowed us to identify priorities for NBS at metropolitan level aimed at promoting more sustainable

Developmental Idealism, Body Weight and Shape, and Marriage Entry in Transitional China.

PubMed

Xu, Hongwei

2016-04-01

New trends toward later and less marriage are emerging in post-reform China. Previous research has examined the changing individual-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics shaping marriage entry in Chinese adults. Employing a cultural model known as developmental idealism (DI), this study argues that a new worldview specifying an ideal body type has become popular in the West and that this new worldview has been exported to China. This new part of the DI package is likely stratified by gender, has a stronger impact on women than on men, and has likely penetrated urban areas more than rural areas. Drawing on the 1991-2009 longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this study employs discrete-time logit models to estimate the relationships between various body types and transition to first marriage in Chinese young adults 18-30 years old. Body weight status and body shape are measured by body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), respectively, and further divided into categories of underweight, normal, and obese. Regression results indicate that larger values of BMI and WHR were associated with delayed entry into first marriage in urban women, whereas being overweight or obese was associated with accelerated transition to first marriage in rural men. Not only were these associations statistically significant, but their strengths were substantively remarkable. Findings from this study suggest that both body weight and body shape have important implications for marital success, independent of individual-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and contribute to evolving gender and rural-urban disparities, as China is undergoing a rapid nutrition transition.

Developmental Idealism, Body Weight and Shape, and Marriage Entry in Transitional China

PubMed Central

Xu, Hongwei

2016-01-01

New trends toward later and less marriage are emerging in post-reform China. Previous research has examined the changing individual-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics shaping marriage entry in Chinese adults. Employing a cultural model known as developmental idealism (DI), this study argues that a new worldview specifying an ideal body type has become popular in the West and that this new worldview has been exported to China. This new part of the DI package is likely stratified by gender, has a stronger impact on women than on men, and has likely penetrated urban areas more than rural areas. Drawing on the 1991-2009 longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this study employs discrete-time logit models to estimate the relationships between various body types and transition to first marriage in Chinese young adults 18-30 years old. Body weight status and body shape are measured by body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), respectively, and further divided into categories of underweight, normal, and obese. Regression results indicate that larger values of BMI and WHR were associated with delayed entry into first marriage in urban women, whereas being overweight or obese was associated with accelerated transition to first marriage in rural men. Not only were these associations statistically significant, but their strengths were substantively remarkable. Findings from this study suggest that both body weight and body shape have important implications for marital success, independent of individual-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and contribute to evolving gender and rural-urban disparities, as China is undergoing a rapid nutrition transition. PMID:27909585

Growing food in urban areas: Food security, community benefits, any concerns?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Over 80% of our nation’s population lives in urban areas, including Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the 16th most populous metropolitan area in the USA, with 3.3 million inhabitants. Trends of growing urban populations and increased desire for locally sourced food have culminated in greater public interest...

Decentralized Sensor Fusion for Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Sanfeliu, Alberto; Andrade-Cetto, Juan; Barbosa, Marco; Bowden, Richard; Capitán, Jesús; Corominas, Andreu; Gilbert, Andrew; Illingworth, John; Merino, Luis; Mirats, Josep M.; Moreno, Plínio; Ollero, Aníbal; Sequeira, João; Spaan, Matthijs T.J.

2010-01-01

In this article we explain the architecture for the environment and sensors that has been built for the European project URUS (Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Sites), a project whose objective is to develop an adaptable network robot architecture for cooperation between network robots and human beings and/or the environment in urban areas. The project goal is to deploy a team of robots in an urban area to give a set of services to a user community. This paper addresses the sensor architecture devised for URUS and the type of robots and sensors used, including environment sensors and sensors onboard the robots. Furthermore, we also explain how sensor fusion takes place to achieve urban outdoor execution of robotic services. Finally some results of the project related to the sensor network are highlighted. PMID:22294927

Decentralized sensor fusion for Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Areas.

PubMed

Sanfeliu, Alberto; Andrade-Cetto, Juan; Barbosa, Marco; Bowden, Richard; Capitán, Jesús; Corominas, Andreu; Gilbert, Andrew; Illingworth, John; Merino, Luis; Mirats, Josep M; Moreno, Plínio; Ollero, Aníbal; Sequeira, João; Spaan, Matthijs T J

2010-01-01

In this article we explain the architecture for the environment and sensors that has been built for the European project URUS (Ubiquitous Networking Robotics in Urban Sites), a project whose objective is to develop an adaptable network robot architecture for cooperation between network robots and human beings and/or the environment in urban areas. The project goal is to deploy a team of robots in an urban area to give a set of services to a user community. This paper addresses the sensor architecture devised for URUS and the type of robots and sensors used, including environment sensors and sensors onboard the robots. Furthermore, we also explain how sensor fusion takes place to achieve urban outdoor execution of robotic services. Finally some results of the project related to the sensor network are highlighted.

Air quality measurements in urban green areas - a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuttler, W.; Strassburger, A.

The influence of traffic-induced pollutants (e.g. CO, NO, NO 2 and O 3) on the air quality of urban areas was investigated in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. Twelve air hygiene profile measuring trips were made to analyse the trace gas distribution in the urban area with high spatial resolution and to compare the air hygiene situation of urban green areas with the overall situation of urban pollution. Seventeen measurements were made to determine the diurnal concentration courses within urban parks (summer conditions: 13 measurements, 530 30 min mean values, winter conditions: 4 measurements, 128 30 min mean values). The measurements were carried out during mainly calm wind and cloudless conditions between February 1995 and March 1996. It was possible to establish highly differentiated spatial concentration patterns within the urban area. These patterns were correlated with five general types of land use (motorway, main road, secondary road, residential area, green area) which were influenced to varying degrees by traffic emissions. Urban parks downwind from the main emission sources show the following typical temporal concentration courses: In summer rush-hour-dependent CO, NO and NO 2 maxima only occurred in the morning. A high NO 2/NO ratio was established during weather conditions with high global radiation intensities ( K>800 W m -2), which may result in a high O 3 formation potential. Some of the values measured found in one of the parks investigated (Gruga Park, Essen, area: 0.7 km 2), which were as high as 275 μg m -3 O 3 (30-min mean value) were significantly higher than the German air quality standard of 120 μg m -3 (30-min mean value, VDI Guideline 2310, 1996) which currently applies in Germany and about 20% above the maximum values measured on the same day by the network of the North Rhine-Westphalian State Environment Agency. In winter high CO and NO concentrations occur in the morning and during the afternoon rush-hour. The

Prevalence of self-reported asthma in urban and rural areas of Turkey.

PubMed

Ekici, Aydanur; Ekici, Mehmet; Kocyigit, Pinar; Karlidag, Ali

2012-06-01

The risk factors for asthma in rural and urban population of Turkey are not well known. In this study we examined the effects of risk factors on the prevalence of asthma in adults living in rural and urban areas using data from a representative sample. Parents and grandparents of students from 20 randomly selected primary schools in urban and rural areas of Kirikkale, Turkey, were asked about respiratory diseases using the respiratory questionnaire, which were returned to us by their children. Out of 13,225 parents and grandparents of primary school students 12,270 returned the questionnaires, for an overall response rate of 92.7%. The prevalence of asthma was more common in adults living in rural areas than in urban areas (10.8% vs. 6.2%, p < .0001, respectively). Asthma was more prevalent in women exposed to biomass smoke than those who were not exposed to it in rural areas (14.8% vs. 6.6%, p = .0001, respectively). Frequent childhood respiratory infections were more common in adults living in rural areas than in urban areas (18.2% vs. 10.9%, p < .0001, respectively). Exposure to biomass smoke and frequent childhood respiratory infections were associated with an increased risk of asthma, after adjusting for possible confounding factors in the logistic model for rural subjects. Chronic rhinitis (p = .0001) and frequent childhood respiratory infections (p = .0001) were associated with an increased risk of asthma, after adjusting for possible confounding factors in the logistic model for urban subjects. The prevalence of asthma in adults living in the rural areas of the Kirikkale Region in Central Turkey was significantly higher than that in the urban population. Exposure to biomass smoke and childhood respiratory infections were more common in adults living in rural areas. The higher rate of asthma in adults living in rural areas may be due to a higher frequency of childhood respiratory infections and exposure to biomass smoke.

Noise propagation in urban and industrial areas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davies, H. G.

1976-01-01

Noise propagation in streets and the discrepancies between theoretical analyses and field measurements are discussed. A cell-model is used to estimate the general background level of noise due to vehicular sources distributed over the urban area.

Characterizing Urban Household Waste Generation and Metabolism Considering Community Stratification in a Rapid Urbanizing Area of China.

PubMed

Xiao, Lishan; Lin, Tao; Chen, Shaohua; Zhang, Guoqin; Ye, Zhilong; Yu, Zhaowu

2015-01-01

The relationship between social stratification and municipal solid waste generation remains uncertain under current rapid urbanization. Based on a multi-object spatial sampling technique, we selected 191 households in a rapidly urbanizing area of Xiamen, China. The selected communities were classified into three types: work-unit, transitional, and commercial communities in the context of housing policy reform in China. Field survey data were used to characterize household waste generation patterns considering community stratification. Our results revealed a disparity in waste generation profiles among different households. The three community types differed with respect to family income, living area, religious affiliation, and homeowner occupation. Income, family structure, and lifestyle caused significant differences in waste generation among work-unit, transitional, and commercial communities, respectively. Urban waste generation patterns are expected to evolve due to accelerating urbanization and associated community transition. A multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism approach was applied to waste metabolism linking it to particular socioeconomic conditions that influence material flows and their evolution. Waste metabolism, both pace and density, was highest for family structure driven patterns, followed by lifestyle and income driven. The results will guide community-specific management policies in rapidly urbanizing areas.

Characterizing Urban Household Waste Generation and Metabolism Considering Community Stratification in a Rapid Urbanizing Area of China

PubMed Central

Xiao, Lishan; Lin, Tao; Chen, Shaohua; Zhang, Guoqin; Ye, Zhilong; Yu, Zhaowu

2015-01-01

The relationship between social stratification and municipal solid waste generation remains uncertain under current rapid urbanization. Based on a multi-object spatial sampling technique, we selected 191 households in a rapidly urbanizing area of Xiamen, China. The selected communities were classified into three types: work-unit, transitional, and commercial communities in the context of housing policy reform in China. Field survey data were used to characterize household waste generation patterns considering community stratification. Our results revealed a disparity in waste generation profiles among different households. The three community types differed with respect to family income, living area, religious affiliation, and homeowner occupation. Income, family structure, and lifestyle caused significant differences in waste generation among work-unit, transitional, and commercial communities, respectively. Urban waste generation patterns are expected to evolve due to accelerating urbanization and associated community transition. A multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism approach was applied to waste metabolism linking it to particular socioeconomic conditions that influence material flows and their evolution. Waste metabolism, both pace and density, was highest for family structure driven patterns, followed by lifestyle and income driven. The results will guide community-specific management policies in rapidly urbanizing areas. PMID:26690056

The impact of human activities in soils and sediments on urban and peri-urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horváth, Adrienn; Szita, Renáta; Bidló, András; Gribovszki, Zoltán

2017-04-01

In this current research we would like to detect the amount of the differences between the natural, the suburb and the urban areas. The aim of the investigation was to determine the impact of human activities on urban and peri-urban soils of Sopron. 72 urban soil samples were collected on 6 sub-catchments for analysing the background pollution of Rák Creek in Sopron. After the analysis of chemical and physical properties of urban soil samples, two element fractions - the total (HNO3+H2O2-extractable) and the available NH4-acetate+EDTA-extractable - were used for element determination. Toxic elements were measured by ICP-OES in the urban soils and the sediments as well. in case of sediment samples from thalweg and dead region. That were collected from the bank of the Rák creek at 6 sampling points to calculate enrichment factors to assess the possible harmful effects of toxic metals. The field and laboratory data were processed using a GIS softver DigiTerraMap. Six elements were selected for analyses Co, Cd, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, which are prominent in urban soils. Statistical analysis was carried out with Microsoft Office Excel 2003, STATISTICA 11 and R Studio. C2 program was used for the distribution of toxic elements. Based on results e.g. pH, etc., there were definite differences between natural HAZ, BAN, semi-natural HAJNAL and urbanized FASOR, GYORI, TESCO areas and significant differences in toxic element distribution as well. The toxic elements of sediment showed the following tendency: Pb > Zn > Cu > Ni = Co. The Co and the Ni values were lower than the natural background limits. The Cutotal exceeded the first interventional pollution limit > 75 mg.kg-1 and the available Zn and Pb were higher than the suggested interventional pollution limits Znavailable >40 mg.kg-1; Pbavailable >25 mg.kg-1 at GYORI sub-catchment. The EF values were generally higher in dead region than in thalweg except of GYORI point. Lead had the highest EF values between the five metals

BUDEM: an urban growth simulation model using CA for Beijing metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Ying; Shen, Zhenjiang; Du, Liqun; Mao, Qizhi; Gao, Zhanping

2008-10-01

It is in great need of identifying the future urban form of Beijing, which faces challenges of rapid growth in urban development projects implemented in Beijing. We develop Beijing Urban Developing Model (BUDEM in short) to support urban planning and corresponding policies evaluation. BUDEM is the spatio-temporal dynamic model for simulating urban growth in Beijing metropolitan area, using cellular automata (CA) and Multi-agent system (MAS) approaches. In this phase, the computer simulation using CA in Beijing metropolitan area is conducted, which attempts to provide a premise of urban activities including different kinds of urban development projects for industrial plants, shopping facilities, houses. In the paper, concept model of BUDEM is introduced, which is established basing on prevalent urban growth theories. The method integrating logistic regression and MonoLoop is used to retrieve weights in the transition rule by MCE. After model sensibility analysis, we apply BUDEM into three aspects of urban planning practices: (1) Identifying urban growth mechanism in various historical phases since 1986; (2) Identifying urban growth policies needed to implement desired urban form (BEIJING2020), namely planned urban form; (3) Simulating urban growth scenarios of 2049 (BEIJING2049) basing on the urban form and parameter set of BEIJING2020.

Pre-Processes for Urban Areas Detection in SAR Images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altay Açar, S.; Bayır, Ş.

2017-11-01

In this study, pre-processes for urban areas detection in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images are examined. These pre-processes are image smoothing, thresholding and white coloured regions determination. Image smoothing is carried out to remove noises then thresholding is applied to obtain binary image. Finally, candidate urban areas are detected by using white coloured regions determination. All pre-processes are applied by utilizing the developed software. Two different SAR images which are acquired by TerraSAR-X are used in experimental study. Obtained results are shown visually.

Urban streams across the USA: Lessons learned from studies in 9 metropolitan areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brown, L.R.; Cuffney, T.F.; Coles, J.F.; Fitzpatrick, F.; McMahon, G.; Steuer, J.; Bell, A.H.; May, J.T.

2009-01-01

Studies of the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems have usually focused on single metropolitan areas. Synthesis of the results of such studies have been useful in developing general conceptual models of the effects of urbanization, but the strength of such generalizations is enhanced by applying consistent study designs and methods to multiple metropolitan areas across large geographic scales. We summarized the results from studies of the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems in 9 metropolitan areas across the US (Boston, Massachusetts; Raleigh, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Portland, Oregon). These studies were conducted as part of the US Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program and were based on a common study design and used standard sample-collection and processing methods to facilitate comparisons among study areas. All studies included evaluations of hydrology, physical habitat, water quality, and biota (algae, macroinvertebrates, fish). Four major conclusions emerged from the studies. First, responses of hydrologic, physical-habitat, water-quality, and biotic variables to urbanization varied among metropolitan areas, except that insecticide inputs consistently increased with urbanization. Second, prior land use, primarily forest and agriculture, appeared to be the most important determinant of the response of biota to urbanization in the areas we studied. Third, little evidence was found for resistance to the effects of urbanization by macroinvertebrate assemblages, even at low levels of urbanization. Fourth, benthic macroinvertebrates have important advantages for assessing the effects of urbanization on stream ecosystems relative to algae and fishes. Overall, our results demonstrate regional differences in the effects of urbanization on stream biota and suggest additional studies to elucidate

Mining Mineral Aggregates in Urban Areas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomson, Robert D.

This study can be used in a geographic research methods course to show how nearest-neighbor analysis and regression analysis can be used to study various aspects of land use. An analysis of the sand, gravel, and crushed stone industry in three urban areas of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Florida illustrates the locational problems faced by…

D Object Classification Based on Thermal and Visible Imagery in Urban Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasani, H.; Samadzadegan, F.

2015-12-01

The spatial distribution of land cover in the urban area especially 3D objects (buildings and trees) is a fundamental dataset for urban planning, ecological research, disaster management, etc. According to recent advances in sensor technologies, several types of remotely sensed data are available from the same area. Data fusion has been widely investigated for integrating different source of data in classification of urban area. Thermal infrared imagery (TIR) contains information on emitted radiation and has unique radiometric properties. However, due to coarse spatial resolution of thermal data, its application has been restricted in urban areas. On the other hand, visible image (VIS) has high spatial resolution and information in visible spectrum. Consequently, there is a complementary relation between thermal and visible imagery in classification of urban area. This paper evaluates the potential of aerial thermal hyperspectral and visible imagery fusion in classification of urban area. In the pre-processing step, thermal imagery is resampled to the spatial resolution of visible image. Then feature level fusion is applied to construct hybrid feature space include visible bands, thermal hyperspectral bands, spatial and texture features and moreover Principle Component Analysis (PCA) transformation is applied to extract PCs. Due to high dimensionality of feature space, dimension reduction method is performed. Finally, Support Vector Machines (SVMs) classify the reduced hybrid feature space. The obtained results show using thermal imagery along with visible imagery, improved the classification accuracy up to 8% respect to visible image classification.

Investigation of cancer mortality inequalities between rural and urban areas in South Korea.

PubMed

Choi, Kyung-Mee

2016-02-01

Little is known about rural-urban cancer disparities, particularly in South Korea, and this study is to identify cancer-specific mortality inequalities between the rural and urban areas of the country. For 11 specific cancer sites, age-standardised mortality rates were analysed for the rural and urban administrative districts of South Korea during 2006-2011. The Poisson log linear regression models were employed to estimate cancer-specific mortality rates, and Bonferroni comparison method was used to identify rural-urban disparities. There were significant rural-urban disparities observed for all cancer sites except prostate, pancreas and leukaemia. The mortality rates of lung, liver and stomach cancers, the three most common cancers in the country, were observed to be significantly higher in rural areas than in metropolitan areas. In contrast, the reverse relationship was observed for the reproductive system (breast and uterus) and colon cancers. Central nervous system cancer mortality was observed to be significantly higher in rural areas than in non-metro urban areas. For the first time ever, significant rural-urban disparity patterns in cancer mortality rates in South Korea have been identified in this paper. Future investigations on cancer risk factors for the country should address these disparity patterns. © 2015 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

Soil-water interactions: implications for the sustainability of urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, António J. D.; Ferreira, Carla S. S.; Walsh, Rory P. D.

2015-04-01

Cities have become recently the home for more than half of the world's population. Cities are often seen as ecological systems just a short step away from collapse [Newman 2006]. Being a human construction, cities disrupt the natural cycles and the patterns of temporal and spatial distribution of environmental and ecological processes. Urbanization produces ruptures in biota, water, energy and nutrients connectivity that can lead to an enhanced exposure to disruptive events that hamper the wellbeing and the resilience of urban communities in a global change context. And yet, mankind can't give up of these structures one step away from collapse. In this paper we visit the ongoing research at the Ribeira dos Covões peri-urban catchment, as the basis to discuss several important processes and relations in the water-soil interface: A] the impact of the build environment and consequently the increase of the impervious area on the generation and magnitude of hydrological processes at different scales, the impact on flash flood risk and the mitigation approaches. B] the pollutant sources transport and fade in urban areas, with particular emphasis in the role of vegetation and soils in the transmission of pollutants from the atmosphere to the soil and to the water processes. C] the use and the environmental services of the urban ecosystems (where the relations of water, soil and vegetation have a dominate role) to promote a better risk and resources governance. D] the special issue of urban agriculture, where all the promises of sustainability and threats to wellbeing interact, and where the soil and water relations in urban areas are more significant and have the widest and deepest implications.

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.

Pollutant Plume Dispersion over Hypothetical Urban Areas based on Wind Tunnel Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mo, Ziwei; Liu, Chun-Ho

2017-04-01

Gaussian plume model is commonly adopted for pollutant concentration prediction in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). However, it has a number of limitations being applied to pollutant dispersion over complex land-surface morphology. In this study, the friction factor (f), as a measure of aerodynamic resistance induced by rough surfaces in the engineering community, was proposed to parameterize the vertical dispersion coefficient (σz) in the Gaussian model. A series of wind tunnel experiments were carried out to verify the mathematical hypothesis and to characterize plume dispersion as a function of surface roughness as well. Hypothetical urban areas, which were assembled in the form of idealized street canyons of different aspect (building-height-to-street-width) ratios (AR = 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/12), were fabricated by aligning identical square aluminum bars at different separation apart in cross flows. Pollutant emitted from a ground-level line source into the turbulent boundary layer (TBL) was simulated using water vapour generated by ultrasonic atomizer. The humidity and the velocity (mean and fluctuating components) were measured, respectively, by humidity sensors and hot-wire anemometry (HWA) with X-wire probes in streamwise and vertical directions. Wind tunnel results showed that the pollutant concentration exhibits the conventional Gaussian distribution, suggesting the feasibility of using water vapour as a passive scalar in wind tunnel experiments. The friction factor increased with decreasing aspect ratios (widening the building separation). It was peaked at AR = 1/8 and decreased thereafter. Besides, a positive correlation between σz/xn (x is the distance from the pollutant source) and f1/4 (correlation coefficient r2 = 0.61) was observed, formulating the basic parameterization of plume dispersion over urban areas.

Upstream structural management measures for an urban area flooding in Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akyurek, Z.; Bozoğlu, B.; Sürer, S.; Mumcu, H.

2015-06-01

In recent years, flooding has become an increasing concern across many parts of the world of both the general public and their governments. The climate change inducing more intense rainfall events occurring in short period of time lead flooding in rural and urban areas. In this study the flood modelling in an urbanized area, namely Samsun-Terme in Blacksea region of Turkey is performed. MIKE21 with flexible grid is used in 2-dimensional shallow water flow modelling. 1 × 1000-1 scaled maps with the buildings for the urbanized area and 1 × 5000-1 scaled maps for the rural parts are used to obtain DTM needed in the flood modelling. The bathymetry of the river is obtained from additional surveys. The main river passing through the urbanized area has a capacity of 500 m3 s-1 according to the design discharge obtained by simple ungauged discharge estimation depending on catchment area only. The upstream structural base precautions against flooding are modelled. The effect of four main upstream catchments on the flooding in the downstream urban area are modelled as different scenarios. It is observed that if the flow from the upstream catchments can be retarded through a detention pond constructed in one of the upstream catchments, estimated Q100 flood can be conveyed by the river without overtopping from the river channel. The operation of the upstream detention ponds and the scenarios to convey Q500 without causing flooding are also presented. Structural management measures to address changes in flood characteristics in water management planning are discussed.

Isotopic Recorders of Pollution in Heterogeneous Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pataki, D. E.; Cobley, L.; Smith, R. M.; Ehleringer, J. R.; Chritz, K.

2017-12-01

A significant difficulty in quantifying urban pollution lies in the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity of cities. Dense sources of both point and non-point source pollution as well as the dynamic role of human activities, which vary over very short time scales and small spatial scales, complicate efforts to establish long-term urban monitoring networks that are relevant at neighborhood, municipal, and regional scales. Fortunately, the natural abundance of isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and other elements provides a wealth of information about the sources and fate of urban atmospheric pollution. In particular, soils and plant material integrate pollution sources and cycling over space and time, and have the potential to provide long-term records of pollution dynamics that extend back before atmospheric monitoring data are available. Similarly, sampling organic material at high spatial resolution can provide "isoscapes" that shed light on the spatial heterogeneity of pollutants in different urban parcels and neighborhoods, along roads of varying traffic density, and across neighborhoods of varying affluence and sociodemographic composition. We have compiled numerous datasets of the isotopic composition of urban organic matter that illustrate the potential for isotopic monitoring of urban areas as a means of understanding hot spots and hot moments in urban atmospheric biogeochemistry. Findings to date already reveal the critical role of affluence, economic activity, demographic change, and land management practices in influencing urban pollution sources and sinks, and suggest an important role of stable isotope and radioisotope measurements in urban atmospheric and biogeochemical monitoring.

Omah displacement and utilization from rural to urban areas, as green design lifestyle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fajarwati, Ade Ariyani Sari

2017-11-01

Building a house in urban area is very costly and also leaving a bunch amount of construction waste. Many efforts were made to reduce the load of this waste. However, the high demand of residences in metropolitan makes the waste problem needs to be solved together. Based on this problem, author chooses Omah, - a Javanese traditional house, which is built, based on the traditional system of life of Javanese people - displacement from rural to urban area as the alternative solution, as it uses selected materials from nature by considering the sustainability and preservation for future generation. The wooden building is built based on traditional construction system that follows Javanese principles and traditional calculation, based on philosophy and cosmology in the community. This paper will covers utilization of Omah in urban area as an implementation of green design, which refers to the concepts of reuse, reduce, recycle and responsibility. Through expert interviews and field surveys in urban and rural areas, author collected data needed for this paper. Although the functionality of the building is different from rural to urban requirements, the phenomenon of Omah displacement from Javanese habitat to urban living area is well accepted and becomes an interesting trend.

[Research on spatial differentiation of urban stormwater runoff quality by source area monitoring].

PubMed

Li, Li-Qing; Zhu, Ren-Xiao; Guo, Shu-Gang; Yin, Cheng-Qing

2010-12-01

Runoff samples were collected from 14 source areas in Hanyang district during four rain events in an attempt to investigate the spatial differentiation and influencing factors of urban stormwater runoff quality. The outcomes are expected to offer practical guidance in sources control of urban runoff pollution. The results revealed that particle-bound proportion of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) in stormwater runoff were 58% +/- 17%, 65% +/- 13% and 92% +/- 6%, respectively. The fractions of ammonia, nitrate and dissolved organic nitrogen were homogeneous in dissolved nitrogen composition. Urban surface function, traffic volume, land use, population density, and street sweeping practice are the main factors determining spatial differentiation of urban surface runoff quality. The highest magnitude of urban stormwater runoff pollution was expected in the old urban residential area, followed by general residential with restaurants, commercial and transport area, new developments and green land. In addition, the magnitude of road stormwater runoff pollution is positively correlated to traffic volume, in the following order: the first trunk road > the second trunk road > minor road. Street sweeping and critical source areas controls should be implemented to mitigate the adverse effects of urban stormwater runoff on receive waters.

Forestry in urban and urbanizing areas of the United States; connecting people with forest in the 21st century

Treesearch

John F. Dwyer; Gina M. Childs; David J. Nowak

2000-01-01

Resource managers worldwide face challenges in responding to expanding urbanization and its effects on forest resources. These challenges can be met head on if managers work toward: (1) comprehensive management of forest resources in urban and urbanizing areas, and (2)connection of urban people with forests and their management. Opportunities exist for...

Assessment of the dynamics of urbanized areas by remote sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeprintsev, S. A.; Klevtsova, M. A.; Lepeshkina, L. A.; Shekoyan, S. V.; Voronin, A. A.

2018-01-01

This research looks at the results of a study of spatial ecological zoning of urban territories using the NDVI-analysis of actual multi-channel satellite images from Landsat-7 and Landsat-8 in the Voronezh region for the period 2001 to 2016. The results obtained in the course of interpretation of space images and processing of statistical information compiled in the GIS environment “Ecology of cities Voronezh region” on the basis of which carried out a comprehensive ecological zoning of the studied urbanized areas. The obtained data on the spatial classification of urban and suburban areas, the peculiarities of the dynamics of weakly and strongly anthropogenically territories, hydrological features and vegetation.

Determining effective roadway design treatments for transitioning from rural areas to urban areas on state highways.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-01

This report reviews an Oregon research effort to identify ways to calm operating speeds as the vehicles transition into developed suburban/urban areas from rural roads. Drivers of vehicles approaching the urban environment have few visual cues to red...

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.

The link between land use and flood risk assessment in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sörensen, Johanna; Kalantari, Zahra

2017-04-01

Densification of urban areas rises a concern for increased pluvial flooding. Flood risk in urban areas might rise under impact of land use changes. Urbanisation involves conversion of natural areas to impermeable areas giving lower infiltration rates and increased runoff. When high-intense rainfall excess the capacity of the drainage system in a city, high runoff causes pluvial flooding in low-laying areas. In the present study, a long time series (20 years) of geo-referenced flood claims from property owners has been collected and analysed in detail to assess flood risk under impact of land use changes in urban areas. The flood claim data come from property owners with flood insurance that covers property loss from overland flooding, groundwater intrusion through basement walls, as well as flooding from the drainage system, and are used as a proxy for flood severity. The spatial relationships between land use change and flood occurrences in different urban areas were analysed. Special emphasis were put on how nature-based solutions and blue-green infrastructure relates to flood risk. The relationships defined by a statistical method explaining the tendencies where the land use change contributes to flood risk changes and others engaged factors.

Comparison of healthy lifestyle behaviors among individuals with and without cardiovascular diseases from urban and rural areas in China: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Wang, Chuangshi; Li, Wei; Yin, Lu; Bo, Jian; Peng, Yaguang; Wang, Yang

2017-01-01

The study aimed to explore the gap of prevalence of healthy lifestyle behaviors including smoking cessation, quitting drinking, physical activity and healthy eating between Chinese adults with and without cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This study is a cross-sectional component of Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE)-China study, which recruited ~46,000 participants from 70 rural and 45 urban communities between 2005 and 2009. Participants were divided into disease (with CVDs) and control (without any diseases) groups. The adjusted rates were estimated for different strata by the generalized, linear mixed-effects model, including community as a random effect with additional adjustment for age, sex, education and income. Among 40,490 participants, <10% had all four healthy lifestyle behaviors (disease group versus control group: urban areas: 7.8% versus 8.1%; rural areas: 3.4% versus 3.2%). The rates of smoking cessation and quitting drinking were significantly higher in disease group for both urban and rural residents (P<0.001). In urban areas, higher rates were observed in all other three healthy lifestyle behaviors except physical activity in low-income regions (P<0.05). Similarly, the higher trends were observed for stopping smoking and drinking while opposite trends for healthy eating among rural residents from low-income regions (P<0.05). Our study showed that the prevalence of adopting all four behaviors was low among Chinese adults. Individuals with CVDs were more likely to follow healthy lifestyle behaviors, but it still indicated a large gap between the actual and ideal adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors, which called for the promotion of population-wide strategies to modify lifestyle behaviors in addition to individual health-care intervention strategies.

Topsoil investigation on two different urban areas in West Hungary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horváth, Adrienn; Bidló, András

2015-04-01

Heavy metal contents of urban soils in two different urban areas have been investigated in Sopron town (169.01 km2) and in Szombathely town 97.50 km2) in Hungary. In a standard network 208 samples have been collected Sopron from 0 to 10 and from 10 to 20 cm depth. 164 samples have been taken on 88 points in the area of Szombathely. We analysed all of the soil samples with ICP equipment applying Lakanen-Erviö method (Ammonium Acetate - EDTA (pH 4.65)) and we focused on Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn during the evaluation. The soils of suburb are determined largely by the bedrock, but in the downtown the soil pH was alkaline in soils of Sopron. Therefore, the toxic elements are still accumulated in the topsoil. The lead content was very high (suggested pollution limit >25 mg Pb/kg) in both layers on the whole area of the town. Urban soils with high copper content (among 611 mg and 1221 mg Cu/kg) have been collected from garden and viticulture areas. According to our measurements we found the highest average values in the soils of parks. The pH of urban topsoils of Szombathely was mostly neutral and it was lower in soil of agricultural areas on the suburb, where the artificial fertiliser is still used. The Pb content was high (more than 25 mg Pb/kg) in case of 13 samples next to traffic roads of the town. The Co, Cu and Ni results were below the suggested Hungarian background limits. The Zn values were above the suggested Hungarian pollution (20 mg Zn/kg) and interventional limits (>40 mg Zn/kg) in most cases. According to the results we found the highest average values of heavy metals in the soil of traffic areas or next to the Gyöngyös creek, which could be originated from traffic contamination, binding in the soil of urban green spaces, thus possibly affects human health. The research is supported by the "Agroclimate-2" (VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034) joint EU-national research project. Keywords: anthropogenic effects, heavy metal content, lead pollution, polluted urban soils

Rainfall Modification by Urban Areas: New Perspectives from TRMM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Pierce, Harold F.; Negri, Andrew

2002-01-01

Data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) were employed to identify warm season rainfall (1998-2000) patterns around Atlanta, Montgomery, Nashville, San Antonio, Waco, and Dallas. Results reveal an average increase of -28% in monthly rainfall rates within 30-60 kilometers downwind of the metropolis with a modest increase of 5.6% over the metropolis. Portions of the downwind area exhibit increases as high as 51%. The percentage changes are relative to an upwind control area. It was also found that maximum rainfall rates in the downwind impact area exceeded the mean value in the upwind control area by 48% - 116%. The maximum value was generally found at an average distance of 39 km from the edge of the urban center or 64 km from the center of the city. Results are consistent with METROMEX studies of St. Louis almost two decades ago and with more recent studies near Atlanta. Future work is extending the investigation to Phoenix, Arizona, an arid U.S. city, and several international cities like Mexico City, Johannesburg, and Brasilia. The study establishes the possibility of utilizing satellite-based rainfall estimates for examining rainfall modification by urban areas on global scales and over longer time periods. Such research has implications for weather forecasting, urban planning, water resource management, and understanding human impact on the environment and climate.

Automatic mapping of urban areas from Landsat data using impervious surface fraction algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, S. T.; Chen, C. F.; Chen, C. R.

2014-12-01

Urbanization is a result of aggregation of people in urban areas that can help advance socioeconomic development and pull out people from the poverty line. However, if not monitored well, it can also lead to loss of farmlands, natural forests as well as to societal impacts including burgeoning growth of slums, pollution, and crime. Thus, spatiotemporal information that shapes the urbanization is thus critical to the process of urban planning. The overall objective of this study is to develop an impervious surface fraction algorithm (ISFA) for automatically mapping urban areas from Landsat data. We processed the data for 1986, 2001 and 2014 to trace the multi-decadal spatiotemporal change of Honduran capital city using a three-step procedure: (1) data pre-processing to perform image normalization as well as to produce the difference in the values (DVSS) between the simple ratio (SR) of green and shortwave bands and the soil adjust vegetation index (SAVI), (2) quantification of urban areas using ISFA, and (3) accuracy assessment of mapping results using the ground reference data constructed using land-cover maps and FORMOSAT-2 imagery. The mapping accuracy assessment was performed for 2001 and 2014 by comparing with the ground reference data indicated satisfactory results with the overall accuracies and Kappa coefficients generally higher than 90% and 0.8, respectively. When examining the urbanization between these years, it could be observed that the urban area was significantly expanded from 1986 to 2014, mainly driven by two factors of rapid population growth and socioeconomic development. This study eventually leads to a realization of the merit of using ISFA for multi-decadal monitoring of the urbanization of Honduran capital city from Landsat data. Results from this research can be used by urban planners as a general indicator to quantify urban change and environmental impacts. The methods were thus transferable to monitor urban growth in cities and their peri

A prediction model of signal degradation in LMSS for urban areas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matsudo, Takashi; Minamisono, Kenichi; Karasawa, Yoshio; Shiokawa, Takayasu

1993-01-01

A prediction model of signal degradation in a Land Mobile Satellite Service (LMSS) for urban areas is proposed. This model treats shadowing effects caused by buildings statistically and can predict a Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) of signal diffraction losses in urban areas as a function of system parameters such as frequency and elevation angle and environmental parameters such as number of building stories and so on. In order to examine the validity of the model, we compared the percentage of locations where diffraction losses were smaller than 6 dB obtained by the CDF with satellite visibility measured by a radiometer. As a result, it was found that this proposed model is useful for estimating the feasibility of providing LMSS in urban areas.

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.

Soil quality of a degraded urban area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Panico, Speranza; Memoli, Valeria; Maisto, Giulia; De Marco, Anna

2017-04-01

Human activities cause modifications of the soil characteristics, leading to a significant reduction of the soil fertility and quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between microbial activity or biomass and chemical characteristics (i.e. heavy metal and organic matter contents) of a degraded urban soil. The study area is located in an urban park (about 10 ha, called Quarantena) near to the Fusaro Lake of Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy); the Park was established in 1953 to shelter animals coming from any place of the Planet and execute veterinary checks before their delivery to different European zoos. In 1997, the park was abandoned and nowadays in it a large amount of urban wastes accumulates. Surface soils (0-10 cm) were sampled at three points: two of them covered by Holm Oak specimens (P1 and P2) and one covered by herbaceous species, particularly legumes (P3). P1 was localized at the border of the park and next to a busy road; P2 at the centre of the Quarantena Park; P3 at a gap area near the Fusaro Lake. The results showed that the soil sampled at P1 showed the highest Cr and Ni concentrations; the soil sampled at P3 had high levels of Cu and Pb, exceeding the threshold values of 100 µg g-1 d.w. fixed by the Italian law for urban soils, probably due to boat traffic, fishing practice and agricultural activities; the soil sampled at P2 had intermediate values of metal concentrations but the highest amount of organic matter (more than 20% d.w.). Despite of metal contamination, P1 and P3 showed higher soil microbial biomass and activity as compared to P2. Therefore, at this site, the organic matter accumulation could be due to the scarce litter degradation. In conclusion, although the studied area was not too large, a wide heterogeneity of soil quality (in terms of the investigated chemical and biological characteristics) was detected, depending on the local human impact.

Wild Ungulates as Disseminators of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Franklin, Alan B.; VerCauteren, Kurt C.; Maguire, Hugh; Cichon, Mary K.; Fischer, Justin W.; Lavelle, Michael J.; Powell, Amber; Root, J. Jeffrey; Scallan, Elaine

2013-01-01

Background In 2008, children playing on a soccer field in Colorado were sickened with a strain of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7, which was ultimately linked to feces from wild Rocky Mountain elk. We addressed whether wild cervids were a potential source of STEC infections in humans and whether STEC was ubiquitous throughout wild cervid populations in Colorado. Methodology/Principal Findings We collected 483 fecal samples from Rocky Mountain elk and mule deer in urban and non-urban areas. Samples testing positive for STEC were higher in urban (11.0%) than non-urban (1.6%) areas. Elk fecal samples in urban areas had a much higher probability of containing STEC, which increased in both urban and non-urban areas as maximum daily temperature increased. Of the STEC-positive samples, 25% contained stx1 strains, 34.3% contained stx2, and 13% contained both stx1 and stx2. Additionally, eaeA genes were detected in 54.1% of the positive samples. Serotypes O103, and O146 were found in elk and deer feces, which also have the potential to cause human illness. Conclusions/Significance The high incidence of stx2 strains combined with eaeA and E-hyl genes that we found in wild cervid feces is associated with severe human disease, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome. This is of concern because there is a very close physical interface between elk and humans in urban areas that we sampled. In addition, we found a strong relationship between ambient temperature and incidence of STEC in elk feces, suggesting a higher incidence of STEC in elk feces in public areas on warmer days, which in turn may increase the likelihood that people will come in contact with infected feces. These concerns also have implications to other urban areas where high densities of coexisting wild cervids and humans interact on a regular basis. PMID:24349083

[Use of emergency departments in rural and urban areas in Spain].

PubMed

Sarría-Santamera, A; Prado-Galbarro, J; Ramallo-Farina, Y; Quintana-Díaz, M; Martínez-Virto, A; Serrano-Aguilar, P

2015-03-01

Describe the use of emergency departments (ED), and analyse the differences in use between residents in rural and urban areas. Using data from the National Health Survey of 2006 and 2011, the profiles of patients with ED visits by population size of place of residence were obtained. The variables associated with making one visit to the ED were also evaluated, in order to determine the effect of the population size of place of residence. A higher use of ED is observed in persons with a higher frequency of use of Primary Care and hospital admissions, and increases with worse self-perceived health and functional status, with more chronic diseases, in people from lower social classes, and younger ages. Adjusting for the other variables, residents in larger cities have a higher use of ED than residents in rural areas, who show a higher use of public and non-hospital based ED, than residents in urban areas. There is a higher use of ED by inhabitants of urban areas that cannot be justified by a worst health status of that population. This tends to indicate that the use of ED is not under-used in rural areas, but overused in urban areas. Copyright © 2013 Sociedad Española de Médicos de Atención Primaria (SEMERGEN). Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Identification of the potential gap areas for the developing green infrastructure in the Urban area using High resolution satellite Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanaparthi, M. B.

2017-12-01

In India urban population is growing day by day which is causing air pollution less air quality finally leading to climate change and global warming. To mitigate the effect of the climate change we need to plant more trees in the urban area. The objective of this study is develop a plan to improve the urban Green Infrastructure (GI) to fight against the climate change and global warming. Improving GI is a challenging and difficult task in the urban areas because land unavailability of land, to overcome the problem greenways is a good the solution. Greenway is a linear open space developed along the rivers, canals, roads in the urban areas to form a network of green spaces. Roads are the most common structures in the urban area. The idea is to develop the greenways alongside the road to connecting the different green spaces. Tree crowns will act as culverts to connect the green spaces. This will require the spatial structure of the green space, distribution of trees along the roads and the gap areas along the road where more trees can be planted. This can be achieved with help of high resolution Satellite Imagery and the object extraction techniques. This study was carried in the city Bhimavaram which is located in state Andhra Pradesh. The final outcome of this study is potential gap areas for planting trees in the city.

The effect of urban green on small-area (healthy) life expectancy.

PubMed

Jonker, M F; van Lenthe, F J; Donkers, B; Mackenbach, J P; Burdorf, A

2014-10-01

Several epidemiological studies have investigated the effect of the quantity of green space on health outcomes such as self-rated health, morbidity and mortality ratios. These studies have consistently found positive associations between the quantity of green and health. However, the impact of other aspects, such as the perceived quality and average distance to public green, and the effect of urban green on population health are still largely unknown. Linear regression models were used to investigate the impact of three different measures of urban green on small-area life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) in The Netherlands. All regressions corrected for average neighbourhood household income, accommodated spatial autocorrelation, and took measurement uncertainty of LE, HLE as well as the quality of urban green into account. Both the quantity and the perceived quality of urban green are modestly related to small-area LE and HLE: an increase of 1 SD in the percentage of urban green space is associated with a 0.1-year higher LE, and, in the case of quality of green, with an approximately 0.3-year higher LE and HLE. The average distance to the nearest public green is unrelated to population health. The quantity and particularly quality of urban green are positively associated with small-area LE and HLE. This concurs with a growing body of evidence that urban green reduces stress, stimulates physical activity, improves the microclimate and reduces ambient air pollution. Accordingly, urban green development deserves a more prominent place in urban regeneration and neighbourhood renewal programmes. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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.

Characterization and spatial modeling of urban sprawl in the Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Chen; Liu, Yaolin; Stein, Alfred; Jiao, Limin

2015-02-01

Urban sprawl has led to environmental problems and large losses of arable land in China. In this study, we monitor and model urban sprawl by means of a combination of remote sensing, geographical information system and spatial statistics. We use time-series data to explore the potential socio-economic driving forces behind urban sprawl, and spatial models in different scenarios to explore the spatio-temporal interactions. The methodology is applied to the city of Wuhan, China, for the period from 1990 to 2013. The results reveal that the built-up land has expanded and has dispersed in urban clusters. Population growth, and economic and transportation development are still the main causes of urban sprawl; however, when they have developed to certain levels, the area affected by construction in urban areas (Jian Cheng Qu (JCQ)) and the area of cultivated land (ACL) tend to be stable. Spatial regression models are shown to be superior to the traditional models. The interaction among districts with the same administrative status is stronger than if one of those neighbors is in the city center and the other in the suburban area. The expansion of urban built-up land is driven by the socio-economic development at the same period, and greatly influenced by its spatio-temporal neighbors. We conclude that the integration of remote sensing, a geographical information system, and spatial statistics offers an excellent opportunity to explore the spatio-temporal variation and interactions among the districts in the sprawling metropolitan areas. Relevant regulations to control the urban sprawl process are suggested accordingly.

Travel by public transit to mammography facilities in 6 US urban areas.

PubMed

Graham, S; Lewis, B; Flanagan, B; Watson, M; Peipins, L

2015-12-01

We examined lack of private vehicle access and 30 minutes or longer public transportation travel time to mammography facilities for women 40 years of age or older in the urban areas of Boston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Denver, and Seattle to identify transit marginalized populations - women for whom these travel characteristics may jointly present a barrier to clinic access. This ecological study used sex and race/ethnicity data from the 2010 US Census and household vehicle availability data from the American Community Survey 2008-2012, all at Census tract level. Using the public transportation option on Google Trip Planner we obtained the travel time from the centroid of each census tract to all local mammography facilities to determine the nearest mammography facility in each urban area. Median travel times by public transportation to the nearest facility for women with no household access to a private vehicle were obtained by ranking travel time by population group across all U.S. census tracts in each urban area and across the entire study area. The overall median travel times for each urban area for women without household access to a private vehicle ranged from a low of 15 minutes in Boston and Philadelphia to 27 minutes in San Diego. The numbers and percentages of transit marginalized women were then calculated for all urban areas by population group. While black women were less likely to have private vehicle access, and both Hispanic and black women were more likely to be transit marginalized, this outcome varied by urban area. White women constituted the largest number of transit marginalized. Our results indicate that mammography facilities are favorably located for the large majority of women, although there are still substantial numbers for whom travel may likely present a barrier to mammography facility access.

Travel by public transit to mammography facilities in 6 US urban areas

PubMed Central

Graham, S; Lewis, B; Flanagan, B; Watson, M; Peipins, L

2017-01-01

We examined lack of private vehicle access and 30 minutes or longer public transportation travel time to mammography facilities for women 40 years of age or older in the urban areas of Boston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Denver, and Seattle to identify transit marginalized populations - women for whom these travel characteristics may jointly present a barrier to clinic access. This ecological study used sex and race/ethnicity data from the 2010 US Census and household vehicle availability data from the American Community Survey 2008–2012, all at Census tract level. Using the public transportation option on Google Trip Planner we obtained the travel time from the centroid of each census tract to all local mammography facilities to determine the nearest mammography facility in each urban area. Median travel times by public transportation to the nearest facility for women with no household access to a private vehicle were obtained by ranking travel time by population group across all U.S. census tracts in each urban area and across the entire study area. The overall median travel times for each urban area for women without household access to a private vehicle ranged from a low of 15 minutes in Boston and Philadelphia to 27 minutes in San Diego. The numbers and percentages of transit marginalized women were then calculated for all urban areas by population group. While black women were less likely to have private vehicle access, and both Hispanic and black women were more likely to be transit marginalized, this outcome varied by urban area. White women constituted the largest number of transit marginalized. Our results indicate that mammography facilities are favorably located for the large majority of women, although there are still substantial numbers for whom travel may likely present a barrier to mammography facility access. PMID:29285434

Characterizing urban areas with good sound quality: development of a research protocol.

PubMed

van Kempen, Elise; Devilee, Jeroen; Swart, Wim; van Kamp, Irene

2014-01-01

Due to rapid urbanization, the spatial variation between wanted and unwanted sounds will decrease or even disappear. Consequently, the characteristics of (urban) areas where people can temporarily withdraw themselves from urban stressors such as noise may change or become increasingly scarce. Hardly any research has been carried out into the positive health effects of spending time in areas with a good sound quality. One of the problems is that an overview of what aspects determines good sound quality in urban areas and how these are interrelated is lacking. This paper reviews the literature pertaining to the sound quality of urban areas. Aim is to summarize what is known about the influence of social, spatial, and physical aspects other than sounds, on peoples' perception of urban sound qualities. Literature from both conventional sound research and from the so-called soundscape field, published between 2000 and the beginning of 2013 in English or Dutch, was evaluated. Although a general set of validated indicators that can be directly applied, is not available yet, a set of indicators was derived from the literature. These form the basis of a study protocol that will be applied in "Towards a Sustainable acoustic Environment", a project that aims to describe sound qualities at a low-scale level. Key-elements of this study protocol, including a questionnaire and the systematic audit of neighborhoods, were presented in this paper.

Response of forest soil properties to urbanization gradients in three metropolitan areas

Treesearch

Richard V. Pouyat; Ian D. Yesilonis; Katalin Szlavecz; Csaba Csuzdi; Elizabeth Hornung; Zoltan Kors& #243; s; Jonathan Russell-Anelli; Vincent Giorgio

2008-01-01

We investigated the effects of urban environments on the chemical properties of forest soils in the metropolitan areas of Baltimore, New York, and Budapest. We hypothesized that soils in forest patches in each city will exhibit changes in chemistry corresponding to urbanization gradients, but more strongly with various urban metrics than distance to the urban core....

Hydrologic data for urban storm runoff in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gibbs, Johnnie W.; Doefer, John T.

1982-01-01

Urban storm-runoff data collected from April through September 1981 from nine Denver Nationwide Urban Runoff Program sites, urban storm-runoff data collected from April 1980 through September 1981 from ten South Platte River Study sites, and rainfall-runoff simulation data from two sites for June 1980 and May 1981 are presented in this report. The Denver Nationwide Urban Runoff Program sites were two single-family residential areas, two multifamily residential areas, one commercial area (shopping center), one mixed commercial and multifamily residential area, one natural area (open space), and two detention ponds. The South Platte River Study sites were six tributaries of the South Platte River and four instream sites on the South Platte River. The tributary sites were Bear Creek at mouth, at Sheridan; Harvard Gulch at Harvard Park, at Denver; Sanderson Gulch at mouth, at Denver; Weir Gulch at mouth, at Denver; Lakewood Gulch at mouth, at Denver; and Cherry Creek at Denver. The instream sites were South Platte River at Littleton; South Platte River at Florida Avenue, at Denver; South Platte River at Denver; and South Platte River at 50th Avenue, at Denver. The rainfall-runoff simulation sites were North Avenue at Denver Federal Center, at Lakewood and Rooney Gulch at Rooney Ranch, near Morrison. Precipitation, rainfall-runoff, water-quality data, and basin characteristics were collected at the urban storm-runoff sites. The urban storm-runoff data may be used to characterize runoff loading for various land-use types in Denver and other semiarid regions. (USGS)

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.

Optimal Area Profiles for Ideal Single Nozzle Air-Breathing Pulse Detonation Engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Paxson, Daniel E.

2003-01-01

The effects of cross-sectional area variation on idealized Pulse Detonation Engine performance are examined numerically. A quasi-one-dimensional, reacting, numerical code is used as the kernel of an algorithm that iteratively determines the correct sequencing of inlet air, inlet fuel, detonation initiation, and cycle time to achieve a limit cycle with specified fuel fraction, and volumetric purge fraction. The algorithm is exercised on a tube with a cross sectional area profile containing two degrees of freedom: overall exit-to-inlet area ratio, and the distance along the tube at which continuous transition from inlet to exit area begins. These two parameters are varied over three flight conditions (defined by inlet total temperature, inlet total pressure and ambient static pressure) and the performance is compared to a straight tube. It is shown that compared to straight tubes, increases of 20 to 35 percent in specific impulse and specific thrust are obtained with tubes of relatively modest area change. The iterative algorithm is described, and its limitations are noted and discussed. Optimized results are presented showing performance measurements, wave diagrams, and area profiles. Suggestions for future investigation are also discussed.

Comparison of healthy lifestyle behaviors among individuals with and without cardiovascular diseases from urban and rural areas in China: A cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Wang, Chuangshi; Yin, Lu; Bo, Jian; Peng, Yaguang; Wang, Yang

2017-01-01

Introduction The study aimed to explore the gap of prevalence of healthy lifestyle behaviors including smoking cessation, quitting drinking, physical activity and healthy eating between Chinese adults with and without cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Methods This study is a cross-sectional component of Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE)-China study, which recruited ~46,000 participants from 70 rural and 45 urban communities between 2005 and 2009. Participants were divided into disease (with CVDs) and control (without any diseases) groups. The adjusted rates were estimated for different strata by the generalized, linear mixed-effects model, including community as a random effect with additional adjustment for age, sex, education and income. Results Among 40,490 participants, <10% had all four healthy lifestyle behaviors (disease group versus control group: urban areas: 7.8% versus 8.1%; rural areas: 3.4% versus 3.2%). The rates of smoking cessation and quitting drinking were significantly higher in disease group for both urban and rural residents (P<0.001). In urban areas, higher rates were observed in all other three healthy lifestyle behaviors except physical activity in low-income regions (P<0.05). Similarly, the higher trends were observed for stopping smoking and drinking while opposite trends for healthy eating among rural residents from low-income regions (P<0.05). Conclusions Our study showed that the prevalence of adopting all four behaviors was low among Chinese adults. Individuals with CVDs were more likely to follow healthy lifestyle behaviors, but it still indicated a large gap between the actual and ideal adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors, which called for the promotion of population-wide strategies to modify lifestyle behaviors in addition to individual health-care intervention strategies. PMID:28771516

Relationship between area-level socioeconomic characteristics and outdoor NO2 concentrations in rural and urban areas of northern Spain.

PubMed

Fernández-Somoano, Ana; Hoek, Gerard; Tardon, Adonina

2013-01-25

Socioeconomic variables are associated with mortality and morbidity in a variety of diseases at both the individual and neighborhood level. Investigating whether low socioeconomic status populations are exposed to higher air pollution has been an important objective for the scientific community during the last decade. The goal of this study was to analyze the associations between outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in an area of Asturias (Spain) and two socioeconomic indexes-one based on occupation and the other on educational level at the census-tract level. A map of NO2 concentration was obtained from a land-use regression model. To obtain a census-tract average value, NO2 was estimated at the centroids of all 50 × 50 grids within a census tract. Standard socioeconomic variables were used from the Census of Population and Housing 2001. We analyzed the association between NO2 concentration and socioeconomic indicators for the entire area and stratified for more urban and more rural areas. A positive linear relationship was found between the levels of education and NO2 exposure in the urban area and the overall study area, but no association was found in the rural area. A positive association between socioeconomic index based upon occupation and NO2 concentration was found in urban areas; however, this association was reversed in the rural and overall study areas. The strength and direction of the association between socioeconomic status and NO2 concentration depended on the socioeconomic indicator used and the characteristics of the study area (urban, rural). More research is needed with different scenarios to clarify the uncertain relationship among socioeconomic indexes, particularly in non-urban areas, where little has been documented on this topic.

Relationship between area-level socioeconomic characteristics and outdoor NO2 concentrations in rural and urban areas of northern Spain

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Socioeconomic variables are associated with mortality and morbidity in a variety of diseases at both the individual and neighborhood level. Investigating whether low socioeconomic status populations are exposed to higher air pollution has been an important objective for the scientific community during the last decade. The goal of this study was to analyze the associations between outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in an area of Asturias (Spain) and two socioeconomic indexes—one based on occupation and the other on educational level—at the census-tract level. Methods A map of NO2 concentration was obtained from a land-use regression model. To obtain a census-tract average value, NO2 was estimated at the centroids of all 50 × 50 m grids within a census tract. Standard socioeconomic variables were used from the Census of Population and Housing 2001. We analyzed the association between NO2 concentration and socioeconomic indicators for the entire area and stratified for more urban and more rural areas. Results A positive linear relationship was found between the levels of education and NO2 exposure in the urban area and the overall study area, but no association was found in the rural area. A positive association between socioeconomic index based upon occupation and NO2 concentration was found in urban areas; however, this association was reversed in the rural and overall study areas. Conclusions The strength and direction of the association between socioeconomic status and NO2 concentration depended on the socioeconomic indicator used and the characteristics of the study area (urban, rural). More research is needed with different scenarios to clarify the uncertain relationship among socioeconomic indexes, particularly in non-urban areas, where little has been documented on this topic. PMID:23351567

Surface water polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in urban areas of Nanjing, China.

PubMed

Wang, Chunhui; Zhou, Shenglu; Wu, Shaohua; Song, Jing; Shi, Yaxing; Li, Baojie; Chen, Hao

2017-10-01

The concentration, sources and environmental risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface water in urban areas of Nanjing were investigated. The range of ∑ 16 PAHs concentration is between 4,076 and 29,455 ng/L, with a mean of 17,212 ng/L. The composition of PAHs indicated that 2- and 3-ring PAHs have the highest proportion in all PAHs, while the 5- and 6-ring PAHs were the least in proportion. By diagnostic ratio analysis, combustion and petroleum were a mixture input that contributed to the water PAH in urban areas of Nanjing. Positive matrix factorization quantitatively identified four factors, including coke oven, coal combustion, oil source, and vehicle emission, as the main sources. Toxic equivalency factors of BaP (BaP eq ) evaluate the environmental risks of PAHs and indicate the PAH concentration in surface water in urban areas of Nanjing had been polluted and might cause potential environmental risks. Therefore, the PAH contamination in surface water in urban areas of Nanjing should draw considerable attention.

Plasmodium falciparum: Differential Selection of Drug Resistance Alleles in Contiguous Urban and Peri-Urban Areas of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

PubMed Central

Tsumori, Yoko; Ndounga, Mathieu; Sunahara, Toshihiko; Hayashida, Nozomi; Inoue, Megumi; Nakazawa, Shusuke; Casimiro, Prisca; Isozumi, Rie; Uemura, Haruki; Tanabe, Kazuyuki; Kaneko, Osamu; Culleton, Richard

2011-01-01

The African continent is currently experiencing rapid population growth, with rising urbanization increasing the percentage of the population living in large towns and cities. We studied the impact of the degree of urbanization on the population genetics of Plasmodium falciparum in urban and peri-urban areas in and around the city of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. This field setting, which incorporates local health centers situated in areas of varying urbanization, is of interest as it allows the characterization of malaria parasites from areas where the human, parasite, and mosquito populations are shared, but where differences in the degree of urbanization (leading to dramatic differences in transmission intensity) cause the pattern of malaria transmission to differ greatly. We have investigated how these differences in transmission intensity affect parasite genetic diversity, including the amount of genetic polymorphism in each area, the degree of linkage disequilibrium within the populations, and the prevalence and frequency of drug resistance markers. To determine parasite population structure, heterozygosity and linkage disequilibrium, we typed eight microsatellite markers and performed haplotype analysis of the msp1 gene by PCR. Mutations known to be associated with resistance to the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and pyrimethamine were determined by sequencing the relevant portions of the crt and dhfr genes, respectively. We found that parasite genetic diversity was comparable between the two sites, with high levels of polymorphism being maintained in both areas despite dramatic differences in transmission intensity. Crucially, we found that the frequencies of genetic markers of drug resistance against pyrimethamine and chloroquine differed significantly between the sites, indicative of differing selection pressures in the two areas. PMID:21858115

The impact of landslides on urban areas and infrastructure in Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trigila, Alessandro; Spizzichino, Daniele; Iadanza, Carla

2010-05-01

Landslide risk in Italy is particularly high since in addition to the geological, geomorphological, seismic and structural settings which render it susceptible to frequent and widespread landslide phenomena, the Italian territory is also densely populated and highly urbanized. In terms of landslide hazard, 485,004 landslides occurred between A.D. 1116 and 2006 within Italy, with a landslide area of 20,721 km2 equal to 6.9% of the national territory. 5,708 municipal districts are affected by landslides (70.5% of the total), of which 2,940 with extremely high levels of criticality due to landslides affecting urban centres. This data emerges from the IFFI Project (Italian Landslide Inventory) which, set up by ISPRA - Institute for Environmental Protection and Research/Geological Survey of Italy and the Regions and self-governing Provinces, identifies landslide phenomena across Italy in accordance with standardized methods of data collection, recording and mapping. With regard to exposure and vulnerability, urban areas in Italy account for 17,929 km2, equal to 5.9% of the national territory. In the past 50 years, urban areas in Italy underwent a dramatic increase, whose surface has more than doubled. Often building areas did not benefit from any form of proper land use planning and management or detailed landslide hazard assessment. Moreover unauthorized building has reached levels as high as 60% in regions of Southern Italy. This study assesses the incidence of landslide phenomena and their impacts within urban areas of Italian provincial capitals in terms of number of landslides, surface area and type of movement. The people exposed to landslide risk at national level and critical points along highways, railways and road network has been also estimated. Landslides have been classified in two main categories: rapid and slow movements. The rapid phenomena are strictly correlated to the people safety, while the slow ones concern mainly losses and usability of buildings

[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.

More Ambitious Educational Choices in Urban Areas: A Matter of Local Labor Market Characteristics?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boone, Simon; Van Houtte, Mieke

2016-01-01

Urban-rural disparities in educational outcomes have so far primarily received attention in U.S.-based research. These studies show that pupils in rural areas are at a disadvantage compared with pupils in (sub)urban areas. This article aims to examine urban-nonurban differences in educational choice in a European context, namely Flanders (the…

Development of a smart flood warning system in urban areas: A case study of Huwei area in Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Sheng-Chi; Hsu, Hao-Ming; Kao, Hong-Ming

2016-04-01

In this study, we developed a smart flood warning system to clearly understand flood propagations in urban areas. The science and technology park of Huwei, located in the southwest of Taiwan, was selected as a study area. It was designated to be an important urban area of optoelectronics and biotechnology. The region has an area about 1 km2 with approximately 1 km in both length and width. The discrepancy between the highest and lowest elevations is 6.3 m and its elevation decreases along the northeast to the southwest. It is an isolated urban drainage area due to its urban construction plan. The storm sewer system in this region includes three major networks that collect the runoff and drain to the detention pond where is located in the southwest corner of the region. The proposed smart flood warning system combines three important parts, i.e. the physical world, the cyber-physical interface, and the cyber space, to identify how the flood affects urban areas from now until the next three hours. In the physical world, when a rainfall event occurs, monitoring sensors (e.g. rainfall gauges and water level gauges built in the sewer system and ground surface), which are established in several essential locations of the study area, collect in situ hydrological data and then these data being transported to the cyber-physical interface. The cyber-physical interface is a data preprocess space that includes data analysis, quality control and assurance, and data integration and standardization to produce the validated data. In the cyber space, it has missions to receive the validated data from the cyber-physical interface and to run the time machine that has flood analyses of data mining, inundation scenarios simulation, risk and economic assessments, and so on, based on the validated data. After running the time machine, it offers the analyzed results related to flooding planning, mitigation, response, and recovery. According to the analyzed results, the decision supporting

Revisiting the hierarchy of urban areas in the Brazilian Amazon: a multilevel approach

PubMed Central

Costa, Sandra; Brondízio, Eduardo

2012-01-01

The Legal Brazilian Amazon, while the largest rainforest in the world, is also a region where most residents are urban. Despite close linkages between rural and urban processes in the region, rural areas have been the predominant focus of Amazon-based population-environment scholarship. Offering a focus on urban areas within the Brazilian Amazon, this paper examines the emergence of urban hierarchies within the region. Using a combination of nationally representative data and community based surveys, applied to a multivariate cluster methodology (Grade of Membership), we observe the emergence of sub-regional urban networks characterized by economic and political inter-dependency, population movement, and provision of services. These networks link rural areas, small towns, and medium and large cities. We also identify the emergence of medium-size cities as important nodes at a sub-regional level. In all, the work provides insight on the proposed model of ‘disarticulated urbanization’ within the Amazon by calling attention to the increasing role of regional and sub-regional urban networks in shaping the future expansion of land use and population distribution in the Amazon. We conclude with a discussion of implications for increasing intra-regional connectivity and fragmentation of conservation areas and ecosystems in the region. PMID:23129877

Prescription opioid poisoning across urban and rural areas: identifying vulnerable groups and geographic areas.

PubMed

Cerdá, Magdalena; Gaidus, Andrew; Keyes, Katherine M; Ponicki, William; Martins, Silvia; Galea, Sandro; Gruenewald, Paul

2017-01-01

To determine (1) whether prescription opioid poisoning (PO) hospital discharges spread across space over time, (2) the locations of 'hot-spots' of PO-related hospital discharges, (3) how features of the local environment contribute to the growth in PO-related hospital discharges and (4) where each environmental feature makes the strongest contribution. Hierarchical Bayesian Poisson space-time analysis to relate annual discharges from community hospitals to postal code characteristics over 10 years. California, USA. Residents of 18 517 postal codes in California, 2001-11. Annual postal code-level counts of hospital discharges due to PO poisoning were related to postal code pharmacy density, measures of medical need for POs (i.e. rates of cancer and arthritis-related hospital discharges), economic stressors (i.e. median household income, percentage of families in poverty and the unemployment rate) and concentration of manual labor industries. PO-related hospital discharges spread from rural and suburban/exurban 'hot-spots' to urban areas. They increased more in postal codes with greater pharmacy density [rate ratio (RR) = 1.03; 95% credible interval (CI) = 1.01, 1.05], more arthritis-related hospital discharges (RR = 1.08; 95% CI = 1.06, 1.11), lower income (RR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.83, 0.87) and more manual labor industries (RR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.10, 1.19 for construction; RR = 1.12; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.20 for manufacturing industries). Changes in pharmacy density primarily affected PO-related discharges in urban areas, while changes in income and manual labor industries especially affected PO-related discharges in suburban/exurban and rural areas. Hospital discharge rates for prescription opioid (PO) poisoning spread from rural and suburban/exurban hot-spots to urban areas, suggesting spatial contagion. The distribution of age-related and work-place-related sources of medical need for POs in rural areas and, to a lesser extent, the availability of

Wind potential assessment in urban area of Surakarta city

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tjahjana, Dominicus Danardono Dwi Prija; Halomoan, Arnold Thamrin; Wibowo, Andreas; Himawanto, Dwi Aries; Wicaksono, Yoga Arob

2018-02-01

Wind energy is one of the promising energy resource in urban area that has not been deeply explored in Indonesia. Generally the wind velocity in Indonesia is relatively low, however on the roof top of the high rise building in urban area the wind velocity is high enough to be converted for supporting the energy needs of the building. In this research a feasibility study of wind energy in urban area of Surakarta was done. The analysis of the wind energy potential on the height of 50 m was done by using Weibull distribution. The wind data based on the daily wind speed taken from 2011-2015. From the result of the wind speed analysis, a wind map in Surakarta was developed for helping to determine the places that have good potential in wind energy. The result showed that in five years the city of Surakarta had mean energy density (ED) of 139.43 W/m2, yearly energy available (EI) of 1221.4 kWh/m2/year, the most frequent wind velocity (VFmax) of 4.79 m/s, and the velocity contributing the maximum energy (VEmax) of 6.97 m/s. The direction of the wind was mostly from south, with frequency of 38%. The south and west area of the city had higher wind velocity than the other parts of the city. Also in those areas there are many high rise buildings, which are appropriate for installation of small wind turbine on the roof top (building mounted wind turbine/ BMWT).

Consideration of Environmental Factors in Planning and Development of Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kustysheva, I.

2017-11-01

Environmental factors, in varying degrees, always have a direct influence on the urban environment formation and the provision of favorable and safe conditions for the life of the population. Their role in the planning and development of urban areas remains an integral part of the management of such areas. Management should be aimed at improving the efficiency of use of the territories and ecological environment improvement. Planning must be done with the consideration of identified ecological processes in cities on the basis of the information about their occurrence in the past and present. Currently, cities face a multitude of problems that require urgent and immediate solutions. One of the most important issues is the poor state of the urban environment, so the environmental factors remain one of the most critical problems that should be considered by the authorities while implementing the urban areas’ development plans. The article discusses the role of environmental factors in the management and planning of urban territories by the example of the city of Tobolsk.

Influences of land cover types, meteorological conditions, anthropogenic heat and urban area on surface urban heat island in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration.

PubMed

Du, Hongyu; Wang, Duoduo; Wang, Yuanyuan; Zhao, Xiaolei; Qin, Fei; Jiang, Hong; Cai, Yongli

2016-11-15

Urban heat islands (UHIs) reflect the localized impact of human activities on thermal fields. In this study, we assessed the surface UHI and its relationship with types of land, meteorological conditions, anthropogenic heat sources and urban areas in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) with the aid of remote sensing data, statistical data and meteorological data. The results showed that the UHI intensity in YRDUA was the strongest (0.84°C) in summer, followed by 0.81°C in autumn, 0.78°C in spring and 0.53°C in winter. The daytime UHI intensity is 0.98°C, which is higher than the nighttime UHI intensity of 0.50°C. Then, the relationship between the UHI intensity and several factors such as meteorological conditions, anthropogenic heat sources and the urban area were analysed. The results indicated that there was an insignificant correlation between population density and the UHI intensity. Energy consumption, average temperature and urban area had a significant positive correlation with UHI intensity. However, the average wind speed and average precipitation were significantly negatively correlated with UHI intensity. This study provides insight into the regional climate characteristics and a scientific basis for city layout. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hierarchical filters determine community assembly of urban species pools

Treesearch

Myla F.J. Aronson; Charles H. Nilon; Christopher A. Lepczyk; Tommy S. Parker; Paige S. Warren; Sarel S. Cilliers; Mark A. Goddard; Amy K. Hahs; Cecilia Herzog; Madhusudan Katti; Frank A. La Sorte; Nicholas S.G. Williams; Wayne  Zipperer

2016-01-01

The majority of humanity now lives in cities or towns, with this proportion expected to continue increasing for the foreseeable future. As novel ecosystems, urban areas offer an ideal opportunity to examine multi-scalar processes involved in community assembly as well as the role of human activities in modulating environmental drivers of biodiversity. Although...

Contribution of directly connected and isolated impervious areas to urban drainage network hydrographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Y.; Choi, N.-J.; Schmidt, A. R.

2013-05-01

This paper addresses the mass balance error observed in runoff hydrographs in urban watersheds by introducing assumptions regarding the contribution of infiltrated rainfall from pervious areas and isolated impervious area (IIA) to the runoff hydrograph. Rainfall infiltrating into pervious areas has been assumed not to contribute to the runoff hydrograph until Hortonian excess rainfall occurs. However, mass balance analysis in an urban watershed indicates that rainfall infiltrated to pervious areas can contribute to direct runoff hydrograph, thereby offering an explanation for the long hydrograph tail commonly observed in runoff from urban storm sewers. In this study, a hydrologic analysis based on the width function is introduced, with two types of width functions obtained from both pervious and impervious areas, respectively. The width function can be regarded as the direct interpretation of the network response. These two width functions are derived to obtain distinct response functions for directly connected impervious areas (DCIA), IIA, and pervious areas. The results show significant improvement in the estimation of runoff hydrographs and suggest the need to consider the flow contribution from pervious areas to the runoff hydrograph. It also implies that additional contribution from flow paths through joints and cracks in sewer pipes needs to be taken into account to improve the estimation of runoff hydrographs in urban catchments.

Contribution of directly connected and isolated impervious areas to urban drainage network hydrographs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, Y.; Choi, N.-J.; Schmidt, A. R.

2013-09-01

This paper addresses the mass balance error observed in runoff hydrographs in urban watersheds by introducing assumptions regarding the contribution of infiltrated rainfall from pervious areas and isolated impervious area (IIA) to the runoff hydrograph. Rainfall infiltrating into pervious areas has been assumed not to contribute to the runoff hydrograph until Hortonian excess rainfall occurs. However, mass balance analysis in an urban watershed indicates that rainfall infiltrated to pervious areas can contribute directly to the runoff hydrograph, thereby offering an explanation for the long hydrograph tail commonly observed in runoff from urban storm sewers. In this study, a hydrologic analysis based on the width function is introduced, with two types of width functions obtained from both pervious and impervious areas, respectively. The width function can be regarded as the direct interpretation of the network response. These two width functions are derived to obtain distinct response functions for directly connected impervious areas (DCIA), IIA, and pervious areas. The results show significant improvement in the estimation of runoff hydrographs and suggest the need to consider the flow contribution from pervious areas to the runoff hydrograph. It also implies that additional contribution from flow paths through joints and cracks in sewer pipes needs to be taken into account to improve the estimation of runoff hydrographs in urban catchments.

Collecting standardized urban health indicator data at an individual level for school-aged children living in urban areas: methods from EURO-URHIS 2.

PubMed

Pope, D; Katreniak, Z; Guha, J; Puzzolo, E; Higgerson, J; Steels, S; Woode-Owusu, M; Bruce, N; Birt, Christopher A; Ameijden, E van; Verma, A

2017-05-01

Measuring health and its determinants in urban populations is essential to effectively develop public health policies maximizing health gain within this context. Adolescents are important in this regard given the origins of leading causes of morbidity and mortality develop pre-adulthood. Comprehensive, accurate and comparable information on adolescent urban health indicators from heterogeneous urban contexts is an important challenge. EURO-URHIS 2 aimed to develop standardized tools and methodologies collecting data from adolescents across heterogenous European urban contexts. Questionnaires were developed including (i) comprehensive assessment of urban health indicators from 7 pre-defined domains, (ii) use of previously validated questions from a literature review and other European surveys, (iii) translation/back-translation into European languages and (iv) piloting. Urban area-specific data collection methodologies were established through literature review, consultation and piloting. School-based surveys of 14-16-year olds (400-800 per urban area) were conducted in 13 European countries (33 urban areas). Participation rates were high (80-100%) for students from schools taking part in the surveys from all urban areas, and data quality was generally good (low rates of missing/spoiled data). Overall, 13 850 questionnaires were collected, coded and entered for EURO-URHIS 2. Dissemination included production of urban area health profiles (allowing benchmarking for a number of important public health indicators in young people) and use of visualization tools as part of the EURO-URHIS 2 project. EURO-URHIS 2 has developed standardized survey tools and methodologies for assessing key measures of health and its determinants in adolescents from heterogenous urban contexts and demonstrated the utility of this data to public health practitioners and policy makers. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association

Urban area delineation and detection of change along the urban-rural boundary as derived from LANDSAT digital data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Christenson, J. W.; Lachowski, H. M.

1977-01-01

LANDSAT digital multispectral scanner data, in conjunction with supporting ground truth, were investigated to determine their utility in delineation of urban-rural boundaries. The digital data for the metropolitan areas of Washington, D. C.; Austin, Texas; and Seattle, Washingtion; were processed using an interactive image processing system. Processing focused on identification of major land cover types typical of the zone of transition from urban to rural landscape, and definition of their spectral signatures. Census tract boundaries were input into the interactive image processing system along with the LANDSAT single and overlayed multiple date MSS data. Results of this investigation indicate that satellite collected information has a practical application to the problem of urban area delineation and to change detection.

On the pollutant removal, dispersion, and entrainment over two-dimensional idealized street canyons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chun-Ho; Wong, Colman C. C.

2014-01-01

Pollutant dispersion over urban areas is not that well understood, in particular at the street canyon scale. This study is therefore conceived to examine how urban morphology modifies the pollutant removal, dispersion, and entrainment over urban areas. An idealized computational domain consisting of 12 two-dimensional (2D) identical street canyons of unity aspect ratio is employed. The large-eddy simulation (LES) is used to calculate the turbulent flows and pollutant transport in the urban boundary layer (UBL). An area source of uniform pollutant concentration is applied on the ground of the first street canyon. A close examination on the roof-level turbulence reveals patches of low-speed air masses in the streamwise flows and narrow high-speed downdrafts in the shear layer. Different from the flows over a smooth surface, the turbulence intensities are peaked near the top of the building roughness. The pollutant is rather uniformly distributed inside a street canyon but disperses quickly in the UBL over the buildings. Partitioning the vertical pollutant flux into its mean and turbulent components demystifies that the pollutant removal is mainly governed by turbulence. Whereas, mean wind carries pollutant into and out of a street canyon simultaneously. In addition to wind speed promotion, turbulent mixing is thus required to dilute the ground-level pollutants, which are then removed from the street canyon to the UBL. Atmospheric flows slow down rapidly after the leeward buildings, leading to updrafts carrying pollutants away from the street canyons (the basic pollutant removal mechanism).

A new vertical axis wind turbine design for urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frunzulica, Florin; Cismilianu, Alexandru; Boros, Alexandru; Dumitrache, Alexandru; Suatean, Bogdan

2016-06-01

In this paper we aim at developing the model of a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) with the short-term goal of physically realising this turbine to operate at a maximmum power of 5 kW. The turbine is designed for household users in the urban or rural areas and remote or isolated residential areas (hardly accsessible). The proposed model has a biplane configuration on each arm of the VAWT (3 × 2 = 6 blades), allowing for increased performance of the turbine at TSR between 2 and 2.5 (urban area operation) compared to the classic vertical axis turbines. Results that validate the proposed configuration as well as passive control methods to increase the performance of the classic VAWTs are presented.

Urban area and green space: volume estimation using medium resolution satellite imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handayani, H. H.

2017-12-01

The latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects predicts the world's urban population to increase by 1.4 billion between 2010 and 2030, 60% of the population will live in cities. Consequently, this expansion affects the existence of ecosystem services in the context of sustainability environment. Green space is a focal point of the ecological system and is affected by the urbanization process. The green space has essential functions in cleaning the water, adjusting the microclimate, eliminating noise, and beautifying the surrounding makes the green quantity as well as quality very vital to its existence. The urban expansion leads the growth into vertical development. Therefore, the third dimension using urban volume as an indicator of vertical development is introduced. Therefore, this study estimates the urban and green volume by using medium resolution remote sensing. Surabaya is used as a case study since the city has grown up significantly in both of population and capital investment in this decade. Here, urban and green volume is investigated by ALOS datasets with urban referring built-up. Also, we examine the area with low and high green volume by performing hot and cold spots analysis. The average of built-up volume reaches 173.05 m3/pixel presented by the building for a residential single house with the height less than 7m. The average of green volume is 14.74m3/pixel performed by the vegetation with the height generally 0.6 to 1m which is frequently planted in the backyard of house. However, the ratio of green volume to the built-up volume shows a small portion which is around 8.52%. Therefore, we identify the hot and cold spots, we evaluate 5 areas having cold spot regarding lack of green volume. The two locations of cold spot are located in the northern part and another is in the southern part. Those areas have high number of built-up volume which is in particularly as sub-CBD area. We emphasize that the improvement of green quantity is needed

[Family planning status and dissemination of contraceptive methods in urban slum areas].

PubMed

Cho, K S

1976-04-01

In May 1974 the Korean Government adopted an urban slum family planning project. The Korean Institute for Family Planning conducted a survey of 414 married women aged 20-44 in Jeonnam province, Yeo soo city. 85% of the women had heard or seen the term "family planning" before, and health centers and family planning fieldworkers ranked high (47%) as sources. 76.6% approved of the concept of family planning, and 79% indicated they agreed with the slogan "Daughter-son, without distinction: stop at 2 and raise them well." 50.5% of the women said they decided to practice contraception; of those currently practicing (25.8%) 37.4% were using the loop and 29% were taking the pill. 65% of the 414 respondents reported that they were born in rural areas, and 53.4% said they belonged to the lower class. 14% had never attended a family planning meeting, and 71% had never received any family planning materials. More than 1/2 of the women were under age 34, and their ideal number of children was 3.4. The average number of living children was 3.2, but a considerable proportion wanted no additional children.

Development of Inspection and Investigation Techniques to Prepare Debris Flow in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seong, Joo-Hyun; Jung, Min-Hyeong; Park, Kyung-Han; An, Jai-Wook; Kim, Jiseong

2017-04-01

Due to the urban development, various facilities are located in mountainous areas near the city, and the damage to the occurrence of the debris flow is increasing in the urban area. However, quantitative inspection and investigation techniques are not sufficient for preparing debris flow in the urban area around the world. Therefore, in this study, we developed the debris flow inspection and investigation techniques, which are suitable for urban characteristics, regarding the soil hazard prevention and restoration in urban area. First, the inspection and investigation system is divided into the daily occurrence and the occurrence of the soil hazard event, and the inspection / investigation flow chart were developed based on the kind of inspection and correspondence required for each situation. The types of inspections applied in this study were determined as daily inspection, regular inspections, special emergency inspection, damage emergency inspection and In-depth safety inspection. The management agency, term of inspection, objects to be inspected, and contents of inspection work were presented according to type of each inspection. The daily inspection routinely checks for signs of collapse and conditions of facilities in urban areas which show vulnerability for soil hazard and that are conducted from the management agency. In the case of regular inspection, an expert for soil hazards regularly conducts detailed visual surveys on mountainous areas, steep slopes, prevention facilities and adjacent facilities in vulnerable areas. On the other hand, it was decided that the emergency inspection is carried out in the event of the occurrence of vulnerable element or soil hazards. Acknowledgement This study was conducted with the research iund support by the constructiontechnology research project of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (project number 16SCIP-B069989-04)

Size Matters: What Are the Characteristic Source Areas for Urban Planning Strategies?

PubMed Central

Fan, Chao; Myint, Soe W.; Wang, Chenghao

2016-01-01

Urban environmental measurements and observational statistics should reflect the properties generated over an adjacent area of adequate length where homogeneity is usually assumed. The determination of this characteristic source area that gives sufficient representation of the horizontal coverage of a sensing instrument or the fetch of transported quantities is of critical importance to guide the design and implementation of urban landscape planning strategies. In this study, we aim to unify two different methods for estimating source areas, viz. the statistical correlation method commonly used by geographers for landscape fragmentation and the mechanistic footprint model by meteorologists for atmospheric measurements. Good agreement was found in the intercomparison of the estimate of source areas by the two methods, based on 2-m air temperature measurement collected using a network of weather stations. The results can be extended to shed new lights on urban planning strategies, such as the use of urban vegetation for heat mitigation. In general, a sizable patch of landscape is required in order to play an effective role in regulating the local environment, proportional to the height at which stakeholders’ interest is mainly concerned. PMID:27832111

Applied Linguistics and the Responsibilities of the Urban University.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bronstein, Arthur J.; Stewart, William A.

The City University of New York is an ideal home for the doctoral training center in urban and applied linguistics since it is located in an area with a large number of non-English speakers demonstrating varied dialect forms, immigrant groups from many countries, and individuals representing all economic and social levels. In addition, there are…

BOOK REVIEW (ABSTRACT FORMAT) "WATER FOR URBAN AREAS: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES"

EPA Science Inventory

This book is a compilation of papers from the Sixth Global Environmental Forum, convened by the United Nations University in Tokyo, Japan in June 1997 on "Water for Urban Areas in the 21st Century." This book has a broad perspective of urban water including drinking, wastewater ...

A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas.

PubMed

Hahs, Amy K; McDonnell, Mark J; McCarthy, Michael A; Vesk, Peter A; Corlett, Richard T; Norton, Briony A; Clemants, Steven E; Duncan, Richard P; Thompson, Ken; Schwartz, Mark W; Williams, Nicholas S G

2009-11-01

Plant extinctions from urban areas are a growing threat to biodiversity worldwide. To minimize this threat, it is critical to understand what factors are influencing plant extinction rates. We compiled plant extinction rate data for 22 cities around the world. Two-thirds of the variation in plant extinction rates was explained by a combination of the city's historical development and the current proportion of native vegetation, with the former explaining the greatest variability. As a single variable, the amount of native vegetation remaining also influenced extinction rates, particularly in cities > 200 years old. Our study demonstrates that the legacies of landscape transformations by agrarian and urban development last for hundreds of years, and modern cities potentially carry a large extinction debt. This finding highlights the importance of preserving native vegetation in urban areas and the need for mitigation to minimize potential plant extinctions in the future.

Comparison of domestic violence against women in urban versus rural areas of southeast Nigeria.

PubMed

Ajah, Leonard Ogbonna; Iyoke, Chukwuemeka Anthony; Nkwo, Peter Onubiwe; Nwakoby, Boniface; Ezeonu, Paul

2014-01-01

The perception and prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in rural areas is poorly understood; the result is that most efforts at eradicating this harmful practice are concentrated in urban areas. The objective of the study was to compare the burden and perception of DV among women living in rural and urban Igbo communities of southeast Nigeria. This was a comparative, cross-sectional study of women residing in rural and urban communities in Enugu, Nigeria, who had gathered for an annual religious meeting from August 1-7, 2011. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics and was conducted with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, software version 17.0, at a 95% level of confidence. A total of 836 women who met the eligibility criteria participated in the survey. Of these, 376 were from Okpanku, a rural community, while 460 were from Ogui Nike, an urban community. The prevalence of DV among rural women was significantly higher than that among urban women (97% versus 81%, P<0.001). In particular, the prevalence of physical violence was significantly higher among rural women than among urban women (37.2% versus 23.5%; P=0.05). In contrast, rural and urban women did not differ significantly in the proportions that had experienced psychological or sexual violence. The proportion of women who believed that DV was excusable was significantly higher among rural dwellers than among urban dwellers (58.5% versus 29.6%; P=0.03). The burden of DV against women may be higher in rural communities than in urban communities in southeast Nigeria. More rural women perceived DV as excusable; this finding suggests that factors that sustain DV could be strong in rural areas. A comprehensive program to curb DV in this area may need to significantly involve the rural areas.

Comparison of domestic violence against women in urban versus rural areas of southeast Nigeria

PubMed Central

Ajah, Leonard Ogbonna; Iyoke, Chukwuemeka Anthony; Nkwo, Peter Onubiwe; Nwakoby, Boniface; Ezeonu, Paul

2014-01-01

Background The perception and prevalence of domestic violence (DV) in rural areas is poorly understood; the result is that most efforts at eradicating this harmful practice are concentrated in urban areas. The objective of the study was to compare the burden and perception of DV among women living in rural and urban Igbo communities of southeast Nigeria. Methods This was a comparative, cross-sectional study of women residing in rural and urban communities in Enugu, Nigeria, who had gathered for an annual religious meeting from August 1–7, 2011. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics and was conducted with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, software version 17.0, at a 95% level of confidence. Results A total of 836 women who met the eligibility criteria participated in the survey. Of these, 376 were from Okpanku, a rural community, while 460 were from Ogui Nike, an urban community. The prevalence of DV among rural women was significantly higher than that among urban women (97% versus 81%, P<0.001). In particular, the prevalence of physical violence was significantly higher among rural women than among urban women (37.2% versus 23.5%; P=0.05). In contrast, rural and urban women did not differ significantly in the proportions that had experienced psychological or sexual violence. The proportion of women who believed that DV was excusable was significantly higher among rural dwellers than among urban dwellers (58.5% versus 29.6%; P=0.03). Conclusion The burden of DV against women may be higher in rural communities than in urban communities in southeast Nigeria. More rural women perceived DV as excusable; this finding suggests that factors that sustain DV could be strong in rural areas. A comprehensive program to curb DV in this area may need to significantly involve the rural areas. PMID:25336992

Determining effective roadway design treatments for transitioning from rural areas to urban areas on state highways : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-09-01

This report reviews an Oregon research effort to identify ways to calm operating speeds as the vehicles transition into developed suburban/urban areas from rural roads. Drivers of vehicles approaching the urban environment have few visual cues to red...

Ideal AFROC and FROC observers.

PubMed

Khurd, Parmeshwar; Liu, Bin; Gindi, Gene

2010-02-01

Detection of multiple lesions in images is a medically important task and free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) analyses and its variants, such as alternative FROC (AFROC) analyses, are commonly used to quantify performance in such tasks. However, ideal observers that optimize FROC or AFROC performance metrics have not yet been formulated in the general case. If available, such ideal observers may turn out to be valuable for imaging system optimization and in the design of computer aided diagnosis techniques for lesion detection in medical images. In this paper, we derive ideal AFROC and FROC observers. They are ideal in that they maximize, amongst all decision strategies, the area, or any partial area, under the associated AFROC or FROC curve. Calculation of observer performance for these ideal observers is computationally quite complex. We can reduce this complexity by considering forms of these observers that use false positive reports derived from signal-absent images only. We also consider a Bayes risk analysis for the multiple-signal detection task with an appropriate definition of costs. A general decision strategy that minimizes Bayes risk is derived. With particular cost constraints, this general decision strategy reduces to the decision strategy associated with the ideal AFROC or FROC observer.

Automatic Line Network Extraction from Aerial Imagery of Urban Areas through Knowledge Based Image Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-08-01

Automatic Line Network Extraction from Aerial Imangery of Urban Areas Sthrough KnowledghBased Image Analysis N 04 Final Technical ReportI December...Automatic Line Network Extraction from Aerial Imagery of Urban Areas through Knowledge Based Image Analysis Accesion For NTIS CRA&I DTIC TAB 0...paittern re’ognlition. blac’kboardl oriented symbollic processing, knowledge based image analysis , image understanding, aer’ial imsagery, urban area, 17

Urban enhancement of the heat waves in Madrid and its metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez, F.; Rasilla, D.

2009-04-01

The urban heat island (UHI) is a worldwide phenomenon that causes an increase of the temperatures in the centre of the cities. The process of urbanization has developed an intense urban heat island in Madrid, with temperature differences up to 10°C higher than the surrounding rural environment. Such differences may potentially increase the magnitude and duration of heat waves within cities, exacerbating their most negative effects over human health, particularly by night, as it deprives urban residents of the cool relief found in rural areas. In this contribution we study the long term trends on warm extreme temperature episodes in the Madrid metropolitan area, and their impact at local scale, on the onw city of Madrid. For the first task, we have compared maximum and minimum temperatures from rural (Barajas and Torrejón) and urban (El Retiro, Cuatro Vientos, Getafe) stations from 1961-2008; for the second one a local network of automated meteorological stations inside the city provided hourly data from the 2002-2004 years. Finally, the 2003 heat wave is used as an example of the spatial and temporal patterns of temperature and ozone concentrations during those extreme episodes. Our results show a regional increase in the frequency and duration of those extreme warm episodes since the end of the 80´s, although their absolute magnitude remains unchanged. The urban environment exacerbates the heat load due to the persistence of the high temperatures during the night-time hours, as it is shown by the above average number of tropical nights (> 20°C) inside the urban spaces, simultaneous to the increasing trend of maximum temperatures. Besides, the diversity of urban morphologies introduces a spatial variability on the strength of this nocturnal heat load, aggravating it in the densely urbanized areas and mitigating it in the vicinities of the green areas. The regional meteorological conditions associated to these warm episodes, characterized also by low wind speed

[The creation of the informal sector in urban areas].

PubMed

Papayungan, M M

1984-12-01

The development of the informal sector of the economy in urban areas of Indonesia is analyzed. The author notes that this sector is dominated by high rates of migration from rural areas, limited employment opportunities for the unskilled in the modern sector, and a demand for low-priced services and products from the informal sector. (summary in ENG)

Modeling and predicting urban growth pattern of the Tokyo metropolitan area based on cellular automata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yaolong; Zhao, Junsan; Murayama, Yuji

2008-10-01

The period of high economic growth in Japan which began in the latter half of the 1950s led to a massive migration of population from rural regions to the Tokyo metropolitan area. This phenomenon brought about rapid urban growth and urban structure changes in this area. Purpose of this study is to establish a constrained CA (Cellular Automata) model with GIS (Geographical Information Systems) to simulate urban growth pattern in the Tokyo metropolitan area towards predicting urban form and landscape for the near future. Urban land-use is classified into multi-categories for interpreting the effect of interaction among land-use categories in the spatial process of urban growth. Driving factors of urban growth pattern, such as land condition, railway network, land-use zoning, random perturbation, and neighborhood interaction and so forth, are explored and integrated into this model. These driving factors are calibrated based on exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), spatial statistics, logistic regression, and "trial and error" approach. The simulation is assessed at both macro and micro classification levels in three ways: visual approach; fractal dimension; and spatial metrics. Results indicate that this model provides an effective prototype to simulate and predict urban growth pattern of the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Increased atmospheric deposition of mercury in reference lakes near major urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Metre, P.C.

2012-01-01

Atmospheric deposition of Hg is the predominant pathway for Hg to reach sensitive ecosystems, but the importance of emissions on near-field deposition remains unclear. To better understand spatial variability in Hg deposition, mercury concentrations were analyzed in sediment cores from 12 lakes with undeveloped watersheds near to (<50 km) and remote from (>150 km) several major urban areas in the United States. Background and focusing corrected Hg fluxes and flux ratios (modern to background) in the near-urban lakes (68 ?? 6.9 ??g m -2 yr -1 and 9.8 ?? 4.8, respectively) greatly exceed those in the remote lakes (14 ?? 9.3 ??g m -2 yr -1 and 3.5 ?? 1.0) and the fluxes are strongly related to distance from the nearest major urban area (r 2 = 0.87) and to population and Hg emissions within 50-100 km of the lakes. Comparison to monitored wet deposition suggests that dry deposition is a major contributor of Hg to lakes near major urban areas. ?? 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Variations in life expectancy between rural and urban areas of England, 2001-07.

PubMed

Kyte, Lynsey; Wells, Claudia

2010-01-01

This study was part of a wider project commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to examine inequalities in health outcomes in rural areas. It investigated variations in life expectancy at birth between rural and urban areas of England, taking the effect of deprivation into account. The study aimed to produce results which provide specific evidence of the needs of rural communities, as they have often been overlooked in previous research. The Rural and Urban Area Classification (RUAC) 2004 and the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 were used to categorise area types at the Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) level. Population and mortality data used were produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Abridged life tables were constructed to calculate period life expectancy at birth for males and females, for the years 2001 to 2007 combined. Confidence intervals (95%) were also produced. For the 2001-07 period, life expectancy at birth in England was 76.9 years for males and 81.3 years for females. However, when deprivation was examined, results between the most deprived and least deprived quintiles varied by 7.8 years for men and 5.4 years for women.Overall, life expectancy was higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Deprivation had a considerable impact on the results and wide inequalities were evident, particularly in men and in urban areas. In both area types, males living in the less deprived quintiles had similar life expectancies to females living in the more deprived quintiles.Within rural area types, life expectancy was higher in village and dispersed settlements than in town and fringe areas. There were large differences between the fourth and fifth (most deprived) quintiles in village and dispersed settlements, which shows that there may be acute pockets of deprivation within this area type that need to be addressed.In terms of sparsity, there was little difference in life expectancy between densely and less

[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.

Generation of a U.S. national urban land use product

USGS Publications Warehouse

Falcone, James A.; Homer, Collin G.

2012-01-01

Characterization of urban land uses is essential for many applications. However, differentiating among thematically-detailed urban land uses (residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, recreational, etc.) over broad areas is challenging, in part because image-based solutions are not ideal for establishing the contextual basis for identifying economic function and use. At present no current United States national-scale mapping exists for urban land uses similar to the classical Anderson Level II classification. This paper describes a product that maps urban land uses, and is linked to and corresponds with the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2006. In this product, NLCD urban pixels, in addition to their current imperviousness intensity classification, are assigned one of nine urban use classes based on information drawn from multiple data sources. These sources include detailed infrastructure information, population characteristics, and historical land use. The result is a method for creating a 30 m national-scale grid providing thematically-detailed urban land use information which complements the NLCD. Initial results for 10 major metropolitan areas are provided as an on-line link. Accuracy assessment of initial products yielded an overall accuracy of 81.6 percent.

Nonpoint Source: Urban Areas

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Urbanization increases the variety and amount of pollutants carried into our nation's waters. Pavement and compacted landscapes do not allow rain and snow melt to soak into the ground. List of typical pollutants from Urban runoff.

[Ecological environmental quality assessment of Hangzhou urban area based on RS and GIS].

PubMed

Xu, Pengwei; Zhao, Duo

2006-06-01

In allusion to the shortage of traditional ecological environmental quality assessment, this paper studied the spatial distribution of assessing factors at a mid-small scale, and the conversion of integer character to girding assessing cells. The main assessing factors including natural environmental condition, environmental quality, natural landscape and urbanization pressure, which were classified into four types with about eleven assessing factors, were selected from RS images and GIS-spatial analyzing environmental quality vector graph. Based on GIS, a comprehensive assessment model for the ecological environmental quality in Hangzhou urban area was established. In comparison with observed urban heat island effects, the assessment results were in good agreement with the ecological environmental quality in the urban area of Hangzhou.

Comparing earnings profiles in urban areas of an LDC: rural-to-urban migrants vs. native workers.

PubMed

Vijverberg, W P; Zeager, L A

1994-12-01

"We use Tanzanian data to test a recently proposed hypothesis that rural-to-urban migrants have an incentive to supply greater work effort than native urban workers, because of the migrants' positive probability of returning to the low-wage rural areas. We treat the choice between public- and private-sector employment as endogenous and, for theoretical and empirical reasons, distinguish migrants with access to rural land from those without access. Our results show that migrants in both sectors face lower initial wage offers than native urban workers. But, the wage gap is eliminated within a decade or less, and thereafter, migrants surpass the wage offers of native workers." excerpt

Quality of life among residents in a sub-urban area. Case study: Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leh, Oliver Ling Hoon; Mahbot, Norseha Mohd; Asma Aqmalina Hadzaman, Nur; Azyyati Marzukhi, Marlyana; Abdullah, Jamalunlaili

2018-02-01

Along with the sub-urbanisation, people working in urban can stay in the sub-urban areas. Sub-urban housing areas provide cheaper and larger houses and more greenery environment. However, the residents are required to travel in longer distance. The effect on Quality of Life (QOL) due to the migration to sub-urban areas may not be positive even with the better environmental quality and lower direct housing cost. Puncak Alam, a new sub-urban area in Selangor, Malaysia had been chosen as the study area to examine the change of QOL among the residents after they moved into the study area. Through a questionnaire survey, the satisfaction of residents on the various aspects/indicators of QOL were examined. Through the statistical analysis, it is found that slightly more than half of the respondents felt that the QOL was dropped after they were moved to the study area. The sub-urban area did provide better quality for their residents. It had increased respondents’ satisfaction on most of the indicators in the aspects of economic, social and physical. However, due to the decreasing of satisfaction in job opportunities, family life, social activities, safety, and transportation system, most of the respondents were felt that their QOL were dropped.

Conceptual study of superconducting urban area power systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noe, Mathias; Bach, Robert; Prusseit, Werner; Willén, Dag; Gold-acker, Wilfried; Poelchau, Juri; Linke, Christian

2010-06-01

Efficient transmission, distribution and usage of electricity are fundamental requirements for providing citizens, societies and economies with essential energy resources. It will be a major future challenge to integrate more sustainable generation resources, to meet growing electricity demand and to renew electricity networks. Research and development on superconducting equipment and components have an important role to play in addressing these challenges. Up to now, most studies on superconducting applications in power systems have been concentrated on the application of specific devices like for example cables and current limiters. In contrast to this, the main focus of our study is to show the consequence of a large scale integration of superconducting power equipment in distribution level urban power systems. Specific objectives are to summarize the state-of-the-art of superconducting power equipment including cooling systems and to compare the superconducting power system with respect to energy and economic efficiency with conventional solutions. Several scenarios were considered starting from the replacement of an existing distribution level sub-grid up to a full superconducting urban area distribution level power system. One major result is that a full superconducting urban area distribution level power system could be cost competitive with existing solutions in the future. In addition to that, superconducting power systems offer higher energy efficiency as well as a number of technical advantages like lower voltage drops and improved stability.

Can a deprivation index be used legitimately over both urban and rural areas?

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Although widely used, area-based deprivation indices remain sensitive to urban–rural differences as such indices are usually standardised around typical urban values. There is, therefore, a need to determine to what extent available deprivation indices can be used legitimately over both urban and rural areas. Methods This study was carried out in Brittany, France, a relatively affluent region that contains deep rural areas. Among the 1,736 residential census block groups (IRIS) composing the Brittany region, 1,005 (57.9%) are rural. Four deprivation indices were calculated: two scores (Carstairs and Townsend) developed in the UK and two more recent French measures (Havard and Rey). Two standardisation levels were considered: all of the IRIS and only the urban IRIS of the region. Internal validity (Kappa coefficients and entropy values) and external validity (relationship with colorectal cancer screening [CCS] attendance) were investigated. Results Regardless of the deprivation measure used, wealthy areas are mostly clustered in the West and at the outskirts of major towns. Carstairs and Rey scores stand out by all evaluation criteria, capturing both urban and rural deprivation. High levels of agreements were found across standardisation levels (κ = 0.96). The distributions of deprivation scores were balanced across urban and rural areas, and high Shannon entropy values were observed in the capital city (≥0.93). Similar and significant negative trends were observed between CCS attendance and both deprivation indices, independent of the degree of urbanisation. Conclusions These results provide support, despite potential sociological objections, for the use of a compromise index that would facilitate comparisons and interpretations across urban and rural locations in public health research. PMID:24929662

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.

Land subsidence caused by ground water withdrawal in urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holzer, T.L.; Johnson, A.I.

1985-01-01

At least eight urban areas in the world have encountered significant economic impact from land subsidence caused by pumping of ground water from unconsolidated sediment. The areas, most of which are coastal, include Bangkok, Houston, Mexico City, Osaka, San Jose, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Venice. Flooding related to decreased ground elevation is the principal adverse effect of the subsidence. Lesser effects include regional tilting, well-casing failures, "rising" buildings, and ground failure or rupture. Subsidence of most of these urban areas began before the phenomenon was discovered and understood. Thus, the subsidence problems were unanticipated. Methods to arrest subsidence typically have included control of ground water pumping and development of surface water to offset the reductions of ground water pumping. Ground water recharge has also been practiced. Areas threatened by flooding have been protected by extensive networks of dikes and sea walls, locks, and pumping stations to remove storm runoff. ?? 1985 D. Reidel Publishing Company.

Wet nitrogen deposition across the urban-intensive agricultural-rural transect of a small urban area in southwest China.

PubMed

Deng, Ouping; Zhang, Shirong; Deng, Liangji; Zhang, Chunlong; Fei, Jianbo

2018-03-01

Understanding of the spatial and temporal variation of the flux of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is essential for assessment of its impact on ecosystems. However, little attention has been paid to the variability of N deposition across urban-intensive agricultural-rural transects. A continuous 2-year observational study (from January 2015 to December 2016) was conducted to determine wet N deposition across the urban-intensive agricultural-rural transect of a small urban area in southwest China. Significantly spatial and temporal variations were found in the research area. Along the urban-intensive agricultural-rural transect, the TN and NH 4 + -N deposition first increased and then decreased, and the NO 3 - -N and dissolved organic N (DON) deposition decreased continuously. Wet N deposition was mainly affected by the districts of agro-facilities, roads and build up lands. Wet NH 4 + -N deposition had non-seasonal emission sources including industrial emissions and urban excretory wastes in urban districts and seasonal emission sources such as fertilizer and manure volatilization in the other districts. However, wet NO 3 - -N deposition had seasonal emission sources such as industrial emissions and fireworks in urban district and non-seasonal emission sources such as transportation in the other districts. Deposition of DON was likely to have had similar sources to NO 3 - -N deposition in rural district, and high-temperature-dependent sources in urban and intensive agricultural districts. Considering the annual wet TN deposition in the intensive agricultural district was about 11.1% of the annual N fertilizer input, N fertilizer rates of crops should be reduced in this region to avoid the excessive application, and the risk of N emissions to the environment.

Caste and Choice: The Influence of Developmental Idealism on Marriage Behavior

PubMed Central

Allendorf, Keera; Thornton, Arland

2015-01-01

Is young people’s marriage behavior determined by their socioeconomic characteristics or their endorsement of developmental idealism? This article addresses this question using a unique, longitudinal data set from Nepal and provides the first individual-level test of developmental idealism theory. We find that unmarried individuals with greater endorsement of developmental idealism in 2008 were more likely by 2012 to choose their own spouse, including a spouse of a different caste, rather than have an arranged marriage. Those with salaried work experience were also less likely to have arranged marriages, but urban proximity and education were not significant. We conclude that both developmental idealism and socioeconomic characteristics influence marriage and their influences are largely independent. PMID:26430712

[Species composition, distribution and phenological characters of pollen-allergenic plants in Beijing urban area].

PubMed

Ouyang, Zhi-Yun; Xin, Jia-Nan; Zheng, Hua; Meng, Xue-Song; Wang, Xiao-Ke

2007-09-01

In order to know the species composition, distribution pattern, and phenological characteristics of pollen-allergenic plants in Beijing urban area, an investigation was made, combined with literature survey and experts interviews. The results showed that within the fifth ring of Beijing, there were 99 pollen-allergenic plant species belonging to 32 genera and 19 families, among which, 52 species were native plants, accounting for 52.5% of the total, 26 species were introduced from other regions of China, occupying 26.3% of the total, and 21 species were introduced from foreign countries, being 21.2% of the total. The 32 genera of pollen-allergenic plants in Beijing urban area were mainly North Temperate elements, occupying 40.6% , followed by Cosmopolitan and Pantropic elements. In all functional sections of Beijing urban area, the pollen-allergenic plants were most diversified in urban parks, and had the highest proportion in street tree species. The coverage of herbs with strong pollen allergy was in the order of waste lands > gym centers and institution yards > greenbelts > parks > residential areas > squares. The blooming period of pollen-allergenic arbors in Beijing urban area was concentrated in March and April, while that of pollen-allergenic herbs was from July to September.

New Energy Efficient Housing Has Reduced Carbon Footprints in Outer but Not in Inner Urban Areas.

PubMed

Ottelin, Juudit; Heinonen, Jukka; Junnila, Seppo

2015-08-18

Avoiding urban sprawl and increasing density are often considered as effective means to mitigate climate change through urban planning. However, there have been rapid technological changes in the fields of housing energy and private driving, and the development is continuing. In this study, we analyze the carbon footprints of the residents living in new housing in different urban forms in Finland. We compare the new housing to existing housing stock. In all areas, the emissions from housing energy were significantly lower in new buildings. However, in the inner urban areas the high level of consumption, mostly due to higher affluence, reverse the gains of energy efficient new housing. The smallest carbon footprints were found in newly built outer and peri-urban areas, also when income level differences were taken into account. Rather than strengthening the juxtaposition of urban and suburban areas, we suggest that it would be smarter to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of both modes of living and develop a more systemic strategy that would result in greater sustainability in both areas. Since such strategy does not exist yet, it should be researched and practically developed. It would be beneficial to focus on area specific mitigation measures.

Temperature trends and Urban Heat Island intensity mapping of the Las Vegas valley area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, Adam Leland

Modified urban climate regions that are warmer than rural areas at night are referred to as Urban Heat Islands or UHI. Islands of warmer air over a city can be 12 degrees Celsius greater than the surrounding cooler air. The exponential growth in Las Vegas for the last two decades provides an opportunity to detect gradual temperature changes influenced by an increasing presence of urban materials. This thesis compares ground based thermometric observations and satellite based remote sensing temperature observations to identify temperature trends and UHI areas caused by urban development. Analysis of temperature trends between 2000 and 2010 at ground weather stations has revealed a general cooling trend in the Las Vegas region. Results show that urban development accompanied by increased vegetation has a cooling effect in arid climates. Analysis of long term temperature trends at McCarran and Nellis weather stations show 2.4 K and 1.2 K rise in temperature over the last 60 years. The ground weather station temperature data is related to the land surface temperature images from the Landsat Thematic Mapper to estimate and evaluate urban heat island intensity for Las Vegas. Results show that spatial and temporal trends of temperature are related to the gradual change in urban landcover. UHI are mainly observed at the airport and in the industrial areas. This research provides useful insight into the temporal behavior of the Las Vegas area.

School Segregation and Disparities in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas

PubMed Central

Logan, John R.; Burdick-Will, Julia

2018-01-01

Much of the literature on racial and ethnic educational inequality focuses on the contrast between Black and Hispanic students in urban areas and white suburban students. This study extends past research on school segregation and racial/ethnic disparities by highlighting the importance of rural areas and regional variation. Although schools in rural America are disproportionately white, they nevertheless are like urban schools, and disadvantaged relative to suburban schools, in terms of poverty and test performance. The group most affected by rural school disadvantage is Native Americans, who are a small share of students nationally but much more prominent and highly disadvantaged in rural areas, particularly in some parts of the country. These figures suggest a strong case for including rural schools in the continuing conversation about how to deal with unfairness in public education. PMID:29430018

Water Management and Sediment Control for Urbanizing Areas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soil Conservation Service (USDA), Columbus, OH.

This handbook, developed for use by the Soil Conservation Service and property owners, land developers, local government agencies, and consulting firms, is designed to provide information on water management and minimizing erosion on land undergoing development in urban areas. The standards and specifications listed in this handbook are to provide…

Hydrologic data for urban studies in the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area, 1979

USGS Publications Warehouse

Liscum, Fred; Weigel, Jay F.; Bruchmiller, J.P.

1982-01-01

Hydrologic investigations of urban watersheds in Texas were begun by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1954. Studies are now in progress in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the city of Houston, began studies in the Houston metropolitan area in 1964. The program was expanded in 1968 to include collection of water-quality data. The objectives of the Houston urban-hydrology study are as follows:To determine, on the basis of historical data and hydro!ogic analyses, the magnitude and frequency of flood peaks and flood volumes.To determine the effect of urban development on flood peaks and volumes.To ascertain the variation in water quality for different flow conditions and different seasons.This report, the sixteenth in a series of reports to be published annually, is primarily applicable to objective 2. The report presents hydro!ogic data collected in the Houston urban area for the 1979 water year (October 1, 1978 to September 30, 1979).A report by Johnson and Sayre (1973) utilized records collected from 1965 to 1969 to make a study of the effects of urbanization on floods in the Houston area. The report also summarizes various basin parameters. A report by Waddell, Massey, and Jennings (1979) presents data on computed runoff from the Houston area and computed concentrations and loads of selected waterquality constituents combined in the inflow to Galveston Bay. The study utilized a variation of the "STORM" model developed by the Hydro!ogic Engineering Center of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A report prepared by Li scum and Massey (1980) presents a technique for estimating the magnitude and frequency of floods in the Houston area from drainage areas, bank-full conveyance, and percentage of urban development.A definition of terms related to streamflow, water quality, and other hydrologic data, as used in this report, are defined in "U.S. Geological Survey, Water-resources data for Texas, volume 2, 1979."To facilitate the

Urban forest restoration cost modeling: a Seattle natural areas case study

Treesearch

Jean M. Daniels; Weston Brinkley; Michael D. Paruszkiewicz

2016-01-01

Cities have become more committed to ecological restoration and management activities in urban natural areas. Data about costs are needed for better planning and reporting. The objective of this study is to estimate the costs for restoration activities in urban parks and green space in Seattle, Washington. Stewardship activity data were generated from a new database...

Where is the UK's pollinator biodiversity? The importance of urban areas for flower-visiting insects.

PubMed

Baldock, Katherine C R; Goddard, Mark A; Hicks, Damien M; Kunin, William E; Mitschunas, Nadine; Osgathorpe, Lynne M; Potts, Simon G; Robertson, Kirsty M; Scott, Anna V; Stone, Graham N; Vaughan, Ian P; Memmott, Jane

2015-03-22

Insect pollinators provide a crucial ecosystem service, but are under threat. Urban areas could be important for pollinators, though their value relative to other habitats is poorly known. We compared pollinator communities using quantified flower-visitation networks in 36 sites (each 1 km(2)) in three landscapes: urban, farmland and nature reserves. Overall, flower-visitor abundance and species richness did not differ significantly between the three landscape types. Bee abundance did not differ between landscapes, but bee species richness was higher in urban areas than farmland. Hoverfly abundance was higher in farmland and nature reserves than urban sites, but species richness did not differ significantly. While urban pollinator assemblages were more homogeneous across space than those in farmland or nature reserves, there was no significant difference in the numbers of rarer species between the three landscapes. Network-level specialization was higher in farmland than urban sites. Relative to other habitats, urban visitors foraged from a greater number of plant species (higher generality) but also visited a lower proportion of available plant species (higher specialization), both possibly driven by higher urban plant richness. Urban areas are growing, and improving their value for pollinators should be part of any national strategy to conserve and restore pollinators.

Where is the UK's pollinator biodiversity? The importance of urban areas for flower-visiting insects

PubMed Central

Baldock, Katherine C. R.; Goddard, Mark A.; Hicks, Damien M.; Kunin, William E.; Mitschunas, Nadine; Osgathorpe, Lynne M.; Potts, Simon G.; Robertson, Kirsty M.; Scott, Anna V.; Stone, Graham N.; Vaughan, Ian P.; Memmott, Jane

2015-01-01

Insect pollinators provide a crucial ecosystem service, but are under threat. Urban areas could be important for pollinators, though their value relative to other habitats is poorly known. We compared pollinator communities using quantified flower-visitation networks in 36 sites (each 1 km2) in three landscapes: urban, farmland and nature reserves. Overall, flower-visitor abundance and species richness did not differ significantly between the three landscape types. Bee abundance did not differ between landscapes, but bee species richness was higher in urban areas than farmland. Hoverfly abundance was higher in farmland and nature reserves than urban sites, but species richness did not differ significantly. While urban pollinator assemblages were more homogeneous across space than those in farmland or nature reserves, there was no significant difference in the numbers of rarer species between the three landscapes. Network-level specialization was higher in farmland than urban sites. Relative to other habitats, urban visitors foraged from a greater number of plant species (higher generality) but also visited a lower proportion of available plant species (higher specialization), both possibly driven by higher urban plant richness. Urban areas are growing, and improving their value for pollinators should be part of any national strategy to conserve and restore pollinators. PMID:25673686

Monitoring Urbanization Processes from Space: Using Landsat Imagery to Detect Built-Up Areas at Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldblatt, R.; You, W.; Hanson, G.; Khandelwal, A. K.

2016-12-01

Urbanization is one of the most fundamental trends of the past two centuries and a key force shaping almost all dimensions of modern society. Monitoring the spatial extent of cities and their dynamics be means of remote sensing methods is crucial for many research domains, as well as to city and regional planning and to policy making. Yet the majority of urban research is being done in small scales, due, in part, to computational limitation. With the increasing availability of parallel computing platforms with large storage capacities, such as Google Earth Engine (GEE), researchers can scale up the spatial and the temporal units of analysis and investigate urbanization processes over larger areas and over longer periods of time. In this study we present a methodology that is designed to capture temporal changes in the spatial extent of urban areas at the national level. We utilize a large scale ground-truth dataset containing examples of "built-up" and "not built-up" areas from across India. This dataset, which was collected based on 2016 high-resolution imagery, is used for supervised pixel-based image classification in GEE. We assess different types of classifiers and inputs and demonstrate that with Landsat 8 as the classifier`s input, Random Forest achieves a high accuracy rate of around 87%. Although performance with Landsat 8 as the input exceeds that of Landsat 7, with the addition of several per-pixel computed indices to Landsat 7 - NDVI, NDBI, MNDWI and SAVI - the classifier`s sensitivity improves by around 10%. We use Landsat 7 to detect temporal changes in the extent of urban areas. The classifier is trained with 2016 imagery as the input - for which ground truth data is available - and is used the to detect urban areas over the historical imagery. We demonstrate that this classification produces high quality maps of urban extent over time. We compare the classification result with numerous datasets of urban areas (e.g. MODIS, DMSP-OLS and WorldPop) and

[Urban and population development of the city of Puebla and its metropolitan area].

PubMed

Barbosa Prieto, A

1991-12-01

Metropolitanization has been considered an important problem of regional development in developing countries. Attitudes toward the metropolis have been ambivalent in Latin America. On the 1 hand the metropolis is viewed as an obstacle to development that absorbs resources from the zone of influence and incurs high social costs of urbanization, but on the hand it is also viewed as a form of achieving levels of economic efficiency comparable to those of developed countries. Metropolitan areas should not be viewed as isolated, but rather as important points of demographic and manpower attraction, poles of economic growth and technological and cultural innovation. "Urban areas" and "metropolitan zones" are distinct ways of defining and delimiting urban phenomena. Although there is no consensus as to the exact definitions of these 2 urban units, it is generally accepted that the urban area is the city itself as well as the contiguous built up area reaching in all directions to the onset of nonurban land uses such as forests territorial extension that includes the politico-administrative units with urban characteristics such as work places and residences for nonagricultural workers, and that maintain constant and intense socioeconomic interrelations with the central city. The process of urban planning in the metropolitan zone of Puebla, Mexico, began in institutional form in 1980 with master plans for the population centers of Puebla, Amozoc, San Andres and San Pedro Cholula, and Zacatelco in the state of Tlaxcala. In 1987., an attempt was made by the governments of the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala to develop a plan for the metropolitan zone as a single unit. Population growth was greater within the city of Puebla than in the metropolitan zone from 1960-80, but after 1980 growth in the outlying areas exceeded that in the center city. The population density of the city of Puebla declined from 160/hectare in 1950 to 76/hectare in 1990, the result of progressive dispersion

Soil respiration contributes substantially to urban carbon fluxes in the greater Boston area.

PubMed

Decina, Stephen M; Hutyra, Lucy R; Gately, Conor K; Getson, Jackie M; Reinmann, Andrew B; Short Gianotti, Anne G; Templer, Pamela H

2016-05-01

Urban areas are the dominant source of U.S. fossil fuel carbon dioxide (FFCO2) emissions. In the absence of binding international treaties or decisive U.S. federal policy for greenhouse gas regulation, cities have also become leaders in greenhouse gas reduction efforts through climate action plans. These plans focus on anthropogenic carbon flows only, however, ignoring a potentially substantial contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations from biological respiration. Our aim was to measure the contribution of CO2 efflux from soil respiration to atmospheric CO2 fluxes using an automated CO2 efflux system and to use these measurements to model urban soil CO2 efflux across an urban area. We find that growing season soil respiration is dramatically enhanced in urban areas and represents levels of CO2 efflux of up to 72% of FFCO2 within greater Boston's residential areas, and that soils in urban forests, lawns, and landscaped cover types emit 2.62 ± 0.15, 4.49 ± 0.14, and 6.73 ± 0.26 μmolCO2 m(-2) s(-1), respectively, during the growing season. These rates represent up to 2.2 times greater soil respiration than rates found in nearby rural ecosystems in central Massachusetts (MA), a potential consequence of imported carbon amendments, such as mulch, within a general regime of landowner management. As the scientific community moves rapidly towards monitoring, reporting, and verification of CO2 emissions using ground based approaches and remotely-sensed observations to measure CO2 concentrations, our results show that measurement and modeling of biogenic urban CO2 fluxes will be a critical component for verification of urban climate action plans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Homeland Security Planning for Urban Area Schools

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-03-01

about the safety and well-being of their families while they are at the scene and this may affect their job performance . Butler , et al recommend...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Homeland Security Planning for Urban Area Schools 6. AUTHOR(S) Craig Gjelsten 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME...S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING /MONITORING AGENCY

Variations of Soil Lead in Different Land Uses Along the Urbanization Gradient in the Beijing Metropolitan Area

PubMed Central

Mao, Qizheng; Huang, Ganlin; Ma, Keming; Sun, Zexiang

2014-01-01

Understanding the spatial pattern of soil lead (Pb) levels is essential to protecting human health. Most previous studies have examined soil Pb distributions by either urbanization gradient or land-use type. Few studies, however, have examined both factors together. It remains unclear whether the impacts of land use on soil Pb levels are consistent along the urbanization gradient. To fill this gap, we investigated variations in soil Pb level under different land-use types along the urbanization gradient in Beijing, China. We classified the degree of urbanization as the urban core, transitional zone, or suburban area and the land-use type as industrial area, roadside, residential area, institutional area, road greenbelt, park, or forest. Our results showed that the range of soil Pb levels in Beijing is <1 mg/kg–292 mg/kg, with a mean of 22 mg/kg. Along the urbanization gradient, the mean soil Pb level increased from the suburban area to the urban core. Land-use types have an impact on soil Pb levels, however, when the degree of urbanization is considered, the impact from land use on soil Pb level was only significant in the transitional zone. Parks and road greenbelts were found to have lower soil Pb, primarily due to soil restoration. Roadside and residential areas were found to have higher soil Pb because of traffic emissions, leaded paint, and previous industrial contamination. In the urban core and suburban area, the soil Pb level showed no significant differences among various land-use types. Given the results of soil Pb in various land-use types, we suggest that future studies consider the urbanization gradient in which different land-use samples are located. PMID:24646863

Variations of soil lead in different land uses along the urbanization gradient in the Beijing metropolitan area.

PubMed

Mao, Qizheng; Huang, Ganlin; Ma, Keming; Sun, Zexiang

2014-03-18

Understanding the spatial pattern of soil lead (Pb) levels is essential to protecting human health. Most previous studies have examined soil Pb distributions by either urbanization gradient or land-use type. Few studies, however, have examined both factors together. It remains unclear whether the impacts of land use on soil Pb levels are consistent along the urbanization gradient. To fill this gap, we investigated variations in soil Pb level under different land-use types along the urbanization gradient in Beijing, China. We classified the degree of urbanization as the urban core, transitional zone, or suburban area and the land-use type as industrial area, roadside, residential area, institutional area, road greenbelt, park, or forest. Our results showed that the range of soil Pb levels in Beijing is <1 mg/kg-292 mg/kg, with a mean of 22 mg/kg. Along the urbanization gradient, the mean soil Pb level increased from the suburban area to the urban core. Land-use types have an impact on soil Pb levels, however, when the degree of urbanization is considered, the impact from land use on soil Pb level was only significant in the transitional zone. Parks and road greenbelts were found to have lower soil Pb, primarily due to soil restoration. Roadside and residential areas were found to have higher soil Pb because of traffic emissions, leaded paint, and previous industrial contamination. In the urban core and suburban area, the soil Pb level showed no significant differences among various land-use types. Given the results of soil Pb in various land-use types, we suggest that future studies consider the urbanization gradient in which different land-use samples are located.

Hydrologic data for urban storm runoff from three localities in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellis, Sherman R.

1978-01-01

Urban storm-runoff data, collected from 1975 to 1977, on three catchment areas in the Denver, Colo., metropolitan area are presented. The catchment are predominantly a single-family residential catchment area in Littleton, a multifamily residential and commercial catchment area in Lakewood, and a high-density residential and commercial catchment area in Denver. Precipitation, rainfall-runoff, snowmelt-runoff, water-quality (common constituents, nutrients, biochemical oxygen demand, coliform bacteria, and solids, trace elements, and pesticides), and catchment-area data are necessary to use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's Storm Water Management Model II. The urban storm-runoff data may be used by planning, water-management, and environmental-protection agencies to assess the impact of urban storm runoff on the hydrologic system. (Woodard-USGS)

Sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an urban area of Northeastern Brazil.

PubMed

Agra, Maria Claudia Ribeiro; Costa, Pietra Lemos; Duque, Anderson Enio Silva; Soares, Efraim Naftali Lopes; Alves, Leucio Câmara; Ramos, Rafael Antonio Nascimento; Carvalho, Gílcia Aparecida de

2016-01-01

The sandfly fauna is well studied globally. In Brazil, sandfly fauna is very diverse in the Northeast region, especially in states such as Maranhão, Ceará, and Bahia. However, in the State of Pernambuco, the distribution of these insects is still not well known. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the different species that constitute the sandfly fauna in an urban area in the Northeast region of Brazil, where an outbreak of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was recently reported. The sandflies were collected from an urban area endemic for VL, at five collection points. The collection of samples was carried out from November 2014 to December 2015, using CDC light traps installed in intradomiciliary and peridomiciliary fashion. The collected sandflies (n = 297) belonged to eight species: Lutzomyia lenti, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Lutzomyia sallesi, Lutzomyia migonei, Lutzomyia walkeri, Lutzomyia capixaba, Lutzomyia carmelinoi, and Lutzomyia whitmani. Most of the specimens collected were peridomiciliary (247/297, 83%). L. lenti (154/297, 52%) was the most frequently sampled species, followed by L. longipalpis (88/297, 29.6%), and L. sallesi (42/297, 14.1%), which together accounted for over 90% of the collected sandfly specimens. The continued presence of L. longipalpis in urban areas, including that in intradomiciliary areas, with a predominance of females, is crucial because of the high possibility of them causing VL outbreaks, since this species is the main vector of Leishmania infantum in Brazil.

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

The Urban Heat Island Behavior of a Large Northern Latitude Metropolitan Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twine, T. E.; Snyder, P. K.; Hertel, W.; Mykleby, P.

2012-12-01

Urban heat islands (UHIs) occur when urban and suburban areas experience elevated temperatures relative to their rural surroundings because of differences in vegetation cover, buildings and other development, and infrastructure. Most cities in the United States are warming at twice the rate of the outlying rural areas and the planet as a whole. Temperatures in the urban center can be 2-5°C warmer during the daytime and as much as 10°C at night. Urban warming is responsible for excessive energy consumption, heat-related health effects, an increase in urban pollution, degradation of urban ecosystems, changes in the local meteorology, and an increase in thermal pollution into urban water bodies. One mitigation strategy involves manipulating the surface energy budget to either reduce the amount of solar radiation absorbed at the surface or offset absorbed energy through latent cooling. Options include using building materials with different properties of reflectivity and emissivity, increasing the reflectivity of parking lots, covering roofs with vegetation, and increasing the amount of vegetation overall through tree planting or increasing green space. The goal of the Islands in the Sun project is to understand the formation and behavior of urban heat islands and to mitigate their effects through sensible city engineering and design practices. As part of this project, we have been characterizing the UHI of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area (TCMA), a 16,000 square kilometer urban and suburban region located in east central Minnesota that includes the two cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and evaluating mitigation strategies for reducing urban warming. Annually, the TCMA has a modest 2-3°C UHI that is especially apparent in winter when the urban core can be up to 5-6°C warmer than the surrounding countryside. We present an analysis of regional temperature variations from a dense network of sensors located throughout the TCMA. We focus on the diurnal and seasonal

A novel overall approach for sediment-related disaster prevention in urban areas, South Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Dongyeob; Lee, Changwoo; Woo, Choongshik; Jeong, Seonhwan

2015-04-01

In South Korea, we had 140 landslides around Mt. Umyeon of Seoul city on July 27, 2011, which caused 16 deaths and more than 150 house damages. These landslides were triggered by a severe rainfall event with the total amount of 365 mm, equivalent to a 100-year-recurrence interval event. The landslide disaster in Mt. Umyeon is the first sediment-related disaster posing the significant serious damages to urban areas in South Korea which requires overall reconsideration about prevention, warning, countermeasure and rehabilitation to sediment-related disasters in urban areas. To meet such demands of society, the Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI), competent to the sediment-related disasters research, is committed to conducting on a research project of development of a prevention system for sediment-related disasters in urban areas including non-structural countermeasures such as construction of landslide early warning system and structural ones such as development of urban-typed debris flow barriers. Of these countermeasures, a proto-type of landslide early warning system consisting of a variety of sensors such as soil moisture content sensor and tensiometer has been tested in-situ in a point view of system performance maintenance. We have also tried to find the threshold of the sensors by slope failure experiments. Meanwhile, two types of debris flow barriers for urban areas were developed and their functioning abilities have been tested by both of flume test and computational structure analysis. We hope these research results would mitigate potential damages efficiently by sediment-related disasters in urban areas.

Benefits of restoring ecosystem services in urban areas

Treesearch

T. Elmqvist; H. Setala; S.N. Handel; S. van der Ploeg; J. Aronson; J.N. Blignaut; E. Gomez-Baggethun; D.J. Nowak; J. Kronenberg; R. de Groot

2015-01-01

Cities are a key nexus of the relationship between people and nature and are huge centers of demand for ecosystem services and also generate extremely large environmental impacts. Current projections of rapid expansion of urban areas present fundamental challenges and also opportunities to design more livable, healthy and resilient cities (e.g. adaptation to climate...

Analysis of long-term climate change on per capita water demand in urban versus suburban areas in the Portland metropolitan area, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parandvash, G. Hossein; Chang, Heejun

2016-07-01

We investigated the impacts of long-term climate variability and change on per capita water demand in urban and suburban service areas that have different degrees of development density in the Portland metropolitan area, USA. Together with historical daily weather and water production data, socioeconomic data such as population and unemployment rate were used to estimate daily per capita water demand in the two service areas. The structural time series regression model results show that the sensitivity of per capita water demand to both weather and unemployment rate variables is higher in suburban areas than in urban areas. This is associated with relatively higher proportional demand by the residential sector in the suburban area. The estimated coefficients of the historical demand model were used to project the mid-21st century (2035-2064) per capita water demand under three climate change scenarios that represent high (HadGEM2-ES), medium (MIROC5), and low (GFDL) climate changes. Without climate adaptation, compared to the historical period between 1983 and 2012, per capita water demand is projected to increase by 10.6% in the 2035-2064 period under the HadGEM2-ES in suburban areas, while per capita demand is projected to increase by 4.8% under the same scenario in urban areas. Our findings have implications for future urban water resource management and land use planning in the context of climate variability and change. A tight integration between water resource management and urban planning is needed for preparing for climate adaptation in municipal water planning and management.

Public parks and wellbeing in urban areas of the United States

Treesearch

Lincoln R. Larson; Viniece Jennings; Scott A. Cloutier

2016-01-01

Sustainable development efforts in urban areas often focus on understanding and managing factors that influence all aspects of health and wellbeing. Research has shown that public parks and green space provide a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits to urban residents, but few studies have examined the influence of parks on comprehensive measures of...

Urban renewal based wind environment at pedestrian level in high-density and high-rise urban areas in Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, J. W.; Zheng, J. Y.; Zhao, Y.; Shao, Y. H.; Yuan, F.

2017-11-01

In high-density and high-rise urban areas, pedestrian level winds contribute to improve comfort, safety and diffusion of heat in urban areas. Outdoor wind study is extremely vital and a prerequisite in high-density cities considering that the immediate pedestrian level wind environment is fundamentally impacted by the presence of a series of high-rise buildings. In this paper, the research site of Sai Ying Pun in Hong Kong will be analysed in terms of geography, climate and urban morphology, while the surrounding natural ventilation has also been simulated by the wind tunnel experiment Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). It has found that, the existing problems in this district are the contradiction between planning control and commercial interests, which means some areas around tall buildings are not benefit to the residents because of the unhealthy wind environment. Therefore, some recommendation of urban renewal strategy has been provided.

Results of the round table "Impact of natural and man-made hazards on urban areas"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostenaru-Dan, Maria; Olga Gociman, Cristina; Hostiuc, Constantin; Mihaila, Marina; Gheorghe (Popovici), Diana Alexandra; Anghelache, Mirela Adriana; Dutu, Andreea; Tascu-Stavre, Miroslav

2015-04-01

On Thursday the 6th of November a round table was organised at the Centre of Architectural and Urban Studies of the "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urban Planning on the topic of this session. It included a review of the previous editions, and an outlook to the edition this year. We shared publications, and a publication is in work from the round table itself. The series of round tables at the Centre of Architectural and Urban Studies is an innitiative of Constantin Hostiuc, the secretary general of the centre. This round table was organised by Maria Bostenaru Dan, and moderated by Cristina Olga Gociman, who currently runs a project on a related topic. From the various ways to approach the effects of hazards, up to the disatrous ones, on urban areas, we consider the most suitable the approach to the impact. From the point of view of natural sciences and of the engineering ones this was approached a number of times, and newly social sciences are included as well. The role of planning and design for a better prevention, and even post-disaster intervention is ignored many times though. The goal of the round table was to bring together multidisciplinary approaches (architecture, urban planning, seismology, geography, structural engineering, ecology, communication sciences, art history) on a problem set from this point of view. Discussed topics were: 1. Assessment and mapping methods of the impact of natural hazards on urban areas (preventive, postdisaster) 2. Visualisation and communication techniques of the assessed impact, including GIS, internet, 3D 3. Strategies for the reduction of the impact of natural hazards on urban areas 4. Suitable methods of urban design for the mitigation of the effects of disasters in multihazard case 5. Partnership models among the involved actors in the decision process for disaster mitigaton 6. Urban planning instruments for risc management strategies (ex. master plan) 7. Lessons learned from the relationship between hazard

Evidences of Significant Nonstationarity in Precipitation Extremes over Urbanizing Areas in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, J.; H, V.; Karmakar, S.; Ghosh, S.

2014-12-01

The statistical assumption of stationarity in hydrologic extreme time/event series has been relied heavily in frequency analysis. However, due to the analytically perceivable impacts of climate change, urbanization and concomitant land use pattern, assumption of stationarity in hydrologic time series will draw erroneous results, which inturn effects the policy and decision-making. Past studies provided sufficient evidences on changes in the characteristics of Indian monsoon rainfall extremes and further it has been attributed to climate change and urbanization, which indicates the presence of significant nonstationary in the Indian monsoon extremes. Therefore, a comprehensive nonstationary frequency analysis must be conducted all over India to obtain realistic return periods. The present study aims to conduct a nonstationary frequency analysis of the precipitation extremes over India at 1o resolution for a period of 1901-2004, with the implementation of the Generalized Additive Model for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS) parameters. A cluster of 74 GAMLSS models has been developed by considering nonstationary in different combinations of distribution parameters and regression techniques (families of parametric polynomials and nonparametric/smoothing cubic spline), which overcomes the limitations of the previous studies. Further, for identification of urban, urbanizing and rural grids, an population density data has been utilized. The results showed the significant differences in the stationary and nonstationary return periods for the urbanizing grids, when compared to urbanized and rural grids. The results give implications of presence of nonstationary in the precipitation extremes more prominently in urbanizing areas compare to urbanized and rural areas.

Effect of Spatial Distribution and Connectivity of Urban Impervious Areas on Hydrologic Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khoshouei, F.; Basu, N. B.; Schnoor, J. L.

2012-12-01

Urbanization alters the hydrology of a watershed by increasing impervious areas which results in decreased infiltration and increased runoff. Total Impervious Area (TIA) has been extensively used as a metric to describe this impact. It has recently been recognized, however, that TIA is a necessary but not sufficient attribute to describe the hydrologic response of a watershed. The connectivity and spatial placement of the impervious areas play a significant role in altering streamflow distributions. While the importance of spatial metrics is well recognized, the actual magnitude of their impact has not been adequately quantified in a systematic manner. We assess the effect of the spatial distribution of impervious area on hydrologic response in six peri-urban watersheds with areas in the order of 15 sq km in Midwest. We use the Gridded Surface Subsurface Hydrologic Analysis (GSSHA) model from the Army Corp of Engineers for our exploration. GSSHA is a grid-based two-dimensional hydrologic model with 2D overland flow and 1D streamflow and infiltration. The models for the watersheds were calibrated and validated using discharge data from USGS streamflow database. The models were then used in a virtual experimentation mode to understand the variability in hydrologic response as a function of different patterns of urban expansion. A new metric, "Impervious Area Width Function- IAWF" was developed that captured the distribution of flow path lengths from impervious areas. This metric captured the difference in hydrologic response between two watersheds with the same total impervious area but different distributions. The results suggest that urban development in areas with longer travel time (far from outlet) results in higher peak flows.

Does urban poverty increase body fluctuating asymmetry?

PubMed

Ozener, Bariş

2011-12-01

Perturbations during development leave enduring signs on the adult body. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is a good bio-indicator of stress during ontogeny. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of urban poverty on the fluctuating asymmetry of young Turkish males. Young males from a lower socioeconomic group (N = 140, Mean age = 18.17 +/- 0.61) were selected from slum areas of Ankara, the capital of Turkey, where urban poverty is intense. An upper socioeconomic group, on the other hand, consisted of students from two private colleges and included children from some of the richest families in Turkey (N = 120, Mean age = 18.08 +/- 0.54). Eight anthropometric traits of all subjects were measured. Considering the seven measurements demonstrate ideal FA, the individuals living in poor areas of the city displayed higher FA. The discrepancy between the two groups was even greater for a measure of composite FA. In conclusion, poor living conditions in Ankara, where urban poverty is intense, adversely impact the developmental stability of young Turkish males.

Urban Areas. Habitat Pac.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. of Interior), Washington, DC.

The materials in this educational packet are designed for use with students in grades 4 through 7. They consist of an overview, teaching guides and student data sheets for three activities, and a poster. The overview discusses the city as an ecosystem, changing urban habitats, urban wildlife habitats, values of wildlife, habitat management, and…

Resident and user support for urban natural areas restoration practices

Treesearch

Paul H. Gobster; Kristin Floress; Lynne M. Westphal; Cristy A. Watkins; Joanne Vining; Alaka Wali

2016-01-01

Public support is important to the success of natural areas restoration programs. Support can be especially critical in urban settings where stakeholders recreate in or reside near natural areas but may lack familiarity with practices for managing ecological processes. Surveys of on-site recreationists and nearby residents (N= 888) of 11 Chicago metropolitan natural...

Wind Tunnel Measurements of Turbulent Boundary Layer over Hypothetical Urban Roughness Elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, Y. K.; Liu, C. H.

2012-04-01

Urban morphology affects the near-ground atmospheric boundary layer that in turn modifies the wind flows and pollutant dispersion over urban areas. A number of numerical models (large-eddy simulation, LES and k-ɛ turbulence models) have been developed to elucidate the transport processes in and above urban street canyons. To complement the modelling results, we initiated a wind tunnel study to examine the influence of idealized urban roughness on the flow characteristics and pollutant dispersion mechanism over 2D idealized street canyons placed in cross flows. Hot-wire anemometry (HWA) was employed in this study to measure the flows over 2D street canyons in the wind tunnel in our university. Particular focus in the beginning stage was on the fabrication of hot-wire probes, data acquisition system, and signal processing technique. Employing the commonly adopted hot-wire universal function, we investigated the relationship in between and developed a scaling factor which could generalize the output of our hot-wire probes to the standardized one as each hot-wire probes has its unique behaviour. Preliminary experiments were performed to measure the wind flows over street canyons of unity aspect ratio. Vertical profiles of the ensemble average velocity and fluctuations at three different segments over the street canyons were collected. The results were then compared with our LES that show a good argument with each other. Additional experiments are undertaken to collect more data in order to formulate the pollutant dispersion mechanism of street canyons and urban areas.

Work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in urban and rural areas.

PubMed

Grujičić, Maja; Jovičić-Bata, Jelena; Rađen, Slavica; Novaković, Budimka; Šipetić-Grujičić, Sandra

2016-08-01

Motivated and job satisfied health professionals represent a basis of success of modern health institutions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference in work motivation and job satisfaction between health workers in urban and rural areas in the region of Central Serbia. The study included 396 health professionals from urban setting, and 436 from a rural area, employed in four randomly selected health facilities. An anonymous questionnaire was used for data gathering. Statistical analysis was performed using χ2, Student t-test, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and logistic regression analysis. Urban health professionals were significantly more motivated and job satisfied than respondents from rural area. In relation to work motivation factors and job satisfaction of health professionals in urban and rural areas, there were no significant differences in working conditions and current equipment, and in terms of job satisfaction there were no significant differences in relation to income either. In order to increase the level of work motivation and job satisfaction of health workers in rural areas, apart from better income, they should get more assistance and support from their supervisors, and awards for good job performance; interpersonal relationships, promotion and advancement opportunities, managerial performance and cooperation at work should be improved; employment security should be provided, as well as more independence at work, with professional supervision of health workers.

The extent of shifts in vegetation phenology between rural and urban areas within a human-dominated region.

PubMed

Dallimer, Martin; Tang, Zhiyao; Gaston, Kevin J; Davies, Zoe G

2016-04-01

Urbanization is one of the major environmental challenges facing the world today. One of its particularly pressing effects is alterations to local and regional climate through, for example, the Urban Heat Island. Such changes in conditions are likely to have an impact on the phenology of urban vegetation, which will have knock-on implications for the role that urban green infrastructure can play in delivering multiple ecosystem services. Here, in a human-dominated region, we undertake an explicit comparison of vegetation phenology between urban and rural zones. Using satellite-derived MODIS-EVI data from the first decade of the 20th century, we extract metrics of vegetation phenology (date of start of growing season, date of end of growing season, and length of season) for Britain's 15 largest cities and their rural surrounds. On average, urban areas experienced a growing season 8.8 days longer than surrounding rural zones. As would be expected, there was a significant decline in growing season length with latitude (by 3.4 and 2.4 days/degree latitude in rural and urban areas respectively). Although there is considerable variability in how phenology in urban and rural areas differs across our study cities, we found no evidence that built urban form influences the start, end, or length of the growing season. However, the difference in the length of the growing season between rural and urban areas was significantly negatively associated with the mean disposable household income for a city. Vegetation in urban areas deliver many ecosystem services such as temperature mitigation, pollution removal, carbon uptake and storage, the provision of amenity value for humans and habitat for biodiversity. Given the rapid pace of urbanization and ongoing climate change, understanding how vegetation phenology will alter in the future is important if we wish to be able to manage urban greenspaces effectively.

Allergen sensitisation among chronic respiratory diseases in urban and rural areas of the south of Viet Nam.

PubMed

Chu, H T; Godin, I; Phuong, N T; Nguyen, L H; Hiep, T T M; Michel, O

2018-02-01

To evaluate the prevalence of and risk factors for allergen sensitisation among patients with chronic respiratory disease (CRD) in southern Viet Nam. An environmental questionnaire and skin prick tests for airborne and food allergens were administered to patients with CRD, defined as individuals with respiratory symptoms and lung function defects. Of 610 CRD patients, 56% had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 31% were asthma patients; 80% were males. The most frequent sensitisers were dust mites (Dermatophagoides farinae 22%, Blomia tropicalis 19%, D. pteronyssinus 18%) and cockroach droppings (13%). Among study participants, 37% were from rural settings and 36% from urban areas, whereas 27% had migrated from rural to urban areas. Compared with people from rural areas, being born in an urban area was a risk factor for sensitisation to mites (OR 1.56, 95%CI 1.11-2.20, P < 0.02). In multivariate analysis, place of birth remained a risk factor for mite sensitisation. Compared with the native urban population, the risk of mite sensitisation was not significantly different among patients born in rural areas and those migrating to urban areas. Dust mites and cockroach droppings were the most frequent allergens among people with CRD in the south of Viet Nam. Compared with the urban population, being native to a rural area was protective against mite sensitisation, but this effect ceased to be significant after migration from rural to urban areas.

[Assessment of land use environmental impacts in urban built-up area: a case study in main built-up area of Nanchang City].

PubMed

Chen, Wen-Bo; Liu, Shi-Yu; Yu, Dun; Zou, Qiu-Ming

2009-07-01

Based on the relevant studies of land use environmental impacts and the characteristics of urban land use, a conceptual model on the assessment of land use environmental impacts in urban built-up area was established. This model grouped the land use environmental impacts in built-up area into four basic processes, i. e., detailization, abstractization, matching, and evaluation. A case study was conducted in the main built-up area of Nanchang City, with noise, smell, dust, and hazard as the impact factors. In the test area, noise had a widespread impact, its impacting area accounting for 59% of the total, smell and dust impacts centralized in the east and south parts, while hazard impact was centralized in the southeast part, an industrial area. This assessment model of four basic processes was practical, and could provide basis for the decision-making of urban land use management and planning.

Outside and inside noise exposure in urban and suburban areas

Treesearch

Dwight E. Bishop; Myles A. Simpson

1977-01-01

In urban and suburban areas of the United States (away from major airports), the outdoor noise environment usually depends strongly on local vehicular traffic. By relating traffic flow to population density, a model of outdoor noise exposure has been developed for estimating the cumulative 24-hour noise exposure based upon the population density of the area. This noise...

Developmental Idealism and Cultural Models of the Family in Malawi

PubMed Central

Pierotti, Rachael S.; Young-DeMarco, Linda; Watkins, Susan

2014-01-01

This paper examines the extent to which developmental idealism has been disseminated in Malawi. Developmental idealism is a set of beliefs and values about development and the relationships between development and family structures and behavior. Developmental idealism states that attributes of societies and families defined as modern are better than attributes defined as traditional, that modern societies help produce modern families, that modern families facilitate the achievement of modern societies, and that the future will bring family change in the direction of modernity. Previous research has demonstrated that knowledge of developmental idealism is widespread in many places around the world, but provides little systematic data about it in sub-Saharan Africa or how knowledge of it is associated with certain demographic characteristics in that region. In this paper, we address this issue by examining whether ordinary people in two settings in Malawi, a sub-Saharan African country, have received and understood messages that are intended to associate development with certain types of family forms and family behaviors. We then examine associations between demographic characteristics and developmental idealism to investigate possible mechanisms linking global discourse about development to the grassroots. We analyze data collected in face-to-face surveys from two samples of Malawian men in 2009 and 2010, one rural, the other in a low-to-medium income neighborhood of a city. Our analysis of these survey data shows considerable evidence that many developmental idealism beliefs have been spread in that country and that education has positive effects on beliefs in the association between development and family attributes. We also find higher levels of developmental idealism awareness in the urban sample than we do in the rural sample, but once dissimilarities in education and wealth between the two samples are controlled, awareness levels no longer differed between

[Impact of rural or urban areas on disability after a stroke].

PubMed

Ortega-Barrio, M Ángeles; Herce-Martínez, M Begoña; Valiñas-Sieiro, Florita; Mariscal-Pérez, Natividad; López-Cunquero, M Ángeles; Cubo-Delgado, Esther

2013-01-01

To assess the residual disability in a sample of patients after suffering a first episode of a stroke and to compare the disability of those patients who live in rural areas with those living in urban areas. An observational, longitudinal study of a cohort of 89 patients from a Neurology Unit, affected by cerebrovascular accident. The following factors were assessed: sociodemographic and environmental factors, co-morbidity, functional status, disability, depression and anxiety, and quality of life. The different clinical and demographic variables were compared after admission to the unit, at hospital discharge, and 3 months afterwards. Regression analyses were also carried out in order to study the association between the clinical and sociodemographic factors, and post-stroke disability. Compared to their previous clinical state, after suffering a stroke patients showed a higher rate of co-morbidity (P<.0001), disability (P<.0001), depression (P=.002), and a poorer quality of life (P=.013). The difference between patients coming from rural and urban areas was not statistically significant in terms of disability, quality of life, anxiety, depression, or co-morbidity. The level of disability, depression and co-morbidity that patients showed after suffering a stroke was similar to the results obtained in other studies. As a novel feature, there were no differences between patients living in rural areas after suffering a stroke and those living in urban areas, as regards disability, depression, or co-morbidity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Comparison of conceptually based and regression rainfall-runoff models, Denver Metropolitan area, Colorado, and potential applications in urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lindner-Lunsford, J. B.; Ellis, S.R.

1987-01-01

Multievent, conceptually based models and a single-event, multiple linear-regression model for estimating storm-runoff quantity and quality from urban areas were calibrated and verified for four small (57 to 167 acres) basins in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado. The basins represented different land-use types - light commercial, single-family housing, and multi-family housing. Both types of models were calibrated using the same data set for each basin. A comparison was made between the storm-runoff volume, peak flow, and storm-runoff loads of seven water quality constituents simulated by each of the models by use of identical verification data sets. The models studied were the U.S. Geological Survey 's Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model-Version II (DR3M-II) (a runoff-quantity model designed for urban areas), and a multievent urban runoff quality model (DR3M-QUAL). Water quality constituents modeled were chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total lead, total manganese, and total zinc. (USGS)

Southwest Washington, Urban Renewal Area, Bounded by Independence Avenue, Washington ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Southwest Washington, Urban Renewal Area, Bounded by Independence Avenue, Washington Avenue, South Capitol Street, Canal Street, P Street, Maine Avenue & Washington Channel, Fourteenth Street, D Street, & Twelfth Street, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

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.

Responses of benthic macroinvertebrates to urbanization in nine metropolitan areas of the conterminous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cuffney, T.F.; McMahon, G.; Kashuba, R.; May, J.T.; Waite, I.R.

2009-01-01

The effects of urbanization on benthic macroinvertebrates were investigated in nine metropolitan areas (Boston, MA; Raleigh, NC; Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Milwaukee–Green Bay, WI; Denver, CO; Dallas–Fort Worth, TX; Salt Lake City, UT; and Portland, OR) as a part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program. Several invertebrate metrics showed strong, linear responses to urbanization when forest or shrublands were developed. Responses were difficult to discern in areas where urbanization was occurring on agricultural lands because invertebrate assemblages were already severely degraded. There was no evidence that assemblages showed any initial resistance to urbanization. Ordination scores, EPT taxa richness, and the average tolerance of organisms were the best indicators of changes in assemblage condition at a site. Richness metrics were better indicators than abundance metrics, and qualitative samples were as good as quantitative samples. A common set of landscape variables (population density, housing density, developed landcover, impervious surface, and roads) were strongly correlated with urbanization and invertebrate responses in all non-agricultural areas. The instream environmental variables (hydrology, water chemistry, habitat, and temperature) that were strongly correlated with urbanization and invertebrate responses were influenced by environmental setting (e.g., dominant ecoregion) and varied widely among metropolitan areas. Multilevel hierarchical regression models were developed that predicted invertebrate responses using only two landcover variables—basinscale landcover (percentage of basin area in developed land) and regional-scale landcover (antecedent agricultural land).

Strategies for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Urban Areas: The Erice 50 Charter.

PubMed

D'Alessandro, D; Arletti, S; Azara, A; Buffoli, M; Capasso, L; Cappuccitti, A; Casuccio, A; Cecchini, A; Costa, G; De Martino, A M; Dettori, M; Di Rosa, E; Fara, G M; Ferrante, M; Giammanco, G; Lauria, A; Melis, G; Moscato, U; Oberti, I; Patrizio, C; Petronio, M G; Rebecchi, A; Romano Spica, V; Settimo, G; Signorelli, C; Capolongo, S

2017-01-01

The Erice 50 Charter titled "Strategies for Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion in Urban Areas" was unanimously approved at the conclusion of the 50th Residential Course "Urban Health. Instruments for promoting health and for assessing hygienic and sanitary conditions in urban areas", held from 29th March to 2nd April 2017 in Erice, at the "Ettore Majorana" Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture and promoted by the International School of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine "G. D'Alessandro" and the Study Group "Building Hygiene" of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health (SItI). At the conclusion of the intense learning experience during the Course, with more than 20 lectures, workshops and long-lasting discussions between Professors and Students, the participants identified the major points connecting urban features and Public Health, claiming the pivotal role of urban planning strategies for the management of Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion activities. The Erice 50 Charter is configured as a Decalogue for Healthy Cities and as a Think Tank for designing effective strategic actions and best practices to develop urban regeneration interventions and improve the urban quality of contemporary cities. The Decalogue is structured into the following key strategic objectives: 1. Promoting urban planning interventions that address citizens towards healthy behaviours; 2. Improving living conditions in the urban context; 3. Building an accessible and inclusive city, with a special focus on the frail population; 4. Encouraging the foundation of resilient urban areas; 5. Supporting the development of new economies and employment through urban renewal interventions; 6. Tackling social inequalities; 7. Improving stakeholders' awareness of the factors affecting Public Health in the cities; 8. Ensuring a participated urban governance; 9. Introducing qualitative and quantitative performance tools, capable of measuring the city

[Object-oriented remote sensing image classification in epidemiological studies of visceral leishmaniasis in urban areas].

PubMed

Almeida, Andréa Sobral de; Werneck, Guilherme Loureiro; Resendes, Ana Paula da Costa

2014-08-01

This study explored the use of object-oriented classification of remote sensing imagery in epidemiological studies of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in urban areas. To obtain temperature and environmental information, an object-oriented classification approach was applied to Landsat 5 TM scenes from the city of Teresina, Piauí State, Brazil. For 1993-1996, VL incidence rates correlated positively with census tracts covered by dense vegetation, grass/pasture, and bare soil and negatively with areas covered by water and densely populated areas. In 2001-2006, positive correlations were found with dense vegetation, grass/pasture, bare soil, and densely populated areas and negative correlations with occupied urban areas with some vegetation. Land surface temperature correlated negatively with VL incidence in both periods. Object-oriented classification can be useful to characterize landscape features associated with VL in urban areas and to help identify risk areas in order to prioritize interventions.

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.

Urban land use of the Sao Paulo metropolitan area by automatic analysis of LANDSAT data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Parada, N. D. J. (Principal Investigator); Niero, M.; Foresti, C.

1983-01-01

The separability of urban land use classes in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo was studied by means of automatic analysis of MSS/LANDSAT digital data. The data were analyzed using the media K and MAXVER classification algorithms. The land use classes obtained were: CBD/vertical growth area, residential area, mixed area, industrial area, embankment area type 1, embankment area type 2, dense vegetation area and sparse vegetation area. The spectral analysis of representative samples of urban land use classes was done using the "Single Cell" analysis option. The classes CBD/vertical growth area, residential area and embankment area type 2 showed better spectral separability when compared to the other classes.

CFD model simulation of LPG dispersion in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pontiggia, Marco; Landucci, Gabriele; Busini, Valentina; Derudi, Marco; Alba, Mario; Scaioni, Marco; Bonvicini, Sarah; Cozzani, Valerio; Rota, Renato

2011-08-01

There is an increasing concern related to the releases of industrial hazardous materials (either toxic or flammable) due to terrorist attacks or accidental events in congested industrial or urban areas. In particular, a reliable estimation of the hazardous cloud footprint as a function of time is required to assist emergency response decision and planning as a primary element of any Decision Support System. Among the various hazardous materials, the hazard due to the road and rail transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is well known since large quantities of LPG are commercialized and the rail or road transportation patterns are often close to downtown areas. Since it is well known that the widely-used dispersion models do not account for the effects of any obstacle like buildings, tanks, railcars, or trees, in this paper a CFD model has been applied to simulate the reported consequences of a recent major accident involving an LPG railcar rupture in a congested urban area (Viareggio town, in Italy), showing both the large influence of the obstacles on LPG dispersion as well as the potentials of CFD models to foresee such an influence.

Venomous snakebites in an urban area: what are the possibilities?

PubMed

Jasper, E H; Miller, M; Neuburger, K J; Widder, P C; Snyder, J W; Lopez, B L

2000-01-01

To estimate the number of different species of venomous snakes privately kept in a large urban area. An anonymous survey of potential snake owners in the Philadelphia urban and suburban area. The survey was mailed to members of the Philadelphia Herpetological Society. In addition, the survey was published in 2 herpetological newsletters and online in the Herpetology Network. One hundred sixty responses were obtained during a 6-month period. Ownership of 74 different varieties of venomous snakes was reported. Antivenin was not locally available for 13 of these species. A wide variety of venomous captive snakes can be found in the private sector. The potential for having to treat an envenomation requires the emergency physician to maintain an education of snakebite management options, including the various antivenin options available in their geographical location.

Medical ethics and more: ideal theories, non-ideal theories and conscientious objection.

PubMed

Luna, Florencia

2015-01-01

Doing 'good medical ethics' requires acknowledgment that it is often practised in non-ideal circumstances! In this article I present the distinction between ideal theory (IT) and non-ideal theory (NIT). I show how IT may not be the best solution to tackle problems in non-ideal contexts. I sketch a NIT framework as a useful tool for bioethics and medical ethics and explain how NITs can contribute to policy design in non-ideal circumstances. Different NITs can coexist and be evaluated vis-à-vis the IT. Additionally, I address what an individual doctor ought to do in this non-ideal context with the view that knowledge of NITs can facilitate the decision-making process. NITs help conceptualise problems faced in the context of non-compliance and scarcity in a better and more realistic way. Deciding which policy is optimal in such contexts may influence physicians' decisions regarding their patients. Thus, this analysis-usually identified only with policy making-may also be relevant to medical ethics. Finally, I recognise that this is merely a first step in an unexplored but fundamental theoretical area and that more work needs to be done. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Satellite Imagery Data: Dynamic Systems Model for sustainable urban forest in area of Halim Perdana Kusuma, East Jakarta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sundara, D. M.; Hartono, D. M.; Suganda, E.; Haeruman, JS H.

2018-05-01

East Jakarta icon as a buffer and the lungs of the city is still a big dream of Jakarta. It is a classic problem that there is a struggle for land between current economic interests and sustainable environmental interests for the future. This paper discusses the development of urban forest area of Halim Perdana Kusuma, East Jakarta. The forest area according to regulations of existing city local governments is not enough to support sustainable urban development indicators. Therefore, it requires an extensive mapping of urban forest potential development accurately by utilizing satellite imaging technology. Landsat-TM satellite imagery data can provide a full picture of the potential land width for urban forest area development. The results of this satellite image will then be made into a model of urban forest as one of the indicators of sustainable urban development. This research aims to support sustainable urban development through environmental balance in the form of a green neighborhood revitalization and development of urban forests and to create socio-economic balance. This paper uses a dynamic system model to simulate the conditions of the region against the intervention performed in the potential area for development of urban forests which are derived from urban spatial analysis based on satellite image data, using GIS program as a tool. The result is a model of urban forest area which is integrated with a social and economic function to encourage the development of sustainable cities.

Invertebrate response to changes in streamflow hydraulics in two urban areas in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Knight, Rodney R.; Cuffney, Thomas F.

2012-01-01

Stream hydrology is foundational to aquatic ecosystems and has been shown to be a structuring element for fish and invertebrates. The relations among urbanization, hydraulics, and invertebrate communities were investigated by the U.S. Geological Survey, National Water-Quality Assessment Program by using measures of stream hydraulics in two areas of the United States. Specifically, the hypothesis that the effects of urbanization on streamflow and aquatic biota are transferable across geographic regions was tested. Data from sites in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Milwaukee–Green Bay, Wisconsin, were compared and indicate that increasing urbanization has an effect on hydraulic characteristics (Reynolds number, shear stress, and stream power for example) in each metropolitan area, though limited commonality of significant correlations was noted between areas. Correspondence of significant correlations between invertebrate and hydraulic metrics between study areas also was limited. The links between urbanization, hydraulics, and invertebrates could be seen only in the Raleigh data. Connections among these three elements in the Milwaukee–Green Bay data were not clear and likely were obscured by antecedent land cover. Observed biotic differences due to hydrology and urbanization characteristics are not similar between geographic regions.

Predictability of Road Traffic and Congestion in Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Wang, Jingyuan; Mao, Yu; Li, Jing; Xiong, Zhang; Wang, Wen-Xu

2015-01-01

Mitigating traffic congestion on urban roads, with paramount importance in urban development and reduction of energy consumption and air pollution, depends on our ability to foresee road usage and traffic conditions pertaining to the collective behavior of drivers, raising a significant question: to what degree is road traffic predictable in urban areas? Here we rely on the precise records of daily vehicle mobility based on GPS positioning device installed in taxis to uncover the potential daily predictability of urban traffic patterns. Using the mapping from the degree of congestion on roads into a time series of symbols and measuring its entropy, we find a relatively high daily predictability of traffic conditions despite the absence of any priori knowledge of drivers' origins and destinations and quite different travel patterns between weekdays and weekends. Moreover, we find a counterintuitive dependence of the predictability on travel speed: the road segment associated with intermediate average travel speed is most difficult to be predicted. We also explore the possibility of recovering the traffic condition of an inaccessible segment from its adjacent segments with respect to limited observability. The highly predictable traffic patterns in spite of the heterogeneity of drivers' behaviors and the variability of their origins and destinations enables development of accurate predictive models for eventually devising practical strategies to mitigate urban road congestion. PMID:25849534

Carbon dioxide fluxes from an urban area in Beijing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Tao; Wang, Yuesi

2012-03-01

A better understanding of urban carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions is important for quantifying urban contributions to the global carbon budget. From January to December 2008, CO 2 fluxes were measured, by eddy covariance at 47 m above ground on a meteorological tower in a high-density residential area in Beijing. The results showed that the urban surface was a net source of CO 2 in the atmosphere. Diurnal flux patterns were similar to those previously observed in other cities and were largely influenced by traffic volume. Carbon uptake by both urban vegetation during the growing season and the reduction of fuel consumption for domestic heating resulted in less-positive daily fluxes in the summer. The average daily flux measured in the summer was 0.48 mg m - 2 s - 1 , which was 82%, 35% and 36% lower than those in the winter, spring and autumn, respectively. The reduction of vehicles on the road during the 29th Olympic and Paralympic Games had a significant impact on CO 2 flux. The flux of 0.40 mg m - 2 s - 1 for September 2008 was approximately 0.17 mg m - 2 s - 1 lower than the flux for September 2007. Annual CO 2 emissions from the study site were estimated at 20.6 kg CO 2 m - 2 y - 1 , considerably higher than yearly emissions obtained from other urban and suburban landscapes.

Migration from rural to urban areas in China.

PubMed

Wakabayashi, K

1990-12-01

During the regime of Mao Zedong the migration of rural population to urban areas was forbidden. In 1982 the people's communes were dissolved creating surplus labor. In 1984 permission was given to peasants to move to towns of 100,000 inhabitants or less. In 1986 the state allocation of jobs and lifetime employment practices were abolished leading to the migration of peasants. Urban population has increased 30-50 million annually since 1985. In 1988-89 urban population consisted of urban registry holders numbering 200 million protected by the government, 100 million new residents unqualified for food rations who had moved into towns of 100,000 population, and the so-called floating population getting no government services numbering about 60-80 million in February 1990. Rural towns grew as a result of promotion of smaller sized cities. In 1983 there were 62,310,000 people in such cities, and by 1984 there were over 134 million mainly in the 15-29 age group. The increasing inflow of population into major cities also occurred in 1984-5 owing to the dissolution of communes. 23 cities with populations over 1 million received 10 million migrants/year, and 50 million migrate to towns and cities every year. In 1988 Shanghai had a mostly male floating population of 2.08 million/year, and Beijing had 1,310,000. This phenomenon led to the emergence of surplus agricultural labor. Village and township enterprises absorbed this surplus: in 1988 there were 18,888,600 such entities employing 95,454,600 people or 23.8% of the labor force. Surplus labor totals 220 million out of 400 million agricultural labor force. The gap between the hinterland and the rich coastal areas with special economic zones is widening, reminiscent of the north-south problem. This phenomenon is the harbinger of the transformation of China into a freer society with higher population mobility.

Energy and other resource conservation within urbanizing areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rowe, Peter G.

1982-05-01

The reported research seeks to answer several questions regarding energy conservation within urbanizing areas. As a practical matter, to what extent can dependence upon exhaustible resources be reduced? Can these reductions be achieved without severely impairing social well-being and environmental quality? And, what seem to be the prevailing institutional constraints limiting energy conservation within urbanizing areas? The study area was the proposed “downtown” of The Woodlands, a new town north of Houston, Texas. Two plans were developed for this area. In one, no particular attempt was made to conserve energy (conventional plan), while in the other, energy conservation was a primary consideration (conservation plan). For both plans, estimates were made of energy consumption within buildings, in the transportation sector, and in the actual production of building materials themselves (embodied energy). In addition, economic and environmental analyses were performed, including investigation of other resource issues such as water supply, solid waste disposal, stormwater management, and atmospheric emissions. Alternative on-site power systems were also investigated. Within the bounds of economic feasibility and development practicality, it was found that application of energy-conserving methods could yield annual energy savings of as much as 23%, and reduce dependence on prime fuels by 30%. Adverse economic effects on consumers were found to be minimal and environmental quality could be sustained. The major institutional constraints appeared to be those associated with traditional property ownership and with the use of common property resources. The resistance to change of everyday practices in land development and building industries also seemed to constrain potential applications.

Emerging feed markets for ruminant production in urban and peri-urban areas of Northern Ghana.

PubMed

Konlan, S P; Ayantunde, A A; Addah, W; Dei, H K; Karbo, N

2018-01-01

Feed shortage in urban and peri-urban areas has triggered the emergence of feed markets in Northern Ghana. These markets were surveyed at three locations (Tamale, Bolgatanga, and Wa markets) to determine types and prices of feedstuffs sold across seasons; early dry (November-January), late dry (February-April), early wet (May-July), and main wet (August-October). Semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Three samples of each feed type in the markets were bought from three different sellers per market in each season. The samples were oven dried to constant weight and price/kg DM of each feed determined. The total respondents were 169. Out of this number, 41% were feed sellers, 46% buyers, and 13% retailers. The feedstuffs found were crop residues (groundnut haulm and cowpea haulm), agro-industrial by-products (bran of maize, rice, and sorghum), fresh grasses (Rotteboellia cochinchinensis), and local browses (Ficus sp. and Pterocarpus erinaceous). Prices of feeds differed (P < 0.05) among markets and were higher in Bolgatanga than Tamale and Wa markets. Prices of cereal bran were not different (P > 0.05) in all seasons but that of crop residues were higher (P < 05) in early to late dry season than the wet season. Majority (90%) of respondents opined that the feed market will expand due to increasing number of livestock population in the peri-urban areas.

Does Size Matter? Scaling of CO2 Emissions and U.S. Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Fragkias, Michail; Lobo, José; Strumsky, Deborah; Seto, Karen C.

2013-01-01

Urban areas consume more than 66% of the world’s energy and generate more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With the world’s population expected to reach 10 billion by 2100, nearly 90% of whom will live in urban areas, a critical question for planetary sustainability is how the size of cities affects energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Are larger cities more energy and emissions efficient than smaller ones? Do larger cities exhibit gains from economies of scale with regard to emissions? Here we examine the relationship between city size and CO2 emissions for U.S. metropolitan areas using a production accounting allocation of emissions. We find that for the time period of 1999–2008, CO2 emissions scale proportionally with urban population size. Contrary to theoretical expectations, larger cities are not more emissions efficient than smaller ones. PMID:23750213

Quality of community basic medical service utilization in urban and suburban areas in Shanghai from 2009 to 2014.

PubMed

Guo, Lijun; Bao, Yong; Ma, Jun; Li, Shujun; Cai, Yuyang; Sun, Wei; Liu, Qiaohong

2018-01-01

Urban areas usually display better health care services than rural areas, but data about suburban areas in China are lacking. Hence, this cross-sectional study compared the utilization of community basic medical services in Shanghai urban and suburban areas between 2009 and 2014. These data were used to improve the efficiency of community health service utilization and to provide a reference for solving the main health problems of the residents in urban and suburban areas of Shanghai. Using a two-stage random sampling method, questionnaires were completed by 73 community health service centers that were randomly selected from six districts that were also randomly selected from 17 counties in Shanghai. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and forecast analysis were used to complete a gap analysis of basic health services utilization quality between urban and suburban areas. During the 6-year study period, there was an increasing trend toward greater efficiency of basic medical service provision, benefits of basic medical service provision, effectiveness of common chronic disease management, overall satisfaction of community residents, and two-way referral effects. In addition to the implementation effect of hypertension management and two-way referral, the remaining indicators showed a superior effect in urban areas compared with the suburbs (P<0.001). In addition, among the seven principal components, four principal component scores were better in urban areas than in suburban areas (P = <0.001, 0.004, 0.036, and 0.022). The urban comprehensive score also exceeded that of the suburbs (P<0.001). In summary, over the 6-year period, there was a rapidly increasing trend in basic medical service utilization. Comprehensive satisfaction clearly improved as well. Nevertheless, there was an imbalance in health service utilization between urban and suburban areas. There is a need for the health administrative department to address this imbalance between urban

Quality of community basic medical service utilization in urban and suburban areas in Shanghai from 2009 to 2014

PubMed Central

Ma, Jun; Li, Shujun; Cai, Yuyang; Sun, Wei; Liu, Qiaohong

2018-01-01

Urban areas usually display better health care services than rural areas, but data about suburban areas in China are lacking. Hence, this cross-sectional study compared the utilization of community basic medical services in Shanghai urban and suburban areas between 2009 and 2014. These data were used to improve the efficiency of community health service utilization and to provide a reference for solving the main health problems of the residents in urban and suburban areas of Shanghai. Using a two-stage random sampling method, questionnaires were completed by 73 community health service centers that were randomly selected from six districts that were also randomly selected from 17 counties in Shanghai. Descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and forecast analysis were used to complete a gap analysis of basic health services utilization quality between urban and suburban areas. During the 6-year study period, there was an increasing trend toward greater efficiency of basic medical service provision, benefits of basic medical service provision, effectiveness of common chronic disease management, overall satisfaction of community residents, and two-way referral effects. In addition to the implementation effect of hypertension management and two-way referral, the remaining indicators showed a superior effect in urban areas compared with the suburbs (P<0.001). In addition, among the seven principal components, four principal component scores were better in urban areas than in suburban areas (P = <0.001, 0.004, 0.036, and 0.022). The urban comprehensive score also exceeded that of the suburbs (P<0.001). In summary, over the 6-year period, there was a rapidly increasing trend in basic medical service utilization. Comprehensive satisfaction clearly improved as well. Nevertheless, there was an imbalance in health service utilization between urban and suburban areas. There is a need for the health administrative department to address this imbalance between urban

Airborne surveys of USA urban areas at 121.5/243 MHz

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, R. E.; Hill, J. S.

1979-01-01

In situ, aircraft flight measurements were made in 1976 and 1977 by NASA of the radio-frequency environment over USA urban areas within the emergency distress search and rescue frequency bands at 121.5 and 243.0 MHz. This paper analyzes test results reported previously for USA East Coast and Midwest flight surveys; presented also are test results obtained in May 1977 for the USA West Coast during the NASA, ASSESS-II, Space Shuttle/Spacelab simulation aircraft flights. The USA West Coast flight include data at 121.5/243 MHz during an extensive series of aircraft passes for the Los Angeles urban area. The USA East Coast/Midwest measurements show correlation with population count.

SIG Contribution in the Making of Geotechnical Maps in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monteiro, António; Pais, Luís Andrade; Rodrigues, Carlos; Carvalho, Paulo

2017-10-01

The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has spread to several science areas, from oceanography to geotechnics. Its application in the urban mapping was intensified in the last century, which allowed a great development, due to the use of geographic database, new analysis tools and, more recently, free open source software. Geotechnical cartography struggle with a permanent and large environment re-organization in urban area, due to new building construction, trenching and the drilling of sampling wells and holes. This creates an extra important and largest volume of data at any pre-existence geological map. The main problem results on the fact that the natural environment is covered with buildings and communications system. The purpose of this work is to create a viable geographic information base for geotechnical mapping through a free GIS computer program and open source, with non-traditional cartographic sources, giving preference to open platforms. QGIS was used as software and “Google Maps”, “Bing Maps” and “OpenStreetMap” were applied as cartographic sources using the “OpenLayers plugin” module. Finally, we also pretend to identify and delimit the degree of granite’s change and fracturing areas using a “Streetview” platform. This model has cartographic input which are a geological map study area, open cartographic web archives and the use of “Streetview” platform. The output has several layouts, such as topography intersection (roads, borders, etc.), with geological map and the bordering area of Guarda Urban Zone. The use of this platform types decrease the collect data time and, sometimes, a careful observation of pictures that were taken during excavations may reveal important details for geological mapping in the study area.

GIS coupled Multiple Criteria based Decision Support for Classification of Urban Coastal Areas in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhiman, R.; Kalbar, P.; Inamdar, A. B.

2017-12-01

Coastal area classification in India is a challenge for federal and state government agencies due to fragile institutional framework, unclear directions in implementation of costal regulations and violations happening at private and government level. This work is an attempt to improvise the objectivity of existing classification methods to synergies the ecological systems and socioeconomic development in coastal cities. We developed a Geographic information system coupled Multi-criteria Decision Making (GIS-MCDM) approach to classify urban coastal areas where utility functions are used to transform the costal features into quantitative membership values after assessing the sensitivity of urban coastal ecosystem. Furthermore, these membership values for costal features are applied in different weighting schemes to derive Coastal Area Index (CAI) which classifies the coastal areas in four distinct categories viz. 1) No Development Zone, 2) Highly Sensitive Zone, 3) Moderately Sensitive Zone and 4) Low Sensitive Zone based on the sensitivity of urban coastal ecosystem. Mumbai, a coastal megacity in India is used as case study for demonstration of proposed method. Finally, uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo approach to validate the sensitivity of CAI under specific multiple scenarios is carried out. Results of CAI method shows the clear demarcation of coastal areas in GIS environment based on the ecological sensitivity. CAI provides better decision support for federal and state level agencies to classify urban coastal areas according to the regional requirement of coastal resources considering resilience and sustainable development. CAI method will strengthen the existing institutional framework for decision making in classification of urban coastal areas where most effective coastal management options can be proposed.

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.

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.

Essentials for sustainable urban transport in Brazil's large metropolitan areas.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-08-01

This paper describes four main pillars for sound development and long-term sustainability of the urban transport sector in large metropolitan areas, and suggests how they can be introduced. These pillars are: a) a Regional Transport Coordination Comm...

Load Forecasting of Central Urban Area Power Grid Based on Saturated Load Density Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huping, Yang; Chengyi, Tang; Meng, Yu

2018-03-01

In the current society, coordination between urban power grid development and city development has become more and more prominent. Electricity saturated load forecasting plays an important role in the planning and development of power grids. Electricity saturated load forecasting is a new concept put forward by China in recent years in the field of grid planning. Urban saturation load forecast is different from the traditional load forecasting method for specific years, the time span of it often relatively large, and involves a wide range of aspects. This study takes a county in eastern Jiangxi as an example, this paper chooses a variety of load forecasting methods to carry on the recent load forecasting calculation to central urban area. At the same time, this paper uses load density index method to predict the Longterm load forecasting of electric saturation load of central urban area lasted until 2030. And further study shows the general distribution of the urban saturation load in space.

Urban growth as a component of global change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, Annemarie

Urbanization---both the shift in population to urban areas and the physical transformation of land---has accelerated in recent decades in nearly all parts of the world. Urban growth is known to affect local environments through microclimatic changes, pollution, and loss of natural and agricultural lands, and has the potential to influence global circulation, biogeochemistry, and energy balance. To assess these impacts, rates and patterns of urban expansion and their relation to socioeconomic drivers must be determined. A combination of multiple sources of coarse resolution remotely sensed data and a Bayesian data fusion approach result in global maps of urban areas that show reasonable accuracy in terms of the size and location of cities, and are suitable for use in regional-global climate models. To understand changes in urban form locally, medium-resolution remote sensing data, pattern metrics, and local census data are combined to provide a suite of urban growth indicators that facilitate comparison of trends across cities from different regions and different levels of economic development. Chengdu, a rapidly developing city in Western China, provides an ideal case study to test these methods. Results show that the city has increased in area over 350% from 1978 to 2002, while expanding primarily along transportation routes with fragmentation in periurban areas. Comparison of growth metrics for 25 cities from 13 countries for the period 1990-2000 reveals four city types: low-growth cities characterized by modest rates of infilling-type expansion, high-growth cities with rapid, fragmented development, expansive-growth cities with extensive dispersion at low population densities, and frantic-growth cities such as Chengdu, that exhibit extraordinary rates of growth at high population densities. Although all 25 cities are expanding at the urban-rural boundary, cities outside of the U.S. do not show evidence of the large, dispersed spatial forms characteristic of

Analysis of local scale tree-atmosphere interaction on pollutant concentration in idealized street canyons and application to a real urban junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buccolieri, Riccardo; Salim, Salim Mohamed; Leo, Laura Sandra; Di Sabatino, Silvana; Chan, Andrew; Ielpo, Pierina; de Gennaro, Gianluigi; Gromke, Christof

2011-03-01

This paper first discusses the aerodynamic effects of trees on local scale flow and pollutant concentration in idealized street canyon configurations by means of laboratory experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). These analyses are then used as a reference modelling study for the extension a the neighbourhood scale by investigating a real urban junction of a medium size city in southern Italy. A comparison with previous investigations shows that street-level concentrations crucially depend on the wind direction and street canyon aspect ratio W/H (with W and H the width and the height of buildings, respectively) rather than on tree crown porosity and stand density. It is usually assumed in the literature that larger concentrations are associated with perpendicular approaching wind. In this study, we demonstrate that while for tree-free street canyons under inclined wind directions the larger the aspect ratio the lower the street-level concentration, in presence of trees the expected reduction of street-level concentration with aspect ratio is less pronounced. Observations made for the idealized street canyons are re-interpreted in real case scenario focusing on the neighbourhood scale in proximity of a complex urban junction formed by street canyons of similar aspect ratios as those investigated in the laboratory. The aim is to show the combined influence of building morphology and vegetation on flow and dispersion and to assess the effect of vegetation on local concentration levels. To this aim, CFD simulations for two typical winter/spring days show that trees contribute to alter the local flow and act to trap pollutants. This preliminary study indicates that failing to account for the presence of vegetation, as typically practiced in most operational dispersion models, would result in non-negligible errors in the predictions.

Model of Environmental Development of the Urbanized Areas: Accounting of Ecological and other Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abanina, E. N.; Pandakov, K. G.; Agapov, D. A.; Sorokina, Yu V.; Vasiliev, E. H.

2017-05-01

Modern cities and towns are often characterized by poor administration, which could be the reason of environmental degradation, the poverty growth, decline in economic growth and social isolation. In these circumstances it is really important to conduct fresh researches forming new ways of sustainable development of administrative districts. This development of the urban areas depends on many interdependent factors: ecological, economic, social. In this article we show some theoretical aspects of forming a model of environmental progress of the urbanized areas. We submit some model containing four levels including natural resources capacities of the territory, its social features, economic growth and human impact. The author describes the interrelations of elements of the model. In this article the program of environmental development of a city is offered and it could be used in any urban area.

Spectral solar attenuation due to aerosol loading over an urban area in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latha, K. Madhavi; Badarinath, K. V. S.

2005-06-01

Anthropogenic activities in urban areas are sources for atmospheric aerosols and are increasing due to population explosion and migration. Many large cities in the developing world are presently plagued by high levels of atmospheric pollution and long-term effect of urban aerosol on climate is an important topic. In the present study, ground-based measurements of solar irradiance, aerosol loading and black carbon (BC) aerosol concentration have been analyzed during different aerosol loading conditions during 2003 over an urban environment. BC aerosols concentration has been observed to be enhanced during high aerosol optical depth day suggesting influence of local anthropogenic activities. The analysis of wind fields over the study area during the measurement period is from north with continental air mass prevailing over the region. Spectral measurements of solar irradiance exhibited variations based on aerosol loading in urban atmosphere. Relative attenuations caused by aerosols have been found to be of the order of 21% and 17% on the irradiance on visible and near infrared respectively.

System for Conservation of Specially Protected Natural Areas as Sustainable Urban Development Element

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kryakhtunov, A.; Pelymskaya, O.; Chernykh, E.

2017-11-01

The article is devoted to the problem of the conservation of specially protected natural territories. The research topic is especially interesting for urban areas that provide sustainable urban development. The authors consider the main aspects of the sustainable settlement development and substantiate the direct dependence of the evolution of territories in the implementation of urban development activities with the ecological framework of a city. The object of the study is a specially protected natural area located in Western Siberia in the city of Tyumen, the Tyumen region. As a result of the analysis, the main problems of preservation of the nature monument of regional importance were revealed as well as a set of measures and management decisions regarding the conservation of the forest park.

Methods for Monitoring the Detection of Multi-Temporal Land Use Change Through the Classification of Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alhaddad, B. I.; Burns, M. C.; Roca, J.

2011-08-01

Urban areas are complicated due to the mix of man-made features and natural features. A higher level of structural information plays an important role in land cover/use classification of urban areas. Additional spatial indicators have to be extracted based on structural analysis in order to understand and identify spatial patterns or the spatial organization of features, especially for man-made feature. It's very difficult to extract such spatial patterns by using only classification approaches. Clusters of urban patterns which are integral parts of other uses may be difficult to identify. A lot of public resources have been directed towards seeking to develop a standardized classification system and to provide as much compatibility as possible to ensure the widespread use of such categorized data obtained from remote sensor sources. In this paper different methods applied to understand the change in the land use areas by understanding and monitoring the change in urban areas and as its hard to apply those methods to classification results for high elements quantities, dusts and scratches (Roca and Alhaddad, 2005). This paper focuses on a methodology developed based relation between urban elements and how to join this elements in zones or clusters have commune behaviours such as form, pattern, size. The main objective is to convert urban class category in to various structure densities depend on conjunction of pixel and shortest distance between them, Delaunay triangulation has been widely used in spatial analysis and spatial modelling. To identify these different zones, a spatial density-based clustering technique was adopted. In highly urban zones, the spatial density of the pixels is high, while in sparsely areas the density of points is much lower. Once the groups of pixels are identified, the calculation of the boundaries of the areas containing each group of pixels defines the new regions indicate the different contains inside such as high or low urban areas

Alkylphenolic compounds and bisphenol A contamination within a heavily urbanized area: case study of Paris.

PubMed

Cladière, Mathieu; Gasperi, Johnny; Lorgeoux, Catherine; Bonhomme, Céline; Rocher, Vincent; Tassin, Bruno

2013-05-01

This study evaluates the influence of a heavily urbanized area (Paris Metropolitan area), on receiving water contamination by both bisphenol A (BPA) and alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) biodegradation product. The study began by investigating concentrations within urban sources. In addition to the more commonly studied wastewater treatment plant effluent, wet weather urban sources (including combined sewer overflows, urban runoff, and total atmospheric fallout) were considered. The initial results highlight a significant contamination of all urban sources (from a few nanograms per liter in atmospheric fallout to several micrograms per liter in the other sources) with clearly distinguishable distribution patterns. Secondly, concentration changes along the Seine River from upstream of the Paris Metropolitan area to downstream were investigated. While the concentrations of BPA and nonylphenoxy acetic acid (NP₁EC) increase substantially due to urban sources, the 4-nonylphenol concentrations remain homogeneous along the Seine. These results suggest a broad dissemination of 4-nonylphenol at the scale of the Seine River basin. Moreover, the relationship between pollutant concentrations and Seine River flow was assessed both upstream and downstream of the Paris conurbation. Consequently, a sharp decrease in dissolved NP1EC concentrations relative to Seine River flow underscores the influence of single-point urban pollution on Seine River contamination. Conversely, dissolved 4-nonylphenol concentrations serve to reinforce the hypothesis of its widespread presence at the Seine River basin scale.

Numerical Study of the Wintertime Planetary Boundary Layer Development in the Urban Area of Sao Paulo - Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ribeiro, F. N. D.; Soares, J.; Oliveira, A. P.; Miranda, R. M.; Chen, F.

2015-12-01

The gradual replacement of natural by built surfaces and the ongoing emission of particulate matter and other pollutants that happens in urban environments, besides degrading the environment, influence the local weather and climate patterns. Urban areas have different albedo, heat and hydraulic capacity and conductivity, roughness, emissivity, and transmissivity, when compared to naturally vegetated areas. This set of characteristics may change the surface energy budget, air temperature, humidity, atmospheric chemical composition, wind direction and velocity, and therefore the planetary boundary layer (PBL) development. The effects of urbanization on the PBL have been studied in many mid-latitude areas, however in the tropical or subtropical areas they are scarce. The MCITY Brazil project developed in 2 cities of Brazil, Sao Paulo (23°32' S) and Rio de Janeiro (latitude 22° 55' S), has provided the necessary data to properly investigate the effects of urbanization in these two cities. The project included a campaign of soundings launched every 3 hours for 10 consecutive days in August (Austral winter) from an airport at the north part of the city of Sao Paulo, that allowed the study of the PBL development, and also the measurements of the components of the energy budget equation by micrometeorological towers. Therefore, the goal of this work is to simulate the development of the PBL in the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo during winter, comparing its characteristics in urbanized and non urbanized sites, in order to assess the impact of urbanization on the development of the PBL in this area. The model used is the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) with a single layer urban canopy parameterization (SLUCM) and realistic anthropogenic heat diurnal evolution. Preliminary results showed that the model is able to reproduce the PBL development during the campaign, including the passage of a cold-frontal system. The urban PBL reaches greater heights during the day than

Development of Dimensionless Index Assessing Low Impact Development in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jun, S. H.; Lee, E. H.; Kim, J. H.

2017-12-01

Because the rapid urbanization and industrialization have increased the impervious area of watersheds, inundation in urban area and water pollution of river by non-point pollutants have caused serious problems for a long time. Low Impact Development (LID) techniques have been implemented for the solution of these problems due to its cost effectiveness for mitigating the water quality and quantity impact on urban areas. There have been many studies about the effectiveness of LID, but there is a lack of research on developing an index for the assessment of LID performance. In this study, the dimensionless reliability index of LID is proposed. The index is developed using Distance Measure Method (DMM). DMM is used to consider the parameters that have different units. The parameters for reliability of LID are the amount of pollutant at the outfall and the flooding volume. Both parameters become dimensionless index by DMM. Weighted factors in dimensionless index are considered to realize the behavior of reliability for the variation of importance to the parameters. LID is applied to an actual area called Gasan city in Seoul, South Korea where inundation is frequently occurred. The reliability is estimated for 16 different rainfall events. For each rainfall event, the parameters with LID installation are compared with those of no LID installation. Depending on which parameter is considered more important, the results showed difference. In conclusion, the optimal locations of LID are suggested as the weighted factors change.

A numerical study of the effect of urbanization on the climate of Las Vegas metropolitan area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamal, S. M.; Huang, H. P.; Myint, S. W.

2014-12-01

Las Vegas is one of the fastest growing desert cities. Its developed area has doubled in the last 30 years. An accurate prediction of the effect of urbanization on the climate of the city is crucial for resource management and planning. In this study, we use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a land surface and urban canopy model to investigate the effects of urbanization on the regional climate pattern around Las Vegas. High resolution numerical simulations are performed with a 3 km resolution over the metropolitan area. With identical lateral boundary conditions, three land-use land-cover maps, representing 2006, 1992 and hypothetical 1900, are used in multiple simulations. The differences in the simulated climate among those cases are used to quantify the urban effect. The simulated surface air temperature is validated against observational data from the weather station at the McCarran airport. It is found that urbanization affects substantial warming during the night but a minor cooling during the day. Detailed diagnostics of the surface energy budget are performed to help interpret this result. In addition, the emerging urban structures are found to have a mechanical effect of slowing down the climatological wind field over the urban area. The change in wind, in turn, leads to a secondary modification of the temperature structure within the air shed of the city. This finding suggests the need to combine the mechanical and thermodynamic effects to construct a complete picture of the influence of land cover on urban climate. In all cases of the simulations, it is also demonstrated that urbanization influences surface air temperature mainly within the metropolitan area.

Using Quality of Life Criteria to Define Urban Areas in Catalonia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Royuela, Vicente; Romani, Javier; Artis, Manuel

2009-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to develop the concept and definition of multidimensional urban areas, thereby providing insights into our understanding of the sub-regional structures of household spatial systems. Hence, we propose a framework for strategic planning that considers several areas of household needs. In order to achieve this goal, we…

Evaluation of parking management strategies for urban areas : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-01-01

The state of the art of parking management in urban areas in the United States was established using an extensive review of the literature and a nationwide questionnaire survey that was distributed to 458 city officials, 173 of whom responded. Based ...

Using phytotechnologies to remediate brownfields, landfills, and other urban areas

Treesearch

R.S. Zalesny Jr.; Jill Zalesny

2010-01-01

Urban areas requiring remedial work has prompted the use of phytotechnologies to improve water quality, soil health, and biodiversity, as well as to achieve sustainable social and economic goals. Phytotechnologies directly use plants to clean up contaminated groundwater, soil, and sediment.

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.

Heavy metal concentrations in soils and vegetation in urban areas of Quezon City, Philippines.

PubMed

Navarrete, Ian A; Gabiana, Christella C; Dumo, Joan Ruby E; Salmo, Severino G; Guzman, Maria Aileen Leah G; Valera, Nestor S; Espiritu, Emilyn Q

2017-04-01

Limited data have been published on the chemistry of urban soils and vegetation in the Philippines. The aim of this study is to quantify the concentrations of heavy metals (i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) in soils and vegetation in the urban landscape of Quezon City, Philippines, and to elucidate the relationships between soil properties and the concentration of heavy metals pertaining to different land uses [i.e., protected forest (LM), park and wildlife area (PA), landfill (PL), urban poor residential and industrial areas (RA), and commercial areas (CA)]. Soil (0-15 cm) and senescent plant leaves were collected and were analyzed for soil properties and heavy metal concentrations. Results revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals (i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) in urban soils were higher in areas where anthropogenic activities or disturbance (PL, RA, and CA) were dominant as compared to the less disturbed areas (LM and PA). Organic matter and available phosphorous were strongly correlated with heavy metal concentrations, suggesting that heavy metal concentrations were primarily controlled by these soil properties. The average foliar heavy metal concentrations varied, ranging from 0 to 0.4 mg/kg for Cd, 0-10 mg/kg for Cr, 2-22 mg/kg for Cu, 0-5 mg/kg for Pb, and 11-250 mg/kg for Zn. The concentrations of Cd and Cr exceeded the critical threshold concentrations in some plants. Leaves of plants growing in PL (i.e., landfill) showed the highest levels of heavy metal contamination. Our results revealed that anthropogenic activities and disturbance caused by the rapid urbanization of the city are major contributors to the heavy metal accumulation and persistence in the soils in these areas.

Association Between Diabetes and Cause-Specific Mortality in Rural and Urban Areas of China.

PubMed

Bragg, Fiona; Holmes, Michael V; Iona, Andri; Guo, Yu; Du, Huaidong; Chen, Yiping; Bian, Zheng; Yang, Ling; Herrington, William; Bennett, Derrick; Turnbull, Iain; Liu, Yongmei; Feng, Shixian; Chen, Junshi; Clarke, Robert; Collins, Rory; Peto, Richard; Li, Liming; Chen, Zhengming

2017-01-17

In China, diabetes prevalence has increased substantially in recent decades, but there are no reliable estimates of the excess mortality currently associated with diabetes. To assess the proportional excess mortality associated with diabetes and estimate the diabetes-related absolute excess mortality in rural and urban areas of China. A 7-year nationwide prospective study of 512 869 adults aged 30 to 79 years from 10 (5 rural and 5 urban) regions in China, who were recruited between June 2004 and July 2008 and were followed up until January 2014. Diabetes (previously diagnosed or detected by screening) recorded at baseline. All-cause and cause-specific mortality, collected through established death registries. Cox regression was used to estimate adjusted mortality rate ratio (RR) comparing individuals with diabetes vs those without diabetes at baseline. Among the 512 869 participants, the mean (SD) age was 51.5 (10.7) years, 59% (n = 302 618) were women, and 5.9% (n = 30 280) had diabetes (4.1% in rural areas, 8.1% in urban areas, 5.8% of men, 6.1% of women, 3.1% had been previously diagnosed, and 2.8% were detected by screening). During 3.64 million person-years of follow-up, there were 24 909 deaths, including 3384 among individuals with diabetes. Compared with adults without diabetes, individuals with diabetes had a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality (1373 vs 646 deaths per 100 000; adjusted RR, 2.00 [95% CI, 1.93-2.08]), which was higher in rural areas than in urban areas (rural RR, 2.17 [95% CI, 2.07-2.29]; urban RR, 1.83 [95% CI, 1.73-1.94]). Presence of diabetes was associated with increased mortality from ischemic heart disease (3287 deaths; RR, 2.40 [95% CI, 2.19-2.63]), stroke (4444 deaths; RR, 1.98 [95% CI, 1.81-2.17]), chronic liver disease (481 deaths; RR, 2.32 [95% CI, 1.76-3.06]), infections (425 deaths; RR, 2.29 [95% CI, 1.76-2.99]), and cancer of the liver (1325 deaths; RR, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.28-1.86]), pancreas

Analysis on LID for highly urbanized areas' waterlogging control: demonstrated on the example of Caohejing in Shanghai.

PubMed

Liao, Z L; He, Y; Huang, F; Wang, S; Li, H Z

2013-01-01

Although a commonly applied measure across the United States and Europe for alleviating the negative impacts of urbanization on the hydrological cycle, low impact development (LID) has not been widely used in highly urbanized areas, especially in rapidly urbanizing cities in developing countries like China. In this paper, given five LID practices including Bio-Retention, Infiltration Trench, Porous Pavement, Rain Barrels, and Green Swale, an analysis on LID for highly urbanized areas' waterlogging control is demonstrated using the example of Caohejing in Shanghai, China. Design storm events and storm water management models are employed to simulate the total waterlogging volume reduction, peak flow rate reduction and runoff coefficient reduction of different scenarios. Cost-effectiveness is calculated for the five practices. The aftermath shows that LID practices can have significant effects on storm water management in a highly urbanized area, and the comparative results reveal that Rain Barrels and Infiltration Trench are the two most suitable cost-effective measures for the study area.

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

Land-use classification map of the greater Denver area, Front Range Urban Corridor, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Driscoll, L.B.

1975-01-01

The Greater Denver area, in the Front Range Urban Corridor of Colorado, is an area of rapid population growth and expanding land development. At present no overall land-use policy exists for this area, although man individuals and groups are concerned about environmental, economic, and social stresses caused by population pressures. A well-structured land-use policy for the entire Front Range Urban Corridor, in which compatible land uses are taken into account, could lead to overall improvements in land values. A land classification map is the first step toward implementing such a policy.

Urbanization in the US: land use trends, impacts on forest area, projections, and policy considerations

Treesearch

Ralph Alig

2010-01-01

Since World War II, socio-economic drivers of US urbanization such as population totals and personal income levels have increased substantially. Human land use is the primary force driving changes in forest ecosystem attributes including forest area, which is the focus of this paper. The percentage of the US population residing in urban areas is higher than that in...

Automatic Extraction of Urban Built-Up Area Based on Object-Oriented Method and Remote Sensing Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, L.; Zhou, H.; Wen, Q.; Chen, T.; Guan, F.; Ren, B.; Yu, H.; Wang, Z.

2018-04-01

Built-up area marks the use of city construction land in the different periods of the development, the accurate extraction is the key to the studies of the changes of urban expansion. This paper studies the technology of automatic extraction of urban built-up area based on object-oriented method and remote sensing data, and realizes the automatic extraction of the main built-up area of the city, which saves the manpower cost greatly. First, the extraction of construction land based on object-oriented method, the main technical steps include: (1) Multi-resolution segmentation; (2) Feature Construction and Selection; (3) Information Extraction of Construction Land Based on Rule Set, The characteristic parameters used in the rule set mainly include the mean of the red band (Mean R), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Ratio of residential index (RRI), Blue band mean (Mean B), Through the combination of the above characteristic parameters, the construction site information can be extracted. Based on the degree of adaptability, distance and area of the object domain, the urban built-up area can be quickly and accurately defined from the construction land information without depending on other data and expert knowledge to achieve the automatic extraction of the urban built-up area. In this paper, Beijing city as an experimental area for the technical methods of the experiment, the results show that: the city built-up area to achieve automatic extraction, boundary accuracy of 2359.65 m to meet the requirements. The automatic extraction of urban built-up area has strong practicality and can be applied to the monitoring of the change of the main built-up area of city.

Integrative assessment of climate change for fast-growing urban areas: Measurement and recommendations for future research

PubMed Central

Haase, Dagmar; Volk, Martin

2017-01-01

Over the 20th century, urbanization has substantially shaped the surface of Earth. With population rapidly shifting from rural locations towards the cities, urban areas have dramatically expanded on a global scale and represent crystallization points of social, cultural and economic assets and activities. This trend is estimated to persist for the next decades, and particularly the developing countries are expected to face rapid urban growth. The management of this growth will require good governance strategies and planning. By threatening the livelihoods, assets and health as foundations of human activities, another major global change contributor, climate change, became an equally important concern of stakeholders. Based on the climate trends observed over the 20th century, and a spatially explicit model of urbanization, this paper investigates the impacts of climate change in relation to different stages of development of urban areas, thus evolving a more integrated perspective on both processes. As a result, an integrative measure of climate change trends and impacts is proposed and estimated for urban areas worldwide. We show that those areas facing major urban growth are to a large extent also hotspots of climate change. Since most of these hotspots are located in the Global South, we emphasize the need for stakeholders to co-manage both drivers of global change. The presented integrative perspective is seen as a starting point to foster such co-management, and furthermore as a means to facilitate communication and knowledge exchange on climate change impacts. PMID:29232695

Integration of aerial oblique imagery and terrestrial imagery for optimized 3D modeling in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Bo; Xie, Linfu; Hu, Han; Zhu, Qing; Yau, Eric

2018-05-01

Photorealistic three-dimensional (3D) models are fundamental to the spatial data infrastructure of a digital city, and have numerous potential applications in areas such as urban planning, urban management, urban monitoring, and urban environmental studies. Recent developments in aerial oblique photogrammetry based on aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) offer promising techniques for 3D modeling. However, 3D models generated from aerial oblique imagery in urban areas with densely distributed high-rise buildings may show geometric defects and blurred textures, especially on building façades, due to problems such as occlusion and large camera tilt angles. Meanwhile, mobile mapping systems (MMSs) can capture terrestrial images of close-range objects from a complementary view on the ground at a high level of detail, but do not offer full coverage. The integration of aerial oblique imagery with terrestrial imagery offers promising opportunities to optimize 3D modeling in urban areas. This paper presents a novel method of integrating these two image types through automatic feature matching and combined bundle adjustment between them, and based on the integrated results to optimize the geometry and texture of the 3D models generated from aerial oblique imagery. Experimental analyses were conducted on two datasets of aerial and terrestrial images collected in Dortmund, Germany and in Hong Kong. The results indicate that the proposed approach effectively integrates images from the two platforms and thereby improves 3D modeling in urban areas.

Integrative assessment of climate change for fast-growing urban areas: Measurement and recommendations for future research.

PubMed

Scheuer, Sebastian; Haase, Dagmar; Volk, Martin

2017-01-01

Over the 20th century, urbanization has substantially shaped the surface of Earth. With population rapidly shifting from rural locations towards the cities, urban areas have dramatically expanded on a global scale and represent crystallization points of social, cultural and economic assets and activities. This trend is estimated to persist for the next decades, and particularly the developing countries are expected to face rapid urban growth. The management of this growth will require good governance strategies and planning. By threatening the livelihoods, assets and health as foundations of human activities, another major global change contributor, climate change, became an equally important concern of stakeholders. Based on the climate trends observed over the 20th century, and a spatially explicit model of urbanization, this paper investigates the impacts of climate change in relation to different stages of development of urban areas, thus evolving a more integrated perspective on both processes. As a result, an integrative measure of climate change trends and impacts is proposed and estimated for urban areas worldwide. We show that those areas facing major urban growth are to a large extent also hotspots of climate change. Since most of these hotspots are located in the Global South, we emphasize the need for stakeholders to co-manage both drivers of global change. The presented integrative perspective is seen as a starting point to foster such co-management, and furthermore as a means to facilitate communication and knowledge exchange on climate change impacts.

Spatial patterns of leprosy in an urban area of central Brazil.

PubMed

Martelli, C M; Moraes Neto, O L; Andrade, A L; Silva, S A; Silva, I M; Zicker, F

1995-01-01

Reported is the spatial variation of leprosy in an urban area of Brazil and its correlation with socioeconomic indicators. From November 1991 to October 1992 a total of 752 newly diagnosed leprosy patients who were attending all outpatient clinics in Goiânia city, central Brazil, were identified. A database o leprosy cases was set up linking patients' addresses to 64 urban districts. Leprosy cases were detected in 86% of the districts and three risk strata were identified. The highest-risk area for leprosy was in the outskirts of the city and detection rates increased on moving from more developed to poorer areas. The risk of detecting leprosy cases was 5.3-fold greater (95% CI: 3.8-7.4) in the outskirts of the town than in the central zone. Discussed are the methodological issues related to leprosy case ascertainment, completeness and reliability of information, and the interpretation of the spatial distribution of leprosy per unit area. Highlighted also are the lack of leprosy control activities in primary health care units and the usefulness of geographical analysis in planning health services.

Body Mass Index in Urban Canada: Neighborhood and Metropolitan Area Effects

PubMed Central

Ross, Nancy A.; Tremblay, Stephane; Khan, Saeeda; Crouse, Daniel; Tremblay, Mark; Berthelot, Jean-Marie

2007-01-01

Objectives. We investigated the influence of neighborhood and metropolitan area characteristics on body mass index (BMI) in urban Canada in 2001. Methods. We conducted a multilevel analysis with data collected from a cross-sectional survey of men and women nested in neighborhoods and metropolitan areas in urban Canada during 2001. Results. After we controlled for individual sociodemographic characteristics and behaviors, the average BMIs of residents of neighborhoods in which a large proportion of individuals had less than a high school education were higher than those BMIs of residents in neighborhoods with small proportions of such individuals (P< .01). Living in a neighborhood with a high proportion of recent immigrants was associated with lower BMI for men (P<.01), but not for women. Neighborhood dwelling density was not associated with BMI for either gender. Metropolitan sprawl was associated with higher BMI for men (P=.02), but the effect was not significant for women (P= .09). Conclusions. BMI is strongly patterned by an individual’s social position in urban Canada. A neighborhood’s social condition has an incremental influence on the average BMI of its residents. However, BMI is not influenced by dwelling density. Metropolitan sprawl is associated with higher BMI for Canadian men, which supports recent evidence of this same association among American men. Individuals and their environments collectively influence BMI in urban Canada. PMID:17267734

The gap in human resources to deliver the guaranteed package of prevention and health promotion services at urban and rural primary care facilities in Mexico.

PubMed

Alcalde-Rabanal, Jacqueline Elizabeth; Nigenda, Gustavo; Bärnighausen, Till; Velasco-Mondragón, Héctor Eduardo; Darney, Blair Grant

2017-08-03

The purpose of this study was to estimate the gap between the available and the ideal supply of human resources (physicians, nurses, and health promoters) to deliver the guaranteed package of prevention and health promotion services at urban and rural primary care facilities in Mexico. We conducted a cross-sectional observational study using a convenience sample. We selected 20 primary health facilities in urban and rural areas in 10 states of Mexico. We calculated the available and the ideal supply of human resources in these facilities using estimates of time available, used, and required to deliver health prevention and promotion services. We performed descriptive statistics and bivariate hypothesis testing using Wilcoxon and Friedman tests. Finally, we conducted a sensitivity analysis to test whether the non-normal distribution of our time variables biased estimation of available and ideal supply of human resources. The comparison between available and ideal supply for urban and rural primary health care facilities reveals a low supply of physicians. On average, primary health care facilities are lacking five physicians when they were estimated with time used and nine if they were estimated with time required (P < 0.05). No difference was observed between available and ideal supply of nurses in either urban or rural primary health care facilities. There is a shortage of health promoters in urban primary health facilities (P < 0.05). The available supply of physicians and health promoters is lower than the ideal supply to deliver the guaranteed package of prevention and health promotion services. Policies must address the level and distribution of human resources in primary health facilities.

Urban transmission of schistosomiasis: new epidemiological situation in the forest area of Pernambuco.

PubMed

Gomes, Elainne Christine de Souza; Mesquita, Millena Carla da Silva; Rehn, Vitorina Nerivânia Covello; Nascimento, Wheverton Ricardo Correia do; Loyo, Rodrigo; Barbosa, Constança Simões

2016-01-01

Schistosomiasis is considered an endemic disease in Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco, a district which has presented both high incidence and prevalence of it for decades. Poor environmental conditions lead to contamination of water sources in rural areas, which are used by the population during daily activities, resulting in typical transmission. Recently, there has been evidence of vector snails in urban areas, which could set a new model for schistosomiasis transmission in this district. To identify the new epidemiological situation for the urban transmission of schistosomiasis in Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco. A malacological survey was conducted in all water sources in the city limits to investigate schistosomiasis vector snails (Biomphalaria spp.). The collected snails were examined for taxonomic identification and Schistosoma mansoni infection. All breeding sites were georeferenced to build risk maps through the TrackMaker PRO program and ArcGIS software. We identified 22 Biomphalaria straminea breeding sites and collected 1,704 snails. One of these breeding sites was identified as a source of transmission and seven as potential sources of transmission. The designed maps identified two risk areas of urban transmission of schistosomiasis and expansion areas for breeding sites, establishing an increased risk of transmission to the population. This study verified the existence of a new epidemiological situation in which the possibility of the urban transmission of the disease was confirmed.

Stochastic model to forecast ground-level ozone concentration at urban and rural areas.

PubMed

Dueñas, C; Fernández, M C; Cañete, S; Carretero, J; Liger, E

2005-12-01

Stochastic models that estimate the ground-level ozone concentrations in air at an urban and rural sampling points in South-eastern Spain have been developed. Studies of temporal series of data, spectral analyses of temporal series and ARIMA models have been used. The ARIMA model (1,0,0) x (1,0,1)24 satisfactorily predicts hourly ozone concentrations in the urban area. The ARIMA (2,1,1) x (0,1,1)24 has been developed for the rural area. In both sampling points, predictions of hourly ozone concentrations agree reasonably well with measured values. However, the prediction of hourly ozone concentrations in the rural point appears to be better than that of the urban point. The performance of ARIMA models suggests that this kind of modelling can be suitable for ozone concentrations forecasting.

Comparative Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Emissions across Large Urban Areas in the U.S.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patarasuk, R.; Gurney, K. R.; O'Keeffe, D.; Song, Y.; Rao, P.; Huang, J.; Razlivanov, I. N.

2014-12-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion represents the single largest net annual flux of carbon into the atmosphere. Even though urban areas cover only 2% of the earth's surface, they contribute about 70% of global carbon emissions. We aim to conduct a comparative analysis of fossil fuel CO2 (FFCO2) emissions in three large urban areas across different regions in the U.S. based on our spatially-explicit Hestia approach, called the 'Hestia Project'. This research effort is the first to use bottom-up methods to quantify all FFCO2 emissions down to the scale of individual buildings, road segments, and industrial/electricity production facilities on an hourly basis for an entire urban landscape. The Hestia method relies on a large swath of input data such as criteria pollutant emissions reporting, stack monitoring, census data, tax assessor parcel data and traffic monitoring. The urban areas quantified with the Hestia approach include Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, and the Los Angeles Basin (encompassing over 80 cities). A comparative analysis will provide a better understanding of how and why FFCO2 emissions differ across time and space. We examine various factors such as heating/cooling degree days, population, GDP, industrial profile and building age. The study seeks to answer the following questions: 1) How and why do FFCO2 differ across the cities/regions? 2) What drives the different temporal profile of urban emissions? and 3) How do these vary across and within the urban landscape? The results from the study will benefit city planners and other stakeholders in managing urban development and greenhouse gas emissions mitigation.

Factors associated with fatal pedestrian crashes in Virginia's urban areas-1985-1987 : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1991-01-01

Between 1985 and 1987, a total of 400 pedestrians were fatally injured in Virginia; more than half of the pedestrian fatalities occurred in an urban area of the Commonwealth. Because little research had been conducted on urban pedestrian fatalities i...

The Macroecology of Airborne Pollen in Australian and New Zealand Urban Areas

PubMed Central

Haberle, Simon G.; Bowman, David M. J. S.; Newnham, Rewi M.; Johnston, Fay H.; Beggs, Paul J.; Buters, Jeroen; Campbell, Bradley; Erbas, Bircan; Godwin, Ian; Green, Brett J.; Huete, Alfredo; Jaggard, Alison K.; Medek, Danielle; Murray, Frank; Newbigin, Ed; Thibaudon, Michel; Vicendese, Don; Williamson, Grant J.; Davies, Janet M.

2014-01-01

The composition and relative abundance of airborne pollen in urban areas of Australia and New Zealand are strongly influenced by geographical location, climate and land use. There is mounting evidence that the diversity and quality of airborne pollen is substantially modified by climate change and land-use yet there are insufficient data to project the future nature of these changes. Our study highlights the need for long-term aerobiological monitoring in Australian and New Zealand urban areas in a systematic, standardised, and sustained way, and provides a framework for targeting the most clinically significant taxa in terms of abundance, allergenic effects and public health burden. PMID:24874807

The macroecology of airborne pollen in Australian and New Zealand urban areas.

PubMed

Haberle, Simon G; Bowman, David M J S; Newnham, Rewi M; Johnston, Fay H; Beggs, Paul J; Buters, Jeroen; Campbell, Bradley; Erbas, Bircan; Godwin, Ian; Green, Brett J; Huete, Alfredo; Jaggard, Alison K; Medek, Danielle; Murray, Frank; Newbigin, Ed; Thibaudon, Michel; Vicendese, Don; Williamson, Grant J; Davies, Janet M

2014-01-01

The composition and relative abundance of airborne pollen in urban areas of Australia and New Zealand are strongly influenced by geographical location, climate and land use. There is mounting evidence that the diversity and quality of airborne pollen is substantially modified by climate change and land-use yet there are insufficient data to project the future nature of these changes. Our study highlights the need for long-term aerobiological monitoring in Australian and New Zealand urban areas in a systematic, standardised, and sustained way, and provides a framework for targeting the most clinically significant taxa in terms of abundance, allergenic effects and public health burden.

Automated mapping of impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas: Linear spectral unmixing of high spatial resolution imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Jian; He, Yuhong

2017-02-01

Quantifying impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas is a key step toward a sustainable urban planning and management strategy. With the availability of fine-scale remote sensing imagery, automated mapping of impervious surfaces has attracted growing attention. However, the vast majority of existing studies have selected pixel-based and object-based methods for impervious surface mapping, with few adopting sub-pixel analysis of high spatial resolution imagery. This research makes use of a vegetation-bright impervious-dark impervious linear spectral mixture model to characterize urban and suburban surface components. A WorldView-3 image acquired on May 9th, 2015 is analyzed for its potential in automated unmixing of meaningful surface materials for two urban subsets and one suburban subset in Toronto, ON, Canada. Given the wide distribution of shadows in urban areas, the linear spectral unmixing is implemented in non-shadowed and shadowed areas separately for the two urban subsets. The results indicate that the accuracy of impervious surface mapping in suburban areas reaches up to 86.99%, much higher than the accuracies in urban areas (80.03% and 79.67%). Despite its merits in mapping accuracy and automation, the application of our proposed vegetation-bright impervious-dark impervious model to map impervious surfaces is limited due to the absence of soil component. To further extend the operational transferability of our proposed method, especially for the areas where plenty of bare soils exist during urbanization or reclamation, it is still of great necessity to mask out bare soils by automated classification prior to the implementation of linear spectral unmixing.

The Urbis Project: Identification and Characterization of Potential Urban Development Areas as a Web-Based Service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manzke, Nina; Kada, Martin; Kastler, Thomas; Xu, Shaojuan; de Lange, Norbert; Ehlers, Manfred

2016-06-01

Urban sprawl and the related landscape fragmentation is a Europe-wide challenge in the context of sustainable urban planning. The URBan land recycling Information services for Sustainable cities (URBIS) project aims for the development, implementation, and validation of web-based information services for urban vacant land in European functional urban areas in order to provide end-users with site specific characteristics and to facilitate the identification and evaluation of potential development areas. The URBIS services are developed based on open geospatial data. In particular, the Copernicus Urban Atlas thematic layers serve as the main data source for an initial inventory of sites. In combination with remotely sensed data like SPOT5 images and ancillary datasets like OpenStreetMap, detailed site specific information is extracted. Services are defined for three main categories: i) baseline services, which comprise an initial inventory and typology of urban land, ii) update services, which provide a regular inventory update as well as an analysis of urban land use dynamics and changes, and iii) thematic services, which deliver specific information tailored to end-users' needs.

Hydrologists in the City: Re-envisioning How We Manage Water in Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McPhillips, L. E.

2014-12-01

As the footprint of our urban areas expands, so does our manipulation of the hydrology. For decades we have channeled runoff into storm sewers, wreaking havoc on downstream water bodies with pulses of polluted stormwater. Recently, there has been a push for 'green infrastructure' to replace this hard, grey infrastructure, where green infrastructure- from rain gardens to green roofs to restored riparian areas- would detain stormwater and promote pollutant removal, in addition to a plethora of other ecosystem services. Primarily, it has been landscape architects, engineers, and urban planners who have jumped on the green infrastructure bandwagon. I believe there is also a niche for hydrologists and biogeochemists in re-envisioning how we manage stormwater in urban areas. Developed areas may not be as enticing as a remote mountain field site and their hydrology may be a lot more complicated to model than that of a forest hillslope, but these areas are where the majority of people live and where we could have a great impact on informing better water management practices. In collaboration with more applied fields like landscape architecture and engineering, we can provide crucial insight on existing hydrology as well as how certain green infrastructure or other alternative considerations could support a more sustainable and resilient city, particularly in the face of climate change. Our knowledge on landscape hydrological processes and biogeochemical cycling- combined with the expertise of these other fields- can inform design of truly multi-functional green infrastructure that can effectively manage storm runoff in addition to providing wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, improved aesthetics, and even an opportunity to engage with citizens. While there are certainly some hydrologists that have recognized this opportunity, I hope to see many more pursuing research and seeking solutions for better management of water in urbanized areas.

Endless urban growth? On the mismatch of population, household and urban land area growth and its effects on the urban debate.

PubMed

Haase, Dagmar; Kabisch, Nadja; Haase, Annegret

2013-01-01

In European cities, the rate of population growth has declined significantly, while the number of households has increased. This increase in the number of households is associated with an increase in space for housing. To date, the effects of both a declining population and decreasing household numbers remain unclear. In this paper, we analyse the relationship between population and household number development in 188 European cities from 1990-2000 and 2000-2006 to the growth of urban land area and per capita living space. Our results support a trend toward decreasing population with simultaneously increasing household number. However, we also found cites facing both a declining population and a decreasing household number. Nevertheless, the urban land area of these "double-declining" cities has continued to spread because the increasing per capita living space counteracts a reduction in land consumption. We conclude that neither a decline in population nor in household number "automatically" solve the global problem of land consumption.

Retrofitting the Low Impact Development Practices into Developed Urban areas Including Barriers and Potential Solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shafique, Muhammad; Kim, Reeho

2017-06-01

Low impact development (LID)/green infrastructure (GI) practices have been identified as the sustainable practices of managing the stormwater in urban areas. Due to the increasing population, most of the cities are more developing which results in the change of natural area into impervious areas (roads, buildings etc.). Moreover, urbanization and climate change are causing many water-related problems and making over cities unsafe and insecure. Under these circumstances, there is a need to introduce new stormwater management practices into developed cities to reduce the adverse impacts of urbanization. For this purpose, retrofitting low impact development practices demands more attention to reduce these water-related problems and trying to make our cities sustainable. In developed areas, there is a little space is available for the retrofitting of LID practices for the stormwater management. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate place to retrofitting LID practices needs more concern. This paper describes the successfully applied retrofitting LID practices around the globe. It also includes the process of applying retrofitting LID practices at the suitable place with the suitable combination. Optimal places for the retrofitting of different LID practices are also mentioned. This paper also highlights the barriers and potential solutions of retrofitting LID practices in urban areas.

Evaluation of sustainable walk-up flats in terms of urban housing renewal in coastal area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Septanti, D.; Kisnarini, R.; Setyawan, W.; Utami, ASPR

2018-03-01

Urban housing renewal aims to get added value while maintaining the sustainability of its environmental function and quality [4]. This research discusses the urban renewal which is done by rebuilding the affected area with walk-up flats. There are four aspects to be considered in achieving sustainability, namely: environmental, social, economic, and cultural [14]. This study is focused on cultural aspect. Sustainable walk-up flats, viewed from the micro context perspective, can later be used as one of the terms of reference in assessing the success of urban renewal projects in Indonesia. Especially in coastal areas, it becomes more challenging because coastal communities have different characteristics and the existing urban renewal flats are not necessarily appropriate for the coastal community. The methods used in this study are explorative, descriptive, ex- post, cross-sectional and synchronic evaluation. This research describes the characteristics of citizens, activities at home and the environment. Thus, the conclusions which are drawn by deductive reasoning are done using frequency, mean, etc. A mixed research method is applied combining with the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data collection and interpretation, including determining quantitative indicators and space design attributes, and qualitative user needs. This research is located in Surabaya as a sample of coastal cities with urban and environmental problems. The results of this study are the findings of indicators, directions, and concepts for Sustainable Housing Development in Coastal Areas which further can be made as scientific recommendation (to support the Housing Theory and Urban Renewal) and contribute to practical guidelines for sustainable low-cost walk-up flats in coastal areas.

Nutritional status and its health-related factors among older adults in rural and urban areas.

PubMed

Chen, Su-Hui; Cheng, Hsin-Yi; Chuang, Yeu-Hui; Shao, Jung-Hua

2015-01-01

To compare health-related characteristics, nutrition-related factors and nutritional status of older adults living in rural and urban counties of Taiwan. The older adult population of Taiwan is increasing. Furthermore, older people living in rural areas have shorter life expectancy and more chronic diseases than their urban counterparts. However, little is known about the health-related characteristics, nutrition-related factors and nutritional status of older adults living in rural and urban areas of Taiwan, limiting nurses' ability to identify and care for older adults at risk of poor nutritional health. Cross-sectional, comparative. Older adults were randomly selected from names of residents of an adjacent rural and urban area of northern Taiwan and having completing the 2009 health evaluation. From March-July 2010, older adult participants (N = 366) provided data on demographic and health-related information, nutritional self-efficacy, health locus of control and nutritional status. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and compared using chi-square and t-test. Older rural participants had significantly lower educational level, less adequate income, higher medication use, lower scores on self-rated health status and researcher-rated health status and lower self-rated healthy eating status than their urban counterparts. Moreover, rural participants had significantly lower nutritional self-efficacy, higher chance health locus of control and poorer nutritional status than their urban counterparts. Our results suggest that nurses should assess older adults living in rural areas for nutritional health and nutrition knowledge. Based on this assessment, nurses should develop easy, practical and accessible nutritional programmes for this population. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Derivation of Nationally Consistent Indices Representing Urban Intensity Within and Across Nine Metropolitan Areas of the Conterminous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cuffney, Thomas F.; Falcone, James A.

2009-01-01

Two nationally consistent multimetric indices of urban intensity were developed to support studies of the effects of urbanization on streams in nine metropolitan areas of the conterminous United States: Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; Portland, Oregon; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Salt Lake City, Utah. These studies were conducted as a part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program. These urban intensity indices were used to define gradients of urbanization and to interpret biological, physical, and chemical changes along these gradients. Ninety census, land-cover, and infrastructure variables obtained from nationally available databases were evaluated. Only variables that exhibited a strong and consistent linear relation with 2000 population density were considered for use in the indices. Housing-unit density (HUDEN), percentage of basin area in developed land (P_NLCD1_2), and road density (ROADDEN) were selected as the best representatives of census, land-cover, and infrastructure variables. The metropolitan area national urban intensity index (MA-NUII) was scaled to represent urban intensity within each metropolitan area and ranged from 0 (little or no urban) to 100 (maximum urban) for sites within each metropolitan area. The national urban intensity index (NUII) was scaled to represent urban intensity across all nine metropolitan areas and ranged from 0 to 100 for all sites. The rates at which HUDEN, P_NLCD1_2, and ROADDEN changed with changes in population density varied among metropolitan areas. Therefore, these variables were adjusted to obtain a more uniform rate of response across metropolitan areas in the derivation of the NUII. The NUII indicated that maximum levels of urban intensity occurred in the West and Midwest rather than in the East primarily because small inner-city streams in eastern metropolitan areas are

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

Bases of the scientific conception of the “green frame” designing in urban areas for providing ecological safety of the urban environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bespalov, V.; Kotlyarova, E.

2017-10-01

In modern conditions of a stable urban areas development special place is occupied by the problem of ecological security of built-up areas, including residential, recreational, industrial areas and objects of transport and engineering infrastructure. The main results of the study are to establish the basis of formation of the concept of choice of energy-efficient technologies and tools of forming an ecologically efficient “green frame” of urban areas on the basis of a single integrated scientific concept. Analysis allowed us to divide the measures for improvement into the following main groups: organizational and planning, engineering and technical and special engineering and environmental. The significance of these results for the construction industry, including transport infrastructure, is to increase the level of environmental safety in the construction and reconstruction of urban areas due to the organization of their improvement on the basis suggested by the authors scientific approach. Its basis is integrated accounting of the natural and climatic features of the landscaping territory, the types and level of environmental impact of negative anthropogenic factors, the features of architectural and planning solutions of the existing or projected on the studied area, the structure and types of green spaces and their functional ecological properties.

Relationships between urbanization and the oak resource of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area from 1991 to 1998

Treesearch

Kathryn Kromroy; Kathleen Ward; Paul Castillo; Jennifer Juzwik

2006-01-01

Urbanization was associated with loss and transformation of the oak forest in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) metropolitan area (TCMA) over a recent 7-year interval. Between 1991 and 1998, urbanization increased based on several indicators: population density, area of developed land, and area of impervious surface?total impervious area and area within three...

Stochasticity in Natural Forage Production Affects Use of Urban Areas by Black Bears: Implications to Management of Human-Bear Conflicts

PubMed Central

Baruch-Mordo, Sharon; Wilson, Kenneth R.; Lewis, David L.; Broderick, John; Mao, Julie S.; Breck, Stewart W.

2014-01-01

The rapid expansion of global urban development is increasing opportunities for wildlife to forage and become dependent on anthropogenic resources. Wildlife using urban areas are often perceived dichotomously as urban or not, with some individuals removed in the belief that dependency on anthropogenic resources is irreversible and can lead to increased human-wildlife conflict. For American black bears (Ursus americanus), little is known about the degree of bear urbanization and its ecological mechanisms to guide the management of human-bear conflicts. Using 6 years of GPS location and activity data from bears in Aspen, Colorado, USA, we evaluated the degree of bear urbanization and the factors that best explained its variations. We estimated space use, activity patterns, survival, and reproduction and modeled their relationship with ecological covariates related to bear characteristics and natural food availability. Space use and activity patterns were dependent on natural food availability (good or poor food years), where bears used higher human density areas and became more nocturnal in poor food years. Patterns were reversible, i.e., individuals using urban areas in poor food years used wildland areas in subsequent good food years. While reproductive output was similar across years, survival was lower in poor food years when bears used urban areas to a greater extent. Our findings suggest that bear use of urban areas is reversible and fluctuates with the availability of natural food resources, and that removal of urban individuals in times of food failures has the potential to negatively affect bear populations. Given that under current predictions urbanization is expected to increase by 11% across American black bear range, and that natural food failure years are expected to increase in frequency with global climate change, alternative methods of reducing urban human-bear conflict are required if the goal is to prevent urban areas from becoming population sinks

Stochasticity in natural forage production affects use of urban areas by black bears: implications to management of human-bear conflicts.

PubMed

Baruch-Mordo, Sharon; Wilson, Kenneth R; Lewis, David L; Broderick, John; Mao, Julie S; Breck, Stewart W

2014-01-01

The rapid expansion of global urban development is increasing opportunities for wildlife to forage and become dependent on anthropogenic resources. Wildlife using urban areas are often perceived dichotomously as urban or not, with some individuals removed in the belief that dependency on anthropogenic resources is irreversible and can lead to increased human-wildlife conflict. For American black bears (Ursus americanus), little is known about the degree of bear urbanization and its ecological mechanisms to guide the management of human-bear conflicts. Using 6 years of GPS location and activity data from bears in Aspen, Colorado, USA, we evaluated the degree of bear urbanization and the factors that best explained its variations. We estimated space use, activity patterns, survival, and reproduction and modeled their relationship with ecological covariates related to bear characteristics and natural food availability. Space use and activity patterns were dependent on natural food availability (good or poor food years), where bears used higher human density areas and became more nocturnal in poor food years. Patterns were reversible, i.e., individuals using urban areas in poor food years used wildland areas in subsequent good food years. While reproductive output was similar across years, survival was lower in poor food years when bears used urban areas to a greater extent. Our findings suggest that bear use of urban areas is reversible and fluctuates with the availability of natural food resources, and that removal of urban individuals in times of food failures has the potential to negatively affect bear populations. Given that under current predictions urbanization is expected to increase by 11% across American black bear range, and that natural food failure years are expected to increase in frequency with global climate change, alternative methods of reducing urban human-bear conflict are required if the goal is to prevent urban areas from becoming population sinks.

Using Smart Planning to Mitigate Drought in Urban Areas: A Seasonal Simulation of the Impact of Urbanization on Precipitation in the Indianapolis Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmid, P. E.; Niyogi, D.

2012-12-01

The Indianapolis region exhibits a precipitation distribution indicative of urban weather modification: negative bias upwind and positive bias downwind. The causes for such a distribution within an urban area arise from a combination of land-surface heterogeneity and urban aerosol-cloud interaction. This study investigates the causes of the precipitation distribution with a 120-day simulation using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) coupled with the Town Energy Budget (TEB) model. Using a nested grid with a maximum resolution of 500m, a seasonal simulation of May through August, 2008 is conducted. Land surface conditions are varied, removing, expanding, and intensifying the Indianapolis urban area. Aerosol conditions are scaled by a three-dimensional combination of MODIS and CALIPSO observations, and varied in concentration and plume extent. Results from the study demonstrate the paradigm of urban precipitation modification on a seasonal time scale. The boundary between the rural and urban land surfaces weakens approaching systems upwind, decreasing precipitation in the city center. A larger urban extent diminishes the systems further. The aerosol plume downwind increases cloud lifetimes via cloud-nucleating aerosol, then invigorates precipitation via large drizzle-invigorating aerosols. The overall effect reproduces the observed negative precipitation bias upwind and positive bias downwind of the urban center. A lower concentration of aerosols leads to a higher proportion of stratiform rain over a larger area, whereas a higher concentration of aerosols leads to more convective rain and heavy rain events. This manifests in a weekly cycle of precipitation with rain most likely on weekends, and with less frequent but heavier rain events most likely during midweek, when aerosol concentrations are the highest. More intense urbanization, via both land surface and aerosol effects, creates more frequent heavy rainfall events and exacerbates dry

75 FR 61553 - National Transit Database: Amendments to the Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual and to the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-05

... Transit Database: Amendments to the Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual and to the Safety and Security... the 2011 National Transit Database Urbanized Area Annual Reporting Manual and Announcement of... Transit Administration's (FTA) National Transit Database (NTD) reporting requirements, including...

Contaminants in stream sediments from seven United States metropolitan areas: part I: distribution in relation to urbanization

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nowell, Lisa H.; Moran, Patrick W.; Gilliom, Robert J.; Calhoun, Daniel L.; Ingersoll, Christopher G.; Kemble, Nile E.; Kuivila, Kathryn; Phillips, Patrick J.

2013-01-01

Organic contaminants and trace elements were measured in bed sediments collected from streams in seven metropolitan study areas across the United States to assess concentrations in relation to urbanization. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, organochlorine pesticides, the pyrethroid insecticide bifenthrin, and several trace elements were significantly related to urbanization across study areas. Most contaminants (except bifenthrin, chromium, nickel) were significantly related to the total organic carbon (TOC) content of the sediments. Regression models explained 45–80 % of the variability in individual contaminant concentrations using degree of urbanization, sediment-TOC, and study-area indicator variables (which represent the combined influence of unknown factors, such as chemical use or release, that are not captured by available explanatory variables). The significance of one or more study-area indicator variables in all models indicates marked differences in contaminant levels among some study areas, even after accounting for the nationally modeled effects of urbanization and sediment-TOC. Mean probable effect concentration quotients (PECQs) were significantly related to urbanization. Trace elements were the major contributors to mean PECQs at undeveloped sites, whereas organic contaminants, especially bifenthrin, were the major contributors at highly urban sites. Pyrethroids, where detected, accounted for the largest share of the mean PECQ. Part 2 of this series (Kemble et al. 2012) evaluates sediment toxicity to amphipods and midge in relation to sediment chemistry.

The use of LANDSAT data to monitor the urban growth of Sao Paulo Metropolitan area

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dejesusparada, N. (Principal Investigator); Niero, M.; Lombardo, M. A.; Foresti, C.

1982-01-01

Urban growth from 1977 to 1979 of the region between Billings and the Guarapiranga reservoir was mapped and the problematic urban areas identified using several LANDSAT products. Visual and automatic interpretation techniques were applied to the data. Computer compatible tapes of LANDSAT multispectral scanner data were analyzed through the maximum likelihood Gaussian algorithm. The feasibility of monitoring fast urban growth by remote sensing techniques for efficient urban planning and control is demonstrated.

Particulate air pollution from combustion and construction in coastal and urban areas of China.

PubMed

Chen, Bing; Chen, Jinsheng; Zhao, Jinping; Zhang, Fuwang

2011-11-01

In China, the areas that are undergoing rapid urban growth are faced with increasingly more complicated air pollution problems. Sources of air pollution need to be identified and their contributions quantified. In this study, PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters < or =2.5 microm), PM2.5-10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters 2.5-10 microm), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations were measured from April to July 2009 at four selected areas in Xiamen (the downtown area, an industrial park, a suburb, and one remote site). The contributions of carbonaceous aerosols to PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 were 20-30% and 10-20%, respectively, indicating that finer particles contained more carbonaceous aerosols. The EC concentrations in PM2.5 at the downtown, industrial, suburb, and remote sites were 2.16 +/- 0.61, 2.05 +/- 0.45, 1.69 +/- 0.54, and 0.65 +/- 0.43 microg m-3, respectively, showing a decrease from the urban and industrial hotspots to the surrounding areas. These data show that carbonaceous aerosols emitted from the combustion of fossil fuels in urban and industrial hotspots influence air quality at the regional scale. Higher levels of PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 were observed at the suburb site compared to the urban and industrial sites. Peak EC concentrations in PM2.5 were observed during the morning and evening rush hours. However, peak PM2.5 levels at the suburb site were observed around noon, which coincides with construction work hours, instead of the morning and evening rush hours when emissions from combustion dominated. These findings indicate that both fuel combustion and construction have exacerbated air pollution in coastal and urban areas in China.

Novel psychoactive substances: use and knowledge among adolescents and young adults in urban and rural areas.

PubMed

Martinotti, Giovanni; Lupi, Matteo; Carlucci, Leonardo; Cinosi, Eduardo; Santacroce, Rita; Acciavatti, Tiziano; Chillemi, Eleonora; Bonifaci, Ludovica; Janiri, Luigi; Di Giannantonio, Massimo

2015-07-01

Novel psychoactive substances (NPS) are new psychotropic drugs, not scheduled under the International Conventions on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a relevant public health threat. In this study, we investigated knowledge and use of NPS in a sample of Italian youth in urban and rural areas. Between December 2012 and October 2013, we administered a questionnaire to a sample of 3011 healthy subjects (44.7% men; 55.3% women), aged between 16 and 24 years and recruited in urban, intermediate and rural areas of Italy. Of the global sample, 53.3% declared to have some knowledge on NPS, with a higher knowledge in urban areas. Mephedrone (26%), desomorphine (22.6%) and methamphetamine (21.7%) were the most commonly known drugs. NPS use was reported by 4.7% of the sample, without significant differences between urban and rural areas; mephedrone (3.3%), synthetic cannabinoids (1.2%) and Salvia divinorum (0.3%) consumption has been identified. NPS use was also predictive of binge-drinking behaviours (χ(2) (4) = 929.58, p < .001). Urban areas may represent a focal point for preventive strategies, given the presence of higher levels of NPS knowledge. Moreover, the association between binge-drinking habits and NPS use was really strong. This issue should not be underestimated because of its medical, psychopathological and social consequences. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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.

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

Public green areas and urban environmental quality of the city of São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil.

PubMed

Bertini, M A; Rufino, R R; Fushita, A T; Lima, M I S

2016-04-19

Assess the state of public green areas, their importance and influence on environmental quality and living in urban centers is an arduous task considering the conceptual and scientific regarding quantification and data analysis methods divergence. In this study, we aimed to determine two indicators of public green areas relative to the percentage of public green areas (PPGA) and the public green areas index (PGAI) in the urban area of São Carlos, SP. The study area was organized into administrative regions (ARs), using satellite images, topographical maps of 1:10,000 Geographic and Cartographic Institute (1990) and data provided by the Municipality of São Carlos. The results show that public green areas comprise 6.55% of the municipality, with a public green areas index (PGAI) of 18.85 m2/inhabitant, indicating good urban environmental quality when compared to rates of 15 m2/capita for public green areas for recreation, suggested by the Brazilian Society of Urban Forestry. The differences between the administrative regions are concern with situations from 4.16 to 36.30 m2/inhabitant. In this context, it is recommend specific public policies and popular participation in the process of continuous improvement for increasing public green areas in the less favored regions. The Genebrino method applied to indicators of public green areas (GPGA - amount of public green areas divided by population density), showed a commendable goal above 40% for urban environmental quality.

3D Visualization of Urban Area Using Lidar Technology and CityGML

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popovic, Dragana; Govedarica, Miro; Jovanovic, Dusan; Radulovic, Aleksandra; Simeunovic, Vlado

2017-12-01

3D models of urban areas have found use in modern world such as navigation, cartography, urban planning visualization, construction, tourism and even in new applications of mobile navigations. With the advancement of technology there are much better solutions for mapping earth’s surface and spatial objects. 3D city model enables exploration, analysis, management tasks and presentation of a city. Urban areas consist of terrain surfaces, buildings, vegetation and other parts of city infrastructure such as city furniture. Nowadays there are a lot of different methods for collecting, processing and publishing 3D models of area of interest. LIDAR technology is one of the most effective methods for collecting data due the large amount data that can be obtained with high density and geometrical accuracy. CityGML is open standard data model for storing alphanumeric and geometry attributes of city. There are 5 levels of display (LoD0, LoD1, LoD2, LoD3, LoD4). In this study, main aim is to represent part of urban area of Novi Sad using LIDAR technology, for data collecting, and different methods for extraction of information’s using CityGML as a standard for 3D representation. By using series of programs, it is possible to process collected data, transform it to CityGML and store it in spatial database. Final product is CityGML 3D model which can display textures and colours in order to give a better insight of the cities. This paper shows results of the first three levels of display. They consist of digital terrain model and buildings with differentiated rooftops and differentiated boundary surfaces. Complete model gives us a realistic view of 3D objects.

Ixodes ricinus and Its Transmitted Pathogens in Urban and Peri-Urban Areas in Europe: New Hazards and Relevance for Public Health

PubMed Central

Rizzoli, Annapaola; Silaghi, Cornelia; Obiegala, Anna; Rudolf, Ivo; Hubálek, Zdeněk; Földvári, Gábor; Plantard, Olivier; Vayssier-Taussat, Muriel; Bonnet, Sarah; Špitalská, Eva; Kazimírová, Mária

2014-01-01

Tick-borne diseases represent major public and animal health issues worldwide. Ixodes ricinus, primarily associated with deciduous and mixed forests, is the principal vector of causative agents of viral, bacterial, and protozoan zoonotic diseases in Europe. Recently, abundant tick populations have been observed in European urban green areas, which are of public health relevance due to the exposure of humans and domesticated animals to potentially infected ticks. In urban habitats, small and medium-sized mammals, birds, companion animals (dogs and cats), and larger mammals (roe deer and wild boar) play a role in maintenance of tick populations and as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens. Presence of ticks infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus and high prevalence of ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., causing Lyme borreliosis, have been reported from urbanized areas in Europe. Emerging pathogens, including bacteria of the order Rickettsiales (Anaplasma phagocytophilum, “Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis,” Rickettsia helvetica, and R. monacensis), Borrelia miyamotoi, and protozoans (Babesia divergens, B. venatorum, and B. microti) have also been detected in urban tick populations. Understanding the ecology of ticks and their associations with hosts in a European urbanized environment is crucial to quantify parameters necessary for risk pre-assessment and identification of public health strategies for control and prevention of tick-borne diseases. PMID:25520947

Relationship between Surface Urban Heat Island intensity and sensible heat flux retrieved from meteorological parameters observed by road weather stations in urban area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gawuć, Lech

2017-04-01

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a direct consequence of altered energy balance in urban areas (Oke 1982). There has been a significant effort put into an understanding of air temperature variability in urban areas and underlying mechanisms (Arnfield 2003, Grimmond 2006, Stewart 2011, Barlow 2014). However, studies that are concerned on surface temperature are less frequent. Therefore, Voogt & Oke (2003) proposed term "Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI)", which is analogical to UHI and it is defined as a difference in land surface temperature (LST) between urban and rural areas. SUHI is a phenomenon that is not only concerned with high spatial variability, but also with high temporal variability (Weng and Fu 2014). In spite of the fact that satellite remote sensing techniques give a full spatial pattern over a vast area, such measurements are strictly limited to cloudless conditions during a satellite overpass (Sobrino et al., 2012). This significantly reduces the availability and applicability of satellite LST observations, especially over areas and seasons with high cloudiness occurrence. Also, the surface temperature is influenced by synoptic conditions (e.g., wind and humidity) (Gawuc & Struzewska 2016). Hence, utilising single observations is not sufficient to obtain a full image of spatiotemporal variability of urban LST and SUHI intensity (Gawuc & Struzewska 2016). One of the possible solutions would be a utilisation of time-series of LST data, which could be useful to monitor the UHI growth of individual cities and thus, to reveal the impact of urbanisation on local climate (Tran et al., 2006). The relationship between UHI and synoptic conditions have been summarised by Arnfield (2003). However, similar analyses conducted for urban LST and SUHI are lacking. We will present analyses of the relationship between time series of remotely-sensed LST and SUHI intensity and in-situ meteorological observations collected by road weather stations network, namely: road surface

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.

Measuring non-recurrent congestion in small to medium sized urban areas.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-05-01

Understanding the relative magnitudes of recurrent vs. non-recurrent congestion in an urban area is critical to the selection of proper countermeasures and the appropriate allocation of resources to address congestion problems. Small to medium sized ...

Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States.

PubMed

Larson, Lincoln R; Jennings, Viniece; Cloutier, Scott A

2016-01-01

Sustainable development efforts in urban areas often focus on understanding and managing factors that influence all aspects of health and wellbeing. Research has shown that public parks and green space provide a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits to urban residents, but few studies have examined the influence of parks on comprehensive measures of subjective wellbeing at the city level. Using 2014 data from 44 U.S. cities, we evaluated the relationship between urban park quantity, quality, and accessibility and aggregate self-reported scores on the Gallup-Healthways Wellbeing Index (WBI), which considers five different domains of wellbeing (e.g., physical, community, social, financial, and purpose). In addition to park-related variables, our best-fitting OLS regression models selected using an information theory approach controlled for a variety of other typical geographic and socio-demographic correlates of wellbeing. Park quantity (measured as the percentage of city area covered by public parks) was among the strongest predictors of overall wellbeing, and the strength of this relationship appeared to be driven by parks' contributions to physical and community wellbeing. Park quality (measured as per capita spending on parks) and accessibility (measured as the overall percentage of a city's population within ½ mile of parks) were also positively associated with wellbeing, though these relationships were not significant. Results suggest that expansive park networks are linked to multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in cities and positively impact urban quality of life.

Public Parks and Wellbeing in Urban Areas of the United States

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Sustainable development efforts in urban areas often focus on understanding and managing factors that influence all aspects of health and wellbeing. Research has shown that public parks and green space provide a variety of physical, psychological, and social benefits to urban residents, but few studies have examined the influence of parks on comprehensive measures of subjective wellbeing at the city level. Using 2014 data from 44 U.S. cities, we evaluated the relationship between urban park quantity, quality, and accessibility and aggregate self-reported scores on the Gallup-Healthways Wellbeing Index (WBI), which considers five different domains of wellbeing (e.g., physical, community, social, financial, and purpose). In addition to park-related variables, our best-fitting OLS regression models selected using an information theory approach controlled for a variety of other typical geographic and socio-demographic correlates of wellbeing. Park quantity (measured as the percentage of city area covered by public parks) was among the strongest predictors of overall wellbeing, and the strength of this relationship appeared to be driven by parks’ contributions to physical and community wellbeing. Park quality (measured as per capita spending on parks) and accessibility (measured as the overall percentage of a city’s population within ½ mile of parks) were also positively associated with wellbeing, though these relationships were not significant. Results suggest that expansive park networks are linked to multiple aspects of health and wellbeing in cities and positively impact urban quality of life. PMID:27054887

Hydrologic data for urban storm runoff from nine sites in the Denver metropolitan area, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gibbs, Johnnie W.

1981-01-01

Urban storm-runoff data were collected April through September 1980, from nine urbanrunoff sites in the Denver metropolitan area, and are presented in this report. The sites consist of two single-family residential areas, two multi-family residential areas, one commercial area (shopping center), one mixed commercial and multi-family residential area, one native area (open space), and two detention ponds. Precipitation, rainfall-runoff, water-quality (common constituents, nutrients, coliform bacteria, solids, and trace elements) and basin-area data are necessary to use the U.S. Geological Survey 's Distributed Routing Rainfall-Runoff Model, Version II. The urban storm-runoff data may be used to characterize runoff pollution loading for various land-use types in Denver and other semi-arid regions. (USGS)

Spatial patterns of leprosy in an urban area of central Brazil.

PubMed Central

Martelli, C. M.; Moraes Neto, O. L.; Andrade, A. L.; Silva, S. A.; Silva, I. M.; Zicker, F.

1995-01-01

Reported is the spatial variation of leprosy in an urban area of Brazil and its correlation with socioeconomic indicators. From November 1991 to October 1992 a total of 752 newly diagnosed leprosy patients who were attending all outpatient clinics in Goiânia city, central Brazil, were identified. A database o leprosy cases was set up linking patients' addresses to 64 urban districts. Leprosy cases were detected in 86% of the districts and three risk strata were identified. The highest-risk area for leprosy was in the outskirts of the city and detection rates increased on moving from more developed to poorer areas. The risk of detecting leprosy cases was 5.3-fold greater (95% CI: 3.8-7.4) in the outskirts of the town than in the central zone. Discussed are the methodological issues related to leprosy case ascertainment, completeness and reliability of information, and the interpretation of the spatial distribution of leprosy per unit area. Highlighted also are the lack of leprosy control activities in primary health care units and the usefulness of geographical analysis in planning health services. PMID:7614663

Urbanity as a determinant of exposure to grass pollen in Helsinki Metropolitan area, Finland.

PubMed

Hugg, Timo T; Hjort, Jan; Antikainen, Harri; Rusanen, Jarmo; Tuokila, Mirkka; Korkonen, Sanna; Weckström, Jan; Jaakkola, Maritta S; Jaakkola, Jouni J K

2017-01-01

Little is known about the levels of exposure to grass pollen in urban environments. We assessed the spatio-temporal variation of grass pollen concentrations and the role of urbanity as a determinant of grass pollen exposure in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. We monitored grass pollen concentrations in 2013 at 16 sites during the peak pollen season by using rotorod-type samplers at the breathing height. The sites were in the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, Finland, and formed city-specific lines that represented urban-rural gradient. The monitoring sites were both visually and based on land use data ranked as high to low (graded 1 to 8) pollen area. The lowest grass pollen concentrations were observed in the most urban sites compared to the least urban sites (mean 3.6 vs. 6.8 grains/m3 in Helsinki; P<0.0001, and 5.2 vs. 87.5 grains/m3 in Espoo; P<0.0001). Significant differences were observed between concentrations measured in morning periods compared to afternoon periods (4.9 vs. 5.4 in Helsinki, P = 0.0186, and 21.8 vs. 67.1 in Espoo, P = 0.0004). The mean pollen concentration increased with decreasing urbanity both in Helsinki (0.59 grains/m3 per urbanity rank, 95% CI 0.25-0.93) and Espoo (8.42, 6.23-10.61). Pollen concentrations were highest in the afternoons and they were related to the ambient temperature. Urbanity was a strong and significant determinant of pollen exposure in two Finnish cities. Pollen exposure can periodically reach such high levels even in the most urban environments that can cause allergic reactions among individuals with allergies.

Urbanity as a determinant of exposure to grass pollen in Helsinki Metropolitan area, Finland

PubMed Central

Hugg, Timo T.; Hjort, Jan; Antikainen, Harri; Rusanen, Jarmo; Tuokila, Mirkka; Korkonen, Sanna; Weckström, Jan; Jaakkola, Maritta S.

2017-01-01

Little is known about the levels of exposure to grass pollen in urban environments. We assessed the spatio-temporal variation of grass pollen concentrations and the role of urbanity as a determinant of grass pollen exposure in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. We monitored grass pollen concentrations in 2013 at 16 sites during the peak pollen season by using rotorod-type samplers at the breathing height. The sites were in the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, Finland, and formed city-specific lines that represented urban-rural gradient. The monitoring sites were both visually and based on land use data ranked as high to low (graded 1 to 8) pollen area. The lowest grass pollen concentrations were observed in the most urban sites compared to the least urban sites (mean 3.6 vs. 6.8 grains/m3 in Helsinki; P<0.0001, and 5.2 vs. 87.5 grains/m3 in Espoo; P<0.0001). Significant differences were observed between concentrations measured in morning periods compared to afternoon periods (4.9 vs. 5.4 in Helsinki, P = 0.0186, and 21.8 vs. 67.1 in Espoo, P = 0.0004). The mean pollen concentration increased with decreasing urbanity both in Helsinki (0.59 grains/m3 per urbanity rank, 95% CI 0.25–0.93) and Espoo (8.42, 6.23–10.61). Pollen concentrations were highest in the afternoons and they were related to the ambient temperature. Urbanity was a strong and significant determinant of pollen exposure in two Finnish cities. Pollen exposure can periodically reach such high levels even in the most urban environments that can cause allergic reactions among individuals with allergies. PMID:29023565

Medicaid Expansion Under the Affordable Care Act and Insurance Coverage in Rural and Urban Areas.

PubMed

Soni, Aparna; Hendryx, Michael; Simon, Kosali

2017-04-01

To analyze the differential rural-urban impacts of the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion on low-income childless adults' health insurance coverage. Using data from the American Community Survey years 2011-2015, we conducted a difference-in-differences regression analysis to test for changes in the probability of low-income childless adults having insurance in states that expanded Medicaid versus states that did not expand, in rural versus urban areas. Analyses employed survey weights, adjusted for covariates, and included a set of falsification tests as well as sensitivity analyses. Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act increased the probability of Medicaid coverage for targeted populations in rural and urban areas, with a significantly greater increase in rural areas (P < .05), but some of these gains were offset by reductions in individual purchased insurance among rural populations (P < .01). Falsification tests showed that the insurance increases were specific to low-income childless adults, as expected, and were largely insignificant for other populations. The Medicaid expansion increased the probability of having "any insurance" for the pooled urban and rural low-income populations, and it specifically increased Medicaid coverage more in rural versus urban populations. There was some evidence that the expansion was accompanied by some shifting from individual purchased insurance to Medicaid in rural areas, and there is a need for future work to understand the implications of this shift on expenditures, access to care and utilization. © 2017 National Rural Health Association.

Impacts of urbanization and landscape patterns on the earthworm communities in residential areas in Beijing.

PubMed

Xie, Tian; Wang, Meie; Chen, Weiping; Uwizeyimana, Herman

2018-06-01

Earthworms play an important role in soil processes and functions. However, few studies have focused on their community patterns in perturbed systems, especially in an urban environment with a high turnover rate of land cover. In this study, we collected and identified the earthworms in the residential areas in metropolitan Beijing. We further investigated the effects of urban soil properties, urbanization and landscape patterns on the earthworm communities. The results showed that both the abundance and biomass of earthworms in residential areas in metropolitan was relatively low. The abundance of earthworms was negatively correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC) in this study. Soil moisture and pH could be considered as the most important edaphic variables that affected earthworm communities. The construction age of residential areas significantly influenced the earthworm abundance. Moreover, the earthworm community composition responded differently to urban landscape features at different scales. The percentage of impervious and green space surface, the amount of landscape cover types, patch density and landscape fragment significantly affected the earthworm assemblages. Our result discovered that the edaphic properties, urbanization as well as landscape patterns might be the potential factors that influenced the earthworm community patterns. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diet of dingoes and other wild dogs in peri-urban areas of north-eastern Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, Benjamin L.; Carmelito, Erin; Amos, Matt; Goullet, Mark S.; Allen, Lee R.; Speed, James; Gentle, Matt; Leung, Luke K.-P.

2016-03-01

Knowledge of the resource requirements of urban predators can improve our understanding of their ecology and assist town planners and wildlife management agencies in developing management approaches that alleviate human-wildlife conflicts. Here we examine food and dietary items identified in scats of dingoes in peri-urban areas of north-eastern Australia to better understand their resource requirements and the potential for dingoes to threaten locally fragmented populations of native fauna. Our primary aim was to determine what peri-urban dingoes eat, and whether or not this differs between regions. We identified over 40 different food items in dingo scats, almost all of which were mammals. Individual species commonly observed in dingo scats included agile wallabies, northern brown bandicoots and swamp wallabies. Birds were relatively common in some areas but not others, as were invertebrates. Dingoes were identified as a significant potential threat to fragmented populations of koalas. Dietary overlap was typically very high or near-identical between regions, indicating that peri-urban dingoes ate the same types or sizes of prey in different areas. Future studies should seek to quantify actual and perceived impacts of, and human attitudes towards, peri-urban dingoes, and to develop management strategies with a greater chance of reducing human-wildlife conflicts.

Assessment of lead pollution in topsoils of a southern Italy area: Analysis of urban and peri-urban environment.

PubMed

Guagliardi, Ilaria; Cicchella, Domenico; De Rosa, Rosanna; Buttafuoco, Gabriele

2015-07-01

Exposure to lead (Pb) may affect adversely human health. Mapping soil Pb contents is essential to obtain a quantitative estimate of potential risk of Pb contamination. The main aim of this paper was to determine the soil Pb concentrations in the urban and peri-urban area of Cosenza-Rende to map their spatial distribution and assess the probability that soil Pb concentration exceeds a critical threshold that might cause concern for human health. Samples were collected at 149 locations from residual and non-residual topsoil in gardens, parks, flower-beds, and agricultural fields. Fine earth fraction of soil samples was analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence spectrometry. Stochastic images generated by the sequential Gaussian simulation were jointly combined to calculate the probability of exceeding the critical threshold that could be used to delineate the potentially risky areas. Results showed areas in which Pb concentration values were higher to the Italian regulatory values. These polluted areas were quite large and likely, they could create a significant health risk for human beings and vegetation in the near future. The results demonstrated that the proposed approach can be used to study soil contamination to produce geochemical maps, and identify hot-spot areas for soil Pb concentration. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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.

On Rainfall Modification by Major Urban Areas. Part 1; Observations from Space-borne Rain Radar on TRMM

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Pierce, Harold; Starr, David OC. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

This study represents one of the first published attempts to identify rainfall modification by urban areas using satellite-based rainfall measurements. Data from the first space-based rain-radar, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's (TRMM) Precipitation Radar, are employed. Analysis of the data enables identification of rainfall patterns around Atlanta, Montgomery, Nashville, San Antonio, Waco, and Dallas during the warm season. Results reveal an average increase of -28% in monthly rainfall rates within 30-60 kilometers downwind of the metropolis with a modest increase of 5.6% over the metropolis. Portions of the downwind area exhibit increases as high as 51%. The percentage chances are relative to an upwind CONTROL area. It was also found that maximum rainfall rates in the downwind impact area can exceed the mean value in the upwind CONTROL area by 48%-116%. The maximum value was generally found at an average distance of 39 km from the edge of the urban center or 64 km from the center of the city. These results are consistent with METROMEX studies of St. Louis almost two decades ago and more recent studies near Atlanta. Future work will investi(yate hypothesized factors causing rainfall modification by urban areas. Additional work is also needed to provide more robust validation of space-based rain estimates near major urban areas. Such research has implications for urban planning, water resource management, and understanding human impact on the environment.

Numerical Study of the Effect of Urbanization on the Climate of Desert Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamal, Samy

This study uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to simulate and predict the changes in local climate attributed to the urbanization for five desert cities. The simulations are performed in the fashion of climate downscaling, constrained by the surface boundary conditions generated from high resolution land-use maps. For each city, the land-use maps of 1985 and 2010 from Landsat satellite observation, and a projected land-use map for 2030, are used to represent the past, present, and future. An additional set of simulations for Las Vegas, the largest of the five cities, uses the NLCD 1992 and 2006 land-use maps and an idealized historical land-use map with no urban coverage for 1900. The study finds that urbanization in Las Vegas produces a classic urban heat island (UHI) at night but a minor cooling during the day. A further analysis of the surface energy balance shows that the decrease in surface Albedo and increase effective emissivity play an important role in shaping the local climate change over urban areas. The emerging urban structures slow down the diurnal wind circulation over the city due to an increased effective surface roughness. This leads to a secondary modification of temperature due to the interaction between the mechanical and thermodynamic effects of urbanization. The simulations for the five desert cities for 1985 and 2010 further confirm a common pattern of the climatic effect of urbanization with significant nighttime warming and moderate daytime cooling. This effect is confined to the urban area and is not sensitive to the size of the city or the detail of land cover in the surrounding areas. The pattern of nighttime warming and daytime cooling remains robust in the simulations for the future climate of the five cities using the projected 2030 land-use maps. Inter-city differences among the five urban areas are discussed.

Objects Grouping for Segmentation of Roads Network in High Resolution Images of Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maboudi, M.; Amini, J.; Hahn, M.

2016-06-01

Updated road databases are required for many purposes such as urban planning, disaster management, car navigation, route planning, traffic management and emergency handling. In the last decade, the improvement in spatial resolution of VHR civilian satellite sensors - as the main source of large scale mapping applications - was so considerable that GSD has become finer than size of common urban objects of interest such as building, trees and road parts. This technological advancement pushed the development of "Object-based Image Analysis (OBIA)" as an alternative to pixel-based image analysis methods. Segmentation as one of the main stages of OBIA provides the image objects on which most of the following processes will be applied. Therefore, the success of an OBIA approach is strongly affected by the segmentation quality. In this paper, we propose a purpose-dependent refinement strategy in order to group road segments in urban areas using maximal similarity based region merging. For investigations with the proposed method, we use high resolution images of some urban sites. The promising results suggest that the proposed approach is applicable in grouping of road segments in urban areas.

Access all areas? An area-level analysis of accessibility to general practice and community pharmacy services in England by urbanity and social deprivation.

PubMed

Todd, Adam; Copeland, Alison; Husband, Andy; Kasim, Adetayo; Bambra, Clare

2015-05-08

(1) To determine the percentage of the population in England that has access to a general practitioner (GP) premises within a 20 min walk (the accessibility); (2) explore the relationship between the walking distance to a GP premises and urbanity and social deprivation and (3) compare accessibility of a GP premises to that of a community pharmacy--and how this may vary by urbanity and social deprivation. This area-level analysis spatial study used postcodes for all GP premises and community pharmacies in England. Each postcode was assigned to a population lookup table and Lower Super Output Area (LSOA). The LSOA was then matched to urbanity (urban, town and fringe, or village, hamlet and isolated dwellings) and deprivation decile (using the Index of Multiple Deprivation score 2010). Living within a 20 min walk of a GP premises. Overall, 84.8% of the population is estimated to live within a 20 min walk of a GP premises: 81.2% in the most affluent areas, 98.2% in the most deprived areas, 94.2% in urban and 19.4% in rural areas. This is consistently lower when compared with the population living within a 20 min walk of a community pharmacy. Our study shows that the vast majority of the population live within a 20 min walk of a GP premises, with higher proportions in the most deprived areas--a positive primary care law. However, more people live within a 20 min walk of a community pharmacy compared with a GP premises, and this potentially has implications for the commissioning of future services from these healthcare providers in England. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

The Effect of Tree Spacing and Size in Urban Areas: Strategies for Mitigating High Temperature in Urban Heat Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berry, R.; Shandas, V.; Makido, Y.

2017-12-01

Many cities are unintentionally designed to be heat sinks, which absorb the sun's short-wave radiation and reemit as long-wave radiation. Long time reorganization of this `urban heat island' (UHI) phenomena has led researchers and city planners into developing strategies for reducing ambient temperatures through urban design. Specifically, greening areas have proven to reduce the temperature in UHI's, including strategies such as green streets, green facades, and green roofs have been implemented. Among the scientific community there is promoted study of how myriad greening strategies can reduce temperature, relatively limited work has focused on the distribution, density, and quantity of tree campaigns. This paper examines how the spacing and size of trees reduce temperatures differently. A major focus of the paper is to understand how to lower the temperature through tree planting, and provide recommendations to cities that are attempting to solve their own urban heat island issues. Because different cities have different room for planting greenery, we examined which strategies are more efficient given an area constraint. Areas that have less available room might not be able to plant a high density of trees. We compared the different experimental groups varying in density and size of trees against the control to see the effect the trees had. Through calibration with local weather stations, we used a micrometeorology program (ENVI-Met) to model and simulate the different experimental models and how they affect the temperature. The results suggest that some urban designs can reduce ambient temperatures by over 7 0C, and the inclusion of large form trees have the greatest contribution, by reducing temperatures over 15 0C. The results suggest that using specific strategies that combine placement of specific tree configurations with alternative distribution of urban development patterns can help to solve the current challenges of UHI's, and thereby support management

Bioavailability evaluation, uptake of heavy metals and potential health risks via dietary exposure in urban-industrial areas.

PubMed

Yousaf, Balal; Liu, Guijian; Wang, Ruwei; Imtiaz, Muhammad; Zia-Ur-Rehman, Muhammad; Munir, Mehr Ahmed Mujtaba; Niu, Zhiyuan

2016-11-01

A verity of human activities i.e. urbanization and industrialization have been resulted serious environmental contaminations by heavy metals in all over the world. The settlement of populations in urban and nearby industrial areas for economic development has significant share in their exposure to these metallic contaminants. Depending on the nature and type of the pollutants, targeted urban-industrial environments can have harmful and chronic health risk impacts on exposed local inhabitants and may require detoxification, healing and remedial therapy. Consequently, environmental monitoring as well as human health risk assessments of urban environments under industrial influence are key dominant features. We believe this work will provide new insights into the studies of metals exposure and associated health risks in emerging industrials cities of developing countries. Present study aimed to study the bioavailability of metals, quantify the changeability in soil and vegetable metal concentrations and estimation of human health risks via dietary exposure, focusing on urban-industrial environment. Soil and vegetable samples were collected in six random sites within the urban, periurban and industrial areas and analyzed for metal concentrations. In addition, risk assessment model proposed by US-EPA was employed to estimate the potential health risk of heavy metals via dietary intake. Results indicated that the heavy metal concentrations were noteworthy in periurban and urban-industrial areas. However, contamination levels varied with the type of vegetable, and the point source pollution such as traffic, urban wastes and industrial effluent. According to the estimated THQ and HI values for non-carcinogenic risk, little or no negative impact of heavy metals was observed on local inhabitants. However, the concentrations of Cr, Cd, Pb and Ni were nearly closed to the permissible limits described by US-EPA in urban-industrial areas. Conclusively, some efficient remedial

[Climate and ecologic state of urban areas in Eastern Kazakhstan].

PubMed

Onaev, S T; Grebeneva, O V; Shadetova, A Zh; Kurmangalieva, D S; Balaeva, E A

2011-01-01

Ust-Kamenogorsk territory was demonstrated to have climate peculiarities depending on local relief and unfavorable wind conditions of ventilation, that could promote formation of highly chemically loaded zones. Suggested evaluation methods provide qualitative and quantitative assessment of climate parameters for individual areas of residence. Marking areas according to residence comfort for population, based on analysis of geographic position of the studied territory, in accordance with repetition of meteorologic processes, could specify major factors influencing climate on urban territories of modem Kazakhstan cities.

Eating Habits and Food Preferences of Elementary School Students in Urban and Suburban Areas of Daejeon

PubMed Central

Park, Eun-Suk; Lee, Je-Hyuk

2015-01-01

This study investigated the dietary habits and food preferences of elementary school students. The survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire distributed to 4th and 5th grade elementary school students (400 boys and 400 girls) in urban and suburban areas of Daejeon. The results of this study were as follows: male students in urban areas ate breakfast, unbalanced diets, and dairy products more frequently than male students in suburban areas (p < 0.05). Female students in urban areas ate dairy products (p < 0.01) and fruits (p < 0.001) more frequently than female students in suburban areas. Students had the high preferences for boiled rice and noodles with black bean sauce, beef rib soup, steamed beef rib, steamed egg, beef boiled in soy sauce, egg roll, bulgogi, pork cutlet, deep-fried pork covered with sweet and sour starchy sauce, and honeyed juice mixed with fruit as a punch. All students preferred kimchi, although students in the suburban areas preferred kimchi-fried rice (p < 0.05), and those in the urban areas preferred bean-paste soup (p < 0.01). Students in suburban areas showed a greater preference for seasoned bean sprouts and Altari kimchi. All of the students preferred fruits, rice cake made with glutinous rice, and pizza among other foods. Overall, there were distinct differences in the eating habits and food preferences of elementary school students according to the place of residence. PMID:26251838

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.

AIR QUALITY MODELING AT COARSE-TO-FINE SCALES IN URBAN AREAS

EPA Science Inventory

Urban air toxics control strategies are moving towards a community based modeling approach, with an emphasis on assessing those areas that experience high air toxic concentration levels, the so-called "hot spots". This approach will require information that accurately maps and...

Geochemical study of urban soils in public areas of an industrialized town (Ajka, western Hungary)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zacháry, D.; Jordán, Gy.; Szabó, Cs.

2012-04-01

Soil is one of the most essential parts of urban ecosystem contributing to the biogeochemical cycles along the rock-soil-plant-animal and human pathway. Soil plays a fundamental role in plant nutrient uptake and groundwater filtration, too. Urban soils differ from non-urban soils in many aspects, including their origin, and they may also concentrate contaminants in large quantities due to intensive human activities. The pollution sources are industry, traffic, fertilizer, tailing and waste. In addition to the increasing rate of urban areas, urban soils are under growing interest and their pollution have received significant attention in the past few decades. This work focuses on the toxic element (As, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni) content of soils and their spatial distribution in order to find a link between contamination sources and the receiving urban soils at sensitive receptor locations such as children's playgrounds and parks. Ajka town is located in western Hungary. It has an old-established industrial history with multiple contamination sources of heavy alumina industry and coal-based power plants supplied by the nearby bauxite and coal mines. At 44 locations 46 soil samples have been collected at a depth of 0-10 cm along a 1x1 km grid. The whole grid covers an area of 48 km2. In each grid cell a sampling site was selected at public areas. Sample preparation included drying at 40 C°, thorough homogenization and sieving to 2 mm fine earth before chemical analysis. Grain size distribution and soil pH were also determined. Samples were analyzed with ICP-OES and SEM methods. The As, Hg, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd and Ni concentrations range from 2.07 ppm to 9.48 ppm, 0.02 ppm to 2.84 ppm, 5.08 ppm to 35.74 ppm, 2.55 ppm to 47.78 ppm, 17.00 ppm to 91.00 ppm, 0.07 ppm to 0.61 ppm and 5.57 ppm to 32.09 ppm, respectively. The results revealed the contaminated areas associated with past industrial sites. This study also identified locations with considerable contamination at

Urban surface energy fluxes based on remotely-sensed data and micrometeorological measurements over the Kansai area, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukeyasu, T.; Ueyama, M.; Ando, T.; Kosugi, Y.; Kominami, Y.

2017-12-01

The urban heat island is associated with land cover changes and increases in anthropogenic heat fluxes. Clear understanding of the surface energy budget at urban area is the most important for evaluating the urban heat island. In this study, we develop a model based on remotely-sensed data for the Kansai area in Japan and clarify temporal transitions and spatial distributions of the surface energy flux from 2000 to 2016. The model calculated the surface energy fluxes based on various satellite and GIS products. The model used land surface temperature, surface emissivity, air temperature, albedo, downward shortwave radiation and land cover/use type from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) under cloud free skies from 2000 to 2016 over the Kansai area in Japan (34 to 35 ° N, 135 to 136 ° E). Net radiation was estimated by a radiation budget of upward/downward shortwave and longwave radiation. Sensible heat flux was estimated by a bulk aerodynamic method. Anthropogenic heat flux was estimated by the inventory data. Latent heat flux was examined with residues of the energy budget and parameterization of bulk transfer coefficients. We validated the model using observed fluxes from five eddy-covariance measurement sites: three urban sites and two forested sites. The estimated net radiation roughly agreed with the observations, but the sensible heat flux were underestimated. Based on the modeled spatial distributions of the fluxes, the daytime net radiation in the forested area was larger than those in the urban area, owing to higher albedo and land surface temperatures in the urban area than the forested area. The estimated anthropogenic heat flux was high in the summer and winter periods due to increases in energy-requirements.

Bird population and habitat surveys in urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeGraaf, R.M.; Geis, A.D.; Healy, P.A.

1991-01-01

Breeding bird populations in six habitats in Columbia. MD, were studied to develop procedures suitable for measuring bird use of residential areas and to identify habitat characteristics that define the distribution of various common bird species. A procedure to measure bird use based on 4-min transect counts on plots measuring 91 m ? 91 m proved better than point counts. Transect counts reduced many of the problems associated with counting birds in urban areas, such as varying noise and visibility. Eighty percent of observations were recorded in the first 4 min. Habitat measurement procedures were examined also. It was found that a subsample of woody tree and shrub crown volumes made on 0.2 ha was highly correlated with similar measures made on 0.8-ha plots.

Complex Mobile Independent Power Station for Urban Areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tunik, A. A.; Tolstoy, M. Y.

2017-11-01

A new type of a complex mobile independent power station developed in the Department of Engineering Communications and Life-Support Systems of Irkutsk National Research Technical University, is presented in this article. This station contains only solar panel, wind turbine, accumulator, diesel generator and microbial fuel cell for to produce electric energy, heat pump and solar collector to generate heat energy and also wastewater treatment plant and new complex control system. The complex mobile independent power station is intended for full power supply of a different kind of consumers located even in remote areas thus reducing their dependence from centralized energy supply systems, decrease the fossil fuel consumption, improve the environment of urban areas and solve the problems of the purification of industrial and municipal wastewater.

Quality-of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia.

PubMed

Urosević, Jadranka; Odović, Gordana; Rapaić, Dragan; Davidović, Mladen; Trgovcević, Sanja; Milovanović, Verica

2015-11-01

The number of elderly people in the world is growing, in Serbia as well. Serbia is already among the top ten countries with the oldest population, it is the fact. Aging influences the quality of life in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life of the elderly in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The study included 100 elderly people aged 65 years and above in urban and rural areas in Serbia. The next questionnaires were used: a socio-demographic questionnaire and a Serbian version of standardized European Euro-QoL questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L), as a basic index for the assessment and description of the quality of life. In the structure of the respondents, according to the achieved social contacts (p = 0.012), the life of those with family members (p = 0.009), and health status (p = 0.000), in relation to the place of residence there was a statistically significant difference. There was a significant difference (p = 0.040), predominantly poor score for anxiety/depression within the rural population. The average value of quality of life in urban and rural areas was not statistically significant (p = 0.720). For those living in rural areas there was a statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety/depression and age, wealth status, marital status, living with family members and achieving social contacts, while a negative correlation was observed between anxiety/depression and education. On the basis of the data of our study, we can say that the presence of anxiety/depression among older people is greater in rural than in urban areas. The results of this study show that the perception of anxiety/depression among older in rural areas is bigger with the age and poverty increasing, the loss of a spouse, life without family members, lack of achievement of social contacts and lower education.

The correlation of urban heat island in tropical middle-class housing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wazir, Zuber Angkasa

2017-11-01

A very limited number of green and sustainable construction studies have explored factors related to Urban Heat Island (UHI) in tropical middle-class housing. This paper aimed to investigate the correlation of Urban Heat Island in tropical middle-class housing in three urban housing for middle-class residents of Palembang, which were Taman Sari Kenten, TOP Jakabaring, and Talang Kelapa. Samples consisted of 125 Taman Sari Kenten housing, 27 Talang Kelapa housing, and 12 TOP Jakabaring housing. Independent variables were the resident density, socioeconomic status, house location, roof type, green area ratio, weather, time, air conditioner, pro-environment institution, and NEP scale. The Analytic method included correlation and regression. We identified that all housing had different UHI profiles where Taman Sari Kenten had the highest UHI (4.17 K), followed by Talang Kelapa (2.66 K) and TOP Jakabaring (0.66 K) against temperature in measuring station nearby, owned by BMKG (National Meteorological Station). UHI correlated with the resident density, roof type, green area ratio, weather, time, and air conditioner. The results should add to the design of ideal housing in the tropical climate for middle-class residents, focusing on its ability to mitigate Urban Heat Island.

Sediment problems in urban areas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guy, Harold P.

1970-01-01

One obstacle to a scientific recognition and an engineering solution to sediment-related environmental problems is that such problems are bound in conflicting and generally undefinable political and institutional restraints. Also, some of the difficulty may involve the fact that the scientist or engineer, because of his relatively narrow field of investigation, cannot always completely envision the less desirable effects of his work and communicate alternative solutions to the public. For example, the highway and motor-vehicle engineers have learned how to provide the means by which one can transport himself from one point to another with such great efficiency that a person's employment in this country is now commonly more than 5 miles from his residence. However, providing such efficient personal transport has created numerous serious environmental problems. Obstacles to recognition of and action to control sediment problems in and around urban areas are akin to other environmental problems with respect to the many scientific, engineering, economic, and social aspects.

Urban local air quality management framework for non-attainment areas in Indian cities.

PubMed

Gulia, Sunil; Nagendra, S M Shiva; Barnes, Jo; Khare, Mukesh

2018-04-01

Increasing urban air pollution level in Indian cities is one of the major concerns for policy makers due to its impact on public health. The growth in population and increase in associated motorised road transport demand is one of the major causes of increasing air pollution in most urban areas along with other sources e.g., road dust, construction dust, biomass burning etc. The present study documents the development of an urban local air quality management (ULAQM) framework at urban hotspots (non-attainment area) and a pathway for the flow of information from goal setting to policy making. The ULAQM also includes assessment and management of air pollution episodic conditions at these hotspots, which currently available city/regional-scale air quality management plans do not address. The prediction of extreme pollutant concentrations using a hybrid model differentiates the ULAQM from other existing air quality management plans. The developed ULAQM framework has been applied and validated at one of the busiest traffic intersections in Delhi and Chennai cities. Various scenarios have been tested targeting the effective reductions in elevated levels of NO x and PM 2.5 concentrations. The results indicate that a developed ULAQM framework is capable of providing an evidence-based graded action to reduce ambient pollution levels within the specified standard level at pre-identified locations. The ULAQM framework methodology is generalised and therefore can be applied to other non-attainment areas of the country. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pesticides in storm runoff from agricultural and urban areas in the Tuolumne River basin in the vicinity of Modesto, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kratzer, Charles R.

1998-01-01

The occurrence, concentrations, and loads of dissolved pesticides in storm runoff were compared for two contrasting land uses in the Tuolumne River Basin, California, during two different winter storms: agricultural areas (February 1994) and the Modesto urban area (February 1995). Both storms followed the main application period of pesticides on dormant almond orchards. Eight samples of runoff from agricultural areas were collected from a Tuolumne River site, and 10 samples of runoff from urban areas were collected from five storm drains. All samples were analyzed for 46 pesticides. Six pesticides were detected in runoff from agricultural areas, and 15 pesticides were detected in runoff from urban areas. Chlorpyrifos, diazinon, dacthal (DCPA), metolachlor, and simazine were detected in almost every sample. Median concentrations were higher in the runoff from urban areas for all pesticides except napropamide and simazine. The greater occurrence and concentrations in storm drains is partly attributed to dilution of agricultural runoff by nonstorm base-flow in the Tuolumne River and by storm runoff from nonagricultural and nonurban land. In most cases, the occurrence and relative concentrations of pesticides found in storm runoff from agricultural and urban areas were related to reported pesticide application. Pesticide concentrations in runoff from agricultural areas were more variable during the storm hydrograph than were concentrations in runoff from urban areas. All peak pesticide concentrations in runoff from agricultural areas occurred during the rising limb of the storm hydrograph, whereas peak concentrations in the storm drains occurred at varying times during the storm hydrograph. Transport of pesticides from agricultural areas during the February 1994 storm exceeded transport from urban areas during the February 1995 storm for chlorpyrifos, diazinon, metolachlor, napropamide, and simazine. Transport of DCPA was about the same from agricultural and urban

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...

Wildlife friendly roads: the impacts of roads on wildlife in urban areas and potential remedies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riley, Seth P D; Brown, Justin L.; Sikich, Jeff A.; Schoonmaker, Catherine M.; Boydston, Erin E.

2014-01-01

Roads are one of the most important factors affecting the ability of wildlife to live and move within an urban area. Roads physically replace wildlife habitat and often reduce habitat quality nearby, fragment the remaining habitat, and cause increased mortality through vehicle collisions. Much ecological research on roads has focused on whether animals are successfully crossing roads, or if the road is a barrier to wildlife movement, gene flow, or functional connectivity. Roads can alter survival and reproduction for wildlife, even among species such as birds that cross roads easily. Here we examine the suite of potential impacts of roads on wildlife, but we focus particularly on urban settings. We report on studies, both in the literature and from our own experience, that have addressed wildlife and roads in urban landscapes. Although road ecology is a growing field of study, relatively little of this research, and relatively few mitigation projects, have been done in urban landscapes. We also draw from the available science on road impacts in rural areas when urban case studies have not fully addressed key topics.

A Case Study of Urbanization Impact on Summer Precipitation in the Greater Beijing Metropolitan Area. Urban Heat Island Versus Aerosol Effects

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

Zhong, Shi; Qian, Yun; Zhao, Chun

Convection-resolving ensemble simulations using the WRF-Chem model coupled with a single-layer Urban Canopy Model (UCM) are conducted to investigate the individual and combined impacts of land use and anthropogenic pollutant emissions from urbanization on a heavy rainfall event in the Greater Beijing Metropolitan Area (GBMA) in China. The simulation with the urbanization effect included generally captures the spatial pattern and temporal variation of the rainfall event. An improvement of precipitation is found in the experiment including aerosol effect on both clouds and radiation. The expanded urban land cover and increased aerosols have an opposite effect on precipitation processes, with themore » latter playing a more dominant role, leading to suppressed convection and rainfall over the upstream (northwest) area, and enhanced convection and more precipitation in the downstream (southeast) region of the GBMA. In addition, the influence of aerosol indirect effect is found to overwhelm that of direct effect on precipitation in this rainfall event. Increased aerosols induce more cloud droplets with smaller size, which favors evaporative cooling and reduce updrafts and suppress convection over the upstream (northwest) region in the early stage of the rainfall event. As the rainfall system propagates southeastward, more latent heat is released due to the freezing of larger number of smaller cloud drops that are lofted above the freezing level, which is responsible for the increased updraft strength and convective invigoration over the downstream (southeast) area.« less

Understanding Peri-Urban Maize Production through an Examination of Household Livelihoods in the Toluca Metropolitan Area, Mexico

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lerner, Amy M.; Eakin, Hallie; Sweeney, Stuart

2013-01-01

The rates of urban growth globally continue to rise, especially in small and intermediary cities and peri-urban areas of the developing world. Communities in these settings share characteristics with rural areas, in terms of continued connections with agriculture, yet with an increasing reliance of non-agricultural employment which poses…

Deformation Estimation In Non-Urban Areas Exploiting High Resolution SAR Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goel, Kanika; Adam, Nico

2012-01-01

Advanced techniques such as the Small Baseline Subset Algorithm (SBAS) have been developed for terrain motion mapping in non-urban areas with a focus on extracting information from distributed scatterers (DSs). SBAS uses small baseline differential interferograms (to limit the effects of geometric decorrelation) and these are typically multilooked to reduce phase noise, resulting in loss of resolution. Various error sources e.g. phase unwrapping errors, topographic errors, temporal decorrelation and atmospheric effects also affect the interferometric phase. The aim of our work is an improved deformation monitoring in non-urban areas exploiting high resolution SAR data. The paper provides technical details and a processing example of a newly developed technique which incorporates an adaptive spatial phase filtering algorithm for an accurate high resolution differential interferometric stacking, followed by deformation retrieval via the SBAS approach where we perform the phase inversion using a more robust L1 norm minimization.