Urbanism, Region, and Tolerance Revisited: The Case of Racial Prejudice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuch, Steven A.

1987-01-01

Using prejudice toward blacks as the outcome measure, analysis of national survey data for 1972 and 1985 indicates that: urbanites and non-Southerners are more racially tolerant than their non-urban and Southern counterparts; the net effects of urbanism on tolerance have increased over time while region effects have decreased; and urban to…

Nested high-resolution modeling of the impact of urbanization on regional climate in three vast urban agglomerations in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Feng, Jinming; Yan, Zhongwei; Hu, Yonghong; Jia, Gensuo

2012-11-01

In this paper, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, coupled to the Urban Canopy Model, is employed to simulate the impact of urbanization on the regional climate over three vast city agglomerations in China. Based on high-resolution land use and land cover data, two scenarios are designed to represent the nonurban and current urban land use distributions. By comparing the results of two nested, high-resolution numerical experiments, the spatial and temporal changes on surface air temperature, heat stress index, surface energy budget, and precipitation due to urbanization are analyzed and quantified. Urban expansion increases the surface air temperature in urban areas by about 1°C, and this climatic forcing of urbanization on temperature is more pronounced in summer and nighttime than other seasons and daytime. The heat stress intensity, which reflects the combined effects of temperature and humidity, is enhanced by about 0.5 units in urban areas. The regional incoming solar radiation increases after urban expansion, which may be caused by the reduction of cloud fraction. The increased temperature and roughness of the urban surface lead to enhanced convergence. Meanwhile, the planetary boundary layer is deepened, and water vapor is mixed more evenly in the lower atmosphere. The deficit of water vapor leads to less convective available potential energy and more convective inhibition energy. Finally, these combined effects may reduce the rainfall amount over urban areas, mainly in summer, and change the regional precipitation pattern to a certain extent.

Understanding urban water performance at the city-region scale using an urban water metabolism evaluation framework.

PubMed

Renouf, Marguerite A; Kenway, Steven J; Lam, Ka Leung; Weber, Tony; Roux, Estelle; Serrao-Neumann, Silvia; Choy, Darryl Low; Morgan, Edward A

2018-06-15

Water sensitive interventions are being promoted to reduce the adverse impacts of urban development on natural water cycles. However it is currently difficult to know the best strategy for their implementation because current and desired urban water performance is not well quantified. This is particularly at the city-region scale, which is important for strategic urban planning. This work aimed to fill this gap by quantifying the water performance of urban systems within city-regions using 'urban water metabolism' evaluation, to inform decisions about water sensitive interventions. To do this we adapted an existing evaluation framework with new methods. In particular, we used land use data for defining system boundaries, and for estimating natural hydrological flows. The criteria for gauging the water performance were water efficiency (in terms of water extracted externally) and hydrological performance (how much natural hydrological flows have changed relative to a nominated pre-urbanised state). We compared these performance criteria for urban systems within three Australian city-regions (South East Queensland, Melbourne and Perth metropolitan areas), under current conditions, and after implementation of example water sensitive interventions (demand management, rainwater/stormwater harvesting, wastewater recycling and increasing perviousness). The respective water efficiencies were found to be 79, 90 and 133 kL/capita/yr. In relation to hydrological performance, stormwater runoff relative to pre-urbanised flows was of most note, estimated to be 2-, 6- and 3- fold, respectively. The estimated performance benefits from water sensitive interventions suggested different priorities for each region, and that combined implementation of a range of interventions may be necessary to make substantive gains in performance. We concluded that the framework is suited to initial screening of the type and scale of water sensitive interventions needed to achieve desired water

Projected Regional Climate in 2025 Due to Urban Growth

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Manyin, Michael; Messen, Dmitry

2005-01-01

By 2025, 60 to 80 percent of the world s population will live in urban environments. Additionally, the following facts published by the United Nations further illustrates how cities will evolve in the future. Urban areas in the developing world are growing very rapidly. The urban growth rate will continue to be particularly rapid in the urban areas of less developed regions, averaging 2.4 per cent per year during 2000-2030, consistent with a doubling time of 29 years. The urbanization process will continue worldwide. The concentration of population in cities is expected to continue so that, by 2030, 84 percent of the inhabitants of more developed countries will be urban dwellers. Urbanization impacts the whole hierarchy of human settlements. In 2000,24.8 per cent of the world population lived in urban settlements with fewer than 500,000 inhabitants and by 2015 that proportion will likely rise to 27.1 per cent.

Frontline staff motivation levels and health care quality in rural and urban primary health facilities: a baseline study in the Greater Accra and Western regions of Ghana.

PubMed

Alhassan, Robert Kaba; Nketiah-Amponsah, Edward

2016-12-01

The population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70 % of the estimated 26.9 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32.1 % of the national health sector workforce works. Doctor-patient ratio in a predominantly rural region is about 1:18,257 compared to 1:4,099 in an urban region. These rural-urban inequities significantly account for the inability of Ghana to attain the health related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the end of 2015. To ascertain whether or not rural-urban differences exist in health worker motivation levels and quality of health care in health facilities accredited by the National Health Insurance Authority in Ghana. This is a baseline quantitative study conducted in 2012 among 324 health workers in 64 accredited clinics located in 9 rural and 7 urban districts in Ghana. Ordered logistic regression was performed to determine the relationship between facility geographic location (rural/urban) and staff motivation levels, and quality health care standards. Quality health care and patient safety standards were averagely low in the sampled health facilities. Even though health workers in rural facilities were more de-motivated by poor availability of resources and drugs than their counterparts in urban facilities (p < 0.05), quality of health care and patient safety standards were relatively better in rural facilities. For Ghana to attain the newly formulated sustainable development goals on health, there is the need for health authorities to address the existing rural-urban imbalances in health worker motivation and quality health care standards in primary healthcare facilities. Future studies should compare staff motivation levels and quality standards in accredited and non-accredited health facilities since the current study was limited to health facilities accredited by the National Health Insurance Authority.

Accounting for urban biogenic fluxes in regional carbon budgets.

PubMed

Hardiman, Brady S; Wang, Jonathan A; Hutyra, Lucy R; Gately, Conor K; Getson, Jackie M; Friedl, Mark A

2017-08-15

Many ecosystem models incorrectly treat urban areas as devoid of vegetation and biogenic carbon (C) fluxes. We sought to improve estimates of urban biomass and biogenic C fluxes using existing, nationally available data products. We characterized biogenic influence on urban C cycling throughout Massachusetts, USA using an ecosystem model that integrates improved representation of urban vegetation, growing conditions associated with urban heat island (UHI), and altered urban phenology. Boston's biomass density is 1/4 that of rural forests, however 87% of Massachusetts' urban landscape is vegetated. Model results suggest that, kilogram-for-kilogram, urban vegetation cycles C twice as fast as rural forests. Urban vegetation releases (R E ) and absorbs (GEE) the equivalent of 11 and 14%, respectively, of anthropogenic emissions in the most urban portions of the state. While urban vegetation in Massachusetts fully sequesters anthropogenic emissions from smaller cities in the region, Boston's UHI reduces annual C storage by >20% such that vegetation offsets only 2% of anthropogenic emissions. Asynchrony between temporal patterns of biogenic and anthropogenic C fluxes further constrains the emissions mitigation potential of urban vegetation. However, neglecting to account for biogenic C fluxes in cities can impair efforts to accurately monitor, report, verify, and reduce anthropogenic emissions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Landscape structure planning and the urban forest in polycentric city regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simson, A. J.

2017-04-01

The World is continuing to urbanise at an increasing and some say alarming rate, and although urbanism is not uniform in all countries, without a doubt the 21st century is the century of the Polycentric City Region. By the year 2007, for the first time in history, the world hosted more urban dwellers than rural, and in order to deal with this urban expansion in an environmentally acceptable way, the concept of the “sustainable compact city” was advocated. There is now an increasing canon of research however that suggests that such cities may not be quite as sustainable as they are claimed to be. As a consequence, the concept of “urban green infrastructure”, which includes the concept of urban forestry, is being incorporated into new thinking on the landscape structure planning of expanding cities and city regions to ensure that they provide an acceptable quality of life for their inhabitants. The environmental, economic, social, health, well-being and cultural benefits that emanate from such an approach to promoting resilient landscape structure planning are considerable. Such an approach to landscape structure planning is well-able to repair the beneficial relationship that people once had with their landscapes, a relationship that has arguably suffered as our scientific and economic cultures have tended to gain the upper hand in the post-industrial times in which we live. Human beings have had a long, deep, cultural relationship with trees, woodlands and the landscape - a relationship which transcends national cultures. The use of the term “landscape” does not refer to the rather shallow modern concept of ‘the landscape as a view”, but to the more fundamental concept of “landscape as the composition of our world”. Thus it refers to both urban, peri-urban and rural areas, and the urban forest is the prime spatial articulator of a landscape structure plan. Although the words “forest” and “forestry” are now generally understood to be

Multi-scaling allometric analysis for urban and regional development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yanguang

2017-01-01

The concept of allometric growth is based on scaling relations, and it has been applied to urban and regional analysis for a long time. However, most allometric analyses were devoted to the single proportional relation between two elements of a geographical system. Few researches focus on the allometric scaling of multielements. In this paper, a process of multiscaling allometric analysis is developed for the studies on spatio-temporal evolution of complex systems. By means of linear algebra, general system theory, and by analogy with the analytical hierarchy process, the concepts of allometric growth can be integrated with the ideas from fractal dimension. Thus a new methodology of geo-spatial analysis and the related theoretical models emerge. Based on the least squares regression and matrix operations, a simple algorithm is proposed to solve the multiscaling allometric equation. Applying the analytical method of multielement allometry to Chinese cities and regions yields satisfying results. A conclusion is reached that the multiscaling allometric analysis can be employed to make a comprehensive evaluation for the relative levels of urban and regional development, and explain spatial heterogeneity. The notion of multiscaling allometry may enrich the current theory and methodology of spatial analyses of urban and regional evolution.

Cross-scale dynamics of a regional urban system through time

EPA Science Inventory

In this work, we conducted an analysis of a regional urban system (southeastern United States) that has been the subject of research in the series of papers reviewed in the preceding sections. We used a U.S. census dataset incorporating the urbanized area (UA) definition. A UA co...

Suicide rate differences by sex, age, and urbanicity, and related regional factors in Korea.

PubMed

Cheong, Kyu-Seok; Choi, Min-Hyeok; Cho, Byung-Mann; Yoon, Tae-Ho; Kim, Chang-Hun; Kim, Yu-Mi; Hwang, In-Kyung

2012-03-01

Identify the characteristics related to the suicide rates in rural and urban areas of Korea and discover the factors that influence the suicide rate of the rural and urban areas. Using the data on causes of death from 2006 to 2008, the suicide rates were calculated and compared after age-standardization based on gender, age group and urbanicity. And, in order to understand the factors that influence suicide rate, total 10 local characteristics in four domains--public service, social integration, residential environment, and economic status--were selected for multiple regression analysis. The suicide rates were higher in men than women, in rural areas than urban, and in older people than the younger. Generally, although there were variations according to age group and urbanicity, suicide rates were significantly related to residential environment and regional economic status but not related to regional welfare spending and social integration. In addition, the population over the age of 65 years, only regional economic status has significantly influence on their suicide rates. The influence of characteristics of regions on suicide rate is various by age-group, gender, and urbanicity. Therefore, in order to lower suicide rate and reduce the gap between regions, various approaches must be adopted by taking into account the socioeconomic characteristics of the regions.

Urbanization and the Resulting Peripheralization in Solo Raya, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-02-01

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

City Size, Density and Sectoral Structure: Exploring Urban Sustainability in the Regions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svirejeva-Hopkins, Anastasia

2010-05-01

For the first time in history, the Global population is more urban than rural and the trend is obvious at various scales. Cities do not serve just as dynamic centres of activities, jobs and consumption markets, social interactions and cultural expressions, but also carry the weight of the main environmental problems of current times and the near future. Global Warming, air and water pollution, population growth and recourse constraints, i.e. reduction of carrying capacity of the environment are among the well known ones. The overall aim of this research is to develop mitigation (at various scales) and adaptation systems, tailored to urban settlements. They should be effective at the very local as well as regional levels, assess and introduce innovative urban technologies and policies, reduce ecological footprint of cities and increase recycling efficiency. We propose the empirical method of urban sustainability assessment, that supports our hypothesis that city functioning, the changes in its population and area growth depends on the size, average and internal densities and the geographical form. The existing cities of three regions are examined: Western and Eastern Europe (incl. Russia), Latin America and China. There are fundamental urban developmental differences and also within the first region, namely between EU countries and the Eastern part of European geographical region. The cities are considered not only as some agglomerates of areas with dense population but from the ecological point of view, namely examining inflow of food and energy and outflow of waste products across the boundaries. There are major differences between the patterns of urbanisation in the studied regions, urban systems functioning and resilience. Continuous investigation of these differenced helps building regional scenarios of cities development, population allocation and pollution management for the 21st century.

Multilevel regression models describing regional patterns of invertebrate and algal responses to urbanization across the USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cuffney, T.F.; Kashuba, R.; Qian, S.S.; Alameddine, I.; Cha, Y.K.; Lee, B.; Coles, J.F.; McMahon, G.

2011-01-01

Multilevel hierarchical regression was used to examine regional patterns in the responses of benthic macroinvertebrates and algae to urbanization across 9 metropolitan areas of the conterminous USA. Linear regressions established that responses (intercepts and slopes) to urbanization of invertebrates and algae varied among metropolitan areas. Multilevel hierarchical regression models were able to explain these differences on the basis of region-scale predictors. Regional differences in the type of land cover (agriculture or forest) being converted to urban and climatic factors (precipitation and air temperature) accounted for the differences in the response of macroinvertebrates to urbanization based on ordination scores, total richness, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera richness, and average tolerance. Regional differences in climate and antecedent agriculture also accounted for differences in the responses of salt-tolerant diatoms, but differences in the responses of other diatom metrics (% eutraphenic, % sensitive, and % silt tolerant) were best explained by regional differences in soils (mean % clay soils). The effects of urbanization were most readily detected in regions where forest lands were being converted to urban land because agricultural development significantly degraded assemblages before urbanization and made detection of urban effects difficult. The effects of climatic factors (temperature, precipitation) on background conditions (biogeographic differences) and rates of response to urbanization were most apparent after accounting for the effects of agricultural development. The effects of climate and land cover on responses to urbanization provide strong evidence that monitoring, mitigation, and restoration efforts must be tailored for specific regions and that attainment goals (background conditions) may not be possible in regions with high levels of prior disturbance (e.g., agricultural development). ?? 2011 by The North American

Suicide Rate Differences by Sex, Age, and Urbanicity, and Related Regional Factors in Korea

PubMed Central

Cheong, Kyu-Seok; Choi, Min-Hyeok; Cho, Byung-Mann; Yoon, Tae-Ho; Kim, Chang-Hun; Kim, Yu-Mi

2012-01-01

Objectives Identify the characteristics related to the suicide rates in rural and urban areas of Korea and discover the factors that influence the suicide rate of the rural and urban areas. Methods Using the data on causes of death from 2006 to 2008, the suicide rates were calculated and compared after age-standardization based on gender, age group and urbanicity. And, in order to understand the factors that influence suicide rate, total 10 local characteristics in four domains - public service, social integration, residential environment, and economic status - were selected for multiple regression analysis. Results The suicide rates were higher in men than women, in rural areas than urban, and in older people than the younger. Generally, although there were variations according to age group and urbanicity, suicide rates were significantly related to residential environment and regional economic status but not related to regional welfare spending and social integration. In addition, the population over the age of 65 years, only regional economic status has significantly influence on their suicide rates. Conclusions The influence of characteristics of regions on suicide rate is various by age-group, gender, and urbanicity. Therefore, in order to lower suicide rate and reduce the gap between regions, various approaches must be adopted by taking into account the socioeconomic characteristics of the regions. PMID:22509447

The urban impact on the regional climate of Dresden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sändig, B.; Renner, E.

2010-09-01

The principal objective of this research is to clarify the impact of urban elements such as buildings and streets on the regional climate and air quality in the framework of the BMBF-project "Regionales Klimaanpassungsprogramm f¨ur die Modellregion Dresden" (REGKLAM). Drawing on the example of Dresden this work explores how the presence of cities influences the atmospheric flow and the characteristics of the boundary layer. Persuing this target, an urban surface exchange parameterisation module (Martilli et al., 2002) was implemented in a high resolution version of the COSMO model, the forecast model of the German Weather Service (DWD). Using a mesoscale model for this regional climate study implies the advantage of embedding the focused area in a realistic large scale situation via downscaling by means of one way nesting and allows to simulate the urban impact for different IPCC-szenarios. The urban module is based on the assumption that a city could be represented by a bunch of "urban classes". Each urban class is characterised by specific properties such as typical street directions or probability of finding a building in a special height. Based on urban structure data of Dresden (vector shape-files containing the outlines of all buildings and the respective heights) an automated method of extracting the relevant geometrical input parameters for the urban module was developed. By means of this model setup we performed case studies, in which we investigate the interactions between the city structure and the meteorological variables with regard to special synoptical situations such as the Bohemian wind, a typical flow pattern of cold air, sourced from the Bohemian Basin, in the Elbe Valley, which acts then like a wind channel. Another focal point is formed by the investigation of different types of artificial cities ranging from densely builtup areas to suburban areas in order to illuminating the impact of the city type on the dynamical and thermal properties of

Impacts of urbanization on regional nonpoint source pollution: case study for Beijing, China.

PubMed

Zhi, Xiaosha; Chen, Lei; Shen, Zhenyao

2018-04-01

Due to limits on available data, the effects of urban sprawl on regional nonpoint source pollution (NPS) have not been investigated over long time periods. In this paper, the characteristics of urban sprawl from 1999 to 2014 in Beijing were explored by analyzing historical land-use data. The Event Mean Concentration data have been collected from all available references, which were used to estimate the variation in urban NPSs. Moreover, the impacts of variation in urban sprawl on regional NPSs were qualified. The results indicated that the urbanization process showed different influences on pollutants, while COD and TN were identified as key NPS pollutants. Residential areas contributed more NPS pollutants than did roads, which played a tremendous role in the control of urban NPS. The results also suggested in part that the impact of urban sprawl on the variation of COD decreased while TN increased in Beijing during the study period. These results would provide insight into the impacts of urban sprawl on NPS variation over a long period, as well as the reference for reasonable urban planning directives.

Urban expansion in the forests of the Puget Sound region.

Treesearch

Colin D. MacLean; Charles L. Bolsinger

1997-01-01

As part of a 1979 forest resource inventory, over 9,000 points on aerial photographs were sorted into three development zones-primary forest, suburban, and urban. These same points were reexamined in 1989, and zone changes were noted. This report summarizes urban expansion into the primary forest lands of the Puget Sound region (Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, San Juan,...

Holistic Analysis of the Urban Water Systems in Greater Cincinnati Region

EPA Science Inventory

Urban water and wastewater systems with two utilities in Greater Cincinnati region were evaluated as a case study to elucidates a bigger picture of a typical centralized urban water system. Two different integrated assessment metrics were used to analyze the same system. LCA an...

Urban and regional planning proposal no. Y-10-066-001

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hannah, J. W.; Thomas, G. L.; Esparza, F. (Principal Investigator)

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. An investigation is underway to determine the applicability of ERTS-1 data to urban and regional planning problems, using data for East Central Florida. Small scale land use mapping is feasible. Urban and commercial areas are sufficiently distinguishable that ERTS-1 appears to be a useful tool for monitoring urban and commercial growth. Development patterns of cities, growth patterns of cities, and distribution and changes in certain sectors within cities can be analyzed effectively. Digital analysis methods are proving useful.

Effectiveness of Different Urban Heat Island Mitigation Methods and Their Regional Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, N.

2017-12-01

Cool roofs and green roofs are two popular methods to mitigate urban heat island and improve urban climate. The effectiveness of different urban heat island mitigation strategies in the summer of 2013 in the Yangtze River Delta, China is investigated using the WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting) model coupled with a physically based urban canopy model. The modifications to the roof surface changed the urban surface radiation balance and then modified the local surface energy budget. Both cool roofs and green roofs led to lower surface skin temperature and near-surface air temperature. Increasing the roof albedo to 0.5 caused a similar effectiveness as covering 25% of urban roofs with vegetation; increasing roof albedo to 0.7 caused a similar near-surface air temperature decrease as 75% green roof coverage. The near-surface relative humidity increased in both cool roof and green roof experiments because of the combination of the impacts of increases in specific humidity and decreases in air temperature. The regional impacts of cool roofs and green roofs were evaluated using the regional effect index. The regional effect could be found in both near-surface air temperature and surface specific/relative humidity when the percentage of roofs covered with high albedo materials or green roofs reached a higher fraction (greater than 50%). The changes in the vertical profiles of temperature cause a more stable atmospheric boundary layer over the urban area; at the same time, the crossover phenomena occurred above the boundary layer due to the decrease in vertical wind speed.

Benefits of explicit urban parameterization in regional climate modeling to study climate and city interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daniel, M.; Lemonsu, Aude; Déqué, M.; Somot, S.; Alias, A.; Masson, V.

2018-06-01

Most climate models do not explicitly model urban areas and at best describe them as rock covers. Nonetheless, the very high resolutions reached now by the regional climate models may justify and require a more realistic parameterization of surface exchanges between urban canopy and atmosphere. To quantify the potential impact of urbanization on the regional climate, and evaluate the benefits of a detailed urban canopy model compared with a simpler approach, a sensitivity study was carried out over France at a 12-km horizontal resolution with the ALADIN-Climate regional model for 1980-2009 time period. Different descriptions of land use and urban modeling were compared, corresponding to an explicit modeling of cities with the urban canopy model TEB, a conventional and simpler approach representing urban areas as rocks, and a vegetated experiment for which cities are replaced by natural covers. A general evaluation of ALADIN-Climate was first done, that showed an overestimation of the incoming solar radiation but satisfying results in terms of precipitation and near-surface temperatures. The sensitivity analysis then highlighted that urban areas had a significant impact on modeled near-surface temperature. A further analysis on a few large French cities indicated that over the 30 years of simulation they all induced a warming effect both at daytime and nighttime with values up to + 1.5 °C for the city of Paris. The urban model also led to a regional warming extending beyond the urban areas boundaries. Finally, the comparison to temperature observations available for Paris area highlighted that the detailed urban canopy model improved the modeling of the urban heat island compared with a simpler approach.

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

Friend or Foe? Urbanization and the Biosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, A.

2008-12-01

The environmental influence of urban areas is still often assumed to be negligible at global scales. Although local environmental conditions such as the urban heat island effect are well-documented, surprisingly little work has focused on cross-scale interactions, or the ways in which local urban processes cumulatively impact global changes. Given the rapid rates of rural-urban migration, economic development and urban spatial expansion, improved systems for measuring, monitoring and modeling the global environmental impacts of cities should receive far greater scientific attention. This presentation will summarize urban environmental issues and impacts at local, regional and global scales and introduce the fundamental concepts and tools needed to measure and respond to these problems. Newly available datasets for the distribution and intensity of urban land use will be introduced, demonstrating the importance of clearly defining 'urbanized' land for empirical studies at the global scale. The negative environmental impacts of urban development will be compared with the often over-looked "positives" of urban growth from a global environmental perspective. Progress in understanding and forecasting the global impacts of urban areas will require systematic global urban research designs that treat cities as urban systems, anthropogenic biomes and urban ecoregions. The challenges and opportunities of global environmental research on urban areas have important implications not only for current research but also for educating the next generation of earth system scientists.

Assessing the impact of urbanization on regional net primary productivity in Jiangyin County, China.

PubMed

Xu, C; Liu, M; An, S; Chen, J M; Yan, P

2007-11-01

Urbanization is one of the most important aspects of global change. The process of urbanization has a significant impact on the terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle. The Yangtze Delta region has one of the highest rates of urbanization in China. In this study, carried out in Jiangyin County as a representative region within the Yangtze Delta, land use and land cover changes were estimated using Landsat TM and ETM+ imagery. With these satellite data and the BEPS process model (Boreal Ecosystem Productivity Simulator), the impacts of urbanization on regional net primary productivity (NPP) and annual net primary production were assessed for 1991 and 2002. Landsat-based land cover maps in 1991 and 2002 showed that urban development encroached large areas of cropland and forest. Expansion of residential areas and reduction of vegetated areas were the major forms of land transformation in Jiangyin County during this period. Mean NPP of the total area decreased from 818 to 699 gCm(-2)yr(-1) during the period of 1991 to 2002. NPP of cropland was only reduced by 2.7% while forest NPP was reduced by 9.3%. Regional annual primary production decreased from 808 GgC in 1991 to 691 GgC in 2002, a reduction of 14.5%. Land cover changes reduced regional NPP directly, and the increasing intensity and frequency of human-induced disturbance in the urbanized areas could be the main reason for the decrease in forest NPP.

Regional assessment of North America: Urbanization trends, biodiversity patterns, and ecosystem services

USGS Publications Warehouse

McPhearson, Timon; Auch, Roger F.; Alberti, Marina

2013-01-01

North America contains some of the most urbanized landscapes in the world. In the United States (U.S.) and Canada, approximately 80 % of the population is urban, with Mexico slightly less (Kaiser Family Foundation 2013). Population growth combined with economic growth has fueled recent urban land expansion in North America. Between 1970 and 2000, urban land area expanded at a rate of 3.31 % (Seto et al. 2011) creating unique challenges for conserving biodiversity and maintaining regional and local ecosystem services.

Urban Canopy Effects in Regional Climate Simulations - An Inter-Model Comparison

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halenka, T.; Huszar, P.; Belda, M.; Karlicky, J.

2017-12-01

To assess the impact of cities and urban surfaces on climate, the modeling approach is often used with inclusion of urban parameterization in land-surface interactions. This is especially important when going to higher resolution, which is common trend both in operational weather prediction and regional climate modelling. Model description of urban canopy related meteorological effects can, however, differ largely given especially the underlying surface models and the urban canopy parameterizations, representing a certain uncertainty. To assess this uncertainty is important for adaptation and mitigation measures often applied in the big cities, especially in connection to climate change perspective, which is one of the main task of the new project OP-PPR Proof of Concept UK. In this study we contribute to the estimation of this uncertainty by performing numerous experiments to assess the urban canopy meteorological forcing over central Europe on climate for the decade 2001-2010, using two regional climate models (RegCM4 and WRF) in 10 km resolution driven by ERA-Interim reanalyses, three surface schemes (BATS and CLM4.5 for RegCM4 and Noah for WRF) and five urban canopy parameterizations available: one bulk urban scheme, three single layer and a multilayer urban scheme. Effects of cities on urban and remote areas were evaluated. There are some differences in sensitivity of individual canopy model implementations to the UHI effects, depending on season and size of the city as well. Effect of reducing diurnal temperature range in cities (around 2 °C in summer mean) is noticeable in all simulations, independent to urban parameterization type and model, due to well-known warmer summer city nights. For the adaptation and mitigation purposes, rather than the average urban heat island intensity the distribution of it is more important providing the information on extreme UHI effects, e.g. during heat waves. We demonstrate that for big central European cities this effect

Temporal changes in greenspace in a highly urbanized region.

PubMed

Dallimer, Martin; Tang, Zhiyao; Bibby, Peter R; Brindley, Paul; Gaston, Kevin J; Davies, Zoe G

2011-10-23

The majority of the world's population now lives in towns and cities, and urban areas are expanding faster than any other land-use type. In response to this phenomenon, two opposing arguments have emerged: whether cities should 'sprawl' into the wider countryside, or 'densify' through the development of existing urban greenspace. However, these greenspaces are increasingly recognized as being central to the amelioration of urban living conditions, supporting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. Taking the highly urbanized region of England as a case study, we use data from a variety of sources to investigate the impact of national-level planning policy on temporal patterns in the extent of greenspace in cities. Between 1991 and 2006, greenspace showed a net increase in all but one of 13 cities. However, the majority of this gain occurred prior to 2001, and greenspace has subsequently declined in nine cities. Such a dramatic shift in land use coincides with policy reforms in 2000, which favoured densification. Here, we illustrate the dynamic and policy-responsive nature of urban land use, thereby highlighting the need for a detailed investigation of the trade-offs associated with different mechanisms of urban densification to optimize and secure the diverse benefits associated with greenspaces.

Temporal changes in greenspace in a highly urbanized region

PubMed Central

Dallimer, Martin; Tang, Zhiyao; Bibby, Peter R.; Brindley, Paul; Gaston, Kevin J.; Davies, Zoe G.

2011-01-01

The majority of the world's population now lives in towns and cities, and urban areas are expanding faster than any other land-use type. In response to this phenomenon, two opposing arguments have emerged: whether cities should ‘sprawl’ into the wider countryside, or ‘densify’ through the development of existing urban greenspace. However, these greenspaces are increasingly recognized as being central to the amelioration of urban living conditions, supporting biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service provision. Taking the highly urbanized region of England as a case study, we use data from a variety of sources to investigate the impact of national-level planning policy on temporal patterns in the extent of greenspace in cities. Between 1991 and 2006, greenspace showed a net increase in all but one of 13 cities. However, the majority of this gain occurred prior to 2001, and greenspace has subsequently declined in nine cities. Such a dramatic shift in land use coincides with policy reforms in 2000, which favoured densification. Here, we illustrate the dynamic and policy-responsive nature of urban land use, thereby highlighting the need for a detailed investigation of the trade-offs associated with different mechanisms of urban densification to optimize and secure the diverse benefits associated with greenspaces. PMID:21429910

Analysis of urban regions using AVHRR thermal infrared data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wright, Bruce

1993-01-01

Using 1-km AVHRR satellite data, relative temperature difference caused by conductivity and inertia were used to distinguish urban and non urban land covers. AVHRR data that were composited on a biweekly basis and distributed by the EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, were used for the classification process. These composited images are based on the maximum normalized different vegetation index (NDVI) of each pixel during the 2-week period using channels 1 and 2. The resultant images are nearly cloud-free and reduce the need for extensive reclassification processing. Because of the physiographic differences between the Eastern and Western United States, the initial study was limited to the eastern half of the United States. In the East, the time of maximum difference between the urban surfaces and the vegetated non urban areas is the peak greenness period in late summer. A composite image of the Eastern United States for the 2-weel time period from August 30-Septmeber 16, 1991, was used for the extraction of the urban areas. Two channels of thermal data (channels 3 and 4) normalized for regional temperature differences and a composited NDVI image were classified using conventional image processing techniques. The results compare favorably with other large-scale urban area delineations.

The inhabited environment, infrastructure development and advanced urbanization in China’s Yangtze River Delta Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Xiaoqing; Gao, Weijun; Zhou, Nan; Kammen, Daniel M.; Wu, Yiqun; Zhang, Yao; Chen, Wei

2016-12-01

This paper analyzes the relationship among the inhabited environment, infrastructure development and environmental impacts in China’s heavily urbanized Yangtze River Delta region. Using primary human environment data for the period 2006-2014, we examine factors affecting the inhabited environment and infrastructure development: urban population, GDP, built-up area, energy consumption, waste emission, transportation, real estate and urban greenery. Then we empirically investigate the impact of advanced urbanization with consideration of cities’ differences. Results from this study show that the growth rate of the inhabited environment and infrastructure development is strongly influenced by regional development structure, functional orientations, traffic network and urban size and form. The effect of advanced urbanization is more significant in large and mid-size cities than huge and mega cities. Energy consumption, waste emission and real estate in large and mid-size cities developed at an unprecedented rate with the rapid increase of economy. However, urban development of huge and mega cities gradually tended to be saturated. The transition development in these cities improved the inhabited environment and ecological protection instead of the urban construction simply. To maintain a sustainable advanced urbanization process, policy implications included urban sprawl control polices, ecological development mechanisms and reforming the economic structure for huge and mega cities, and construct major cross-regional infrastructure, enhance the carrying capacity and improvement of energy efficiency and structure for large and mid-size cities.

Conservation in metropolitan regions: assessing trends and threats of urban development and climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thorne, J. H.; Santos, M. J.; Bjorkman, J.

2011-12-01

Two global challenges to successful conservation are urban expansion and climate change. Rapid urban growth threatens biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, while climate change may make currently protected areas unsuitable for species that exist within them. We examined three measures of landscape change for 8800 km2 of the San Francisco Bay metropolitan region over 80 years past and future: urban growth, protected area establishment, and natural vegetation type extents. The Bay Area is a good test bed for conservation assessment of the impacts of temporal and spatial of urban growth and land cover change. The region is geographically rather small, with over 40% of its lands already dedicated to protected park and open space lands, they are well-documented, and, the area has had extensive population growth in the past and is projected to continue to grow. The ten-county region within which our study area is a subset has grown from 1.78 million people in 1930, to 6.97 million in 2000 and is estimated to grow to 10.94 million by 2050. With such an influx of people into a small geographic area, it is imperative to both examine the past urban expansion and estimate how the future population will be accommodated into the landscape. We quantify these trends to assess conservation 'success' through time. We used historical and current landcover maps to assess trend, and a GIS-based urban modeling (UPlan) to assess future urban growth impacts in the region, under three policy scenarios- business as usual, smart growth, and urban redevelopment. Impacts are measured by the amount of open space targeted by conservation planners in the region that will be urbanized under each urban growth policy. Impacts are also measured by estimates of the energy consumption projected for each of the scenarios on household and business unit level. The 'business as usual' and 'smart growth' scenarios differed little in their impacts to targeted conservation lands, because so little

Tracking urban carbon footprints from production and consumption perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Jianyi; Hu, Yuanchao; Cui, Shenghui; Kang, Jiefeng; Ramaswami, Anu

2015-05-01

Cities are hotspots of socio-economic activities and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this study was to extend the research range of the urban carbon footprint (CF) to cover emissions embodied in products traded among regions and intra-city sectors. Using Xiamen City as a study case, the total urban-related emissions were evaluated, and the carbon flows among regions and intra-city sectors were tracked. Then five urban CF accountings were evaluated, including purely geographic accounting (PGA), community-wide infrastructure footprint (CIF), and consumption-based footprint (CBF) methods, as well as the newly defined production-based footprint (PBF) and purely production footprint (PPF). Research results show that the total urban-related emissions of Xiamen City in 2010 were 55.2 Mt CO2e/y, of which total carbon flow among regions or intra-city sectors accounted for 53.7 Mt CO2e/y. Within the total carbon flow, import and export respectively accounted for 59 and 65%, highlighting the importance of emissions embodied in trade. By regional trade balance, North America and Europe were the largest net carbon exported-to regions, and Mainland China and Taiwan the largest net carbon imported-from regions. Among intra-sector carbon flows, manufacturing was the largest emission-consuming sector of the total urban carbon flow, accounting for 77.4, and 98% of carbon export was through industrial products trade. By the PBF, PPF, CIF, PGA and CBF methods, the urban CFs were respectively 53.7 Mt CO2e/y, 44.8 Mt CO2e/y, 28.4 Mt CO2e/y, 23.7 Mt CO2e/y, and 19.0 Mt CO2e/y, so all of the other four CFs were higher than the CBF. All of these results indicate that urban carbon mitigation must consider the supply chain management of imported goods, the production efficiency within the city, the consumption patterns of urban consumers, and the responsibility of the ultimate consumers outside the city.

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

PubMed

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

2014-01-01

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

Regional and County-Level Disparities in the Post-Socialist Urban System of Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Török, Ibolya; Veress, Nóra-Csilla

2016-10-01

The evolution of the urban system in Romania in the last decades has been strongly influenced by its historical background, as well as the changing political, social and economic context. The main step in this process was marked by the year 2004 when 38 settlements received the urban status, influencing thus not only the country's urbanization level but the increased inter-regional disparities as well. The paper aims to analyze the post-urbanization process in Romania, highlighting those factors which have contributed to the deepening development differences between the country's urban areas.

Urban, Rural, and Regional Variations in Physical Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Sarah Levin; Kirkner, Gregory J.; Mayo, Kelly; Matthews, Charles E.; Durstine, Larry; Hebert, James R.

2005-01-01

Purpose: There is some speculation about geographic differences in physical activity (PA) levels. We examined the prevalence of physical inactivity (PIA) and whether US citizens met the recommended levels of PA across the United States. In addition, the association between PIA/PA and degree of urbanization in the 4 main US regions (Northeast,…

Region-Urbanicity Differences in Locus of Control: Social Disadvantage, Structure, or Cultural Exceptionalism?

PubMed

Shifrer, Dara; Sutton, April

2014-11-01

People with internal rather than external locus of control experience better outcomes in multiple domains. Previous studies on spatial differences in control within America only focused on the South, relied on aggregate level data or historical evidence, or did not account for other confounding regional distinctions (such as variation in urbanicity). Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find differences in adolescents' loci of control depending on their region and urbanicity are largely attributable to differences in their social background, and only minimally to structural differences (i.e., differences in the qualities of adolescents' schools). Differences that persist net of differences across adolescents and their schools suggest the less internal control of rural Southern adolescents, and the more internal control of rural and urban Northeastern adolescents, may be due to cultural distinctions in those areas. Results indicate region is more closely associated than urbanicity with differences in locus of control, with Western and Northeastern cultures seemingly fostering more internal control than Midwestern and Southern cultures. These findings contribute to research on spatial variation in a variety of psychological traits.

Region-Urbanicity Differences in Locus of Control: Social Disadvantage, Structure, or Cultural Exceptionalism?

PubMed Central

Shifrer, Dara; Sutton, April

2014-01-01

People with internal rather than external locus of control experience better outcomes in multiple domains. Previous studies on spatial differences in control within America only focused on the South, relied on aggregate level data or historical evidence, or did not account for other confounding regional distinctions (such as variation in urbanicity). Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find differences in adolescents' loci of control depending on their region and urbanicity are largely attributable to differences in their social background, and only minimally to structural differences (i.e., differences in the qualities of adolescents' schools). Differences that persist net of differences across adolescents and their schools suggest the less internal control of rural Southern adolescents, and the more internal control of rural and urban Northeastern adolescents, may be due to cultural distinctions in those areas. Results indicate region is more closely associated than urbanicity with differences in locus of control, with Western and Northeastern cultures seemingly fostering more internal control than Midwestern and Southern cultures. These findings contribute to research on spatial variation in a variety of psychological traits. PMID:25382875

MOBILE EMISSIONS ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR URBAN AND REGIONAL EVALUATION

EPA Science Inventory

A working research model for Atlanta, GA has been developed by Georgia Tech, and is called the Mobile Emissions Assessment System for Urban and Regional Evaluation (MEASURE). The EPA Office of Research and Development has developed an additional implementation of the MEASURE res...

Analyzing Flash Flood Data in an Ultra-Urban Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, B. K.; Rodriguez, S.

2016-12-01

New York City is an ultra-urban region, with combined sewers and buried stream channels. Traditional flood studies rely on the presence of stream gages to detect flood stage and discharge, but ultra-urban regions frequently lack the surface stream channels and gages necessary for this approach. In this study we aggregate multiple non-traditional data for detecting flash flood events. These data including phone call reports, city records, and, for one particular flood event, news reports and social media reports. These data are compared with high-resolution bias-corrected radar rainfall fields to study flash flood events in New York City. We seek to determine if these non-traditional data will allow for a comprehensive study of rainfall-runoff relationships in New York City. We also seek to map warm season rainfall heterogeneities in the city and to compare them to spatial distribution of reported flood occurrence.

Mapping CO2 emission in highly urbanized region using standardized microbial respiration approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasenev, V. I.; Stoorvogel, J. J.; Ananyeva, N. D.

2012-12-01

Urbanization is a major recent land-use change pathway. Land conversion to urban has a tremendous and still unclear effect on soil cover and functions. Urban soil can act as a carbon source, although its potential for CO2 emission is also very high. The main challenge in analysis and mapping soil organic carbon (SOC) in urban environment is its high spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics. The urban environment provides a number of specific features and processes that influence soil formation and functioning and results in a unique spatial variability of carbon stocks and fluxes at short distance. Soil sealing, functional zoning, settlement age and size are the predominant factors, distinguishing heterogeneity of urban soil carbon. The combination of these factors creates a great amount of contrast clusters with abrupt borders, which is very difficult to consider in regional assessment and mapping of SOC stocks and soil CO2 emission. Most of the existing approaches to measure CO2 emission in field conditions (eddy-covariance, soil chambers) are very sensitive to soil moisture and temperature conditions. They require long-term sampling set during the season in order to obtain relevant results. This makes them inapplicable for the analysis of CO2 emission spatial variability at the regional scale. Soil respiration (SR) measurement in standardized lab conditions enables to overcome this difficulty. SR is predominant outgoing carbon flux, including autotrophic respiration of plant roots and heterotrophic respiration of soil microorganisms. Microbiota is responsible for 50-80% of total soil carbon outflow. Microbial respiration (MR) approach provides an integral CO2 emission results, characterizing microbe CO2 production in optimal conditions and thus independent from initial difference in soil temperature and moisture. The current study aimed to combine digital soil mapping (DSM) techniques with standardized microbial respiration approach in order to analyse and

Urban impacts on regional carbonaceous aerosols: case study in central Texas.

PubMed

Barrett, Tate E; Sheesley, Rebecca J

2014-08-01

Rural and background sites provide valuable information on the concentration and optical properties of organic, elemental, and water-soluble organic carbon (OC, EC, and WSOC), which are relevant for understanding the climate forcing potential of regional atmospheric aerosols. To quantify climate- and air quality-relevant characteristics of carbonaceous aerosol in the central United States, a regional background site in central Texas was chosen for long-term measurement. Back trajectory (BT) analysis, ambient OC, EC, and WSOC concentrations and absorption parameters are reported for the first 15 months of a long-term campaign (May 2011-August 2012). BT analysis indicates consistent north-south airflow connecting central Texas to the Central Plains. Central Texas aerosols exhibited seasonal trends with increased fine particulate matter (< 2.5 microm aerodynamic diameter, PM2.5) and OC during the summer (PM2.5 = 10.9 microg m(-3) and OC = 3.0 microg m(-3)) and elevated EC during the winter (0.22 microg m(-3)). When compared to measurements in Dallas and Houston, TX, central Texas OC appears to have mixed urban and rural sources. However central Texas EC appears to be dominated by transport of urban emissions. WSOC averaged 63% of the annual OC, with little seasonal variability in this ratio. To monitor brown carbon (BrC), absorption was measured for the aqueous WSOC extracts. Light absorption coefficients for EC and BrC were highest during summer (EC MAC = 11 m2 g(-1) and BRC MAE365 = 0.15 m2 g(-1)). Results from optical analysis indicate that regional aerosol absorption is mostly due to EC with summertime peaks in BrC attenuation. This study represents the first reported values of WSOC absorption, MAE365, for the central United States. Implications: Background concentration and absorption measurements are essential in determining regional potential radiative forcing due to atmospheric aerosols. Back trajectory, chemical, and optical analysis of PM2.5 was used to

Quantifying urban land cover change between 2001 and 2006 in the Gulf of Mexico region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Xian, George Z.; Homer, Collin G.; Bunde, Brett; Danielson, Patrick; Dewitz, Jon; Fry, Joyce; Pu, Ruiliang

2012-01-01

We estimated urbanization rates (2001–2006) in the Gulf of Mexico region using the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2001 and 2006 impervious surface products. An improved method was used to update the NLCD impervious surface product in 2006 and associated land cover transition between 2001 and 2006. Our estimation reveals that impervious surface increased 416 km2 with a growth rate of 5.8% between 2001 and 2006. Approximately 1110.1 km2 of non-urban lands were converted into urban land, resulting in a 3.2% increase in the region. Hay/pasture, woody wetland, and evergreen forest represented the three most common land cover classes that transitioned to urban. Among these land cover transitions, more than 50% of the urbanization occurred within 50 km of the coast. Our analysis shows that the close-to-coast land cover transition trend, especially within 10 km off the coast, potentially imposes substantial long-term impacts on regional landscape and ecological conditions.

The complexities of urban flood response: Flood frequency analyses for the Charlotte metropolitan region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhengzheng; Smith, James A.; Yang, Long; Baeck, Mary Lynn; Chaney, Molly; Ten Veldhuis, Marie-Claire; Deng, Huiping; Liu, Shuguang

2017-08-01

We examine urban flood response through data-driven analyses for a diverse sample of "small" watersheds (basin scale ranging from 7.0 to 111.1 km2) in the Charlotte Metropolitan region. These watersheds have experienced extensive urbanization and suburban development since the 1960s. The objective of this study is to develop a broad characterization of land surface and hydrometeorological controls of urban flood hydrology. Our analyses are based on peaks-over-threshold flood data developed from USGS streamflow observations and are motivated by problems of flood hazard characterization for urban regions. We examine flood-producing rainfall using high-resolution (1 km2 spatial resolution and 15 min time resolution), bias-corrected radar rainfall fields that are developed through the Hydro-NEXRAD system. The analyses focus on the 2001-2015 period. The results highlight the complexities of urban flood response. There are striking spatial heterogeneities in flood peak magnitudes, response times, and runoff ratios across the study region. These spatial heterogeneities are mainly linked to watershed scale, the distribution of impervious cover, and storm water management. Contrasting land surface properties also determine the mixture of flood-generating mechanisms for a particular watershed. Warm-season thunderstorm systems and tropical cyclones are main flood agents in Charlotte, with winter/spring storms playing a role in less-urbanized watersheds. The mixture of flood agents exerts a strong impact on the upper tail of flood frequency distributions. Antecedent watershed wetness plays a minor role in urban flood response, compared with less-urbanized watersheds. Implications for flood hazard characterization in urban watersheds and for advances in flood science are discussed.

Chicago Wilderness region urban forest vulnerability assessment and synthesis: a report from the Urban Forestry Climate Change Response Framework Chicago Wilderness pilot project

Treesearch

Leslie A. Brandt; Abigail Derby Lewis; Lydia Scott; Lindsay Darling; Robert T. Fahey; Louis Iverson; David J. Nowak; Allison R. Bodine; Andrew Bell; Shannon Still; Patricia R. Butler; Andrea Dierich; Stephen D. Handler; Maria K. Janowiak; Stephen N. Matthews; Jason W. Miesbauer; Matthew Peters; Anantha Prasad; P. Danielle Shannon; Douglas Stotz; Christopher W. Swanston

2017-01-01

The urban forest of the Chicago Wilderness region, a 7-million-acre area covering portions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin, will face direct and indirect impacts from a changing climate over the 21st century. This assessment evaluates the vulnerability of urban trees and natural and developed landscapes within the Chicago Wilderness region to a range of...

Urbanization-induced urban heat island and aerosol effects on climate extremes in the Yangtze River Delta region of China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Shi; Qian, Yun; Zhao, Chun; Leung, Ruby; Wang, Hailong; Yang, Ben; Fan, Jiwen; Yan, Huiping; Yang, Xiu-Qun; Liu, Dongqing

2017-04-01

The WRF-Chem model coupled with a single-layer urban canopy model (UCM) is integrated for 5 years at convection-permitting scale to investigate the individual and combined impacts of urbanization-induced changes in land cover and pollutant emissions on regional climate in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in eastern China. Simulations with the urbanization effects reasonably reproduced the observed features of temperature and precipitation in the YRD region. Urbanization over the YRD induces an urban heat island (UHI) effect, which increases the surface temperature by 0.53 °C in summer and increases the annual heat wave days at a rate of 3.7 d yr-1 in the major megacities in the YRD, accompanied by intensified heat stress. In winter, the near-surface air temperature increases by approximately 0.7 °C over commercial areas in the cities but decreases in the surrounding areas. Radiative effects of aerosols tend to cool the surface air by reducing net shortwave radiation at the surface. Compared to the more localized UHI effect, aerosol effects on solar radiation and temperature influence a much larger area, especially downwind of the city cluster in the YRD. Results also show that the UHI increases the frequency of extreme summer precipitation by strengthening the convergence and updrafts over urbanized areas in the afternoon, which favor the development of deep convection. In contrast, the radiative forcing of aerosols results in a surface cooling and upper-atmospheric heating, which enhances atmospheric stability and suppresses convection. The combined effects of the UHI and aerosols on precipitation depend on synoptic conditions. Two rainfall events under two typical but different synoptic weather patterns are further analyzed. It is shown that the impact of urban land cover and aerosols on precipitation is not only determined by their influence on local convergence but also modulated by large-scale weather systems. For the case with a strong synoptic forcing

Urbanization-induced urban heat island and aerosol effects on climate extremes in the Yangtze River Delta region of China

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

Zhong, Shi; Qian, Yun; Zhao, Chun

The WRF-Chem model coupled with a single-layer urban canopy model (UCM) is integrated for 5 years at convection-permitting scale to investigate the individual and combined impacts of urbanization-induced changes in land cover and pollutant emissions on regional climate in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in eastern China. Simulations with the urbanization effects reasonably reproduced the observed features of temperature and precipitation in the YRD region. Urbanization over the YRD induces an urban heat island (UHI) effect, which increases the surface temperature by 0.53 °C in summer and increases the annual heat wave days at a rate of 3.7 d yr −1 in themore » major megacities in the YRD, accompanied by intensified heat stress. In winter, the near-surface air temperature increases by approximately 0.7 °C over commercial areas in the cities but decreases in the surrounding areas. Radiative effects of aerosols tend to cool the surface air by reducing net shortwave radiation at the surface. Compared to the more localized UHI effect, aerosol effects on solar radiation and temperature influence a much larger area, especially downwind of the city cluster in the YRD. Results also show that the UHI increases the frequency of extreme summer precipitation by strengthening the convergence and updrafts over urbanized areas in the afternoon, which favor the development of deep convection. In contrast, the radiative forcing of aerosols results in a surface cooling and upper-atmospheric heating, which enhances atmospheric stability and suppresses convection. The combined effects of the UHI and aerosols on precipitation depend on synoptic conditions. Two rainfall events under two typical but different synoptic weather patterns are further analyzed. It is shown that the impact of urban land cover and aerosols on precipitation is not only determined by their influence on local convergence but also modulated by large-scale weather systems. For the case with a

Urbanization-induced urban heat island and aerosol effects on climate extremes in the Yangtze River Delta region of China

DOE PAGES

Zhong, Shi; Qian, Yun; Zhao, Chun; ...

2017-04-27

The WRF-Chem model coupled with a single-layer urban canopy model (UCM) is integrated for 5 years at convection-permitting scale to investigate the individual and combined impacts of urbanization-induced changes in land cover and pollutant emissions on regional climate in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in eastern China. Simulations with the urbanization effects reasonably reproduced the observed features of temperature and precipitation in the YRD region. Urbanization over the YRD induces an urban heat island (UHI) effect, which increases the surface temperature by 0.53 °C in summer and increases the annual heat wave days at a rate of 3.7 d yr −1 in themore » major megacities in the YRD, accompanied by intensified heat stress. In winter, the near-surface air temperature increases by approximately 0.7 °C over commercial areas in the cities but decreases in the surrounding areas. Radiative effects of aerosols tend to cool the surface air by reducing net shortwave radiation at the surface. Compared to the more localized UHI effect, aerosol effects on solar radiation and temperature influence a much larger area, especially downwind of the city cluster in the YRD. Results also show that the UHI increases the frequency of extreme summer precipitation by strengthening the convergence and updrafts over urbanized areas in the afternoon, which favor the development of deep convection. In contrast, the radiative forcing of aerosols results in a surface cooling and upper-atmospheric heating, which enhances atmospheric stability and suppresses convection. The combined effects of the UHI and aerosols on precipitation depend on synoptic conditions. Two rainfall events under two typical but different synoptic weather patterns are further analyzed. It is shown that the impact of urban land cover and aerosols on precipitation is not only determined by their influence on local convergence but also modulated by large-scale weather systems. For the case with a

Social determinants in an Australian urban region: a 'complexity' lens.

PubMed

Fisher, Matthew; Milos, Danijela; Baum, Frances; Friel, Sharon

2016-03-01

Area-based strategies have been widely employed in efforts to improve population health and take action on social determinants of health (SDH) and health inequities, including in urban areas where many of the social, economic and environmental factors converge to influence health. Increasingly, these factors are recognized as being part of a complex system, where population health outcomes are shaped by multiple, interacting factors operating at different levels of social organization. This article reports on research to assess the extent to which an alliance of health and human service networks is able to promote action on SDH within an Australian urban region, using a complex systems frame. We found that such an alliance was able to promote some effective action which takes into account complex interactions between social factors affecting health, but also identified significant potential barriers to other forms of desired action identified by alliance members. We found that a complex systems lens was useful in assessing a collaborative intervention to address SDH within an urban region. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Managing the Night Off-Peak Power Demand in the Central Region UPS with Newly Commissioned NPP Capacities

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

Aminov, R. Z.; Pron’, D. M.

2014-01-15

The use of hydrogen technologies as a controlled-load consumer based on the newly commissioned base-load nuclear power plants to level out the daily load profile is justified for the Unified Power System (UPS) of the Central Region of Russia, as an example, for the period till 2020.

Phosphorus flows in a peri-urban region with intensive food production: A case study.

PubMed

Bittman, S; Sheppard, S C; Poon, D; Hunt, D E

2017-02-01

Excess phosphorus (P) in peri-urban regions is an emerging issue, whereas there is global depletion of quality mined supplies of P. The flow of P across the landscape leading to regional surpluses and deficits is not well understood. We computed a regional P budget with internal P flows in a fairly discreet peri-urban region (Lower Fraser Valley, BC) with closely juxtaposed agricultural and non-agricultural urban ecosystems, in order to clarify the relationship between food production, food consumption and other activities involving use of P (e.g. keeping pets and horses and using soaps). We hypothesized changes that might notably improve P efficiency in peri-urban settings and wider regions. Livestock feed for the dairy and poultry sectors was the largest influx of P: the peri-urban land is too limited to grow feed grains and they are imported from outside the region. Fertilizer and import of food were the next largest influxes of P and a similar amount of P flows as food from the agricultural to urban ecosystems. Export of horticultural crops (berries and greenhouse crops) and poultry represented agricultural effluxes that partially offset the influxes. P efficiency was lower for horticultural production (21%) than animal production (32%), the latter benefited from importing feed crops, suggesting a regional advantage for animal products. There was 2.0, 3.8, 5.7 and 5.6 tonnes imported P per $ million farm cash receipts for horticulture, dairy, poultry meat and eggs. Eliminating fertilizer for corn and grass would reduce the ratio for the dairy industry. The net influx, dominated by fertilizer, animal feed and food was 8470 tonnes P per year or 3.2 kg P per person per year, and of this the addition to agricultural soils was 3650 tonnes P. The efflux in sewage effluent to the sea was 1150 tonnes P and exported sewage solids was 450 tonnes P. Municipal solid waste disposal was most difficult to quantify and was about 1800 tonnes P, 80% of which was partly reused

Urban Migration and Koineization in the Development of the Berlin Urban Vernacular

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehresmann, Todd M.

2012-01-01

The development of the Berlin urban vernacular during the late Early Modern and Industrial Period has been described in the literature in two primary ways: The first describes it as the result of the wholesale adoption of an autochthonous Upper Saxon dialect by a small and mobile urban elite in Berlin, who in turn imparted this newly-acquired…

The association between alcohol outlet density and alcohol use among urban and regional Australian adolescents.

PubMed

Azar, Denise; White, Victoria; Coomber, Kerri; Faulkner, Agatha; Livingston, Michael; Chikritzhs, Tanya; Room, Robin; Wakefield, Melanie

2016-01-01

While recent evidence suggests that higher alcohol outlet density is associated with greater alcohol use among adolescents, influence of the four main outlet types on youth drinking within urban and regional communities is unknown. This study provides the first investigation of this relationship. Repeated cross-sectional surveys with random samples of secondary students clustered by school. Mixed-effects logistic regression analyses examined the association between each outlet type and the drinking outcomes, with interaction terms used to test urban/regional differences. Australia, 2002-11. Respondents participating in a triennial survey (aged 12-17 years); 44 897 from urban settings, 23 311 from regional settings. The key outcome measures were past month alcohol use, risky drinking among all students and risky drinking among past week drinkers. For each survey year, students were assigned a postcode-level outlet density (number of licences per 1000 population) for each outlet type (general, on-premise, off-premise, clubs). Interaction terms revealed a significant association between off-premises outlet density and risky drinking among all adolescents in urban (odds ratio = 1.36, 95% confidence interval CI = 1.05-1.75, P < 0.05) but not regional areas. Similarly, club density was associated with the drinking outcomes in urban communities only. General and on-premises density was associated with alcohol use and risky drinking among all adolescents. Higher densities of general, on- and off-premises outlets in an adolescent's immediate neighbourhood are related to increased likelihood of alcohol consumption among all adolescents. The density of licensed clubs is associated more strongly with drinking for urban than for regional adolescents. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

[Rural-urban population redistribution between 1970 and 1980 (a micro-regional analysis)].

PubMed

Costa, M A

1982-01-01

Changes in rural-urban population distribution in Brazil from 1970 to 1980 are analyzed using census data. Trends examined include spatial redistribution throughout the country, rapid urbanization, the decline in the size of the rural population in the state of Parana, agricultural expansion in the northern and central-western regions, and the increase of the rural population within metropolitan areas. (summary in ENG)

Future Urban Climate Projection in A Tropical Megacity Based on Global and Regional Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darmanto, N. S.; Varquez, A. C. G.; Kanda, M.

2017-12-01

Cities in Asian developing countries experience rapid transformation in urban morphology and energy consumption, which correspondingly affects urban climate. Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model coupled with improved single-layer urban canopy model incorporating realistic distribution of urban parameters and anthropogenic heat emission (AHE) in the tropic Jakarta Greater Area was conducted. Simulation was conducted during the dry months from 2006 to 2015 and agreed well with point and satellite observation. The same technology coupled with pseudo global warming (PGW) method based on representative concentration pathways (RCP) scenario 2.6 and 8.5 was conducted to produce futuristic climate condition in 2050. Projected urban morphology and AHE in 2050s were constructed using regional urban growing model with shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) among its inputs. Compact future urban configuration, based on SSP1, was coupled to RCP2.6. Unrestrained future urban configuration, based on SSP3, was coupled to RCP8.5. Results show that background warming from RCP 2.6 and 8.5 will increase background temperature by 0.55°C and 1.2°C throughout the region, respectively. Future projection of urban sprawl results to an additional 0.3°C and 0.5°C increase on average, with maximum increase of 1.1°C and 1.3°C due to urban effect for RCP2.6/compact and RCP8.5/unrestrained, respectively. Higher moisture content in urban area is indicated in the future due to higher evaporation. Change in urban roughness is likely affect slower wind velocity in urban area and sea breeze front inland penetration the future compare with current condition. Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund (S-14) of the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

Disparities in obesity among rural and urban residents in a health disparate region.

PubMed

Hill, Jennie L; You, Wen; Zoellner, Jamie M

2014-10-08

The burden of obesity and obesity-related conditions is not borne equally and disparities in prevalence are well documented for low-income, minority and rural adults in the United States. The current literature on rural versus urban disparities is largely derived from national surveillance data which may not reflect regional nuances. There is little practical research that supports the reality of local service providers such as county health departments that may serve both urban and rural residents in a given area. Conducted through a community-academic partnership, the primary aim of this study is to quantify the current levels of obesity (BMI), fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and physical activity (PA) in a predominately rural health disparate region. Secondary aims are to determine if a gradient exists within the region in which rural residents have poorer outcomes on these indicators compared to urban residents. Conducted as part of a larger ongoing community-based participatory research (CBPR) initiative, data were gathered through a random digit dial telephone survey using previously validated measures (n = 784). Linear, logistic and quantile regression models are used to determine if residency (i.e. rural, urban) predicts outcomes of FV intake, PA and BMI. The majority (72%) of respondents were overweight (BMI = 29 ± 6 kg/m2), with 29% being obese. Only 9% of residents met recommendations for FV intake and 38% met recommendations for PA. Statistically significant gradients between urban and rural and race exist at the upper end of the BMI distribution. In other words, the severity of obesity is worse among black compared to white and for urban residents compared to rural residents. These results will be used by the community-academic partnership to guide the development of culturally relevant and sustainable interventions to increase PA, increase FV intake and reduce obesity within this health disparate region. In particular, local stakeholders may wish to

Assessing climate impacts of planning policies-An estimation for the urban region of Leipzig (Germany)

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

Schwarz, Nina, E-mail: nina.schwarz@ufz.de; Bauer, Annette, E-mail: annette.bauer@ufz.de; Haase, Dagmar, E-mail: dagmar.haase@ufz.d

2011-03-15

Local climate regulation by urban green areas is an important urban ecosystem service, as it reduces the extent of the urban heat island and therefore enhances quality of life. Local and regional planning policies can control land use changes in an urban region, which in turn alter local climate regulation. Thus, this paper describes a method for estimating the impacts of current land uses as well as local and regional planning policies on local climate regulation, using evapotranspiration and land surface emissivity as indicators. This method can be used by practitioners to evaluate their policies. An application of this methodmore » is demonstrated for the case study Leipzig (Germany). Results for six selected planning policies in Leipzig indicate their distinct impacts on climate regulation and especially the role of their spatial extent. The proposed method was found to easily produce a qualitative assessment of impacts of planning policies on climate regulation.« less

Prevalence of dementia in urban and regional Aboriginal Australians.

PubMed

Radford, Kylie; Mack, Holly A; Draper, Brian; Chalkley, Simon; Daylight, Gail; Cumming, Robert; Bennett, Hayley; Delbaere, Kim; Broe, Gerald A

2015-03-01

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of dementia in collaboration with urban/regional Aboriginal communities. A census of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women aged 60 years and above in the target communities identified 546 potential participants, with 336 (61.5%) participating in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed a structured interview and cognitive screening tests. One hundred fifty-three participants also completed a detailed medical assessment. Assessment data were reviewed by a panel of clinicians who determined a diagnosis of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) according to standard criteria. Crude prevalence of dementia was 13.4%, and age-standardized prevalence was 21.0%. The most common types of dementia were Alzheimer's dementia (44%) and mixed dementia diagnoses (29%). Estimated prevalence of MCI was 17.7%. Consistent with previous findings in a remote population, urban and regional Aboriginal Australians face high rates of dementia at younger ages, most commonly Alzheimer's dementia. Copyright © 2015 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evapotranspiration-dominated biogeophysical warming effect of urbanization in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Guosong; Dong, Jinwei; Cui, Yaoping; Liu, Jiyuan; Zhai, Jun; He, Tian; Zhou, Yuyu; Xiao, Xiangming

2018-03-01

Given the considerable influences of urbanization on near-surface air temperature (T a ) and surface skin temperature (T s ) at local and regional scales, we investigated the biogeophysical effects of urbanization on T a and T s in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region of China, a typical rapidly urbanizing area, using the weather research and forecasting model (WRF). Two experiments were conducted using satellite-derived realistic areal fraction land cover data in 2010 and 1990 as well as localized parameters (e.g. albedo and leaf area index). Without considering anthropogenic heat, experimental differences indicated a regional biogeophysical warming of 0.15 °C (0.16 °C) in summer T a (T s ), but a negligible warming in winter T a (T s ). Sensitivity analyses also showed a stronger magnitude of local warming in summer than in winter. Along with an increase of 10% in the urban fraction, local T a (T s ) increases of 0.185 °C (0.335 °C), 0.212 °C (0.464 °C), and 0.140 °C (0.220 °C) were found at annual, summer, and winter scales, respectively, according to a space-for-time substitution method. The sensitivity analyses will be beneficial to get a rough biogeophysical warming estimation of future urbanization projections. Furthermore, a decomposed temperature metric (DTM) method was applied for the attribution analyses of the change in T s induced by urbanization. Our results showed that the decrease in evapotranspiration-induced latent heat played a dominate role in biogeophysical warming due to urbanization in BTH, indicating that increasing green space could alleviate warming effects, especially in summer.

Spatial and seasonal patterns in urban influence on regional concentrations of speciated aerosols across the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hand, J. L.; Schichtel, B. A.; Malm, W. C.; Pitchford, M.; Frank, N. H.

2014-11-01

Monthly, seasonal, and annual mean estimates of urban influence on regional concentrations of major aerosol species were computed using speciated aerosol data from the rural IMPROVE network (Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency's urban Chemical Speciation Network for the 2008 through 2011 period. Aggregated for sites across the continental United States, the annual mean and one standard error in urban excess (defined as the ratio of urban to nearby rural concentrations) was highest for elemental carbon (3.3 ± 0.2), followed by ammonium nitrate (2.5 ± 0.2), particulate organic matter (1.78 ± 0.08), and ammonium sulfate (1.23 ± 0.03). The seasonal variability in urban excess was significant for carbonaceous aerosols and ammonium nitrate in the West, in contrast to the low seasonal variability in the urban influence of ammonium sulfate. Generally for all species, higher excess values in the West were associated with localized urban sources while in the East excess was more regional in extent. In addition, higher excess values in the western United States in winter were likely influenced not only by differences in sources but also by combined meteorological and topographic effects. This work has implications for understanding the spatial heterogeneity of major aerosol species near the interface of urban and rural regions and therefore for designing appropriate air quality management strategies. In addition, the spatial patterns in speciated mass concentrations provide constraints for regional and global models.

Multilevel Hierarchical Modeling of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Responses to Urbanization in Nine Metropolitan Regions across the Conterminous United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kashuba, Roxolana; Cha, YoonKyung; Alameddine, Ibrahim; Lee, Boknam; Cuffney, Thomas F.

2010-01-01

Multilevel hierarchical modeling methodology has been developed for use in ecological data analysis. The effect of urbanization on stream macroinvertebrate communities was measured across a gradient of basins in each of nine metropolitan regions across the conterminous United States. The hierarchical nature of this dataset was harnessed in a multi-tiered model structure, predicting both invertebrate response at the basin scale and differences in invertebrate response at the region scale. Ordination site scores, total taxa richness, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT) taxa richness, and richness-weighted mean tolerance of organisms at a site were used to describe invertebrate responses. Percentage of urban land cover was used as a basin-level predictor variable. Regional mean precipitation, air temperature, and antecedent agriculture were used as region-level predictor variables. Multilevel hierarchical models were fit to both levels of data simultaneously, borrowing statistical strength from the complete dataset to reduce uncertainty in regional coefficient estimates. Additionally, whereas non-hierarchical regressions were only able to show differing relations between invertebrate responses and urban intensity separately for each region, the multilevel hierarchical regressions were able to explain and quantify those differences within a single model. In this way, this modeling approach directly establishes the importance of antecedent agricultural conditions in masking the response of invertebrates to urbanization in metropolitan regions such as Milwaukee-Green Bay, Wisconsin; Denver, Colorado; and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. Also, these models show that regions with high precipitation, such as Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; and Portland, Oregon, start out with better regional background conditions of invertebrates prior to urbanization but experience faster negative rates of change with urbanization. Ultimately, this urbanization

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2013-12-01

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

Identifying hotspots and management of critical ecosystem services in rapidly urbanizing Yangtze River Delta Region, China.

PubMed

Cai, Wenbo; Gibbs, David; Zhang, Lang; Ferrier, Graham; Cai, Yongli

2017-04-15

Rapid urbanization has altered many ecosystems, causing a decline in many ecosystem services, generating serious ecological crisis. To cope with these challenges, we presented a comprehensive framework comprising five core steps for identifying and managing hotspots of critical ecosystem services in a rapid urbanizing region. This framework was applied in the case study of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region. The study showed that there was large spatial heterogeneity in the hotspots of ecosystem services in the region, hotspots of supporting services and regulating services aggregately distributing in the southwest mountainous areas while hotspots of provisioning services mainly in the northeast plain, and hotspots of cultural services widespread in the waterbodies and southwest mountainous areas. The regionalization of the critical ecosystem services was made through the hotspot analysis. This study provided valuable information for environmental planning and management in a rapid urbanizing region and helped improve China's ecological redlines policy at regional scale. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preserving ecosystem services in urban regions: challenges for planning and best practice examples from Switzerland.

PubMed

Tobias, Silvia

2013-04-01

This article presents a literature review that explores the challenges for planning in urban regions in connection with the preservation of ecosystem services. It further presents some best practice examples for meeting these challenges. The demand for the provision of ecosystem services within urban regions changed during the transition from a largely agrarian society to an industrial society and, most recently, to a service society. Although in the past, provisioning services such as food production or the provision of raw material were decisive for urban development, today cultural services, e.g., clear views or nearby recreation areas, have become increasingly important. According to the literature, soil sealing is the greatest threat urbanization poses toward ecosystem services, as it compromises all of them. Spatially extensive cities with a high building density particularly inhibit regulating services like the regulation of temperature or water surface runoff. Conversely, scattered settlement patterns may lead to very small remnants of open space that cannot reasonably serve as natural habitat, agricultural land, or recreation area. The challenges for planning in urban regions are: 1) specifying regulations that define outer limits to the development of each settlement unit, 2) comprehensive planning with focal points for development, and limiting access and development at other places, and 3) compensating for new soil sealing by restoring nearby sealed areas. The article presents 3 best-practice examples that support these principles: designating areas with a particular soil quality that should not be built over, offering incentives for corporate planning in urban regions, and restoring a country road in connection with a motorway construction. Copyright © 2013 SETAC.

Preserving Ecosystem Services in Urban Regions: Challenges for Planning and Best Practice Examples from Switzerland

PubMed Central

Tobias, Silvia

2013-01-01

This article presents a literature review that explores the challenges for planning in urban regions in connection with the preservation of ecosystem services. It further presents some best practice examples for meeting these challenges. The demand for the provision of ecosystem services within urban regions changed during the transition from a largely agrarian society to an industrial society and, most recently, to a service society. Although in the past, provisioning services such as food production or the provision of raw material were decisive for urban development, today cultural services, e.g., clear views or nearby recreation areas, have become increasingly important. According to the literature, soil sealing is the greatest threat urbanization poses toward ecosystem services, as it compromises all of them. Spatially extensive cities with a high building density particularly inhibit regulating services like the regulation of temperature or water surface runoff. Conversely, scattered settlement patterns may lead to very small remnants of open space that cannot reasonably serve as natural habitat, agricultural land, or recreation area. The challenges for planning in urban regions are: 1) specifying regulations that define outer limits to the development of each settlement unit, 2) comprehensive planning with focal points for development, and limiting access and development at other places, and 3) compensating for new soil sealing by restoring nearby sealed areas. The article presents 3 best-practice examples that support these principles: designating areas with a particular soil quality that should not be built over, offering incentives for corporate planning in urban regions, and restoring a country road in connection with a motorway construction. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2013; 9: 243–251. © 2013 SETAC PMID:23307283

The Lower Chesapeake Bay LTAR: A coastal urban-agricultural region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mccarty, G.; Alfieri, J. G.; Cavigelli, M.; Cosh, M. H.; Hapeman, C. J.; Kustas, W. P.; Maul, J.; Mirsky, S.; Pooler, M.; Sadeghi, A. M.; Schomberg, H.; Timlin, D. J.; Rice, C. P.

2015-12-01

The Chesapeake Bay, located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., is the largest estuary in North America. The watershed area includes six states from New York to Virginia and is nearly 167,000 km2 in size with more than 150 rivers and streams entering the 300-km Bay main stem. Forested and agricultural lands make up 58 and 22 percent of the land use, respectively. Nearly 9 percent is urban and suburban use, and the watershed is home to over 17 million people. However, the population is expected to reach 19 million by 2025, raising the potential for conflict between the agricultural and urban communities over land and water use and in protecting natural resources, especially in the lower portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Lower Chesapeake Bay study area, part of the USDA-ARS Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network, will provide much-needed data to support decisions at this critical agriculture-urban interface. Current long-term projects seek to assess the economic, production, and environmental performance of conventional and organic cropping systems and to evaluate the resilience of these systems to climate change. Large-scale studies are being conducted to examine the effects of land-use and landscape characteristics on ecosystem services and on energy, water, nutrient, carbon, and pest dynamics within watersheds. New in-situ measurement and remote sensor technologies are being considered with the expectancy that the data streams will be available on-line and for use in modeling. Results and outcomes of these research efforts will greatly benefit the national LTAR network and will be applicable to other US coastal urban-agricultural regions.

Identifying the driving forces of urban expansion and its environmental impact in Jakarta-Bandung mega urban region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pravitasari, A. E.; Rustiadi, E.; Mulya, S. P.; Setiawan, Y.; Fuadina, L. N.; Murtadho, A.

2018-05-01

The socio-economic development in Jakarta-Bandung Mega Urban Region (JBMUR) caused the increasing of urban expansion and led to a variety of environmental damage such as uncontrolled land use conversion and raising anthropogenic disaster. The objectives of this study are: (1) to identify the driving forces of urban expansion that occurs on JBMUR and (2) to analyze the environmental quality decline on JBMUR by producing time series spatial distribution map and spatial autocorrelation of floods and landslide as the proxy of anthropogenic disaster. The driving forces of urban expansion in this study were identified by employing Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model using 6 (six) independent variables, namely: population density, percentage of agricultural land, distance to the center of capital city/municipality, percentage of household who works in agricultural sector, distance to the provincial road, and distance to the local road. The GWR results showed that local demographic, social and economic factors including distance to the road spatially affect urban expansion in JBMUR. The time series spatial distribution map of floods and landslide event showed the spatial cluster of anthropogenic disaster in some areas. Through Local Moran Index, we found that environmental damage in one location has a significant impact on the condition of its surrounding area.

The managed clearing: An overlooked land-cover type in urbanizing regions?

PubMed Central

Madden, Marguerite; Gray, Josh; Meentemeyer, Ross K.

2018-01-01

Urban ecosystem assessments increasingly rely on widely available map products, such as the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and datasets that use generic classification schemes to detect and model large-scale impacts of land-cover change. However, utilizing existing map products or schemes without identifying relevant urban class types such as semi-natural, yet managed land areas that account for differences in ecological functions due to their pervious surfaces may severely constrain assessments. To address this gap, we introduce the managed clearings land-cover type–semi-natural, vegetated land surfaces with varying degrees of management practices–for urbanizing landscapes. We explore the extent to which managed clearings are common and spatially distributed in three rapidly urbanizing areas of the Charlanta megaregion, USA. We visually interpreted and mapped fine-scale land cover with special attention to managed clearings using 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) images within 150 randomly selected 1-km2 blocks in the cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh, and compared our maps with National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data. We estimated the abundance of managed clearings relative to other land use and land cover types, and the proportion of land-cover types in the NLCD that are similar to managed clearings. Our study reveals that managed clearings are the most common land cover type in these cities, covering 28% of the total sampled land area– 6.2% higher than the total area of impervious surfaces. Managed clearings, when combined with forest cover, constitutes 69% of pervious surfaces in the sampled region. We observed variability in area estimates of managed clearings between the NAIP-derived and NLCD data. This suggests using high-resolution remote sensing imagery (e.g., NAIP) instead of modifying NLCD data for improved representation of spatial heterogeneity and

The managed clearing: An overlooked land-cover type in urbanizing regions?

PubMed

Singh, Kunwar K; Madden, Marguerite; Gray, Josh; Meentemeyer, Ross K

2018-01-01

Urban ecosystem assessments increasingly rely on widely available map products, such as the U.S. Geological Service (USGS) National Land Cover Database (NLCD), and datasets that use generic classification schemes to detect and model large-scale impacts of land-cover change. However, utilizing existing map products or schemes without identifying relevant urban class types such as semi-natural, yet managed land areas that account for differences in ecological functions due to their pervious surfaces may severely constrain assessments. To address this gap, we introduce the managed clearings land-cover type-semi-natural, vegetated land surfaces with varying degrees of management practices-for urbanizing landscapes. We explore the extent to which managed clearings are common and spatially distributed in three rapidly urbanizing areas of the Charlanta megaregion, USA. We visually interpreted and mapped fine-scale land cover with special attention to managed clearings using 2012 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) images within 150 randomly selected 1-km2 blocks in the cities of Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh, and compared our maps with National Land Cover Database (NLCD) data. We estimated the abundance of managed clearings relative to other land use and land cover types, and the proportion of land-cover types in the NLCD that are similar to managed clearings. Our study reveals that managed clearings are the most common land cover type in these cities, covering 28% of the total sampled land area- 6.2% higher than the total area of impervious surfaces. Managed clearings, when combined with forest cover, constitutes 69% of pervious surfaces in the sampled region. We observed variability in area estimates of managed clearings between the NAIP-derived and NLCD data. This suggests using high-resolution remote sensing imagery (e.g., NAIP) instead of modifying NLCD data for improved representation of spatial heterogeneity and

Managed Clearings: an Unaccounted Land-cover in Urbanizing Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, K. K.; Madden, M.; Meentemeyer, R. K.

2016-12-01

Managed clearings (MC), such as lawns, public parks and grassy transportation medians, are a common and ecologically important land cover type in urbanizing regions, especially those characterized by sprawl. We hypothesize that MC is underrepresented in land cover classification schemes and data products such as NLCD (National Land Cover Database) data, which may impact environmental assessments and models of urban ecosystems. We visually interpreted and mapped fine scale land cover with special attention to MC using 2012 NAIP (National Agriculture Imagery Program) images and compared the output with NLCD data. Areas sampled were 50 randomly distributed 1*1km blocks of land in three cities of the Char-lanta mega-region (Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh). We estimated the abundance of MC relative to other land cover types, and the proportion of land-cover types in NLCD data that are similar to MC. We also assessed if the designations of recreation, transportation, and utility in MC inform the problem differently than simply tallying MC as a whole. 610 ground points, collected using the Google Earth, were used to evaluate accuracy of NLCD data and visual interpretation for consistency. Overall accuracy of visual interpretation and NLCD data was 78% and 58%, respectively. NLCD data underestimated forest and MC by 14.4km2 and 6.4km2, respectively, while overestimated impervious surfaces by 10.2km2 compared to visual interpretation. MC was the second most dominant land cover after forest (40.5%) as it covered about 28% of the total area and about 13% higher than impervious surfaces. Results also suggested that recreation in MC constitutes up to 90% of area followed by transportation and utility. Due to the prevalence of MC in urbanizing regions, the addition of MC to the synthesis of land-cover data can help delineate realistic cover types and area proportions that could inform ecologic/hydrologic models, and allow for accurate prediction of ecological phenomena.

Trends in normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) associated with urban development in northern West Siberia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esau, Igor; Miles, Victoria V.; Davy, Richard; Miles, Martin W.; Kurchatova, Anna

2016-08-01

Exploration and exploitation of oil and gas reserves of northern West Siberia has promoted rapid industrialization and urban development in the region. This development leaves significant footprints on the sensitive northern environment, which is already stressed by the global warming. This study reports the region-wide changes in the vegetation cover as well as the corresponding changes in and around 28 selected urbanized areas. The study utilizes the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from high-resolution (250 m) MODIS data acquired for summer months (June through August) over 15 years (2000-2014). The results reveal the increase of NDVI (or "greening") over the northern (tundra and tundra-forest) part of the region. Simultaneously, the southern, forested part shows the widespread decrease of NDVI (or "browning"). These region-wide patterns are, however, highly fragmented. The statistically significant NDVI trends occupy only a small fraction of the region. Urbanization destroys the vegetation cover within the developed areas and at about 5-10 km distance around them. The studied urbanized areas have the NDVI values by 15 to 45 % lower than the corresponding areas at 20-40 km distance. The largest NDVI reduction is typical for the newly developed areas, whereas the older areas show recovery of the vegetation cover. The study reveals a robust indication of the accelerated greening near the older urban areas. Many Siberian cities become greener even against the wider browning trends at their background. Literature discussion suggests that the observed urban greening could be associated not only with special tending of the within-city green areas but also with the urban heat islands and succession of more productive shrub and tree species growing on warmer sandy soils.

Albedo and its Relationship to Land Cover and the Urban Heat Island in the Boston Metropolitan Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trlica, A.; Hutyra, L.; Wang, J.; Schaaf, C.; Erb, A.

2016-12-01

The urban built environment creates key changes in the biophysical character of the landscape, including the creation of Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) with increased near-surface temperatures in and around cities. Alteration in surface albedo is believed to partially drive UHIs through greater absorption of solar energy, but few empirical studies have specifically quantified albedo across a heterogeneous urban landscape, or investigated linkages between albedo, the UHI, and other surface socio-biophysical characteristics at a high enough spatial resolution to discern urban-scale features. This study used data derived from observations by Landsat and other remote sensing platforms to measure albedo across a varied urban landscape centered on Boston, Massachusetts, and examined the relationship between albedo, several key indicators of urban surface character (canopy cover, impervious fraction, and population density) and land surface temperature at resolutions of both 30 and 500 m. Albedo tended to be lower in areas with highest urbanization intensity indicators compared to rural undeveloped areas, and areas with lower albedo tended also to have higher median daytime summer surface temperatures. A k-means classification utilizing all the data available for each pixel revealed several distinct patterns of urban land cover corresponding mainly to the density of population and constructed surfaces and their impact on tree canopy cover. Mean 30-m summer surface temperatures ranged from 40.0 °C (SD = 2.6) in urban core areas to 26.2 °C (SD = 1.1) in nearby forest, but we only observed correspondingly large albedo decreases in the highest density urban core, with mean albedo of 0.116 (SD = 0.015) compared with 0.155 (SD = 0.015) in forest. Observations show that lower albedo in the Boston metropolitan region may be an important component of the local UHI in the most densely built-up urban core regions, while the UHI temperature effect in less densely settled peripheral

[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.

Relationships between income inequality and health: a study on rural and urban regions of Canada.

PubMed

Vafaei, Afshin; Rosenberg, Mark W; Pickett, William

2010-01-01

Many studies have demonstrated that health is a function of relative and not absolute income within populations. Canadian studies are not conclusive; most indicate that there is no relationship between income inequality and health within Canada. There is a need for further investigation into the validity of the 'relative income' hypothesis in the Canadian population. The primary objective of this research was to test the 'relative income' hypothesis across Canadian health regions. The second objective was to extend the hypothesis to consider rural versus urban populations. This research involved ecological analyses. The source of the data was the Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 3.1. The units of analysis were Canadian health regions. Health of a region was estimated as the percentage of people who rated their health as good or excellent. The primary exposure variable was the ratio of people whose personal income was less than $15,000 relative to those reporting more than $80,000 in the year preceding the survey. This ratio provided a measure of the distribution of income. The main covariates were ecological measures of socio-demographic variables, social capital, substance use behaviours (smoking and alcohol consumption), rural/urban status of the region, and absolute income in the region. Correlation analyses and multiple linear regressions were performed to ascertain the relationship between income inequality and population health, adjusting for important covariates. The measure of income inequality alone appeared to explain 18% of the variability in the measure of population health. However, after adding the measure of absolute income to the model, although 29% of the variability was explained, the independent contribution of the inequality measure became non-significant. Linear regression models suggested that the absolute income variable alone could explain 30% of the variance in the health status of populations. Other variables with a statistically

Trends in child immunization across geographical regions in India: focus on urban-rural and gender differentials.

PubMed

Singh, Prashant Kumar

2013-01-01

Although child immunization is regarded as a highly cost-effective lifesaver, about fifty percent of the eligible children aged 12-23 months in India are without essential immunization coverage. Despite several programmatic initiatives, urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization pose an intimidating challenge to India's public health agenda. This study assesses the urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization coverage during 1992-2006 across six major geographical regions in India. Three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted during 1992-93, 1998-99 and 2005-06 were analyzed. Bivariate analyses, urban-rural and gender inequality ratios, and the multivariate-pooled logistic regression model were applied to examine the trends and patterns of inequalities over time. The analysis of change over one and half decades (1992-2006) shows considerable variations in child immunization coverage across six geographical regions in India. Despite a decline in urban-rural and gender differences over time, children residing in rural areas and girls remained disadvantaged. Moreover, northeast, west and south regions, which had the lowest gender inequality in 1992 observed an increase in gender difference over time. Similarly, urban-rural inequality increased in the west region during 1992-2006. This study suggests periodic evaluation of the health care system is vital to assess the between and within group difference beyond average improvement. It is essential to integrate strong immunization systems with broad health systems and coordinate with other primary health care delivery programs to augment immunization coverage.

Aircraft observations of the urban CO2 dome in London and calculated daytime CO2 fluxes at the urban-regional scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Font, Anna; Morgui, Josep Anton; Grimmond, Sue; Barratt, Benjamin

2013-04-01

Traffic, industry and energy production and consumption within urban boundaries emit great amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, creating an urban increment of CO2 mixing ratios compared to the surrounding rural atmosphere. Monitoring CO2 within these 'urban domes' has been proposed as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of policies aiming to mitigate and reduce CO2 urban emissions (CMEGGE, 2010). London is the biggest urban conurbation in Western Europe with more than 8 million inhabitants, and it emitted roughly 45000 ktn CO2 in 2010 (DECC, 2012). In order to develop and implement observational strategies to measure the contribution of urban areas into the global carbon cycle, two airborne surveys were deployed using the Natural and Environment Research Council - Airborne Research and Survey Facility (NERC-ARSF). High frequency measurements of atmospheric CO2, O3, particles and meteorological variables were taken over London in October 2011 and July 2012. CO2 mixing ratios were measured by a Non-Dispersive IR instrument developed by AOS. In July 2012, a Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CDRS) instrument developed by PICARRO was deployed measuring CO2, CH4 and water vapour at 1Hz resolution. The objectives of the campaigns were to measure the CO2 dome over London and to calculate CO2 emissions at the urban-regional-scale. London was crossed by two transects (SW-NE and SSE-NNW) at an altitude of 360 m and vertical profiles up to 2000 m were carried out to characterize the structure of the atmosphere. Aircraft measurements allowed observation on how CO2 domes were shaped by meteorological conditions. In October 2011, the mean CO2 mixing ratio measured in London was on average 2 ppmv higher than the suburban measurements within the boundary layer. However, under low wind speeds, the CO2 mixing ratio in the urban mixing ratio peaked in central London (>10 ppmv) and decreased towards the city boundaries. Under windy conditions, the structure of the urban dome was

Characterisation of urban catchment suspended particulate matter (Auckland region, New Zealand); a comparison with non-urban SPM.

PubMed

Bibby, Rebecca L; Webster-Brown, Jenny G

2005-05-01

Suspended particulate matter (SPM) is an important transport agent for metal contaminants in streams, particularly during high flow periods such as storm events. For highly contaminated urban catchments in the greater Auckland (New Zealand) area, trace metal partitioning between the dissolved phase and SPM was determined, and SPM characterised in terms of its Si, Al, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, TOC, TON and PO(4) concentrations, as well as particle size, abundance, type and surface area. This data was compared to similar data from representative non-urban catchments in the Auckland region, the Kaipara River and Waikato River catchments, to identify any significant differences in the SPM and its potential trace metal adsorption capacity. Trace metal partitioning was assessed by way of a distribution coefficient: K(D)=[Me(SPM)]/[Me(DISS)]. Auckland urban SPM comprises quartz, feldspars and clay minerals, with Fe-oxides and minor Mn-oxides. No particles of anthropogenic origin, other than glass shards, were observed. No change in urban SPM particle size or SSA was observed with seasonal change in temperature, but the nature of the SPM was observed to change with flow regime. The abundance of finer particles, SSA and Al content of the SPM increased under moderate flow conditions; however, Si/Al ratios remained constant, confirming the importance of aluminosilicate detrital minerals in surface run-off. The SPM Fe content was observed to decrease with increased flow and was attributed to dilution of SPM Fe-oxide of groundwater origin. The Kaipara River SPM was found to be mineralogically, chemically and biologically similar to the urban SPM. However, major differences between urban catchment SPM and SPM from the much larger (non-urban) Waikato River were observed, and attributed to a higher abundance of diatoms. The Fe content of the Waikato River SPM was consistently lower (<5%), and the Si/Al ratio and Mn content was higher. Such differences observed between urban and non-urban

Osmotically driven membrane process for the management of urban runoff in coastal regions.

PubMed

Li, Zhenyu; Valladares Linares, Rodrigo; Abu-Ghdaib, Muhannad; Zhan, Tong; Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor; Amy, Gary

2014-01-01

An osmotic detention pond was proposed for the management of urban runoff in coastal regions. Forward osmosis was employed as a bridge to utilize natural osmotic energy from seawater for concentrating and reusing urban runoff water, and as a barrier to reject runoff-derived contaminants. The process was demonstrated by a lab scale testing using synthetic urban runoff (as the feed solution) and synthetic seawater (as the draw solution). The submerged forward osmosis process was conducted under neutral, acidic and natural organic matter fouling condition, respectively. Forward osmosis flux decline was mainly attributed to the dilution of seawater during a semi-batch process in lab scale testing. However, it is possible to minimize flux decrease by maintaining a constant salinity at the draw solution side. Various changes in urban runoff water quality, including acidic conditions (acid rain) and natural organic matter presence, did not show significant effects on the rejection of trace metals and phosphorus, but influenced salt leakage and the rejection of nitrate and total nitrogen. Rejection of trace metals varied from 98% to 100%, phosphorus varied from 97% to 100, nitrate varied from 52% to 94% and total nitrogen varied from 65% to 85% under different feed water conditions. The work described in this study contributes to an integrated system of urban runoff management, seawater desalination and possible power generation in coastal regions to achieve a sustainable solution to the water-energy nexus. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of Extensive Urbanization on Summertime Rainfall in the Beijing Region and the Role of Local Precipitation Recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Feng, Jinming; Yan, Zhongwei

2018-04-01

In this study, we conducted nested high-resolution simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with a single-layer urban canopy model to investigate the impact of extensive urbanization on regional precipitation over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in China. The results showed that extensive urbanization decreased precipitation considerably over and downwind of Beijing city. The prevalence of impermeable urban land inhibits local evaporation that feeds moisture into the overlying atmosphere, decreasing relative humidity and atmospheric instability. The dynamic precipitation recycling model was employed to estimate the precipitation that originates from local surface evaporation and large-scale advection of moisture. Results showed that about 11% of the urbanization-induced decrease in total precipitation over the Greater Beijing Region and its surroundings was contributed by the decrease in local recycled precipitation, while the other part (89%) was due to decreasing large-scale advected precipitation. Results suggest that the low evaporation from urban land surfaces not only reduces the supply of water vapor for local recycled precipitation directly but also decreases the convective available potential energy and hence the conversion efficiency of atmospheric moisture into rainfall. The urbanization-induced variations in local recycled precipitation were found to be correlated with the net atmospheric moisture flux on a monthly time scale.

Analysis of chosen urban bioclimatic conditions in Upper Silesian Industrial Region, Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zimnol, Jan

2013-04-01

Due to the increasing urbanization, people spend more and more time in cities. Because of that fact during the last century the human bioclimatological approach had an important influence on the applied urban bioclimatology. The aim of the study was to analyze chosen thermal bioclimatic conditions in urban area of Upper Silesian Industrial Region in connection with the atmospheric circulation and air masses. The study was focused on the thermal conditions that are important for the bioclimatological research on human thermal comfort. They were the basis for making study on how to show the influence of the air masses and circulations types on frequency and variability of the chosen bioclimate indexes. That research was based on data (2004 - 2008) acquired by the Silesian University (Faculty of Earth Sciences) meteorological station located in the city of Sosnowiec (50°17'N, 19°08'E, h=263 m a.s.l.). The temperature measurements were made automatically every 10 minutes on the 2 meters above the ground level. Previous research showed that the station is a good representation of the local urban climate conditions in Upper Silesian Industrial Region. In the study the following air temperatures were taken into consideration: average day temperature, maximum day temperature, minimum day temperature and the average air temperature at 12 UTC. They were associated with atmospheric circulation types and masses typical for the region. Using the data mentioned above I conducted a classification to divide days into following objective categories: cool, cold, comfortable, hot, warm and very hot in the seasonal depiction. The final stage of the work was to find the answer to the following question: "When and how do the strong air masses and air circulations types modify bioclimatic conditions in the study area?" Answer to that question together with further results of the research will be presented on my poster.

Impacts of urbanization on nitrogen deposition in the Pearl River Delta region, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, X.; Fan, Q.

2015-12-01

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region is one of the most advanced economic districts in China, which has experienced remarkable economic development and urbanization in the past two decades. Accompanied with the rapid economy development and urbanization, the PRD region encountered both severe nitrogen pollution and deposition. In this study, the characteristics of nitrogen deposition and impacts of urbanization on nitrogen deposition in the PRD region were investigated by combining the methods of field study and numerical model. According to the field measurements, the total dry and wet atmospheric deposition of reactive N at a urban site (SYSU) was up to 55.0 kg ha-1 yr-1 in 2010, slightly lower than the results at a rural forest site (DHS) (57.6 kg ha-1 yr-1). Wet deposition was the main form of the total deposition (64-76%). Organic nitrogen (ON) was found to be dominant in the total N deposition, with a contribution of 53% at DHS and 42% at SYSU. NH4+-N and NO3--N accounted for a similar portion of the total N deposition (23-29%). Atmospheric nitrogen deposition was further simulated by using the improved WRF-Chem model. The simulated N deposition flux was high in the north of PRD (i.e., Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing) and relative low in the east (Huizhou) and south (Zhuhai), with an average N deposition flux of about 24 kg ha-1 yr-1 for the whole PRD. The distribution of N dry deposition was mainly controlled by the concentration of reactive N compounds and precipitation governed the wet deposition distribution. The modeling results also indicate that the PRD area is the source region in which the emissions exceed the deposition while the outside area of the PRD is the receptor region in which the deposition exceeds emissions. The impact of emission change and land use change due to urbanization was also investigated using the WRF-Chem model. The results showed that atmospheric N deposition exhibits a direct response to emission change while the land use change

Attribution of nitrogen deposition driven by urbanization over Pearl River Delta region China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, X.; Wu, Z.

2016-12-01

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region is one of the most advanced economic districts in China, which has experienced remarkable economic development and urbanization in the past two decades. Accompanied with the rapid economy development and urbanization, the PRD region encountered both severe nitrogen pollution and deposition. In this study, the characteristics of nitrogen deposition and impacts of urbanization on nitrogen deposition in the PRD region were investigated by combining the methods of field study and numerical model. According to the field measurements, the total dry and wet atmospheric deposition of reactive N at a urban site (SYSU) was up to 55.0 kg ha-1 yr-1 in 2010, slightly lower than the results at a rural forest site (DHS) (57.6 kg ha-1 yr-1). Wet deposition was the main form of the total deposition (64-76%). Organic nitrogen (ON) was found to be dominant in the total N deposition, with a contribution of 53% at DHS and 42% at SYSU. NH4+-N and NO3-N accounted for a similar portion of the total N deposition (23-29%). Atmospheric nitrogen deposition was further simulated by using the improved WRF-Chem model. The simulated N deposition flux was high in the north of PRD (i.e.,Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing) and relative low in the east (Huizhou) and south (Zhuhai), with an average N deposition flux of about 24 kg ha-1 yr-1 for the whole PRD. The distribution of N dry deposition was mainly controlled by the concentration of reactive N compounds and precipitation governed the wet deposition distribution. The modeling results also indicate that the PRD area is the source region in which the emissions exceed the deposition while the outside area of the PRD is the receptor region in which the deposition exceeds emissions. The impact of emission change and land use change due to urbanization was also investigated using the WRF-Chem model. The results showed that atmospheric N deposition exhibits a direct response to emission change while the land use change

Trace metal concentrations in forest and lawn soils of Paris region (France) along a gradient of urban pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ludovic, Foti

2017-04-01

Urban soils differ greatly from natural ones as they are located in areas of intense anthropogenic activity (e.g. pollution, physical disturbance, surface transformation). Urban soils are a crucial component of urban ecosystems, especially in public green spaces, and contribute to many ecosystem services from the mitigation of urban heat island to recreational services. In the last decade, the study of urban soils has emerged as an important frontier in environmental research, at least because of their impact on the quality of life of urban populations, because of the services they deliver and because they are more and more recognized as a valuable resource. One of the key issues is the pollution of urban soils because they receive a variety of deposits from local (vehicle emissions, industrial discharges, domestic heating, waste incineration and other anthropogenic activities) and from remote sources (through atmospheric transport). Typical contaminants include persistent toxic substances, such as trace metals (TMs) that have drawn wide attention due to their long persistence in the environment, their tendency to bioaccumulate in the food chain and their toxicity for humans and other organisms. Concentrations, spatial distributions, dynamics, impacts and sources of TMs (e.g. industry or fossil fuels combustion) have attracted a global interest in urban soils and are the subject of ongoing research (e.g. ecotoxicological urban ecology). Some studies have already documented soil pollution with TMs at both the town and regional scales. So far, several monitoring programs (e.g. National Network for the long term Monitoring of Forest Ecosystem, Regional Monitoring Quality of Soil in France) and studies have been carried out on a national scale to measure the ranges of TM concentrations and natural background values in French soils. These studies have focused on French agricultural and forest soils and have not tackled urban soils. No study has described TM

Regional assessment of urban impacts on landcover and open space finds a smart urban growth policy performs little better than business as usual.

PubMed

Thorne, James H; Santos, Maria J; Bjorkman, Jacquelyn H

2013-01-01

Assessment of landscape change is critical for attainment of regional sustainability goals. Urban growth assessments are needed because over half the global population now lives in cities, which impact biodiversity, ecosystem structure and ecological processes. Open space protection is needed to preserve these attributes, and provide the resources humans need. The San Francisco Bay Area, California, is challenged to accommodate a population increase of 3.07 million while maintaining the region's ecosystems and biodiversity. Our analysis of 9275 km² in the Bay Area links historic trends for three measures: urban growth, protected open space, and landcover types over the last 70 years to future 2050 projections of urban growth and open space. Protected open space totaled 348 km² (3.7% of the area) in 1940, and expanded to 2221 km² (20.2%) currently. An additional 1038 km² of protected open space is targeted (35.1%). Urban area historically increased from 396.5 km² to 2239 km² (24.1% of the area). Urban growth during this time mostly occurred at the expense of agricultural landscapes (62.9%) rather than natural vegetation. Smart Growth development has been advanced as a preferred alternative in many planning circles, but we found that it conserved only marginally more open space than Business-as-usual when using an urban growth model to portray policies for future urban growth. Scenarios to 2050 suggest urban development on non-urban lands of 1091, 956, or 179 km², under Business-as-usual, Smart Growth and Infill policy growth scenarios, respectively. The Smart Growth policy converts 88% of natural lands and agriculture used by Business-as-usual, while Infill used only 40% of those lands. Given the historic rate of urban growth, 0.25%/year, and limited space available, the Infill scenario is recommended. While the data may differ, the use of an historic and future framework to track these three variables can be easily applied to other metropolitan areas.

Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen-1 is highly colocalized with interphase chromatin and its newly replicated regions in particular.

PubMed

Ito, Sayuri; Gotoh, Eisuke; Ozawa, Shigeru; Yanagi, Kazuo

2002-10-01

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1), which binds to both the EBV origin of replication (oriP) and metaphase chromosomes, is essential for the replication/retention and segregation/partition of oriP-containing plasmids. Here the chromosomal localization of EBNA-1 fused to green fluorescent protein (GFP-EBNA-1) is examined by confocal microscopy combined with a 'premature chromosome condensation' (PCC) procedure. Analyses show that GFP-EBNA-1 expressed in living cells that lack oriP plasmids is associated with cellular chromatin that has been condensed rapidly by the PCC procedure into identifiable forms that are unique to each phase of interphase as well as metaphase chromosomes. Studies of cellular chromosomal DNAs labelled with BrdU or Cy3-dUTP indicate that GFP-EBNA-1 colocalizes highly with the labelled, newly replicated regions of interphase chromatin in cells. These results suggest that EBNA-1 is associated not only with cellular metaphase chromosomes but also with condensing chromatin/chromosomes and probably with interphase chromatin, especially with its newly replicated regions.

Trends in Child Immunization across Geographical Regions in India: Focus on Urban-Rural and Gender Differentials

PubMed Central

Singh, Prashant Kumar

2013-01-01

Background Although child immunization is regarded as a highly cost-effective lifesaver, about fifty percent of the eligible children aged 12–23 months in India are without essential immunization coverage. Despite several programmatic initiatives, urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization pose an intimidating challenge to India’s public health agenda. This study assesses the urban-rural and gender difference in child immunization coverage during 1992–2006 across six major geographical regions in India. Data and Methods Three rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted during 1992–93, 1998–99 and 2005–06 were analyzed. Bivariate analyses, urban-rural and gender inequality ratios, and the multivariate-pooled logistic regression model were applied to examine the trends and patterns of inequalities over time. Key Findings The analysis of change over one and half decades (1992–2006) shows considerable variations in child immunization coverage across six geographical regions in India. Despite a decline in urban-rural and gender differences over time, children residing in rural areas and girls remained disadvantaged. Moreover, northeast, west and south regions, which had the lowest gender inequality in 1992 observed an increase in gender difference over time. Similarly, urban-rural inequality increased in the west region during 1992–2006. Conclusion This study suggests periodic evaluation of the health care system is vital to assess the between and within group difference beyond average improvement. It is essential to integrate strong immunization systems with broad health systems and coordinate with other primary health care delivery programs to augment immunization coverage. PMID:24023816

The Impact of Urbanization on the Regional Aeolian Dynamics of an Arid Coastal Dunefield

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Alexander; Jackson, Derek; Cooper, Andrew

2016-04-01

The anthropogenic impact on the geomorphology of many landscapes are inextricably connected but are often neglected due to the difficulty in making a direct link between the quasi natural and human processes that impact the environment. This research focuses on the Maspalomas dunefield, located on the southern coast of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Island Archipelago. The tourism industry in Maspalomas has led to intensive urbanization since the early 1960's over an elevated alluvial terrace that extends into the dunefield. Urbanization has had a substantial impact on both the regional airflow conditions and the geomorphological development of this transverse dune system. As a result airflow and sediment has been redirected in response to the large scale construction efforts. In situ data was collected during field campaigns using high resolution three-dimensional anemometry to identify the various modifications within the dunefield relative to incipient regional airflow conditions. The goal is to analyse the flow conditions near the urbanized terrace in relation to areas that are located away from the influence of the buildings and to verify numerical modelling results. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling is used in order to expand the areal extent of analysis by providing an understanding of relevant flow dynamics (e.g. flow velocity, directionality, turbulence, shear stresses, etc.) at the mesoscale. An integrative three dimensional model for CFD simulations was created to address the impact of both the urban area (i.e. hotels, commercial centers, and residential communities) as well as the dune terrain on regional flow conditions. Early modelling results show that there is significant flow modification around the urban terrace with streamline compression, acceleration, and deflection of flow on the windward side of the development. Consequently downwind of the terrace there is an area of highly turbulent flow conditions and well developed separation and

The research on regional conservation planning of urban historical and cultural areas based on GIS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shangli; Xu, Jian; Li, Qian

2017-06-01

With the rapid economic development and the growth of population happening in the urban historical and cultural areas, heritage and historical buildings along with their natural and artificial surrounding environments are suffering constructive destruction. Due to the lack of precise partition of protection region and construction control region in the local cultural relics protection law, traditional regional conservation planning cannot engaged with the urban controllability detailed planning very well. According to the several protection regulations about heritage and historical buildings from latest laws, we choose Baxian Temple area to study on the improvments of traditional regional conservation planning. The technical methods of this study mainly rely on GIS, which can complete the fundamental work of each stage. With the analytic hierarchy process(AHP), the comprehensive architectural value assessments can be calculated according to the investigation results. Based on the calculation results and visual corridor analysis, the precise range of protection region and construction control region can be decided and the specific protection measures can be formulated.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2016-12-01

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

Outdoor activity and myopia among primary students in rural and urban regions of Beijing.

PubMed

Guo, Yin; Liu, Li Juan; Xu, Liang; Lv, Yan Yun; Tang, Ping; Feng, Yi; Meng, Meng; Jonas, Jost B

2013-02-01

To assess associations among outdoor activity, ocular biometric parameters, and myopia among grade 1 and grade 4 primary students in Beijing. School-based, cross-sectional study. A total of 382 grade 1 and 299 grade 4 children participated in the study. The children underwent a comprehensive eye examination, including ocular biometry by optical low-coherence reflectometry and noncycloplegic refractometry. Parents and children participated in a detailed interview, including questions on time spent indoors and outdoors. Factors associated with myopia. The study included 681 children, with 382 (56.1%) students from grade 1 (mean age, 6.3 ± 0.5 years; range, 5-8 years) and 299 students from grade 4 (mean age, 9.4 ± 0.7 years; range, 8-13 years); 370 students (54.3%) lived in the urban region. The mean daily time spent outdoors was 1.6 ± 0.8 hours (range, 0.5-5.1 hours). In multivariate analysis, axial length was significantly associated with older age (P<0.001; standardized β coefficient, 0.28), taller body height (P = 0.001; β, 0.18), maternal myopia (P = 0.03; β, 0.09), and urban region of habitation (P<0.001; β, -0.21), or alternatively to the region of habitation, with less time spent outdoors (P = 0.001; β, -0.16) and more time spent indoors studying (P = 0.02; β, 0.10). The axial length-to-corneal curvature radius ratio was associated with older age, urban region of habitation, maternal and paternal myopia, and paternal level of education. Presence of myopia (defined as refractive error ≤-1 diopters in the right eye) was associated with older age (P<0.001; odds ratio [OR], 1.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24-1.69), maternal myopia (P<0.001; OR, 2.99; 95% CI, 1.94-5.35), and urban region of habitation (P<0.001; OR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.11-0.26), or alternatively to the region of habitation, with less time spent outdoors (P<0.001; OR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.21-0.48) and more time spent indoors studying (P<0.001; OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.09-1.75). Less outdoor

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

Impact of anthropogenic heat release on regional climate in three vast urban agglomerations in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Jinming; Wang, Jun; Yan, Zhongwei

2014-03-01

We simulated the impact of anthropogenic heat release (AHR) on the regional climate in three vast city agglomerations in China using the Weather Research and Forecasting model with nested high-resolution modeling. Based on energy consumption and high-quality land use data, we designed two scenarios to represent no-AHR and current-AHR conditions. By comparing the results of the two numerical experiments, changes of surface air temperature and precipitation due to AHR were quantified and analyzed. We concluded that AHR increases the temperature in these urbanized areas by about 0.5°C—1°C, and this increase is more pronounced in winter than in other seasons. The inclusion of AHR enhances the convergence of water vapor over urbanized areas. Together with the warming of the lower troposphere and the enhancement of ascending motions caused by AHR, the average convective available potential energy in urbanized areas is increased. Rainfall amounts in summer over urbanized areas are likely to increase and regional precipitation patterns to be altered to some extent.

Influence of urban form on landscape pattern and connectivity in metropolitan regions: a comparative case study of Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey.

PubMed

Park, Sohyun; Hepcan, Çiğdem C; Hepcan, Şerif; Cook, Edward A

2014-10-01

Although ecological connectivity conservation in urban areas has recently been recognized as an important issue, less is known about its relationship to urban form and landscape pattern. This study investigates how urban morphology influences regional ecosystem pattern and landscape connectivity. Two metropolitan landscapes, Phoenix, AZ, USA, and Izmir, Turkey, were compared, both of which are fast-growing regions in their national context. A wide range of variables were considered for identifying natural and urban properties. The natural characteristics include typology of urban ecosystems, urban to natural cover ratio, dominant habitat type, urban biodiversity, landscape context, and connectivity conservation efforts. Urban parameters examine urban form, urban extent, urban cover proportion, growth rate, populations, urban gradient, major drivers of urbanization, urban density, and mode/approach of urban development. Twelve landscape metrics were measured and compared across the natural patches. Results show that there is little difference in landscape connectivity in the rural zones of Phoenix and Izmir, although Phoenix has slightly higher connectivity values. The connectivity variance in urbanized areas, however, is significantly dependent on the region. For example, Phoenix urban zones have substantially lower connectivity than either urban or suburban zones in Izmir. Findings demonstrate that small and compact urban settlements with more dense populations are more likely to conserve landscape connectivity compared to multiple-concentric but amalgamated urban form spreading all over the landscape (aka urban sprawl).

Evaluating the Environmental Performance of Urban Parks in Mediterranean Cities: An Example from the Barcelona Metropolitan Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parés-Franzi, Marc; Saurí-Pujol, David; Domene, Elena

2006-11-01

In a context of increasing urban sprawl and water scarcity common to other Mediterranean cities, this article focuses on the urban parks in the Region of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) to examine how these parks are distributed in this region and to assess whether their design and management follow criteria adapted to Mediterranean environmental conditions, especially in what concerns water use. In order to evaluate the environmental performance of these parks, we selected four factors possibly influencing the adoption of park management practices at the local scale: urban density, population size of the municipality, municipal income per capita, and political orientation of the city council. After determining the location and area of urban parks in the region, we correlated these four explanatory factors with several management tasks extracted from two different samples of parks (one of 315 parks and another of 125 parks) and a survey of 86 city councils. Results show that, in general, urban parks were more frequent in large, dense, and left/green municipalities but that environmentally sound practices were more common in small and low-density municipalities. We conclude that changes in certain practices (especially the substitution of high water demanding species) could improve significantly the environmental performance of public spaces in large urban areas with Mediterranean climates. Our observations may be pertinent for other cities interested in the provision of environmental public goods such as parks that necessitate water for irrigation.

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.

Illicit and injecting drug use among Indigenous young people in urban, regional and remote Australia.

PubMed

Bryant, Joanne; Ward, James; Wand, Handan; Byron, Kat; Bamblett, Andrew; Waples-Crowe, Peter; Betts, Sarah; Coburn, Tony; Delaney-Thiele, Dea; Worth, Heather; Kaldor, John; Pitts, Marian

2016-07-01

To examine patterns of illicit drug use among Australian Indigenous young people, identify correlates of frequent use separately in urban, regional and remote settings and characterise those who inject. Cross-sectional design at 40 Indigenous events. Self-complete surveys were administered to Indigenous people aged 16-29 years using mobile devices. 2,877 participants completed the survey. One in five reported using cannabis at least weekly in the previous year, but the use of other drugs was less prevalent. Patterns of drug use were largely similar across regions, although more participants in urban and regional areas reported using ecstasy (12% vs 11% vs 5%) and cocaine (6% vs 3% vs 1%) and more reported weekly cannabis use (18% vs 22% vs 14%). Injecting was rare (3%) but those who did inject reported a high incidence of needle sharing (37%). Methamphetamine (37%), heroin (36%) and methadone (26%) were the most commonly injected drugs, and injecting was related to prison experience (AOR 5.3 95% CI 2.8-10.0). Attention is needed in relation to cannabis use, particularly among those Indigenous young people living in regional and urban settings. Also, although injecting is uncommon, it is associated with prison involvement. Priority must be given to reducing the numbers of Indigenous youth entering justice settings, delaying the age at first entry to justice settings, and reducing the risk of BBV acquisition while in custody through, for example, prison-based NSP, BBV education, and Indigenous-specific treatment that emphasises connection to country and culture. [Bryant J, Ward J, Wand H, Byron K, Bamblett A, Waples-Crowe P, Betts S, Coburn T, Delaney-Thiele D, Worth H, Kaldor J, Pitts M. Illicit and injecting drug use among Indigenous young people in urban, regional and remote Australia. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:447-455]. © 2015 Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs.

Dynamism of household carbon emissions (HCEs) from rural and urban regions of northern and southern China.

PubMed

Maraseni, Tek Narayan; Qu, Jiansheng; Yue, Bian; Zeng, Jingjing; Maroulis, Jerry

2016-10-01

China contributes 23 % of global carbon emissions, of which 26 % originate from the household sector. Due to vast variations in both climatic conditions and the affordability and accessibility of fuels, household carbon emissions (HCEs) differ significantly across China. This study compares HCEs (per person) from urban and rural regions in northern China with their counterparts in southern China. Annual macroeconomic data for the study period 2005 to 2012 were obtained from Chinese government sources, whereas the direct HCEs for different types of fossil fuels were obtained using the IPCC reference approach, and indirect HCEs were calculated by input-output analysis. Results suggest that HCEs from urban areas are higher than those from rural areas. Regardless of the regions, there is a similarity in per person HCEs in urban areas, but the rural areas of northern China had significantly higher HCEs than those from southern China. The reasons for the similarity between urban areas and differences between rural areas and the percentage share of direct and indirect HCEs from different sources are discussed. Similarly, the reasons and solutions to why decarbonising policies are working in urban areas but not in rural areas are discussed.

Declining agricultural production in rapidly urbanizing semi-arid regions: policy tradeoffs and sustainability indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dozier, André Q.; Arabi, Mazdak; Wostoupal, Benjamin C.; Goemans, Christopher G.; Zhang, Yao; Paustian, Keith

2017-08-01

In rapidly urbanizing semi-arid regions, increasing amounts of historically irrigated cropland lies permanently fallowed due to water court policies as agricultural water rights are voluntarily being sold to growing cities. This study develops an integrative framework for assessing the effects of population growth and land use change on agricultural production and evaluating viability of alternative management strategies, including alternative agricultural transfer methods, regional water ownership restrictions, and urban conservation. A partial equilibrium model of a spatially-diverse regional water rights market is built in application of the framework to an exemplary basin. The model represents agricultural producers as profit-maximizing suppliers and municipalities as cost-minimizing consumers of water rights. Results indicate that selling an agricultural water right today is worth up to two times more than 40 years of continued production. All alternative policies that sustain agricultural cropland and crop production decrease total agricultural profitability by diminishing water rights sales revenue, but in doing so, they also decrease municipal water acquisition costs. Defining good indicators and incorporating adequate spatial and temporal detail are critical to properly analyzing policy impacts. To best improve agricultural profit from production and sale of crops, short-term solutions include alternative agricultural transfer methods while long-term solutions incorporate urban conservation.

Environmental Sustainability and Effects on Urban Micro Region using Agent-Based Modeling of Urbanisation in Select Major Indian Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aithal, B. H.

2015-12-01

Abstract: Urbanisation has gained momentum with globalization in India. Policy decisions to set up commercial, industrial hubs have fuelled large scale migration, added with population upsurge has contributed to the fast growing urban region that needs to be monitored in order to design sustainable urban cities. Unplanned urbanization have resulted in the growth of peri-urban region referred to as urban sprawl, are often devoid of basic amenities and infrastructure leading to large scale environmental problems that are evident. Remote sensing data acquired through space borne sensors at regular interval helps in understanding urban dynamics aided by Geoinformatics which has proved very effective in mapping and monitoring for sustainable urban planning. Cellular automata (CA) is a robust approach for the spatially explicit simulation of land-use land cover dynamics. CA uses rules, states, conditions that are vital factors in modelling urbanisation. This communication effectively introduces simulation assistances of CA with the agent based modelling supported by its fuzzy characteristics and weightages through analytical hierarchal process (AHP). This has been done considering perceived agents such as industries, natural resource etc. Respective agent's role in development of a particular regions into an urban area has been examined with weights and its influence of each of these agents based on its characteristics functions. Validation was performed obtaining a high kappa coefficient indicating the quality and the allocation performance of the model & validity of the model to predict future projections. The prediction using the proposed model was performed for 2030. Further environmental sustainability of each of these cities are explored such as water features, environment, greenhouse gas emissions, effects on human human health etc., Modeling suggests trend of various land use classes transformation with the spurt in urban expansions based on specific regions and

The correlation of housing estate area with regional infrastructure development in peri-urban region of metropolitan Bandung Raya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vitriana, A. N. I. T. A.

2018-03-01

Housing estates development in the peri-urban area is often used as a solution to meet the needs of urban housing. In this case, the development of housing estates built by developers, are including housing units as well as the facilities and infrastructure. Based on this practice, then two opposite opinions emerge about the participation of developers in the development of housing infrastructure. The first opinion acknowledges that residential developers have assisted the government in providing settlement infrastructure. Meanwhile, the second opinion considers the infrastructure development undertaken by the residential developers has precisely caused inefficient regional infrastructure development. This study aims to examine the correlation between the development of housing estates and the development of regional infrastructure by using simple linear regression analyses, in order to prove whether there is a relationship between the two variables. This research was conducted at West Bandung Regency (Kabupaten Bandung Barat), one of the regency that located in peri-urban of Metropolitan Bandung Area. Two variables used in this study consist of the area of housing estates variable and the infrastructure development variable. The infrastructure development variable is represented by The IKG score (Geographic Difficulties Index). In this study, two different levels of the area were conducted to the examination, the village, and the subdistrict. The result of this examination shows that there is a weak correlation between the variables of the housing estates area and The IKG, even though its relationship is getting stronger when the test performed on a larger area. Based on this research, it can be said that the development of housing estates infrastructure in West Bandung Regency has a lack of significant effect on the regional infrastructure development.

Mapping regional patterns of large forest fires in Wildland-Urban Interface areas in Europe.

PubMed

Modugno, Sirio; Balzter, Heiko; Cole, Beth; Borrelli, Pasquale

2016-05-01

Over recent decades, Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) trends in many regions of Europe have reconfigured the landscape structures around many urban areas. In these areas, the proximity to landscape elements with high forest fuels has increased the fire risk to people and property. These Wildland-Urban Interface areas (WUI) can be defined as landscapes where anthropogenic urban land use and forest fuel mass come into contact. Mapping their extent is needed to prioritize fire risk control and inform local forest fire risk management strategies. This study proposes a method to map the extent and spatial patterns of the European WUI areas at continental scale. Using the European map of WUI areas, the hypothesis is tested that the distance from the nearest WUI area is related to the forest fire probability. Statistical relationships between the distance from the nearest WUI area, and large forest fire incidents from satellite remote sensing were subsequently modelled by logistic regression analysis. The first European scale map of the WUI extent and locations is presented. Country-specific positive and negative relationships of large fires and the proximity to the nearest WUI area are found. A regional-scale analysis shows a strong influence of the WUI zones on large fires in parts of the Mediterranean regions. Results indicate that the probability of large burned surfaces increases with diminishing WUI distance in touristic regions like Sardinia, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, or in regions with a strong peri-urban component as Catalunya, Comunidad de Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana. For the above regions, probability curves of large burned surfaces show statistical relationships (ROC value > 0.5) inside a 5000 m buffer of the nearest WUI. Wise land management can provide a valuable ecosystem service of fire risk reduction that is currently not explicitly included in ecosystem service valuations. The results re-emphasise the importance of including this ecosystem service

Modelling regional climate change and urban planning scenarios and their impacts on the urban environment in two cities with WRF-ACASA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Falk, M.; Pyles, R. D.; Marras, S.; Spano, D.; Paw U, K. T.

2011-12-01

The number of urban metabolism studies has increased in recent years, due to the important impact that energy, water and carbon exchange over urban areas have on climate change. Urban modeling is therefore crucial in the future design and management of cities. This study presents the ACASA model coupled to the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-ARW) mesoscale model to simulate urban fluxes at a horizontal resolution of 200 meters for urban areas of roughly 100 km^2. As part of the European Project "BRIDGE", these regional simulations were used in combination with remotely sensed data to provide constraints on the land surface types and the exchange of carbon and energy fluxes from urban centers. Surface-atmosphere exchanges of mass and energy were simulated using the Advanced Canopy Atmosphere Soil Algorithm (ACASA). ACASA is a multi-layer high-order closure model, recently modified to work over natural, agricultural as well as urban environments. In particular, improvements were made to account for the anthropogenic contribution to heat and carbon production. For two cities four climate change and four urban planning scenarios were simulated: The climate change scenarios include a base scenario (Sc0: 2008 Commit in IPCC), a medium emission scenario (Sc1: IPCC A2), a worst case emission scenario (Sce2: IPCC A1F1) and finally a best case emission scenario (Sce3: IPCC B1). The urban planning scenarios include different development scenarios such as smart growth. The two cities are a high latitude city, Helsinki (Finland) and an historic city, Florence (Italy). Helsinki is characterized by recent, rapid urbanization that requires a substantial amount of energy for heating, while Florence is representative of cities in lower latitudes, with substantial cultural heritage and a comparatively constant architectural footprint over time. In general, simulated fluxes matched the point observations well and showed consistent improvement in the energy partitioning over

The impact of urban planning on land use and land cover in Pudong of Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Bin; Nakagoshi, Nobukazu; Chen, Jia-kuan; Kong, Ling-yi

2003-03-01

Functional zones in cities constitute the most conspicuous components of newly developed urban area, and have been a hot spot for domestic and foreign investors in China, which not only show the expanse of urban space accompanied by the shifts both in landscape (from rural to urban) and land use (from less extensive to extensive), but also display the transformation of regional ecological functions. By using the theories and methods of landscape ecology, the structure of landscape and landscape ecological planning can be analyzed and evaluated for studying the urban functional zones' layout. In 1990, the Central Government of China declared to develop and open up Pudong New Area so as to promote economic development in Shanghai. Benefited from the advantages of Shanghai's location and economy, the government of Pudong New Area has successively built up 7 different functional zones over the past decade according to their functions and strategic goals. Based on the multi-spectral satellite imageries taken in 1990, 1997 and 2000, a landscape ecology analysis was carried out for Pudong New Area of Shanghai, supported by GIS technology. Green space (including croplands) and built-up area are the major factors considered in developing urban landscape. This paper was mainly concerned with the different spatial patterns and dynamic of green space, built-up areas and new buildings in different functional zones, influenced by different functional layouts and development strategies. The rapid urbanization in Pudong New Area resulted in a more homogeneous landscape. Agricultural landscape and suburban landscape were gradually replaced by urban landscape as the degree of urbanization increased. As consequence of urbanization in Pudong, not only built-up patches, but also newly-built patches and green patches merged into one large patch, which should be attributed to the construction policy of extensive green space as the urban development process in Pudong New Area. The shape

Regional bankfull-channel dimensions of non-urban wadeable streams in Indiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Robinson, Bret A.

2013-01-01

During floods, damage to properties and community infrastructure may result from inundation and the processes of erosion. The damages imparted by erosion are collectively termed the fluvial erosion hazard (FEH), and the Indiana Silver Jackets Multi-agency Hazard Mitigation Taskforce is supporting a program to build tools that will assist Indiana property owners and communities with FEH-mitigation efforts. As part of that program, regional channel-dimension relations are identified for non-urban wadeable streams in Indiana. With a site-selection process that targeted the three largest physiographic regions of the state, field work was completed to measure channel-dimension and channel-geometry characteristics across Indiana. In total, 82 sites were identified for data collection; 25 in the Northern Moraine and Lake region, 31 in the Central Till Plain region, and 26 in the Southern Hills and Lowlands region. Following well established methods, for each data-collection site, effort was applied to identify bankfull stage, determine bankfull-channel dimensions, and document channel-geometry characteristics that allowed for determinations of channel classification. In this report, regional bankfull-channel dimension results are presented as a combination of plots and regression equations that identify the relations between drainage area and the bankfull-channel dimensions of width, mean depth, and cross-sectional area. This investigation found that the channel-dimension data support independent relations for each of the three physiographic regions noted above. Furthermore, these relations show that, for any given drainage area, northern Indiana channels have the smallest predicted dimensions, southern Indiana channels have the largest predicted dimensions, and central Indiana channels are intermediate in their predicted dimensions. When considering the suite of variables that influence bankfull-channel dimensions, it appears that contrasting runoff characteristics

Aerosol Seasonal Variations over Urban-Industrial Regions in Ukraine According to AERONET and POLDER Measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Milinevsky, G.; Danylevsky, V.; Bovchaliuk, V.; Bovchaliuk, A.; Goloub, Ph.; Dubovik, O.; Kabashnikov, V.; Chaikovsky, A.; Miatselskaya, N.; Mishchenko, M.;

Regional climate model assessment of the urban land-surface forcing over central Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huszar, P.; Halenka, T.; Belda, M.; Zak, M.; Sindelarova, K.; Miksovsky, J.

2014-07-01

For the purpose of qualifying and quantifying the climate impact of cities and urban surfaces in general on climate of central Europe, the surface parameterization in regional climate model RegCM4 has been extended with the Single Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). A set of experiments was performed over the period of 2005-2009 for central Europe, either without considering urban surfaces or with the SLUCM treatment. Results show a statistically significant impact of urbanized surfaces on temperature (up to 1.5 K increase in summer) as well as on the boundary layer height (increases up to 50 m). Urbanization further influences surface wind with a winter decrease up to -0.6 m s-1, though both increases and decreases were detected in summer depending on the location relative to the cities and daytime (changes up to 0.3 m s-1). Urban surfaces significantly reduce evaporation and thus the humidity over the surface. This impacts the simulated summer precipitation rate, showing decrease over cities up to -2 mm day-1. Significant temperature increases are simulated over higher elevations as well, not only within the urban canopy layer. With the urban parameterization, the climate model better describes the diurnal temperature variation, reducing the cold afternoon and evening bias of RegCM4. Sensitivity experiments were carried out to quantify the response of the meteorological conditions to changes in the parameters specific to the urban environment such as street width, building height, albedo of the roofs and anthropogenic heat release. The results proved to be rather robust and the choice of the key SLUCM parameters impacts them only slightly (mainly temperature, boundary layer height and wind velocity). Statistically significant impacts are modeled not only over large urbanized areas, but the influence of the cities is also evident over rural areas without major urban surfaces. It is shown that this is the result of the combined effect of the distant influence of the

Regional climate model assessment of the urban land-surface forcing over central Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huszar, P.; Halenka, T.; Belda, M.; Zak, M.; Sindelarova, K.; Miksovsky, J.

2014-11-01

For the purpose of qualifying and quantifying the climate impact of cities and urban surfaces in general on climate of central Europe, the surface parameterization in regional climate model RegCM4 has been extended with the Single-layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). A set of experiments was performed over the period of 2005-2009 for central Europe, either without considering urban surfaces or with the SLUCM treatment. Results show a statistically significant impact of urbanized surfaces on temperature (up to 1.5 K increase in summer) as well as on the boundary layer height (increases up to 50 m). Urbanization further influences surface wind with a winter decrease up to -0.6 m s-1, though both increases and decreases were detected in summer depending on the location relative to the cities and daytime (changes up to 0.3 m s-1). Urban surfaces significantly reduce the humidity over the surface. This impacts the simulated summer precipitation rate, showing a decrease over cities of up to -2 mm day-1. Significant temperature increases are simulated over higher altitudes as well, not only within the urban canopy layer. With the urban parameterization, the climate model better describes the diurnal temperature variation, reducing the cold afternoon and evening bias of RegCM4. Sensitivity experiments were carried out to quantify the response of the meteorological conditions to changes in the parameters specific to the urban environment, such as street width, building height, albedo of the roofs and anthropogenic heat release. The results proved to be rather robust and the choice of the key SLUCM parameters impacts them only slightly (mainly temperature, boundary layer height and wind velocity). Statistically significant impacts are modelled not only over large urbanized areas, but the influence of the cities is also evident over rural areas without major urban surfaces. It is shown that this is the result of the combined effect of the distant influence of the cities and the

Regional Variation in Disparities in Breast Cancer Specific Mortality Due to Race/Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Urbanization.

PubMed

Parise, Carol A; Caggiano, Vincent

2017-08-01

Disparities in breast cancer mortality due to race/ethnicity, area socioeconomic status (SES), and urbanization have been documented. This study examined if disparities in the risk of breast cancer specific mortality due to race/ethnicity, SES, and urbanization varied within diverse regions of California. We identified 163,569 cases of first primary female invasive breast cancer from the California Cancer Registry diagnosed between January, 2000 and December, 2013. Cox regression was used to compute hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals for race/ethnicity, SES, and urbanization within eight regions of California. Blacks had an increased risk of mortality in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA) (HR = 1.37; 1.22-1.55), Desert Sierra (HR = 1.27; 1.08-1.49), San Diego/Orange (HR = 1.43; 1.19-1.71), and Los Angeles (LA) (HR = 1.31; 1.20-1.44). Japanese (HR = 0.62; 0.47-0.81), Chinese (HR = 0.71; 0.58-0.87), and Filipino (HR = 0.81; 0.69-0.95) women had a decreased risk of mortality in LA. Southeast Asians had a decreased risk in San Diego/Orange (HR = 0.72; 0.57-0.90) and in the SFBA (HR = 0.81; 0.67-0.98). Hispanics had a decreased risk (HR = 0.73; 0.57-0.93) and American Indians had an increased risk (HR = 2.32; 1.08-4.98) in the Tri-County region. SES was a significant risk factor for mortality in all regions except the North and Tri-County. Urbanization was a statistically significant factor for mortality only in LA (HR = 1.32; 1.08-1.60). Disparities in breast cancer mortality, due to race/ethnicity, SES, and urbanization vary by region which suggests that further research is warranted concerning the role of geographic regions and neighborhoods in cancer outcomes.

Urban and regional change in Australia: an empirical introduction.

PubMed

O'connor, K

1984-08-01

Recent changes in the spatial distribution of the population in Australia are examined. In particular, changes in population by state are analyzed for the period 1971-1981. The relationship of these changes to shifts in economic activity, private investment, and banking activity is considered. "Results show there have been only small shifts toward population growth areas. These results are interpreted in part as a consequence of nonlocal multipliers and linkages back to established areas, but also as a reflection of the unique features of the Australian urban and regional system." excerpt

Comparison of Three Cognitive Screening Tools in Older Urban and Regional Aboriginal Australians.

PubMed

Radford, Kylie; Mack, Holly A; Draper, Brian; Chalkley, Simon; Delbaere, Kim; Daylight, Gail; Cumming, Robert G; Bennett, Hayley; Broe, Gerald A

2015-01-01

Validated cognitive screening tools for use in urban and regional Aboriginal populations in Australia are lacking. In a cross-sectional community-based study, 235 participants were assessed on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) and an urban modification of the Kimberley Indigenous Cognitive Assessment (mKICA). Performance on these cognitive screening tools was compared to dementia diagnosis by clinical consensus. All tests were culturally acceptable with good psychometric properties. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed that the MMSE and mKICA were the most accurate. The MMSE is an effective cognitive screening tool in urban Aboriginal populations. The mKICA is a good alternative when illiteracy, language or cultural considerations deem it appropriate. The RUDAS also has adequate validity in this population. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel.

People newly in love are more responsive to positive feedback.

PubMed

Brown, Cassandra L; Beninger, Richard J

2012-06-01

Passionate love is associated with increased activity in dopamine-rich regions of the brain. Increased dopamine in these regions is associated with a greater tendency to learn from reward in trial-and-error learning tasks. This study examined the prediction that individuals who were newly in love would be better at responding to reward (positive feedback). In test trials, people who were newly in love selected positive outcomes significantly more often than their single (not in love) counterparts but were no better at the task overall. This suggests that people who are newly in love show a bias toward responding to positive feedback, which may reflect a general bias towards reward-seeking.

Thermal Adaptation Methods of Urban Plaza Users in Asia's Hot-Humid Regions: A Taiwan Case Study.

PubMed

Wu, Chen-Fa; Hsieh, Yen-Fen; Ou, Sheng-Jung

2015-10-27

Thermal adaptation studies provide researchers great insight to help understand how people respond to thermal discomfort. This research aims to assess outdoor urban plaza conditions in hot and humid regions of Asia by conducting an evaluation of thermal adaptation. We also propose that questionnaire items are appropriate for determining thermal adaptation strategies adopted by urban plaza users. A literature review was conducted and first hand data collected by field observations and interviews used to collect information on thermal adaptation strategies. Item analysis--Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)--were applied to refine the questionnaire items and determine the reliability of the questionnaire evaluation procedure. The reliability and validity of items and constructing process were also analyzed. Then, researchers facilitated an evaluation procedure for assessing the thermal adaptation strategies of urban plaza users in hot and humid regions of Asia and formulated a questionnaire survey that was distributed in Taichung's Municipal Plaza in Taiwan. Results showed that most users responded with behavioral adaptation when experiencing thermal discomfort. However, if the thermal discomfort could not be alleviated, they then adopted psychological strategies. In conclusion, the evaluation procedure for assessing thermal adaptation strategies and the questionnaire developed in this study can be applied to future research on thermal adaptation strategies adopted by urban plaza users in hot and humid regions of Asia.

Epidemiology and outcome of penetrating injuries in a Western European urban region.

PubMed

Störmann, P; Gartner, K; Wyen, H; Lustenberger, T; Marzi, I; Wutzler, S

2016-12-01

Severe life-threatening injuries in Western Europe are mostly caused by blunt trauma. However, penetrating trauma might be more common in urban regions, but their characteristics have not been fully elucidated. Retrospective analysis of data from patients admitted to our urban university level I trauma center between 2008 and 2013 with suspicion of severe multiple injuries. Collection of data was performed prospectively using a PC-supported online documentation program including epidemiological, clinical and outcome parameters. Out of 2095 trauma room patients admitted over the 6-year time period 194 (9.3 %) suffered from penetrating trauma. The mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 12.3 ± 14.1 points. In 62.4 % (n = 121) the penetrating injuries were caused by interpersonal violence or attempted suicide, 98 of these by stabbing and 23 by firearms. We observed a widespread injury pattern where mainly head, thorax and abdomen were afflicted. Subgroup analysis for self-inflicted injuries showed higher ISS (19.8 ± 21.8 points) than for blunt trauma (15.5 ± 14.6 points). In 82.5 % of all penetrating trauma a surgical treatment was performed, 43.8 % of the patients received intensive care unit treatment with mean duration of 7.4 ± 9.3 days. Immediate emergency surgical treatment had to be performed in 8.0 vs. 2.3 % in blunt trauma (p < 0.001). Infectious complications of the penetrating wounds were observed in 7.8 %. Specific characteristics of penetrating trauma in urban regions can be identified. Compared to nationwide data, penetrating trauma was more frequent in our collective (9.3 vs. 5.0 %), which may be due to higher crime rates in urban areas. Especially, self-inflicted penetrating trauma often results in most severe injuries.

Measurements of skylight polarization: a case study in urban region with high-loading aerosol.

PubMed

Wu, Lianghai; Gao, Jun; Fan, Zhiguo; Zhang, Jun

2015-02-01

We investigate skylight polarization patterns in an urban region using our developed full-Stokes imaging polarimeter. A detailed description of our imaging polarimeter and its calibration are given, then, we measure skylight polarization patterns at wavelength λ=488  nm and at solar elevation between -05°10' and +35°42' in the city of Hefei, China. We show that in an urban region with high-loading aerosols: (1) the measured degree of linear polarization reaches the maximum near sunset, and large areas of unpolarized sky exist in the forward sunlight direction close to the Sun; (2) the position of neural points shifts from the local meridian plane and, if compared with a clear sky, alters the symmetrical characteristics of celestial polarization pattern; and (3) the observed circular polarization component is negligible.

Racial/ethnic, regional, and rural/urban differences in receipt of diabetes education.

PubMed

Brown-Guion, Stephanie Y; Youngerman, Stephanie M; Hernandez-Tejada, Melba A; Dismuke, Clara E; Egede, Leonard E

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine the differences in receipt of diabetes education according to risk factors that are associated with the disease, including race/ ethnicity, region, and rural/urban location. National data from the 2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) were analyzed to examine likelihood of receipt of diabetes education in terms of race, urban/rural location, and region. Of 1747 adults with type 2 diabetes, 65.6% were white, 15% black, and 19.4% other. In addition, 49.3% were male, 50.6% female; 46.9% were under age 64; 39.8% had more than high school; 34.1% were from low-income households, 35.1% middle income, and 30.8% high income; 39.5% lived in the South while other regions were equally represented; 80.6% lived in rural areas; 63.7% did not receive any type 2 diabetes education. Patients in the South were least likely to receive education (67.5% did not). Logistic regression demonstrated that being black (odds ratio [OR] = 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.84) and living in an urban area (OR = 1.40, 95% CI, 1.00-1.97) were associated with a higher likelihood of receiving diabetes education. By contrast, being 65 or older was associated with lower probability of receiving education (OR = 0.59, 95% CI, 0.40-0.87), as was lack of insurance (OR = 0.54, 95% CI, 0.33-0.88) CONCLUSIONS: Being black independently increased likelihood of receiving diabetes education, but living in rural areas, being uninsured, and living in the South reduced chances one would receive this helpful information. Therefore, further research should examine benefits of leveraging technology such as telemedicine to improve delivery of diabetes education to those living in rural areas.

Urban water sustainability: an integrative framework for regional water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

2015-11-01

Traditional urban water supply portfolios have proven to be unsustainable under the uncertainties associated with growth and long-term climate variability. Introducing alternative water supplies such as recycled water, captured runoff, desalination, as well as demand management strategies such as conservation and efficiency measures, has been widely proposed to address the long-term sustainability of urban water resources. Collaborative efforts have the potential to achieve this goal through more efficient use of common pool resources and access to funding opportunities for supply diversification projects. However, this requires a paradigm shift towards holistic solutions that address the complexity of hydrologic, socio-economic and governance dynamics surrounding water management issues. The objective of this work is to develop a regional integrative framework for the assessment of water resource sustainability under current management practices, as well as to identify opportunities for sustainability improvement in coupled socio-hydrologic systems. We define the sustainability of a water utility as the ability to access reliable supplies to consistently satisfy current needs, make responsible use of supplies, and have the capacity to adapt to future scenarios. To compute a quantitative measure of sustainability, we develop a numerical index comprised of supply, demand, and adaptive capacity indicators, including an innovative way to account for the importance of having diverse supply sources. We demonstrate the application of this framework to the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our analyses demonstrate that water agencies that share common water supplies are in a good position to establish integrative regional management partnerships in order to achieve individual and collective short-term and long-term benefits.

Monitoring evolving urban cluster systems using DMSP/OLS nighttime light data: a case study of the Yangtze River Delta region, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhao; Yang, Shan; Wang, Shuguang; Shen, Yan

2017-10-01

The assessment of the dynamic urban structure has been affected by lack of timely and accurate spatial information for a long period, which has hindered the measurements of structural continuity at the macroscale. Defense meteorological satellite program's operational linescan system (DMSP/OLS) nighttime light (NTL) data provide an ideal source for urban information detection with a long-time span, short-time interval, and wide coverage. In this study, we extracted the physical boundaries of urban clusters from corrected NTL images and quantitatively analyzed the structure of the urban cluster system based on rank-size distribution, spatial metrics, and Mann-Kendall trend test. Two levels of urban cluster systems in the Yangtze River Delta region (YRDR) were examined. We found that (1) in the entire YRDR, the urban cluster system showed a periodic process, with a significant trend of even distribution before 2007 but an unequal growth pattern after 2007, and (2) at the metropolitan level, vast disparities exist in four metropolitan areas for the fluctuations of Pareto's exponent, the speed of cluster expansion, and the dominance of core cluster. The results suggest that the extracted urban cluster information from NTL data effectively reflect the evolving nature of regional urbanization, which in turn can aid in the planning of cities and help achieve more sustainable regional development.

Driving mechanism and sources of groundwater nitrate contamination in the rapidly urbanized region of south China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qianqian; Sun, Jichao; Liu, Jingtao; Huang, Guanxing; Lu, Chuan; Zhang, Yuxi

2015-11-01

Nitrate contamination of groundwater has become an environmental problem of widespread concern in China. We collected 899 groundwater samples from a rapidly urbanized area, in order to identify the main sources and driving mechanisms of groundwater nitrate contamination. The results showed that the land use has a significant effect on groundwater nitrate concentration (P < 0.001). Landfill leakage was an important source of nitrate in groundwater in the PRD (Pearl River Delta) region, since landfill yielded the highest nitrate concentration (38.14 mg/L) and the highest ratio of exceeded standard (42.50%). In this study, the driving mechanism of groundwater nitrate contamination was determined to be urban construction and the secondary and tertiary industrial development, and population growth. This study revealed that domestic wastewater and industrial wastewater were the main sources of groundwater nitrate pollution. Therefore, the priority method for relieving groundwater nitrate contamination is to control the random discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater in regions undergoing rapid urbanization. Capsule abstract. The main driving mechanism of groundwater nitrate contamination was determined to be urban construction and the secondary and tertiary industrial development, and population growth.

Driving mechanism and sources of groundwater nitrate contamination in the rapidly urbanized region of south China.

PubMed

Zhang, Qianqian; Sun, Jichao; Liu, Jingtao; Huang, Guanxing; Lu, Chuan; Zhang, Yuxi

2015-11-01

Nitrate contamination of groundwater has become an environmental problem of widespread concern in China. We collected 899 groundwater samples from a rapidly urbanized area, in order to identify the main sources and driving mechanisms of groundwater nitrate contamination. The results showed that the land use has a significant effect on groundwater nitrate concentration (P<0.001). Landfill leakage was an important source of nitrate in groundwater in the PRD (Pearl River Delta) region, since landfill yielded the highest nitrate concentration (38.14 mg/L) and the highest ratio of exceeded standard (42.50%). In this study, the driving mechanism of groundwater nitrate contamination was determined to be urban construction and the secondary and tertiary industrial development, and population growth. This study revealed that domestic wastewater and industrial wastewater were the main sources of groundwater nitrate pollution. Therefore, the priority method for relieving groundwater nitrate contamination is to control the random discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater in regions undergoing rapid urbanization. Capsule abstract. The main driving mechanism of groundwater nitrate contamination was determined to be urban construction and the secondary and tertiary industrial development, and population growth. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rural electrification in multiethnic Arizona: A study of power, urbanization and change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glaser, Leah Suzanne

2002-01-01

From as early as the 1880s until as late as the 1970s, electrical power served as a critical tool for bringing America's diverse western communities into an urban industrial era. This study examines the process of electrification in three demographically diverse rural regions of Eastern Arizona. These three regions include the valleys of the Southeast, the White Mountains, and the Navajo Reservation to the north. While federal programs aided rural residents, local and regional factors determined the timing and nature of electrification and its impact. Access to electricity depended upon economics and technological advances, as well as a combination of local community and regional characteristics such as location, landscape, demographics, politics, and culture. At the turn of the century, electricity, with its elaborate and extensive infrastructure of wires, towers, and poles, emerged across America's cultural landscapes as the industrial era's most prominent symbol of progress, power, and a modern, urban lifestyle. Technological innovations and mechanization flourished, but primarily in the urban areas of the Northeast. People living outside concentrated settlements, of all ethnic backgrounds, had few hopes for delivery due to the cost of building power lines to a limited market. Arizona's rural population has historically been ethnically diverse, and its landscape varies from desert valleys to mountains of alpine forest. The federal government owns much of the land. Aided by federal guidance and funding sources like the New Deal's Rural Electrification Administration (REA), the existing rural communities took the initiative and constructed electrical systems specific to their local and regional needs. While products of the communities that built them, these systems symbolized and defined newly urbanized regions within the context of old rural landscapes, lifestyles, and traditions. In some ways the rural electrification process urbanized rural Arizona. The

Newly Licensed RN Retention: Hospital and Nurse Characteristics.

PubMed

Blegen, Mary A; Spector, Nancy; Lynn, Mary R; Barnsteiner, Jane; Ulrich, Beth T

2017-10-01

The aims of this study were to examine the relationship between 1-year retention of newly licensed RNs (NLRNs) employed in hospitals and personal and hospital characteristics, and determine which characteristics had the most influence. A secondary analysis of data collected in a study of transition to practice was used to describe the retention of 1464 NLRNs employed by 97 hospitals in 3 states. Hospitals varied in size, location (urban and rural), Magnet® designation, and university affiliation. The NLRNs also varied in education, age, race, gender, and experience. The overall retention rate at 1 year was 83%. Retention of NLRNs was higher in urban areas and in Magnet hospitals. The only personal characteristic that affected retention was age, with younger nurses more likely to stay. Hospital characteristics had a larger effect on NLRN retention than personal characteristics. Hospitals in rural areas have a particular challenge in retaining NLRNs.

Monitoring urban growth and detection of land use with GIS and remote sensing: a case study of the Kyrenia region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kara, Can; Akçit, Nuhcan

2016-08-01

Land-cover change is considered one of the central components in current strategies for managing natural resources and monitoring environmental changes. It is important to manage land resources in a sustainable manner which targets at compacting and consolidating urban development. From 2005 to 2015,urban growth in Kyrenia has been quite dramatic, showing a wide and scattered pattern, lacking proper plan. As a result of this unplanned/unorganized expansion, agricultural areas, vegetation and water bodies have been lost in the region. Therefore, it has become a necessity to analyze the results of this urban growth and compare the losses between land-cover changes. With this goal in mind, a case study of Kyrenia region has been carried out using a supervised image classification method and Landsat TM images acquired in 2005 and 2015 to map and extract land-cover changes. This paper tries to assess urban-growth changes detected in the region by using Remote Sensing and GIS. The study monitors the changes between different land cover types. Also, it shows the urban occupation of primary soil loss and the losses in forest areas, open areas, etc.

Trace element concentrations along a gradient of urban pressure in forest and lawn soils of the Paris region (France).

PubMed

Foti, Ludovic; Dubs, Florence; Gignoux, Jacques; Lata, Jean-Christophe; Lerch, Thomas Z; Mathieu, Jérôme; Nold, François; Nunan, Naoise; Raynaud, Xavier; Abbadie, Luc; Barot, Sébastien

2017-11-15

The concentration, degree of contamination and pollution of 7 trace elements (TEs) along an urban pressure gradient were measured in 180 lawn and wood soils of the Paris region (France). Iron (Fe), a major element, was used as reference element. Copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) were of anthropogenic origin, while arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) were of natural origin. Road traffic was identified as the main source of anthropogenic TEs. In addition, the industrial activity of the Paris region, especially cement plants, was identified as secondary source of Cd. Soil characteristics (such as texture, organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (tot N) contents) tell the story of the soil origins and legacies along the urban pressure gradient and often can explain TE concentrations. The history of the land-use types was identified as a factor that allowed understanding the contamination and pollution by TEs. Urban wood soils were found to be more contaminated and polluted than urban lawns, probably because woods are much older than lawns and because of the legacy of the historical management of soils in the Paris region (Haussmann period). Lawn soils are similar to the fertile agricultural soils and relatively recently (mostly from the 1950s onwards) imported from the surrounding of Paris, so that they may be less influenced by urban conditions in terms of TE concentrations. Urban wood soils are heavily polluted by Cd, posing a high risk to the biological communities. The concentration of anthropogenic TEs increased from the rural to the urban areas, and the concentrations of most anthropogenic TEs in urban areas were equivalent to or above the regulatory reference values, raising the question of longer-term monitoring. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban Heat Island towards Urban Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ningrum, Widya

2018-02-01

The urban heat island (UHI) is defined as the temperature difference between the urban and suburban areas and rural areas in the same region. Researchers have discussed several different techniques for evaluating the phenomenon. This paper reviews some of the causes and effects of urban heat islands, mainly on urban climate. Both directly and indirectly, the UHI influences multiple sectors. According to this, it is needed to develop a strategic mitigation between government and scientists to reduce the temperature.

Evaluating relationships between urban land cover composition and evapotranspiration in semi-arid regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manago, K. F.; Hogue, T. S.; Litvak, E.; Pataki, D. E.

2016-12-01

California experienced its most severe drought on record in 2013 and 2014, forcing the governor to call for the first statewide reductions in urban water use. This led to numerous water conservation efforts including turf removal and restrictions on outdoor irrigation. The decrease in irrigation across the city of Los Angeles has had major effects on regional hydrologic fluxes. Previous studies have found that conservation efforts have decreased streamflow but little work has been done on the impact of reduced irrigation on Evapotranspiration (ET). ET is one of the most difficult variables to measure as a result of its heterogeneity both spatially and temporally; yet, it is imperative in characterizing energy and hydrologic processes and in aiding water management decisions. Estimating ET is further complicated in urban regions where land cover composition is extremely variable, even at small scales. Irrigated landscape and impervious surfaces are two of the most common land cover types associated with urbanization, but they have opposite effects on ET. While numerous studies have evaluated changes in ET caused by urbanization, they have all produced varying results. This is expected as changes to ET are highly dependent on land cover composition. In this study, we modeled the relationship between ET and urban land cover change in Los Angeles. We utilized empirical equations derived from in situ measurements to calculate tree and irrigated turfgrass ET and compared the results to estimates based on remote-sensing and California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) network of weather stations. We found that unshaded turfgrass largely increased ET compared to impervious surfaces, which reveals lavish irrigation practices. Trees also increased ET, but they provided shade that decreased ET from turf grass. With much of the western United States facing drought and water supply uncertainty due to climate change, understanding and predicting how land cover

Thermal Adaptation Methods of Urban Plaza Users in Asia’s Hot-Humid Regions: A Taiwan Case Study

PubMed Central

Wu, Chen-Fa; Hsieh, Yen-Fen; Ou, Sheng-Jung

2015-01-01

Thermal adaptation studies provide researchers great insight to help understand how people respond to thermal discomfort. This research aims to assess outdoor urban plaza conditions in hot and humid regions of Asia by conducting an evaluation of thermal adaptation. We also propose that questionnaire items are appropriate for determining thermal adaptation strategies adopted by urban plaza users. A literature review was conducted and first hand data collected by field observations and interviews used to collect information on thermal adaptation strategies. Item analysis—Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)—were applied to refine the questionnaire items and determine the reliability of the questionnaire evaluation procedure. The reliability and validity of items and constructing process were also analyzed. Then, researchers facilitated an evaluation procedure for assessing the thermal adaptation strategies of urban plaza users in hot and humid regions of Asia and formulated a questionnaire survey that was distributed in Taichung’s Municipal Plaza in Taiwan. Results showed that most users responded with behavioral adaptation when experiencing thermal discomfort. However, if the thermal discomfort could not be alleviated, they then adopted psychological strategies. In conclusion, the evaluation procedure for assessing thermal adaptation strategies and the questionnaire developed in this study can be applied to future research on thermal adaptation strategies adopted by urban plaza users in hot and humid regions of Asia. PMID:26516881

Designing and implementing a regional urban modeling system using the SLEUTH cellular urban model

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jantz, Claire A.; Goetz, Scott J.; Donato, David I.; Claggett, Peter

2010-01-01

This paper presents a fine-scale (30 meter resolution) regional land cover modeling system, based on the SLEUTH cellular automata model, that was developed for a 257000 km2 area comprising the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin in the eastern United States. As part of this effort, we developed a new version of the SLEUTH model (SLEUTH-3r), which introduces new functionality and fit metrics that substantially increase the performance and applicability of the model. In addition, we developed methods that expand the capability of SLEUTH to incorporate economic, cultural and policy information, opening up new avenues for the integration of SLEUTH with other land-change models. SLEUTH-3r is also more computationally efficient (by a factor of 5) and uses less memory (reduced 65%) than the original software. With the new version of SLEUTH, we were able to achieve high accuracies at both the aggregate level of 15 sub-regional modeling units and at finer scales. We present forecasts to 2030 of urban development under a current trends scenario across the entire Chesapeake Bay drainage basin, and three alternative scenarios for a sub-region within the Chesapeake Bay watershed to illustrate the new ability of SLEUTH-3r to generate forecasts across a broad range of conditions.

[Ministerial Conference on Migration and Urbanization in West Africa: declaration].

PubMed

1999-12-01

This declaration made by the participants of the Ministerial Conference on Migration and Urbanization in Western Africa, held in Bamako during November 5, 1999, commits the countries of the region to do the following: follow the urbanization process in an effort to make African cities hubs of development and social progress; improve the geographic distribution of populations; bring economic development to mid-sized cities; implement rural development projects and programs, especially in the least advantaged zones; manage urban constraints; define new pathways and coordinated approaches; implement measures which account for those who are newly migrating, such as women and young people; minimize administrative hurdles associated with the return and reintegration of migrants; provide those bodies responsible for urbanization and migration concerns with the communication tools they require; take the necessary measures to facilitate migrants¿ stays and inform potential migrants about the conditions of such stay in host countries; adapt laws to conform with the charters of subregional organizations; consider migration concerns at the commission level; and implement clear, explicit migration policies. Recommendations are offered to the Permanent Interstate Committee Against Drought in the Sahel (CILSS) as well as to all subregional organizations. It is hoped that international organizations and partner agencies in development will support countries¿ efforts.

An operational MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithm at high spatial resolution, and its application over a complex urban region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, Man Sing; Nichol, Janet E.; Lee, Kwon Ho

2011-03-01

Aerosol retrieval algorithms for the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) have been developed to estimate aerosol and microphysical properties of the atmosphere, which help to address aerosol climatic issues at global scale. However, higher spatial resolution aerosol products for urban areas have not been well-researched mainly due to the difficulty of differentiating aerosols from bright surfaces in urban areas. Here, an aerosol retrieval algorithm using the MODIS 500-m resolution bands is described, to retrieve aerosol properties over Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. The rationale of our technique is to first estimate the aerosol reflectances by decomposing the top-of-atmosphere reflectances from surface reflectances and Rayleigh path reflectances. For the determination of surface reflectances, a Minimum Reflectance Technique (MRT) is used, and MRT images are computed for different seasons. For conversion of aerosol reflectance to aerosol optical thickness (AOT), comprehensive Look Up Tables specific to the local region are constructed, which consider aerosol properties and sun-viewing geometry in the radiative transfer calculations. Four local aerosol types, namely coastal urban, polluted urban, dust, and heavy pollution, were derived using cluster analysis on 3 years of AERONET measurements in Hong Kong. The resulting 500 m AOT images were found to be highly correlated with ground measurements from the AERONET (r2 = 0.767) and Microtops II sunphotometers (r2 = 0.760) in Hong Kong. This study further demonstrates the application of the fine resolution AOT images for monitoring inter-urban and intra-urban aerosol distributions and the influence of trans-boundary flows. These applications include characterization of spatial patterns of AOT within the city, and detection of regional biomass burning sources.

Stochastic rainfall synthesis for urban applications using different regionalization methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Callau Poduje, A. C.; Leimbach, S.; Haberlandt, U.

2017-12-01

The proper design and efficient operation of urban drainage systems require long and continuous rainfall series in a high temporal resolution. Unfortunately, these time series are usually available in a few locations and it is therefore suitable to develop a stochastic precipitation model to generate rainfall in locations without observations. The model presented is based on an alternating renewal process and involves an external and an internal structure. The members of these structures are described by probability distributions which are site specific. Different regionalization methods based on site descriptors are presented which are used for estimating the distributions for locations without observations. Regional frequency analysis, multiple linear regressions and a vine-copula method are applied for this purpose. An area located in the north-west of Germany is used to compare the different methods and involves a total of 81 stations with 5 min rainfall records. The site descriptors include information available for the whole region: position, topography and hydrometeorologic characteristics which are estimated from long term observations. The methods are compared directly by cross validation of different rainfall statistics. Given that the model is stochastic the evaluation is performed based on ensembles of many long synthetic time series which are compared with observed ones. The performance is as well indirectly evaluated by setting up a fictional urban hydrological system to test the capability of the different methods regarding flooding and overflow characteristics. The results show a good representation of the seasonal variability and good performance in reproducing the sample statistics of the rainfall characteristics. The copula based method shows to be the most robust of the three methods. Advantages and disadvantages of the different methods are presented and discussed.

Regional Variability of Lifestyle Factors and Hypertension with Prediabetes and Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Population-Based KORA-F4 and SHIP-TREND Studies in Germany.

PubMed

Stöckl, Doris; Rückert-Eheberg, Ina-Maria; Heier, Margit; Peters, Annette; Schipf, Sabine; Krabbe, Christine; Völzke, Henry; Tamayo, Teresa; Rathmann, Wolfgang; Meisinger, Christa

2016-01-01

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) shows regional differences in Germany. The purpose of the project was to compare the prevalence of prediabetes and undiagnosed T2D in two regions in Germany, the Northeast and the South, and to evaluate their associations with regional variations in lifestyle factors and hypertension. Data from the KORA-F4 study (South Germany, 2006-2008) and the SHIP-TREND study (Northeast Germany, 2008-2012) were used. Participants aged 35-79 years without T2D with an overnight fasting of more than 8 hours and an oral glucose tolerance test were included: KORA-F4: n = 2,616 and SHIP-TREND: n = 1,968. The prevalence of prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D was especially high in men (about 60%) and women (about 50%) in the Northeast, followed by men (about 50%) and women (about 30%) in the South. Lifestyle factors associated with T2D varied between the regions: more participants in the Northeast were active smokers and the percentages of people with overweight or obesity were greater than in their southern counterparts. However, these differences could not explain the striking disparity in prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D. The frequency of hypertension was also distinctly higher in the Northeast than in the South and clearly associated with prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D. Especially in men living in the Northeast, screening individuals with blood pressure ≥ 140/90mmHg might reveal up to 70% of those with prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D. Knowledge about regional variability in T2D and related risk factors is important for the planning of diabetes prevention programs. In our analyses, common lifestyle factors did not nearly explain these variations between the northern SHIP-TREND and the southern KORA-F4 studies. Further examinations of regional socioeconomic, political, environmental and other aspects are needed. Meanwhile, targeted diabetes prevention strategies with a special focus on men living in the northern parts of Germany are reasonable.

Regional Variability of Lifestyle Factors and Hypertension with Prediabetes and Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Population-Based KORA-F4 and SHIP-TREND Studies in Germany

PubMed Central

Heier, Margit; Peters, Annette; Schipf, Sabine; Krabbe, Christine; Völzke, Henry; Tamayo, Teresa; Rathmann, Wolfgang; Meisinger, Christa

2016-01-01

Objective Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) shows regional differences in Germany. The purpose of the project was to compare the prevalence of prediabetes and undiagnosed T2D in two regions in Germany, the Northeast and the South, and to evaluate their associations with regional variations in lifestyle factors and hypertension. Methods Data from the KORA-F4 study (South Germany, 2006–2008) and the SHIP-TREND study (Northeast Germany, 2008–2012) were used. Participants aged 35–79 years without T2D with an overnight fasting of more than 8 hours and an oral glucose tolerance test were included: KORA-F4: n = 2,616 and SHIP-TREND: n = 1,968. Results The prevalence of prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D was especially high in men (about 60%) and women (about 50%) in the Northeast, followed by men (about 50%) and women (about 30%) in the South. Lifestyle factors associated with T2D varied between the regions: more participants in the Northeast were active smokers and the percentages of people with overweight or obesity were greater than in their southern counterparts. However, these differences could not explain the striking disparity in prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D. The frequency of hypertension was also distinctly higher in the Northeast than in the South and clearly associated with prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D. Especially in men living in the Northeast, screening individuals with blood pressure ≥ 140/90mmHg might reveal up to 70% of those with prediabetes/newly diagnosed T2D. Conclusions Knowledge about regional variability in T2D and related risk factors is important for the planning of diabetes prevention programs. In our analyses, common lifestyle factors did not nearly explain these variations between the northern SHIP-TREND and the southern KORA-F4 studies. Further examinations of regional socioeconomic, political, environmental and other aspects are needed. Meanwhile, targeted diabetes prevention strategies with a special focus on men living in the

Rural tobacco use across the United States: How rural and urban areas differ, broken down by census regions and divisions.

PubMed

Roberts, Megan E; Doogan, Nathan J; Kurti, Allison N; Redner, Ryan; Gaalema, Diann E; Stanton, Cassandra A; White, Thomas J; Higgins, Stephen T

2016-05-01

This project compared urban/rural differences in tobacco use, and examined how such differences vary across regions/divisions of the U.S. Using pooled 2012-2013 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), we obtained weighted prevalence estimates for the use of cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, and pipes. NSDUH also provides information on participants' residence: rural vs. urban, and Census region and division. Overall, use of cigarettes, chew, and snuff were higher in rural, compared to urban areas. Across all tobacco products, urban/rural differences were particularly pronounced in certain divisions (e.g., the South Atlantic). Effects did not appear to be fully explained by differences in poverty. Going beyond previous research, these findings show that urban/rural differences vary across different types of tobacco products, as well as by division of the country. Results underscore the need for regulatory efforts that will reduce health disparities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rural Tobacco Use across the United States: How Rural and Urban Areas Differ, Broken Down by Census Regions and Divisions

PubMed Central

Roberts, Megan E.; Doogan, Nathan J.; Kurti, Allison N.; Redner, Ryan; Gaalema, Diann E.; Stanton, Cassandra A.; White, Thomas J.; Higgins, Stephen T.

2016-01-01

This project compared urban/rural differences in tobacco use, and examined how such differences vary across regions/divisions of the U.S. Using pooled 2012–2013 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), we obtained weighted prevalence estimates for the use of cigarettes, menthol cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, cigars, and pipes. NSDUH also provides information on participants’ residence: rural vs. urban, and Census region and division. Overall, use of cigarettes, chew, and snuff were higher in rural, compared to urban areas. Across all tobacco products, urban/rural differences were particularly pronounced in certain divisions (e.g., the South Atlantic). Effects did not appear to be fully explained by differences in poverty. Going beyond previous research, these findings show that urban/rural differences vary across different types of tobacco products, as well as by division of the country. Results underscore the need for regulatory efforts that will reduce health disparities. PMID:27107746

Assessing the Future Vehicle Fleet Electrification: The Impacts on Regional and Urban Air Quality.

PubMed

Ke, Wenwei; Zhang, Shaojun; Wu, Ye; Zhao, Bin; Wang, Shuxiao; Hao, Jiming

2017-01-17

There have been significant advancements in electric vehicles (EVs) in recent years. However, the different changing patterns in emissions at upstream and on-road stages and complex atmospheric chemistry of pollutants lead to uncertainty in the air quality benefits from fleet electrification. This study considers the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China to investigate whether EVs can improve future air quality. The Community Multiscale Air Quality model enhanced by the two-dimensional volatility basis set module is applied to simulate the temporally, spatially, and chemically resolved changes in PM 2.5 concentrations and the changes of other pollutants from fleet electrification. A probable scenario (Scenario EV1) with 20% of private light-duty passenger vehicles and 80% of commercial passenger vehicles (e.g., taxis and buses) electrified can reduce average PM 2.5 concentrations by 0.4 to 1.1 μg m -3 during four representative months for all urban areas of YRD in 2030. The seasonal distinctions of the air quality impacts with respect to concentration reductions in key aerosol components are also identified. For example, the PM 2.5 reduction in January is mainly attributed to the nitrate reduction, whereas the secondary organic aerosol reduction is another essential contributor in August. EVs can also effectively assist in mitigating NO 2 concentrations, which would gain greater reductions for traffic-dense urban areas (e.g., Shanghai). This paper reveals that the fleet electrification in the YRD region could generally play a positive role in improving regional and urban air quality.

Empirical research on coordination evaluation and sustainable development mechanism of regional logistics and new-type urbanization: a panel data analysis from 2000 to 2015 for Liaoning Province in China.

PubMed

Sun, Qiang

2017-06-01

As the largest developing country in the world, China has witnessed fast-paced urbanization over the past three decades with rapid economic growth. In fact, urbanization has been not only shown to promote economic growth and improve the livelihood of people but also can increase demands of regional logistics. Therefore, a better understanding of the relationship between urbanization and regional logistics is important for China's future sustainable development. The development of urban residential area and heterogeneous, modern society as well regional logistics are running two abreast. The regional logistics can promote the development of new-type urbanization jointly by promoting industrial concentration and logistics demand, enhancing the residents' quality of life and improving the infrastructure and logistics technology. In this paper, the index system and evaluation model for evaluating the development of regional logistics and the new-type urbanization are constructed. Further, the econometric analysis is utilized such as correlation analysis, co-integration test, and error correction model to explore relationships of the new-type urbanization development and regional logistics development in Liaoning Province. The results showed that there was a long-term stable equilibrium relationship between the new-type urbanization and regional logistics. The findings have important implications for Chinese policymakers that on the path towards a sustainable urbanization and regional reverse, this must be taken into consideration. The paper concludes providing some strategies that might be helpful to the policymakers in formulating development policies for sustainable urbanization.

Integrating remote sensing and local vegetation information for a high-resolution biogenic emissions inventory--application to an urbanized, semiarid region.

PubMed

Diem, J E; Comrie, A C

2000-11-01

This paper presents a methodology for the development of a high-resolution (30-m), standardized biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions inventory and a subsequent application of the methodology to Tucson, AZ. The region's heterogeneous vegetation cover cannot be modeled accurately with low-resolution (e.g., 1-km) land cover and vegetation information. Instead, local vegetation data are used in conjunction with multispectral satellite data to generate a detailed vegetation-based land-cover database of the region. A high-resolution emissions inventory is assembled by associating the vegetation data with appropriate emissions factors. The inventory reveals a substantial variation in BVOC emissions across the region, resulting from the region's diversity of both native and exotic vegetation. The importance of BVOC emissions from forest lands, desert lands, and the urban forest changes according to regional, metropolitan, and urban scales. Within the entire Tucson region, the average isoprene, monoterpene, and OVOC fluxes observed were 454, 248, and 91 micrograms/m2/hr, respectively, with forest and desert lands emitting nearly all of the BVOCs. Within the metropolitan area, which does not include the forest lands, the average fluxes were 323, 181, and 70 micrograms/m2/hr, respectively. Within the urban area, the average fluxes were 801, 100, and 100 micrograms/m2/hr, respectively, with exotic trees such as eucalyptus, pine, and palm emitting most of the urban BVOCs. The methods presented in this paper can be modified to create detailed, standardized BVOC emissions inventories for other regions, especially those with spatially complex vegetation patterns.

Regional evaluation of particulate matter composition in an Atlantic coastal area (Cantabria region, northern Spain): Spatial variations in different urban and rural environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arruti, A.; Fernández-Olmo, I.; Irabien, A.

2011-07-01

The aim of this study was to determine the major components (Na, Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Al, NH 4+, SO 42-, NO 3-, Cl - and TC) and trace-metal levels (As, Ni, Cd, Pb, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Cu, Mo, Rh and Hg) in PM 10 and PM 2.5 at an Atlantic coastal city (Santander, Cantabria region, Northern Spain). Additional samples were collected in other urban sites of the Cantabria region to assess the metal content found in different urban environments within the region. To control for the mass attributed to inland regional background particulate matter, samples were also collected in Los Tojos village. The spatial variability of the major PM components shows that PM origins are different at inland and coastal sites. In the coastal city of Santander, the most important contributors are (i) the marine aerosol and (ii) the secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) and the total carbon (TC) in PM 10 and PM 2.5, respectively. Additionally, the influence of the coastal location on the ionic balance of PM is also studied. The trace metal spatial variability is studied using the coefficient of divergence (COD), which shows that the levels of trace metals at the three studied urban sites are mainly influenced by local emission sources. The main local tracers are identified as follows: Mn in the Santander area; Mo, Cr and Pb at Reinosa; and Ni and V at Castro Urdiales. A more detailed source apportionment study of the local trace metals at Santander is conducted by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Positive Matrix Factorisation (PMF); these two receptor models report complementary information. From these statistical analyses, the identified sources of trace metals in PM 10 are urban background sources, industrial sources and traffic. The industrial factor was dominated by Mn, Cu and Pb, which are trace metals used in steel production and manganese-ferroalloy production plant. With respect to PM 2.5, the identified emission sources of trace metals are combustion processes as well as traffic and

Assessment of discrepancies between bottom-up and regional emission inventories in Norwegian urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

López-Aparicio, Susana; Guevara, Marc; Thunis, Philippe; Cuvelier, Kees; Tarrasón, Leonor

2017-04-01

This study shows the capabilities of a benchmarking system to identify inconsistencies in emission inventories, and to evaluate the reason behind discrepancies as a mean to improve both bottom-up and downscaled emission inventories. Fine scale bottom-up emission inventories for seven urban areas in Norway are compared with three regional emission inventories, EC4MACS, TNO_MACC-II and TNO_MACC-III, downscaled to the same areas. The comparison shows discrepancies in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) when evaluating both total and sectorial emissions. The three regional emission inventories underestimate NOx and PM10 traffic emissions by approximately 20-80% and 50-90%, respectively. The main reasons for the underestimation of PM10 emissions from traffic in the regional inventories are related to non-exhaust emissions due to resuspension, which are included in the bottom-up emission inventories but are missing in the official national emissions, and therefore in the downscaled regional inventories. The benchmarking indicates that the most probable reason behind the underestimation of NOx traffic emissions by the regional inventories is the activity data. The fine scale NOx traffic emissions from bottom-up inventories are based on the actual traffic volume at the road link and are much higher than the NOx emissions downscaled from national estimates based on fuel sales and based on population for the urban areas. We have identified important discrepancies in PM2.5 emissions from wood burning for residential heating among all the inventories. These discrepancies are associated with the assumptions made for the allocation of emissions. In the EC4MACs inventory, such assumptions imply high underestimation of PM2.5 emissions from the residential combustion sector in urban areas, which ranges from 40 to 90% compared with the bottom-up inventories. The study shows that in three of the seven Norwegian cities there is need for further improvement of

Effects of urbanization on stream quality at selected sites in the seacoast region in New Hampshire, 2001-03

USGS Publications Warehouse

Deacon, Jeffrey R.; Soule, Sally A.; Smith, Thor E.

2005-01-01

A study of selected water-quality and macroinvertebrate community data was conducted at 10 stream sites in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire to determine if a relation is present between stream quality and the extent of urbanization in a watershed. Watersheds with similar characteristics, but varying in their degree of urban development, were studied. The percent of impervious surface, the percent of urban land use in a watershed, and the percent of urban land use in two types of stream buffers were compared and correlated with stream-quality variables. Specific conductance, turbidity, nitrite plus nitrate yields, and selected macroinvertebrate community data were significantly correlated with most measures of urbanization used in this study; however, concentrations and total phosphorus yields were not statistically correlated with most measures of urbanization in this study. The measures of urbanization that had the highest correlations with stream-quality variables were those measures that were associated with the percent of urban land in buffer zones near and upstream of a sampling site. A water-quality and habitat conditions score was negatively correlated with the percent of urban land in a 1-kilometer radial buffer of the sampling site (rho (r) = -0.86; p < 0.001), the percent of impervious surface (r = -0.70; p < 0.05), and the percent of urban land in the watershed (r = -0.67; p < 0.05). A biological condition score also was negatively correlated with the percent of urban land in a 1-kilometer radial buffer of the sampling site (r = -0.95; p < 0.0001), the percent of impervious surface (r = -0.75; p < 0.05), and the percent of urban land in the watershed (r = -0.79; p < 0.01). The percent of urban land in a 25-meter stream buffer along the stream corridor also had negative correlations with a water-quality and habitat conditions score (r = -0.80; p < 0.01) and a biological condition score (r = -0.86; p < 0.01). Mean Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and

Methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure and use in the urban region of Boston, Massachusetts.

PubMed

McKain, Kathryn; Down, Adrian; Raciti, Steve M; Budney, John; Hutyra, Lucy R; Floerchinger, Cody; Herndon, Scott C; Nehrkorn, Thomas; Zahniser, Mark S; Jackson, Robert B; Phillips, Nathan; Wofsy, Steven C

2015-02-17

Methane emissions from natural gas delivery and end use must be quantified to evaluate the environmental impacts of natural gas and to develop and assess the efficacy of emission reduction strategies. We report natural gas emission rates for 1 y in the urban region of Boston, using a comprehensive atmospheric measurement and modeling framework. Continuous methane observations from four stations are combined with a high-resolution transport model to quantify the regional average emission flux, 18.5 ± 3.7 (95% confidence interval) g CH4 ⋅ m(-2) ⋅ y(-1). Simultaneous observations of atmospheric ethane, compared with the ethane-to-methane ratio in the pipeline gas delivered to the region, demonstrate that natural gas accounted for ∼ 60-100% of methane emissions, depending on season. Using government statistics and geospatial data on natural gas use, we find the average fractional loss rate to the atmosphere from all downstream components of the natural gas system, including transmission, distribution, and end use, was 2.7 ± 0.6% in the Boston urban region, with little seasonal variability. This fraction is notably higher than the 1.1% implied by the most closely comparable emission inventory.

Methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure and use in the urban region of Boston, Massachusetts

PubMed Central

McKain, Kathryn; Down, Adrian; Raciti, Steve M.; Budney, John; Hutyra, Lucy R.; Floerchinger, Cody; Herndon, Scott C.; Nehrkorn, Thomas; Zahniser, Mark S.; Jackson, Robert B.; Phillips, Nathan; Wofsy, Steven C.

2015-01-01

Methane emissions from natural gas delivery and end use must be quantified to evaluate the environmental impacts of natural gas and to develop and assess the efficacy of emission reduction strategies. We report natural gas emission rates for 1 y in the urban region of Boston, using a comprehensive atmospheric measurement and modeling framework. Continuous methane observations from four stations are combined with a high-resolution transport model to quantify the regional average emission flux, 18.5 ± 3.7 (95% confidence interval) g CH4⋅m−2⋅y−1. Simultaneous observations of atmospheric ethane, compared with the ethane-to-methane ratio in the pipeline gas delivered to the region, demonstrate that natural gas accounted for ∼60–100% of methane emissions, depending on season. Using government statistics and geospatial data on natural gas use, we find the average fractional loss rate to the atmosphere from all downstream components of the natural gas system, including transmission, distribution, and end use, was 2.7 ± 0.6% in the Boston urban region, with little seasonal variability. This fraction is notably higher than the 1.1% implied by the most closely comparable emission inventory. PMID:25617375

Impact of future urban growth on regional climate changes in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Korea.

PubMed

Kim, Hyunsu; Kim, Yoo-Keun; Song, Sang-Keun; Lee, Hwa Woon

2016-11-15

The influence of changes in future urban growth (e.g., land use changes) on the future climate variability in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA), Korea was evaluated using the WRF model and an urban growth model (SLEUTH). The land use changes in the study area were simulated using the SLEUTH model under three different urban growth scenarios: (1) current development trends scenario (SC 1), (2) managed development scenario (SC 2) and (3) ecological development scenario (SC 3). The maximum difference in the ratio of urban growth between SC 1 and SC 3 (SC 1 - SC 3) for 50years (2000-2050) was approximately 6.72%, leading to the largest differences (0.01°C and 0.03ms(-1), respectively) in the mean air temperature at 2m (T2) and wind speed at 10m (WS10). From WRF-SLEUTH modeling, the effects of future urban growth (or future land use changes) in the SMA are expected to result in increases in the spatial mean T2 and WS10 of up to 1.15°C and 0.03ms(-1), respectively, possibly due to thermal circulation caused by the thermal differences between urban and rural regions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatiotemporal urban land use changes in the Changzhutan Region of Hunan Province in China

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Changzhutan region in the north-central part of Hunan Province in China has experienced a rapid urbanization in the past few decades that has led to substantial changes in its environment. In 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission of China designated the metropolitan district of Ch...

Geophysical Analysis of an Urban Region in Southwestern Pennsylvania

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

Harbert, W.P.; Lipinski, B.A.; Kaminski, V.

2006-12-01

The goal of this project was to categorize the subsurface beneath an urban region of Southwestern Pennsylvania and to determine geological structure and attempt to image pathways for gas migration in this area. Natural gas had been commercially produced from this region at the turn of the century but this field, with more than 100 wells drilled, was closed approximately eighty years ago. There are surface expressions of gas migration visible in the study region. We applied geophysical methods to determine geological structure in this region, which included multi frequency electromagnetic survey performed using Geophex Gem-2 system, portable reflection seismicmore » and a System I/O-based reflection seismic survey. Processing and interpretation of EM data included filtering 10 raw channels (inphase and quadrature components measured at 5 frequencies), inverting the data for apparent conductivity using EM1DFM software by University of British Columbia, Canada and further interpretation in terms of nearsurface features at a maximum depth of up to 20 meters. Analysis of the collected seismic data included standard seismic processing and the use of the SurfSeis software package developed by the Kansas Geological Survey. Standard reflection processing of these data were completed using the LandMark ProMAX 2D/3D and Parallel Geoscience Corporations software. Final stacked sections were then imported into a Seismic Micro Technologies Kingdom Suite+ geodatabase for visualization and analysis. Interpretation of these data was successful in identifying and confirming a region of unmined Freeport coal, determining regional stratigraphic structure and identifying possible S-wave lower velocity anomalies in the shallow subsurface.« less

Impacts of urbanization on nitrogen cycling and aerosol, surface and groundwater transport in semi-arid regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lohse, K. A.; Gallo, E.; Carlson, M.; Riha, K. M.; Brooks, P. D.; McIntosh, J. C.; Sorooshian, A.; Michalski, G. M.; Meixner, T.

2011-12-01

Semi-arid regions are experiencing disproportionate increases in human population and land transformation worldwide, taxing limited water resources and altering nitrogen (N) biogeochemistry. How the redistribution of water and N by urbanization affects semi-arid ecosystems and downstream water quality (e.g. drinking water) is unclear. Understanding these interactions and their feedbacks will be critical for developing science-based management strategies to sustain these limited resources. This is especially true in the US where some of the fastest growing urban areas are in semi-arid ecosystems, where N and water cycles are accelerated, and intimately coupled, and where runoff from urban ecosystems is actively managed to augment a limited water supply to the growing human population. Here we synthesize several ongoing studies from the Tucson Basin in Arizona and examine how increasing urban land cover is altering rainfall-runoff relationships, groundwater recharge, water quality, and long range transport of atmospheric N. Studies across 5 catchments varying in impervious land cover showed that only the least impervious catchment responded to antecedent moisture conditions while hydrologic responses were not statistically related to antecedent rainfall conditions at more impervious sites. Regression models indicated that rainfall depth, imperviousness, and their combined effect control discharge and runoff ratios (p < 0.01, r2 = 0.91 and 0.75, respectively). In contrast, runoff quality was not predictably related to imperviousness or catchment size. Rather, rainfall depth and duration, time since antecedent rainfall, and stream channel characteristics and infrastructure controlled runoff chemistry. Groundwater studies showed nonpoint source contamination of CFCs and associated nitrate in areas of rapid recharge along ephemeral channels. Aerosol measurements indicate that both long-range transport of N and N emissions from Tucson are being transported and deposited

Regional Assessment of Urban Impacts on Landcover and Open Space Finds a Smart Urban Growth Policy Performs Little Better than Business as Usual

PubMed Central

Thorne, James H.; Santos, Maria J.; Bjorkman, Jacquelyn H.

2013-01-01

Assessment of landscape change is critical for attainment of regional sustainability goals. Urban growth assessments are needed because over half the global population now lives in cities, which impact biodiversity, ecosystem structure and ecological processes. Open space protection is needed to preserve these attributes, and provide the resources humans need. The San Francisco Bay Area, California, is challenged to accommodate a population increase of 3.07 million while maintaining the region’s ecosystems and biodiversity. Our analysis of 9275 km2 in the Bay Area links historic trends for three measures: urban growth, protected open space, and landcover types over the last 70 years to future 2050 projections of urban growth and open space. Protected open space totaled 348 km2 (3.7% of the area) in 1940, and expanded to 2221 km2 (20.2%) currently. An additional 1038 km2 of protected open space is targeted (35.1%). Urban area historically increased from 396.5 km2 to 2239 km2 (24.1% of the area). Urban growth during this time mostly occurred at the expense of agricultural landscapes (62.9%) rather than natural vegetation. Smart Growth development has been advanced as a preferred alternative in many planning circles, but we found that it conserved only marginally more open space than Business-as-usual when using an urban growth model to portray policies for future urban growth. Scenarios to 2050 suggest urban development on non-urban lands of 1091, 956, or 179 km2, under Business-as-usual, Smart Growth and Infill policy growth scenarios, respectively. The Smart Growth policy converts 88% of natural lands and agriculture used by Business-as-usual, while Infill used only 40% of those lands. Given the historic rate of urban growth, 0.25%/year, and limited space available, the Infill scenario is recommended. While the data may differ, the use of an historic and future framework to track these three variables can be easily applied to other metropolitan areas. PMID

Potential sensitivity of warm season precipitation to urbanization extents: Modeling study in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jun; Feng, Jinming; Yan, Zhongwei

2015-09-01

In this study, we investigated how different degrees of urbanization affect local and regional rainfall using high-resolution simulations based on the Weather Research and Forecasting Model. The extreme rainfall event of 21 July 2012 in Beijing was simulated for three representative urban land use distributions (no urbanization, early urbanization level of 1980, and recent urbanization level of 2009). Results suggest that urban modification of rainfall is potentially sensitive to urban land use condition. Rainfall was increased significantly over the downwind Beijing metropolis because of the effects of early urbanization; however, recent conditions of high urban development caused no significant increase. Further comparative analysis revealed that positive urban thermodynamical effects (i.e., urban warming, increased sensible heat transportation, and enhanced convergence and vertical motions) play major roles in urban modification of rainfall during the early urbanization stage. However, after cities expand to a certain extent (i.e., urban agglomeration), the regional moisture depression induced by the prevalence of impervious urban land has an effect on atmospheric instability energy, which might negate the city's positive impact on regional rainfall. Additional results from regional climate simulations for 10 Julys confirm this supposition. Given the explosive urban population growth and increasing demand for freshwater in cities, the potential negative effects of the urban environment on precipitation are worth investigation, particularly in rapidly developing countries and regions.

Changes in Urban Climate due to Future Land-Use Changes based on Population Changes in the Nagoya Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adachi, S. A.; Hara, M.; Takahashi, H. G.; Ma, X.; Yoshikane, T.; Kimura, F.

2013-12-01

Severe hot weather in summer season becomes a big social problem in metropolitan areas, including the Nagoya region in Japan. Surface air temperature warming is projected in the future. Therefore, the reduction of surface air temperature is an urgent issue in the urban area. Although there are several studies dealing with the effects of global climate change and urbanization to the local climate in the future, these studies tend to ignore the future population changes. This study estimates future land-use scenarios associated with the multi-projections of future population and investigates the impacts of these scenarios on the surface temperature change. The Weather Research and Forecast model ver. 3.3.1 (hereafter, WRF) was used in this study. The horizontal resolutions were 20km, 4km, and 2km, for outer, middle, and inner domains, respectively. The results from the inner domain, covering the Nagoya region, were used for the analysis. The Noah land surface model and the single-layer urban canopy model were applied to calculate the land surface processes and urban surface processes, respectively. The initial and boundary conditions were given from the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data in August 2010. The urban area ratio used in the WRF model was calculated from the future land-use data provided by the S8 project. The land-use data was created as follows. (1) Three scenarios of population, namely, with high-fertility assumption and low-mortality assumption (POP-high), with medium-fertility assumption and medium-mortality assumption (POP-med), and with low-fertility assumption and high-mortality assumption (POP-low), are estimated using the method proposed by Ariga and Matsuhashi (2012). These scenarios are based on the future projections provided by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. (2) The future changes in urban area ratio were assumed to be proportional to the population change (Hanasaki et al., 2012). The averaged urban area ratio in

Air quality assessment of Estarreja, an urban industrialized area, in a coastal region of Portugal.

PubMed

Figueiredo, M L; Monteiro, A; Lopes, M; Ferreira, J; Borrego, C

2013-07-01

Despite the increasing concern given to air quality in urban and industrial areas in recent years, particular emphasis on regulation, control, and reduction of air pollutant emissions is still necessary to fully characterize the chain emissions-air quality-exposure-dose-health effects, for specific sources. The Estarreja region was selected as a case study because it has one of the largest chemical industrial complexes in Portugal that has been recently expanded, together with a growing urban area with an interesting location in the Portuguese coastland and crossed by important road traffic and rail national networks. This work presents the first air quality assessment for the region concerning pollutant emissions and meteorological and air quality monitoring data analysis, over the period 2000-2009. This assessment also includes a detailed investigation and characterization of past air pollution episodes for the most problematic pollutants: ozone and PM10. The contribution of different emission sources and meteorological conditions to these episodes is investigated. The stagnant meteorological conditions associated with local emissions, namely industrial activity and road traffic, are the major contributors to the air quality degradation over the study region. A set of measures to improve air quality--regarding ozone and PM10 levels--is proposed as an air quality management strategy for the study region.

How Does Education Affect Environmental Knowledge: A Survey in Urban and Regional Planning Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ergen, Baris; Ergen, Zeynep

2011-01-01

This paper aims at measuring of environmental knowledge of students who select environmental science course in Urban and Regional Planning Department at Bozok University. This article includes a survey research, with this survey, we can get information about knowledge of environment of students and where they learn them. First briefly, it provides…

Pixels and patterns: A satellite-based investigation of changes to urban features in the Sanya Region, Hainan Special Economic Zone, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Millward, Andrew Allan

Throughout most of China, and particularly in the coastal areas of its south, ecological resources and traditional culture are viewed by many to be negatively impacted by accelerating urbanization. As a result, achieving an appropriate balance between development and environmental protection has become a significant problem facing policy-makers in these urbanizing areas. The establishment of a Special Economic Zone in the Chinese Province of Hainan has made its coastal areas attractive locations for business and commerce. Development activities that support a burgeoning tourism industry, but which are damaging the environment, are now prominent components of the landscape in the Sanya Region of Hainan. In this study, patterns of urban growth in the Sanya Region of Hainan Province are investigated. Specifically, using several forms of satellite imagery, statistical tools and ancillary data, urban morphology and changes to the extent and spatial arrangement of urban features are researched and documented. A twelve-year chronology of data was collected which consists of four dates of satellite imagery (1987, 1991, 1997, 1999) acquired by three different satellite sensors (SPOT 2 HRV, Landsat 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+). A method of assessing inter-temporal variance in unchanged features is developed as a surrogate for traditional evaluations of change detection that require spatially accurate and time-specific data. Results reveal that selective PCA using visible bands with the exclusion of an ocean mask yield the most interpretable components representative of landscape urbanization in the Sanya Region. The geostatistical approach of variography is employed to measure spatial dependence and to test for the presence of directional change in urban morphology across a time series of satellite images. Interpreted time-series geostatistics identify and quantify landscape structure, and changes to structure, and provide a valuable quantitative description of landscape change

Fast food restaurant locations according to socioeconomic disadvantage, urban-regional locality, and schools within Victoria, Australia.

PubMed

Thornton, Lukar E; Lamb, Karen E; Ball, Kylie

2016-12-01

Features of the built environment provide opportunities to engage in both healthy and unhealthy behaviours. Access to a high number of fast food restaurants may encourage greater consumption of fast food products. The distribution of fast food restaurants at a state-level has not previously been reported in Australia. Using the location of 537 fast food restaurants from four major chains (McDonald׳s, KFC, Hungry Jacks, and Red Rooster), this study examined fast food restaurant locations across the state of Victoria relative to area-level disadvantage, urban-regional locality (classified as Major Cities, Inner Regional, or Outer Regional), and around schools. Findings revealed greater locational access to fast food restaurants in more socioeconomically disadvantaged areas (compared to areas with lower levels of disadvantage), nearby to secondary schools (compared to primary schools), and nearby to primary and secondary schools within the most disadvantaged areas of the major city region (compared to primary and secondary schools in areas with lower levels of disadvantage). Adjusted models showed no significant difference in location according to urban-regional locality. Knowledge of the distribution of fast food restaurants in Australia will assist local authorities to target potential policy mechanisms, such as planning regulations, where they are most needed.

PREFACE SPECIAL ISSUE ON MODEL EVALUATION: EVALUATION OF URBAN AND REGIONAL EULERIAN AIR QUALITY MODELS

EPA Science Inventory

The "Preface to the Special Edition on Model Evaluation: Evaluation of Urban and Regional Eulerian Air Quality Models" is a brief introduction to the papers included in a special issue of Atmospheric Environment. The Preface provides a background for the papers, which have thei...

Source data supported high resolution carbon emissions inventory for urban areas of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region: Spatial patterns, decomposition and policy implications.

PubMed

Cai, Bofeng; Li, Wanxin; Dhakal, Shobhakar; Wang, Jianghao

2018-01-15

This paper developed internationally compatible methods for delineating boundaries of urban areas in China. By integrating emission source data with existing official statistics as well as using rescaling methodology of data mapping for 1 km grid, the authors constructed high resolution emission gridded data in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) region in China for 2012. Comparisons between urban and non-urban areas of carbon emissions from industry, agriculture, household and transport exhibited regional disparities as well as sectoral differences. Except for the Hebei province, per capita total direct carbon emissions from urban extents in Beijing and Tianjin were both lower than provincial averages, indicating the climate benefit of urbanization, comparable to results from developed countries. Urban extents in the Hebei province were mainly industrial centers while those in Beijing and Tianjin were more service oriented. Further decomposition analysis revealed population to be a common major driver for increased carbon emissions but climate implications of urban design, economic productivity of land use, and carbon intensity of GDP were both cluster- and sector-specific. This study disapproves the one-size-fits-all solution for carbon mitigation but calls for down-scaled analysis of carbon emissions and formulation of localized carbon reduction strategies in the Jing-Jin-Ji as well as other regions in China. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Perceptions and attitudes regarding noise in urban areas: the example of the Ile-de-France region].

PubMed

Grange, Dorothée; Chatignoux, Edouard; Grémy, Isabelle

2010-01-01

Noise is the subject of increasing attention for the French, especially in highly urbanized areas where its sources are multiple. In this context, this article aims to gain a better understanding of the how the specificities of the Ile-de-France region influence perceptions, attitudes and expectations of its inhabitants with respect to noise. The article is based on the regional use of results extracted from the national Environmental Health Barometer 2007 study by the INPES, the French National Institute for Prevention and Health Education. First and foremost, noise is perceived as a source of discomfort and inconvenience, in particular in Ile-de-France, while the related consequences of noise exposure for health were of secondary importance and not necessarily influenced by the degree of urbanization. The preoccupation with noise was much more important in the Ile-de-France region than in the rest of the country. Furthermore, a significant proportion of young people, particularly the Paris region, are exposed to high noise levels during their leisure time. These results are useful to better understand the expectations and needs of Parisians in terms of policies needed for information and education, prevention and reduction of noise.

Impacts of urban and industrial development on Arctic land surface temperature in Lower Yenisei River Region.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Z.; Shiklomanov, N. I.

2015-12-01

Urbanization and industrial development have significant impacts on arctic climate that in turn controls settlement patterns and socio-economic processes. In this study we have analyzed the anthropogenic influences on regional land surface temperature of Lower Yenisei River Region of the Russia Arctic. The study area covers two consecutive Landsat scenes and includes three major cities: Norilsk, Igarka and Dudingka. Norilsk industrial region is the largest producer of nickel and palladium in the world, and Igarka and Dudingka are important ports for shipping. We constructed a spatio-temporal interpolated temperature model by including 1km MODIS LST, field-measured climate, Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA), DEM, Landsat NDVI and Landsat Land Cover. Those fore-mentioned spatial data have various resolution and coverage in both time and space. We analyzed their relationships and created a monthly spatio-temporal interpolated surface temperature model at 1km resolution from 1980 to 2010. The temperature model then was used to examine the characteristic seasonal LST signatures, related to several representative assemblages of Arctic urban and industrial infrastructure in order to quantify anthropogenic influence on regional surface temperature.

Incorporating water resources in integrated urban and regional planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldwin, Claudia; Jeffrey, Paul

2014-11-01

Understanding the relationships between water and the landscapes, communities, and jurisdictions through which it flows has become an increasingly urgent task for science over recent years. The vital role played by water in both urban and rural economies, its function in supporting ecosystem services, the consequences of excess or deficit, and our increasing awareness of the aquatic environment's influence on quality of life all evidence the importance of refining our knowledge of the inter-dependencies between hydrological processes and social systems. At this resolution (catchments, regions, etc.), the importance of integrating land and water planning and the need for collaboration of multiple stakeholders are a genuinely holistic and interdisciplinary undertaking; providing opportunities for researchers from the natural and social sciences to generate insights which utilise understandings of fundamental processes and phenomena to inform and shape policy, planning, design and interventions. This is a relatively young but fast-growing area of science with theory and normative prescription in areas such as catchment management and water sensitive urban design driving a burgeoning science agenda. This Special Issue of the Journal of Hydrology showcases a suite of contributions from primarily developed countries around the globe which revel in this agenda. Our authors report work which tackles head-on the complexity and multi-dimensional nature of the problems and witnesses a growing confidence amongst the research community in crossing disciplinary and professional boundaries.

Epidemiology of canine distemper and canine parvovirus in domestic dogs in urban and rural areas of the Araucanía region in Chile.

PubMed

Acosta-Jamett, G; Surot, D; Cortés, M; Marambio, V; Valenzuela, C; Vallverdu, A; Ward, M P

2015-08-05

To assess whether the seroprevalence of canine distemper virus (CDV) and canine parvovirus (CPV) in domestic dogs is higher in urban versus rural areas of the Araucanía region in Chile and risk factors for exposure, a serosurvey and questionnaire survey at three, urban-rural paired sites was conducted from 2009 to 2012. Overall, 1161 households were interviewed of which 71% were located in urban areas. A total of 501 blood samples were analysed. The overall CDV and CPV seroprevalences were 61% (CI 90%: 58-70%) and 47% (CI 90%: 40-49%), and 89% (CI 90%: 85-92%) and 72% (CI 90%: 68-76%) in urban and rural areas, respectively. The higher seroprevalence in domestic dogs in urban areas suggests that urban domestic dogs might be a maintenance host for both CDV and CPV in this region. Due to the presence of endangered wild canids populations in areas close to these domestic populations, surveillance and control of these pathogens in urban dog populations is needed a priority. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring the mid-infrared region for urban remote sensing: seasonal and view angle effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krehbiel, C. P.; Kovalskyy, V.; Henebry, G. M.

2013-12-01

Spanning 3-5 microns, the mid-infrared (MIR) region is the mixing zone between reflected sunlight and emitted earthlight in roughly equal proportions. While the MIR has been utilized in atmospheric remote sensing, its potential in terrestrial remote sensing--particularly urban remote sensing, has yet to be realized. One major advantage of the MIR is the ability to penetrate most anthropogenic haze and smog. Green vegetation appears MIR-dark, urban building materials appear MIR-grey, and bare soil and dried vegetation appear MIR-bright. Thus, there is an intrinsic seasonality in MIR radiance dynamics due both to surface type differences and to seasonal change in insolation. These factors merit exploration into the potential applications of the MIR for monitoring urban change. We investigated MIR radiance dynamics in relation to (1) the spectral properties of land cover types, (2) time of year and (3) sensor view zenith angle (VZA). We used Aqua MODIS daily swaths for band 23 (~ 4.05 μm) at 1 km spatial resolution from 2009-2010 and the NLCD Percent Impervious Surface Area (%ISA) 30 m product from 2001 and 2006. We found the effects of time of year, sensor VZA, and %ISA to be three principal factors influencing MIR radiance dynamics. We focused on analyzing the relationship between MIR radiance and %ISA over eight major cities in the Great Plains of the USA. This region is characterized by four distinct seasons, relatively flat terrain, and isolated urban centers situated within a vegetated landscape. We used west-east transects beginning in the agricultural areas outside of each city, passing through the urban core and extending back out into the agricultural periphery to observe the spatial pattern of MIR radiance and how it changes seasonally. Sensor VZA influences radiance dynamics by affecting the proportion of surface elements detected--especially pertinent at the coarse spatial resolution (~1 km) of MODIS. For example, smaller VZAs (<30°) capture more

Analysis of the ability of water resources to reduce the urban heat island in the Tokyo megalopolis.

PubMed

Nakayama, Tadanobu; Hashimoto, Shizuka

2011-01-01

Simulation procedure integrated with multi-scale in horizontally regional-urban-point levels and in vertically atmosphere-surface-unsaturated-saturated layers, was newly developed in order to predict the effect of urban geometry and anthropogenic exhaustion on the hydrothermal changes in the atmospheric/land and the interfacial areas of the Japanese megalopolis. The simulated results suggested that the latent heat flux in new water-holding pavement (consisting of porous asphalt and water-holding filler made of steel by-products based on silica compound) has a strong impact on hydrologic cycle and cooling temperature in comparison with the observed heat budget. We evaluated the relationship between the effect of groundwater use as a heat sink to tackle the heat island and the effect of infiltration on the water cycle in the urban area. The result indicates that effective management of water resources would be powerful for ameliorating the heat island and recovering sound hydrologic cycle there. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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.

Platforms for hyperspectral imaging, in-situ optical and acoustical imaging in urbanized regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bostater, Charles R.; Oney, Taylor

2016-10-01

Hyperspectral measurements of the water surface of urban coastal waters are presented. Oblique bidirectional reflectance factor imagery was acquired made in a turbid coastal sub estuary of the Indian River Lagoon, Florida and along coastal surf zone waters of the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Imagery was also collected using a pushbroom hyperspectral imager mounted on a fixed platform with a calibrated circular mechatronic rotation stage. Oblique imagery of the shoreline and subsurface features clearly shows subsurface bottom features and rip current features within the surf zone water column. In-situ hyperspectral optical signatures were acquired from a vessel as a function of depth to determine the attenuation spectrum in Palm Bay. A unique stationary platform methodology to acquire subsurface acoustic images showing the presence of moving bottom boundary nephelometric layers passing through the acoustic fan beam. The acoustic fan beam imagery indicated the presence of oscillatory subsurface waves in the urbanized coastal estuary. Hyperspectral imaging using the fixed platform techniques are being used to collect hyperspectral bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF) measurements from locations at buildings and bridges in order to provide new opportunities to advance our scientific understanding of aquatic environments in urbanized regions.

The impact of urbanization during half a century on surface meteorology based on WRF model simulations over National Capital Region, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sati, Ankur Prabhat; Mohan, Manju

2017-10-01

An estimated 50% of the global population lives in the urban areas, and this percentage is projected to reach around 69% by the year 2050 (World Urbanization Prospects 2009). There is a considerable growth of urban and built-up area during the recent decades over National Capital Region (NCR) of India (17-fold increase in the urban extent). The proposed study estimates the land use land cover changes particularly changes to urban class from other land use types such as croplands, shrubland, open areas, and water bodies and quantify these changes for a span of about five decades. Further, the impact of these land use/land cover changes is examined on spatial and temporal variations of meteorological parameters using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) Model. The urbanized areas appear to be one of the regions with highest changes in the values of the fluxes and temperatures where during daytime, the surface sensible heat flux values show a noticeable increase of 60-70 W m-2 which commensurate with increase in urbanization. Similarly, the nighttime LST and T2m show an increase of 3-5 and 2-3 K, respectively. The diurnal temperature range (DTR) of LST and surface temperature also shows a decrease of about 5 and 2-3 K, respectively, with increasing urbanization. Significant decrease in the magnitude of surface winds and relative humidity is also observed over the areas converted to urban form over a period of half a century. The impacts shown here have serious implications on human health, energy consumption, ventilation, and atmospheric pollution.

Heat waves and urban heat islands in Europe: A review of relevant drivers.

PubMed

Ward, Kathrin; Lauf, Steffen; Kleinschmit, Birgit; Endlicher, Wilfried

2016-11-01

The climate change and the proceeding urbanization create future health challenges. Consequently, more people around the globe will be impaired by extreme weather events, such as heat waves. This study investigates the causes for the emergence of surface urban heat islands and its change during heat waves in 70 European cities. A newly created climate class indicator, a set of meaningful landscape metrics, and two population-related parameters were applied to describe the Surface Urban Heat Island Magnitude (SUHIM) - the mean temperature increase within the urban heat island compared to its surrounding, as well as the Heat Magnitude (HM) - the extra heat load added to the average summer SUHIM during heat waves. We evaluated the relevance of varying urban parameters within linear models. The exemplary European-wide heat wave in July 2006 was chosen and compared to the average summer conditions using MODIS land surface temperature with an improved spatial resolution of 250m. The results revealed that the initial size of the urban heat island had significant influence on SUHIM. For the explanation of HM the size of the heat island, the regional climate and the share of central urban green spaces showed to be critical. Interestingly, cities of cooler climates and cities with higher shares of urban green spaces were more affected by additional heat during heat waves. Accordingly, cooler northern European cities seem to be more vulnerable to heat waves, whereas southern European cities appear to be better adapted. Within the ascertained population and climate clusters more detailed explanations were found. Our findings improve the understanding of the urban heat island effect across European cities and its behavior under heat waves. Also, they provide some indications for urban planners on case-specific adaptation strategies to adverse urban heat caused by heat waves. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiya; Li, Peijun

2018-01-01

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

How do the definitions of urban and rural matter for transportation safety? Re-interpreting transportation fatalities as an outcome of regional development processes.

PubMed

McAndrews, Carolyn; Beyer, Kirsten; Guse, Clare E; Layde, Peter

2016-12-01

Urban and rural places are integrated through economic ties and population flows. Despite their integration, most studies of road safety dichotomize urban and rural places, and studies have consistently demonstrated that rural places are more dangerous for motorists than urban places. Our study investigates whether these findings are sensitive to the definition of urban and rural. We use three different definitions of urban-rural continua to quantify and compare motor vehicle occupant fatality rates per person-trip and person-mile for the state of Wisconsin. The three urban-rural continua are defined by: (1) popular impressions of urban, suburban, and rural places using a system from regional economics; (2) population density; and (3) the intensity of commute flows to core urbanized areas. In this analysis, the three definitions captured different people and places within each continuum level, highlighting rural heterogeneity. Despite this heterogeneity, the three definitions resulted in similar fatality rate gradients, suggesting a potentially latent "rural" characteristic. We then used field observations of urban-rural transects to refine the definitions. When accounting for the presence of higher-density towns and villages in rural places, we found that low-density urban places such as suburbs and exurbs have fatality rates more similar to those in rural places. These findings support the need to understand road safety within the context of regional development processes instead of urban-rural categories. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differentiating local and regional sources of Chinese urban air pollution based on the effect of the Spring Festival

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Chuan; Huang, Xiao-Feng; Zhu, Qiao; Cao, Li-Ming; Zhang, Bin; He, Ling-Yan

2017-07-01

The emission of pollutants is extremely reduced during the annual Chinese Spring Festival (SF) in Shenzhen, China. During the SF, traffic flow drops by ˜ 50 % and the industrial plants are almost entirely shut down in Shenzhen. To characterize the variation in ambient air pollutants due to the Spring Festival effect, various gaseous and particulate pollutants were measured in real time in urban Shenzhen over three consecutive winters (2014-2016). The results indicate that the concentrations of NOx, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), black carbon (BC), primary organic aerosols, chloride, and nitrate in submicron aerosols decrease by 50-80 % during SF periods relative to non-Spring Festival periods, regardless of meteorological conditions. This decrease suggests that these pollutants are mostly emitted or secondarily formed from urban local emissions. The concentration variation in species mostly from regional or natural sources, however, is found to be much less, such as for bulk fine particulate matter (PM2. 5). More detailed analysis of the Spring Festival effect reveals an urgent need to reduce emissions of SO2 and VOCs on a regional scale rather than on an urban scale to reduce urban PM2. 5 in Shenzhen, which can also be useful as a reference for other megacities in China.

Prevalence and regional correlates of road traffic injury among Chinese urban residents: A 21-city population-based study.

PubMed

Rockett, Ian R H; Jiang, Shuhan; Yang, Qian; Yang, Tingzhong; Yang, Xiaozhao Y; Peng, Sihui; Yu, Lingwei

2017-08-18

This study estimated the prevalence of road traffic injury among Chinese urban residents and examined individual and regional-level correlates. A cross-sectional multistage process was used to sample residents from 21 selected cities in China. Survey respondents reported their history of road traffic injury in the past 12 months through a community survey. Multilevel, multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify injury correlates. Based on a retrospective 12-month reporting window, road traffic injury prevalence among urban residents was 13.2%. Prevalence of road traffic injury, by type, was 8.7, 8.7, 8.5, and 7.7% in the automobile, bicycle, motorcycle, and pedestrian categories, respectively. Multilevel analysis showed that prevalence of road traffic injury was positively associated with minority status, income, and mental health disorder score at the individual level. Regionally, road traffic injury was associated with geographic location of residence and prevalence of mental health disorders. Both individual and regional-level variables were associated with road traffic injury among Chinese urban residents, a finding whose implications transcend wholesale imported generic solutions. This descriptive research demonstrates an urgent need for longitudinal studies across China on risk and protective factors, in order to inform injury etiology, surveillance, prevention, treatment, and evaluation.

Variability of Ozone, OX and NOx in Rural and Urban Areas in Marmara Region of Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasparoǧlu, Sabin; İncecik, Selahattin; Topçu, H. Sema

2017-04-01

Marmara region is located in northwest of Turkey and it is bordered by Greece and the Aegean Sea to the west, and Bulgaria, the Black Sea to the north covers about 11,000 km2. Sea of Marmara is located at the center of the region. The region has the largest population in Turkey with about 23 million inhabitants. It is Turkey's main industrial region and It is the territory which is provided by a quarter of the Turkish economy. Moreover, the region is economically the most developed area of Turkey. Its agricultural potential is very rich. For example, about 73% of the sunflower production and 30 % of corn production of Turkey is done in this region. The aim of the study is to assess the spatial and temporal variations in O3, NO, and NO2 in Marmara region of Turkey based on the analysis of hourly concentrations collected at 22 monitoring stations (7 rural and 15 urban) over three years (2013-2016). This is the first study in the region. In this way possible reasons of the results will be useful in the design of control strategies for photochemical pollution in this region. For this purpose, diurnal variations of NOx, O3 and OX were examined for rural and urban sites. The total levels of oxidant (OX) which are considered to be sum of O3 and NO2 were determined. In rural sites, NOx concentrations are generally lower than at urban and polluted sites of Marmara region. We found that usually O3 peak time in rural areas are occurred at around 15:00 LST while mean peak values vary between 70-85 µg/m3. The highest mean concentrations of NO were also observed at 09:00 LST around 35-50 µg/m3 in rural areas while varies at the highest at around 75-85 µg/m3 in polluted sites. Due to the NOx -dependent contribution corresponds to local production of ozone and the NOx -independent contribution corresponds to regional concentrations, we examined OX versus NOx for daytime (10:00-18:00LST) and nighttime (19:00-09:00LST)periods to understand the contaminants of NOx from local

Application of Earth Resources Technology Satellite data to urban development and regional planning: Test site, County of Los Angeles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Raje, S. (Principal Investigator); Economy, R.; Mcknight, J. S.; Garofalo, P.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Signigicant results have been obtained from the analyses of ERTS-1 imagery from five cycles over Test Site SR 124 by classical photointerpretation and by an interactive hybrid multispectral information extraction system (GEMS). Photointerpretation has produced over 25 overlays at 1:1,000,000 scale depicting regional relations and urban structure in terms of several hundred linear and areal features. A possible new fault lineament has been discovered on the northern slope of the Santa Monica mountains. GEMS analysis of the ERTS-1 products has provided new or improved information in the following planning data categories: urban vegetation; land cover segregation; manmade and natural impact monitoring; urban design; land suitability. ERTS-1 data analysis has allowed planners to establish trends that directly impact planning policies. For example, detectable grading and new construction sites quantitatively indicated the extent, direction, and rate of urban expansion which enable planners to forecast demand and growth patterns on a regional scale. This new source of information will not only assist current methods to be more efficient, but permits entirely new planning methodologies to be employed.

Urban water resources management for semi-arid region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Huaimin; Ye, Qian; Liu, Zihui

2005-09-01

Due to the rapidly process of urbanization, the water consumption is increasing speedily in Beijing, the capital city of China, during recent decades. Despite great efforts have been done, the daily life of residents and economic construction is threatened continuous in the city. Because of the limitation of sound water management in Beijing the water resources exploitation and utilization are not rational, economically efficiency. The water environment has been degraded in vary levels. The aim of this study is improvement of water management in Beijing. An investigation and collection of the data related to the water management was carried out. The study has made appraisal on the amount of water available and water demands in the region. The reasonable policies, feasible alternatives and institutional management measures have been drawn out from the study for the water management strategies. They can be considered as a base of decision making and macroscopic management for the long-term planning of Beijing.

Urban growth in American cities : glimpses of U.S. urbanization

USGS Publications Warehouse

Auch, Roger; Taylor, Janis; Acevedo, William

2004-01-01

The Earth's surface is changing rapidly. Changes are local, regional, national, and even global in scope. Some changes have natural causes, such as earthquakes or drought. Other changes, such as urban expansion, agricultural intensification, resource extraction, and water resources development, are examples of human-induced change that have significant impact upon people, the economy, and resources. The consequences that result from these changes are often dramatic and widespread (Buchanan, Acevedo, and Zirbes, 2002)It is the role of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to provide useful and relevant scientific information both to the agencies within the Department of the Interior and to the Nation in general. In an effort to comply with this task, USGS scientists are assessing the status of, and the trends in, the Nation's land surface. This assessment provides useful information for regional and national land use decisionmaking. This knowledge can be used to deal with issues of significance to the Nation, such as quality-of-life, ecology of urban environments, ecosystem health, ecological integrity, water quality and quantity concerns, resource availability, vulnerability to natural hazards, safeguards to human health, air and land quality, and accessibility to scientific information. Results of these assessments can also be analyzed to reveal rates and trends in land use change. Results from urban growth studies provide a firm foundation for continuing research that explores the consequences of human modification of the landscape.The USGS seeks to illustrate and explain the spatial history of urban growth and corresponding land use change. Scientists are studying urban environments from a regional perspective and a time scale of decades to measure the changes that have occurred in order to help understand the impact of anticipated changes in the future.Within this booklet are pairs of images of selected urbanized regions from across the Nation. These image pairs

Urbanization and the more-individuals hypothesis.

PubMed

Chiari, Claudia; Dinetti, Marco; Licciardello, Cinzia; Licitra, Gaetano; Pautasso, Marco

2010-03-01

1. Urbanization is a landscape process affecting biodiversity world-wide. Despite many urban-rural studies of bird assemblages, it is still unclear whether more species-rich communities have more individuals, regardless of the level of urbanization. The more-individuals hypothesis assumes that species-rich communities have larger populations, thus reducing the chance of local extinctions. 2. Using newly collated avian distribution data for 1 km(2) grid cells across Florence, Italy, we show a significantly positive relationship between species richness and assemblage abundance for the whole urban area. This richness-abundance relationship persists for the 1 km(2) grid cells with less than 50% of urbanized territory, as well as for the remaining grid cells, with no significant difference in the slope of the relationship. These results support the more-individuals hypothesis as an explanation of patterns in species richness, also in human modified and fragmented habitats. 3. However, the intercept of the species richness-abundance relationship is significantly lower for highly urbanized grid cells. Our study confirms that urban communities have lower species richness but counters the common notion that assemblages in densely urbanized ecosystems have more individuals. In Florence, highly inhabited areas show fewer species and lower assemblage abundance. 4. Urbanized ecosystems are an ongoing large-scale natural experiment which can be used to test ecological theories empirically.

Urban Waters and the Patapsco Watershed/Baltimore Region (Maryland)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Patapsco Watershed / Baltimore Area of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) reconnects urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led efforts.

Regional differences of urbanization in the conterminous U.S. on upland forest land cover, 1973-2011

USGS Publications Warehouse

Auch, Roger F.; Drummond, Mark A.; Xian, George Z.; Sayler, Kristi L.; Acevedo, William; Taylor, Janis

2016-01-01

In this U.S. Geological Survey study of forest land cover across the conterminous U.S. (CONUS), specific proportions and rates of forest conversion to developed (urban) land were assessed on an ecoregional basis. The study period was divided into six time intervals between 1973 and 2011. Forest land cover was the source of 40% or more of the new urban land in 35 of the 84 ecoregions located within the CONUS. In 11 of these ecoregions this threshold exceeded in every time interval. When the percent of change, forest to urban, was compared to the percent of forest in each ecoregion, 58 ecoregions had a greater percent of change and, in six of those, change occurred in every time interval. Annual rates of forest to urban land cover change of 0.2% or higher occurred in 12 ecoregions at least once and in one ecoregion in all intervals. There were three ecoregions where the above conditions were met for nearly every time interval. Even though only a small number of the ecoregions were heavily impacted by forest loss to urban development within the CONUS, the ecosystem services provided by undeveloped forest land cover need to be quantified more completely to better inform future regional land management.

Modeling Urban Air Quality in the Berlin-Brandenburg Region: Evaluation of a WRF-Chem Setup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuik, F.; Churkina, G.; Butler, T. M.; Lauer, A.; Mar, K. A.

2015-12-01

Air pollution is the number one environmental cause of premature deaths in Europe. Despite extensive regulations, air pollution remains a challenging issue, especially in urban areas. For studying air quality in the Berlin-Brandenburg region of Germany the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) is set up and evaluated against meteorological and air quality observations from monitoring stations as well as from a field campaign conducted in 2014 (incl. black carbon, VOCs as well as mobile measurements of particle size distribution and particle mass). The model setup includes 3 nested domains with horizontal resolutions of 15km, 3km, and 1km, online biogenic emissions using MEGAN 2.0, and anthropogenic emissions from the TNO-MACC-II inventory. This work serves as a basis for future studies on different aspects of air pollution in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, including how heat waves affect emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) from urban vegetation (summer 2006) and the impact of selected traffic measures on air quality in the Berlin-Brandenburg area (summer 2014). The model represents the meteorology as observed in the region well for both periods. An exception is the heat wave period in 2006, where the temperature simulated with 3km and 1km resolutions is biased low by around 2°C for urban built-up stations. First results of simulations with chemistry show that, on average, WRF-Chem simulates concentrations of O3 well. However, the 8 hr maxima are underestimated, and the minima are overestimated. While NOx daily means are modeled reasonably well for urban stations, they are overestimated for suburban stations. PM10 concentrations are underestimated by the model. The biases and correlation coefficients of simulated O3, NOx, and PM10 in comparison to surface observations do not show improvements for the 1km domain in comparison to the 3km domain. To improve the model performance of the 1km domain we will include an

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.

Understanding Drought and Regional Conservation Efforts on Urban Ecohydrology in Southern California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogue, T. S.

2015-12-01

Cities in the western U.S. are under increasing pressure to reduce the demand of imported water through increasing conservation efforts, altering non-native landscapes, and enhancing local water supplies. The State of California adopted emergency regulations implementing a mandatory 25% statewide reduction in potable urban water use and agricultural restrictions have also been enacted. The complexities in urban water flows and lack of granular data make understanding the impact of conservation and demand change on regional ecohydrology difficult. This presentation highlights ongoing work to better understand the coupling between humans, water and ecosystems in semi-arid urban cities, using metropolitan southern California as a case study. We evaluate historical and contemporary ecohydrologic behavior and human impacts through intensive data collection, remote sensing and high resolution modeling. The change in outdoor irrigation rates due to recent conservation measures (2008-2010) has resulted in overall decreased greenness and reduced dry season streamflow; however significant variability in conservation response is observed. Groundwater recharge, artificially supported by landscape irrigation, is also being impacted. In general, anthropogenic water fluxes (irrigation, pipe leakage, spreading grounds) are not parameterized in hydrologic and land surface models applied over urban areas. Inclusion of landscape irrigation significantly improves neighborhood scale simulations of evaporative fluxes and land surface temperatures and results in shifts in the energy partitioning. The cooling effects of irrigation on daily air temperatures has the largest influence over low intensity residential areas, with an average 2°C decrease observed in coupled model simulations (WRF-Noah-UCM). Ultimately, we strive to improve predictions of human-water interactions in semi-arid cities to better understand the effectiveness and impacts of ongoing drought and conservation efforts

Contribution of urbanization to the increase of extreme heat events in an urban agglomeration in east China: Urbanization and the Increase of EHEs

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

Yang, Xuchao; Ruby Leung, L.; Zhao, Naizhuo

The urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is emblematic of China’s rapid urbanization during the past decades. Based on homogenized daily maximum and minimum temperature data, the contributions of urbanization to trends of extreme temperature indices (ETIs) during summer in YRD are evaluated. Dynamically classifying the observational stations into urban and rural areas, this study presents unexplored changes in temperature extremes during the past four decades in the YRD region and quantifies the amplification of the positive trends in ETIs by the urban heat island effect. Overall, urbanization contributes to more than one third in the increase of intensitymore » of extreme heat events in the region, which is comparable to the contribution of greenhouse gases. Compared to rural stations, more notable shifts to the right in the probability distribution of temperature and ETIs were observed in urban stations.« less

Growth Type and Functional Trajectories: An Empirical Study of Urban Expansion in Nanjing, China

PubMed Central

Yuan, Feng

2016-01-01

Drawing upon the Landsat satellite images of Nanjing from 1985, 1995, 2001, 2007, and 2013, this paper integrates the convex hull analysis and common edge analysis at double scales, and develops a comprehensive matrix analysis to distinguish the different types of urban land expansion. The results show that Nanjing experienced rapid urban expansion, dominated by a mix of residential and manufacturing land from 1985 to 2013, which in turn has promoted Nanjing’s shift from a compact mononuclear city to a polycentric one. Spatial patterns of three specific types of growth, namely infilling, extension, and enclave were quite different in four consecutive periods. These patterns result primarily from the existing topographic constraints, as well as government-oriented urban planning and policies. By intersecting the function maps, we also reveal the functional evolution of newly-developed urban land. Moreover, both self-enhancing and mutual promotion of the newly developed functions are surveyed over the last decade. Our study confirms that the integration of a multi-scale method and multi-perspective analysis, such as the spatiotemporal patterns and functional evolution, helps us to better understand the rapid urban growth in China. PMID:26845155

The impact of transmission clusters on primary drug resistance in newly diagnosed HIV-1 infection.

PubMed

Yerly, Sabine; Junier, Thomas; Gayet-Ageron, Angèle; Amari, Emmanuelle Boffi El; von Wyl, Viktor; Günthard, Huldrych F; Hirschel, Bernard; Zdobnov, Evgeny; Kaiser, Laurent

2009-07-17

To monitor HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in a well defined urban area with large access to antiretroviral therapy and to assess the potential source of infection of newly diagnosed HIV individuals. All individuals resident in Geneva, Switzerland, with a newly diagnosed HIV infection between 2000 and 2008 were screened for HIV resistance. An infection was considered as recent when the positive test followed a negative screening test within less than 1 year. Phylogenetic analyses were performed by using the maximum likelihood method on pol sequences including 1058 individuals with chronic infection living in Geneva. Of 637 individuals with newly diagnosed HIV infection, 20% had a recent infection. Mutations associated with resistance to at least one drug class were detected in 8.5% [nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), 6.3%; non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), 3.5%; protease inhibitors, 1.9%]. TDR (P-trend = 0.015) and, in particular, NNRTI resistance (P = 0.002) increased from 2000 to 2008. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that 34.9% of newly diagnosed individuals, and 52.7% of those with recent infection were linked to transmission clusters. Clusters were more frequent in individuals with TDR than in those with sensitive strains (59.3 vs. 32.6%, respectively; P < 0.0001). Moreover, 84% of newly diagnosed individuals with TDR were part of clusters composed of only newly diagnosed individuals. Reconstruction of the HIV transmission networks using phylogenetic analysis shows that newly diagnosed HIV infections are a significant source of onward transmission, particularly of resistant strains, thus suggesting an important self-fueling mechanism for TDR.

Efficient assessments of urban tree planting potential around the southern Piedmont region of the United States

Treesearch

Krista Merry; Jacek Siry; Pete Bettinger; Michael Bowker

2013-01-01

Urban forest carbon offset projects have the potential todraw substantial amounts ofcarbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere ,increase green space,and possibly generate revenue for landowne rsincities capable of trading credits associated with these projects.The area of15cities inornear the Piedmont region of the southern...

Observations of atmospheric monoaromatic hydrocarbons at urban, semi-urban and forest environments in the Amazon region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paralovo, Sarah L.; Borillo, Guilherme C.; Barbosa, Cybelli G. G.; Godoi, Ana Flavia L.; Yamamoto, Carlos I.; de Souza, Rodrigo A. F.; Andreoli, Rita V.; Costa, Patrícia S.; Almeida, Gerson P.; Manzi, Antonio O.; Pöhlker, Christopher; Yáñez-Serrano, Ana M.; Kesselmeier, Jürgen; Godoi, Ricardo H. M.

2016-03-01

The Amazon region is one of the most significant natural ecosystems on the planet. Of special interest as a major study area is the interface between the forest and Manaus city, a state capital in Brazil embedded in the heart of the Amazon forest. In view of the interactions between natural and anthropogenic processes, an integrated experiment was conducted measuring the concentrations of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and meta, ortho, para-xylene (known as BTEX), all of them regarded as pollutants with harmful effects on human health and vegetation and acting also as important precursors of tropospheric ozone. Furthermore, these compounds also take part in the formation of secondary organic aerosols, which can influence the pattern of cloud formation, and thus the regional water cycle and climate. The samples were collected in 2012/2013 at three different sites: (i) The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO), a pristine rain forest region in the central Amazon Basin; (ii) Manacapuru, a semi-urban site located southwest and downwind of Manaus as a preview of the Green Ocean Amazon Experiment (GoAmazon 2014/15); and (iii) the city of Manaus (distributed over three sites). Results indicate that there is an increase in pollutant concentrations with increasing proximity to urban areas. For instance, the benzene concentration ranges were 0.237-19.6 (Manaus), 0.036-0.948 (Manacapuru) and 0.018-0.313 μg m-3 (ATTO). Toluene ranges were 0.700-832 (Manaus), 0.091-2.75 μg m-3 (Manacapuru) and 0.011-4.93 (ATTO). For ethylbenzene, they were 0.165-447 (Manaus), 0.018-1.20 μg m-3 (Manacapuru) and 0.047-0.401 (ATTO). Some indication was found for toluene to be released from the forest. No significant difference was found between the BTEX levels measured in the dry season and the wet seasons. Furthermore, it was observed that, in general, the city of Manaus seems to be less impacted by these pollutants than other cities in Brazil and in other

Relations between nature-based solutions of green-blue area accessibility and socio-economic-ethnic patterns in the urban Stockholm region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldenberg, Romain; Kalantari, Zahra; Destouni, Georgia

2017-04-01

More than half of the world's population lives in cities, a proportion expected to increase to two thirds by 2050 (United Nations (UN), 2015). In this study, we investigate the spatial relationships that may exist between income and/or nationality homogeneity/heterogeneity levels of urban populations and their accessibility to local green-blue areas as possible nature-based solutions for sustainable urban design. For this investigation, we consider as a concrete case study the urban region of Stockholm, Sweden, for which we compile and use available land-cover and vegetation density data (the latter in terms of Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) in order to identify and assess the spatial distributions of various green-blue area types and aspects. We further combine this data with spatial distribution data for population density, income and nationality, as well as with road-network data for assessing population travel times to nearby green-blue areas within the region. The present study results converge with those of other recent studies in showing large socio-economic-ethnic segregation in the Stockholm region. Moreover, the present data combination and analysis also show large spatial differences in and important socio-economic-ethnic correlations with accessibility to local green areas and nearby water bodies. Specifically, population income and share of Swedish nationals are well correlated in this region, with increases in both of these variables implying greater possibility to choose where to live within the region. The living choices of richer and more homogeneous (primarily Swedish) population parts are then found to be areas with greater local vegetation density (local green areas as identified by high-resolution NDVI data) and greater area extent of nearby water bodies (blue areas). For comparison, no such correlation is found between increased income or Swedish nationality homogeneity and accessibility to nearby forest areas (overall green

Landslide and flood hazard assessment in urban areas of Levoča region (Eastern Slovakia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magulova, Barbora; Caporali, Enrica; Bednarik, Martin

2010-05-01

The case study presents the use of statistical methods and analysis tools, for hazard assessment of "urbanization units", implemented in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. As a case study, the Levoča region (Slovakia) is selected. The region, with a total area of about 351 km2, is widely affected by landslides and floods. The problem, for small urbanization areas, is nowadays particularly significant from the socio-economic point of view. It is considered, presently, also an increasing problem, mainly because of climate change and more frequent extreme rainfall events. The geo-hazards are evaluated using a multivariate analysis. The landslide hazard assessment is based on the comparison and subsequent statistical elaboration of territorial dependence among different input factors influencing the instability of the slopes. Particularly, five factors influencing slope stability are evaluated, i.e. lithology, slope aspect, slope angle, hypsographic level and present land use. As a result a new landslide susceptibility map is compiled and different zones of stable, dormant and non-stable areas are defined. For flood hazard map a detailed digital elevation model is created. A compose index of flood hazard is derived from topography, land cover and pedology related data. To estimate flood discharge, time series of stream flow and precipitation measurements are used. The assessment results are prognostic maps of landslide hazard and flood hazard, which presents the optimal base for urbanization planning.

Aerosol Airmass Type Mapping Over the Urban Mexico City Region From Space-based Multi-angle Imaging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patadia, F.; Kahn, R. A.; Limbacher, J. A.; Burton, S. P.; Ferrare, R. A.; Hostetler, C. A.; Hair, J. W.

2013-01-01

Using Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) and sub-orbital measurements from the 2006 INTEX-B/MILAGRO field campaign, in this study we explore MISR's ability to map different aerosol air mass types over the Mexico City metropolitan area. The aerosol air mass distinctions are based on shape, size and single scattering albedo retrievals from the MISR Research Aerosol Retrieval algorithm. In this region, the research algorithm identifies dust-dominated aerosol mixtures based on non-spherical particle shape, whereas spherical biomass burning and urban pollution particles are distinguished by particle size. Two distinct aerosol air mass types based on retrieved particle microphysical properties, and four spatially distributed aerosol air masses, are identified in the MISR data on 6 March 2006. The aerosol air mass type identification results are supported by coincident, airborne high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) measurements. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) gradients are also consistent between the MISR and sub-orbital measurements, but particles having single-scattering albedo of approx. 0.7 at 558 nm must be included in the retrieval algorithm to produce good absolute AOD comparisons over pollution-dominated aerosol air masses. The MISR standard V22 AOD product, at 17.6 km resolution, captures the observed AOD gradients qualitatively, but retrievals at this coarse spatial scale and with limited spherical absorbing particle options underestimate AOD and do not retrieve particle properties adequately over this complex urban region. However, we demonstrate how AOD and aerosol type mapping can be accomplished with MISR data over complex urban regions, provided the retrieval is performed at sufficiently high spatial resolution, and with a rich enough set of aerosol components and mixtures.

Depressive symptoms and their impact on health-seeking behaviors in newly-diagnosed HIV-infected patients in Durban, South Africa.

PubMed

Ramirez-Avila, Lynn; Regan, Susan; Giddy, Janet; Chetty, Senica; Ross, Douglas; Katz, Jeffrey N; Freedberg, Kenneth A; Walensky, Rochelle P; Losina, Elena; Bassett, Ingrid V

2012-11-01

We evaluated the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms prior to HIV diagnosis and determined the effect of these symptoms on seeking HIV care at an urban and rural clinic in Durban, South Africa. Adults were administered a questionnaire which included the 5-item Mental Health Index (MHI-5) before HIV testing. We determined the depressive symptoms among HIV-infected subjects. Of 1,545 newly-diagnosed HIV-infected subjects, 55% had depressive symptoms by MHI-5 score. Enrolling at the urban clinic and decreasing functional activity score were associated with depressive symptoms. Subjects with depressive symptoms who were referred for HIV testing by a healthcare provider were less likely to obtain a CD4 count than those without depressive symptoms who self-referred for testing. Depressive symptoms were common among newly-diagnosed HIV-infected participants and impacted CD4 uptake. Depression screening at the time of HIV diagnosis is critical for improving linkage to mental health and HIV services in South Africa.

[Influence of green roof application on water quantity and quality in urban region].

PubMed

Wang, Shu-Min; Li, Xing-Yang; Zhang, Jun-Hua; Yu, Hui; Hao, You-Zhi; Yang, Wan-Yi

2014-07-01

Green roof is widely used in advanced stormwater management as a major measure now. Taking Huxi catchment in Chongqing University as the study area, the relationships between green roof installation with runoff volume and water quality in urban region were investigated. The results showed that roof greening in the urban region contributed to reducing the runoff volume and pollution load. In addition, the spatial distribution and area of green roof also had effects on the runoff water quality. With the conditions that the roof area was 25% of the total watershed area, rainfall duration was 15 min and rainfall intensity was 14.8 mm x h(-1), the peak runoff and total runoff volume were reduced by 5.3% and 31%, the pollution loads of total suspended solid (TSS), total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN) decreased by 40.0%, 31.6% and 29.8%, their peak concentrations decreased by 21.0%, 16.0% and -12.2%, and the EMCs (event mean concentrations) were cut down by 13.1%, 0.9% and -1.7%, respectively, when all impervious roofs were greened in the research area. With the increase of roof greening rate, the reduction rates of TSS and TP concentrations increased, while the reduction rate of TN concentration decreased on the whole. Much more improvement could be obtained with the use of green roofs near the outlet of the watershed.

Integrated solutions for urban runoff pollution control in Brazilian metropolitan regions.

PubMed

Morihama, A C D; Amaro, C; Tominaga, E N S; Yazaki, L F O L; Pereira, M C S; Porto, M F A; Mukai, P; Lucci, R M

2012-01-01

One of the most important causes for poor water quality in urban rivers in Brazil is the low collection efficiency of the sewer system due to unforeseen interconnections with the stormwater drainage system. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Brazilian cities have adopted separate systems for sanitary sewers and stormwater runoff. Gradually these two systems became interconnected. A major challenge faced today by water managers in Brazil is to find efficient and low cost solutions to deal with this mixed system. The current situation poses an important threat to the improvement of the water quality in urban rivers and lakes. This article presents an evaluation of the water quality parameters and the diffuse pollution loads during rain events in the Pinheiros River, a tributary of the Tietê River in São Paulo. It also presents different types of integrated solutions for reducing the pollution impact of combined systems, based on the European experience in urban water management. An evaluation of their performance and a comparison with the separate system used in most Brazilian cities is also presented. The study is based on an extensive water quality monitoring program that was developed for a special investigation in the Pinheiros River and lasted 2.5 years. Samples were collected on a daily basis and water quality variables were analyzed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Two hundred water quality variables were monitored at 53 sampling points. During rain events, additional monitoring was carried out using an automated sampler. Pinheiros River is one of the most important rivers in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region and it is also a heavily polluted one.

Cardiovascular Diseases and Risk-Factor Burden in Urban and Rural Communities in High-, Middle-, and Low-Income Regions of China: A Large Community-Based Epidemiological Study.

PubMed

Yan, Ruohua; Li, Wei; Yin, Lu; Wang, Yang; Bo, Jian

2017-02-06

Most cardiovascular diseases occur in low- and middle-income regions of the world, but the socioeconomic distribution within China remains unclear. Our study aims to investigate whether the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases differs among high-, middle-, and low-income regions of China and to explore the reasons for the disparities. We enrolled 46 285 individuals from 115 urban and rural communities in 12 provinces across China between 2005 and 2009. We recorded their medical histories of cardiovascular diseases and calculated the INTERHEART Risk Score for the assessment of cardiovascular risk-factor burden, with higher scores indicating greater burden. The mean INTERHEART Risk Score was higher in high- and middle-income regions than in low-income regions (9.47, 9.48, and 8.58, respectively, P<0.0001). By contrast, the prevalence of total cardiovascular disease (stroke, ischemic heart disease, and other heart diseases that led to hospitalization) was lower in high- and middle-income regions than in low-income regions (7.46%, 7.42%, and 8.36%, respectively, P trend =0.0064). In high- and middle-income regions, urban communities have higher INTERHEART Risk Score and higher prevalent rate than rural communities. In low-income regions, however, the prevalence of total cardiovascular disease was similar between urban and rural areas despite the significantly higher INTERHEART Risk Score for urban settings. We detected an inverse trend between risk-factor burden and cardiovascular disease prevalence in urban and rural communities in high-, middle-, and low-income regions of China. Such asymmetry may be attributed to the interregional differences in residents' awareness, quality of healthcare, and availability and affordability of medical services. © 2017 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

Biogenic volatile organic compounds from the urban forest of the Metropolitan Region, Chile.

PubMed

Préndez, Margarita; Carvajal, Virginia; Corada, Karina; Morales, Johanna; Alarcón, Francis; Peralta, Hugo

2013-12-01

Tropospheric ozone is a secondary pollutant whose primary sources are volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. The national standard is exceeded on a third of summer days in some areas of the Chilean Metropolitan Region (MR). This study reports normalized springtime experimental emissions factors (EF) for biogenic volatile organic compounds from tree species corresponding to approximately 31% of urban trees in the MR. A Photochemical Ozone Creation Index (POCI) was calculated using Photochemical Ozone Creation Potential of quantified terpenes. Ten species, natives and exotics, were analysed using static enclosure technique. Terpene quantification was performed using GC-FID, thermal desorption, cryogenic concentration and automatic injection. Observed EF and POCI values for terpenes from exotic species were 78 times greater than native values; within the same family, exotic EF and POCI values were 28 and 26 times greater than natives. These results support reforestation with native species for improved urban pollution management. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Regional scale prioritisation for key ecosystem services, renewable energy production and urban development.

PubMed

Casalegno, Stefano; Bennie, Jonathan J; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J

2014-01-01

Although the importance of addressing ecosystem service benefits in regional land use planning and decision-making is evident, substantial practical challenges remain. In particular, methods to identify priority areas for the provision of key ecosystem services and other environmental services (benefits from the environment not directly linked to the function of ecosystems) need to be developed. Priority areas are locations which provide disproportionally high benefits from one or more service. Here we map a set of ecosystem and environmental services and delineate priority areas according to different scenarios. Each scenario is produced by a set of weightings allocated to different services and corresponds to different landscape management strategies which decision makers could undertake. Using the county of Cornwall, U.K., as a case study, we processed gridded maps of key ecosystem services and environmental services, including renewable energy production and urban development. We explored their spatial distribution patterns and their spatial covariance and spatial stationarity within the region. Finally we applied a complementarity-based priority ranking algorithm (zonation) using different weighting schemes. Our conclusions are that (i) there are two main patterns of service distribution in this region, clustered services (including agriculture, carbon stocks, urban development and plant production) and dispersed services (including cultural services, energy production and floods mitigation); (ii) more than half of the services are spatially correlated and there is high non-stationarity in the spatial covariance between services; and (iii) it is important to consider both ecosystem services and other environmental services in identifying priority areas. Different weighting schemes provoke drastic changes in the delineation of priority areas and therefore decision making processes need to carefully consider the relative values attributed to different services.

Projected effect of increased active travel in German urban regions on the risk of type 2 diabetes.

PubMed

Brinks, Ralph; Hoyer, Annika; Kuss, Oliver; Rathmann, Wolfgang

2015-01-01

Future transportation policy is likely to reduce emissions in the cities and urban regions by strengthening active travel. Increased walking and cycling are known to have positive effects on health outcomes. This work estimates effects of increased active travel on type 2 diabetes in Germany, where 64% of the population live in urban regions. Based on the effect size of an increased active travel scenario reported from a recent meta-analysis, we project the change in the life time risk, the proportion of prevented cases and the change in diabetes free life time in a German birth cohort (born 1985) compared to business as usual. The absolute risk reduction of developing type 2 diabetes before the age of 80 is 6.4% [95% confidence interval: 3.7-9.7%] for men and 4.7% [2.2-7.7%] for women, respectively. Compared to business as usual, the increased active travel scenario prevents 14.0% [8.1-21.2%] of the future cases of diabetes in men and 15.8% [9.3-23.1%] in women. Diabetes free survival increases by 1.7 [1.0-2.7] years in men and 1.4 [0.6-2.3] in women. Our projection predicts a substantial impact of increased active travel on the future burden of type 2 diabetes. The most striking effect may be seen in the number of prevented cases. In all urban regions with an increased active travel transport policy, about one out of seven male and one out of six female cases can be prevented.

[Adsorption Capacity of the Air Particulate Matter in Urban Landscape Plants in Different Polluted Regions of Beijing].

PubMed

Zhang, Wei-kang; Wang, Bing; Niu, Xiang

2015-07-01

Urban landscape plants, as one of the important factors of the urban ecosystem, play an important role in stagnating airborne particulates and purifying urban atmospheric environment. In this article, six kinds of common garden plants were studied, and aerosol generator (QRJZFSQ-I) was used to measure the ability of their leaves to stagnate atmospheric particulates (TSP and PM2.5) in different polluted regions. Meanwhile, environmental scanning electron microscope was used to observe changes in the leaf structure of the tested tree species. The results showed: (1)Among the tested tree species, the ability of coniferous species to stagnate atmospheric particulates was higher than that of broad-leaved species per unit leaf area. Pinus tabuliformis stagnated the highest volume of (3. 89± 0. 026) µg . m-2, followed by Pinus bungeana of (2. 82 ± 0. 392) µg . cm-2, and Populus tomentosa stagnated the minimum of (2. 00 ± 0. 118) µg . cm-2; (2) Through observing the leaf microstructure morphology, coniferous species were found to have tightly packed stomas, stoma density and surface roughness higher than those of broad-leaved species, and they could also secrete oil; (3) In different polluted regions, the leaves of the same tree species showed significant difference in stagnating TSP. Per unit leaf area, the tree species leaves situated around the 5th Ring Road had higher ability to absorb TSP than the tree species leaves at Botanical Garden, while their abilities to absorb PM2.5 showed no significant difference; (4) In different polluted regions, significantly adaptive changes were found in leaf structure. Comparing to the region with light pollution, the outer epidermal cells of the plant leaves in region with heavy pollution shrank, and the roughness of the leaf skin textures as well as the stomatal frequency and villous length increased. In spite of the significant changes in plant leaves exposed to the heavy pollution, these plants could still maintain normal

Media for People in Cities: A Study of Community Media in the Urban Context.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Peter M., Ed.

Two propositions formed the basis for the study described in this report: (1) that the institutions of mass media and education have not adjusted to cope with the problems of newly formed cities or with urban disintegration in older industrialized cities, and (2) that marginal urban groups have a need for greater control over their lives and the…

Regional Curves of Bankfull Channel Geometry for Non-Urban Streams in the Piedmont Physiographic Province, Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lotspeich, R. Russell

2009-01-01

Natural-channel design involves constructing a stream channel with the dimensions, slope, and plan-view pattern that would be expected to transport water and sediment and yet maintain habitat and aesthetics consistent with unimpaired stream segments, or reaches. Regression relations for bankfull stream characteristics based on drainage area, referred to as 'regional curves,' are used in natural stream channel design to verify field determinations of bankfull discharge and stream channel characteristics. One-variable, ordinary least-squares regressions relating bankfull discharge, bankfull cross-sectional area, bankfull width, bankfull mean depth, and bankfull slope to drainage area were developed on the basis of data collected at 17 streamflow-gaging stations in rural areas with less than 20 percent urban land cover within the basin area (non-urban areas) of the Piedmont Physiographic Province in Virginia. These regional curves can be used to estimate the bankfull discharge and bankfull channel geometry when the drainage area of a watershed is known. Data collected included bankfull cross-sectional geometry, flood-plain geometry, and longitudinal profile data. In addition, particle-size distributions of streambed material were determined, and data on basin characteristics were compiled for each reach. Field data were analyzed to determine bankfull cross-sectional area, bankfull width, bankfull mean depth, bankfull discharge, bankfull channel slope, and D50 and D84 particle sizes at each site. The bankfull geometry from the 17 sites surveyed during this study represents the average of two riffle cross sections for each site. Regional curves developed for the 17 sites had coefficient of determination (R2) values of 0.950 for bankfull cross-sectional area, 0.913 for bankfull width, 0.915 for bankfull mean depth, 0.949 for bankfull discharge, and 0.497 for bankfull channel slope. The regional curves represent conditions for streams with defined channels and bankfull

Development of urbanization in arid and semi arid regions based on the water resource carrying capacity -- a case study of Changji, Xinjiang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, H.; Zhang, L.; Chai, Z.

2017-07-01

The arid and semiarid region in China where have a relatively weak economic foundation, independent development capacity, and the low-level of urbanization. The new urbanization within these regions is facing severe challenges brought by the constraints of resources. In this paper, we selected the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as study area. We found that agricultural planting structure is the key water consumption index based on the research about the main water demands of domestic, agriculture and industry. Finally, we suggest that more attentions should be paid to the rational utilization of water resources, population carrying capacity, and adjust and upgrade the industrial structure, with the purpose of coordination with the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Temporal dynamics of urbanization-driven environmental changes explored by metal contamination in surface sediments in a restoring urban wetland park.

PubMed

Ma, Jun; Liu, Yi; Yu, Guangbin; Li, Hongbo; Yu, Shen; Jiang, Yueping; Li, Guilin; Lin, Jinchang

2016-05-15

Spatial patterns of metal distribution along urban-rural or multi-city gradients indicate that the urbanization process directly lead to metal enrichment and contamination in the environments. However, it has not yet looked at homogenization dynamics of an urban-rural gradient pattern over time with urbanization process in an area. This study monitored anthropogenic metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in surface sediments from channels of a newly-opened National Wetland Park to elucidate the urbanization-driven dissolution of urban-rural gradient pattern between 2008 and 2011. Sixty-eight surface sediment samples were taken from these channels in July of both 2008 and 2011. Results showed that a spatial distribution pattern of total metal contents along the gradient of urbanization influence, evident in 2008, was homogenized in 2011 with the area development. The lead stable isotope ratio analysis identified anthropogenic Pb origins from vehicular exhausts, cements, and coal flying ashes, which elevated metal contents in the inner channels via atmospheric deposition. Specific hazard quotients of the metal contamination in surface sediment were also assessed and enhanced over time in the study wetland park. These findings suggest that emissions from traffic, construction, and energy generation contribute metal loadings in the urbanizing environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigation of Long-Term Impacts of Urbanization when Considering Global Warming for a Coastal Tropical Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gonalez, Jorge E.; Comarazamy, Daniel E.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Rickman, Douglas L.; Smith, T.

2010-01-01

The overachieving goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the climate impacts caused by the combined effects of land cover and land use (LCLU) changes and increasing global concentrations of green house gases (GHG) in tropical coastal areas, regions where global, regional and local climate phenomena converge, taking as the test case the densely populated northeast region of the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. The research uses an integrated approach of high-resolution remote sensing information linked to a high resolution Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), which was employed to perform ensembles of climate simulations (combining 2-LCLU and 2-GHG concentration scenarios). Reconstructed agricultural maps are used to define past LCLU, and combined with reconstructed sea surface temperatures (SST) for the same period form the PAST climate scenario (1951-1956); while the PRESENT scenario (2000-2004) was additionally supported by high resolution remote sensing data (10-m-res). The climate reconstruction approach is validated with available observed climate data from surface weather stations for both periods of time simulated. The selection of the past and present climate scenarios considers large-scale biases (i.e. ENSO/NAO) as reflected in the region of interest. Direct and cross comparison of the results is allowing quantifying single, combined, and competitive effects. Results indicate that global GHG have dominant effects on minimum temperatures (following regional tendencies), while urban sprawl dominates maximum temperatures. To further investigate impacts of land use the Bowen Ratio and the thermal response number (TRN) are analyzed. The Bowen ratio indicates that forestation of past agricultural high areas have an overwhelmingly mitigation effect on increasing temperatures observed in different LCLU scenarios, but when abandoned agricultural lands are located in plains, the resulting shrub/grass lands produce higher surface

Urbanization in contemporary Arab Gulf states.

PubMed

Qutub, I Y

1983-01-01

Urbanization in the Arab Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates is analyzed. Topics discussed include the historical background to urbanization; current demographic trends in the region; urban characteristics and growth; socioeconomic factors influencing urbanization, with an emphasis on labor force structure; future urban strategy; and the need for urban research.

MODIS 3 Km Aerosol Product: Applications over Land in an Urban/suburban Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Munchak, L. A.; Levy, R. C.; Mattoo, S.; Remer, L. A.; Holben, B. N.; Schafer, J. S.; Hostetler, C. A.; Ferrare, R. A.

2013-01-01

MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites have provided a rich dataset of aerosol information at a 10 km spatial scale. Although originally intended for climate applications, the air quality community quickly became interested in using the MODIS aerosol data. However, 10 km resolution is not sufficient to resolve local scale aerosol features. With this in mind, MODIS Collection 6 is including a global aerosol product with a 3 km resolution. Here, we evaluate the 3 km product over the Baltimore/Washington D.C., USA, corridor during the summer of 2011, by comparing with spatially dense data collected as part of the DISCOVER-AQ campaign these data were measured by the NASA Langley Research Center airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) and a network of 44 sun photometers (SP) spaced approximately 10 km apart. The HSRL instrument shows that AOD can vary by up to 0.2 within a single 10 km MODIS pixel, meaning that higher resolution satellite retrievals may help to characterize aerosol spatial distributions in this region. Different techniques for validating a high-resolution aerosol product against SP measurements are considered. Although the 10 km product is more statistically reliable than the 3 km product, the 3 km product still performs acceptably, with more than two-thirds of MODIS/SP collocations falling within the expected error envelope with high correlation (R > 0.90). The 3 km product can better resolve aerosol gradients and retrieve closer to clouds and shorelines than the 10 km product, but tends to show more significant noise especially in urban areas. This urban degradation is quantified using ancillary land cover data. Overall, we show that the MODIS 3 km product adds new information to the existing set of satellite derived aerosol products and validates well over the region, but due to noise and problems in urban areas, should be treated with some degree of caution.

The impact of female genital cutting on health of newly married women.

PubMed

Elnashar, A; Abdelhady, R

2007-06-01

To detect the rate of female genital cutting among a sample of newly married women in Benha city, and make a comparison between circumcised and non-circumcised women regarding long-term health problems. Randomly selected (264) newly married women were the subjects of this work. Circumcised group constitutes 75.8% of the sample. All non-circumcised women were living in an urban area. Dysmenorrhea was more common among circumcised rather than non-circumcised, with statistically significant difference (P<0.01). Marital problems (dyspareunia, loss of libido, failure of orgasm and husband's dissatisfaction) had statistically different levels of significance among circumcised women. Obstetric problems such as tears, episiotomy and consequently distressed babies were more events among circumcised mothers with statistical significance. Circumcised females had significant mental problems such as somatization, anxiety and phobia (P<0.001). Female genital cutting remains a widely practiced custom in our society. Grave complications of circumcision may last throughout women's life particularly the time of consummation of marriage and the time of childbirth.

Regional Scale Prioritisation for Key Ecosystem Services, Renewable Energy Production and Urban Development

PubMed Central

Casalegno, Stefano; Bennie, Jonathan J.; Inger, Richard; Gaston, Kevin J.

2014-01-01

Although the importance of addressing ecosystem service benefits in regional land use planning and decision-making is evident, substantial practical challenges remain. In particular, methods to identify priority areas for the provision of key ecosystem services and other environmental services (benefits from the environment not directly linked to the function of ecosystems) need to be developed. Priority areas are locations which provide disproportionally high benefits from one or more service. Here we map a set of ecosystem and environmental services and delineate priority areas according to different scenarios. Each scenario is produced by a set of weightings allocated to different services and corresponds to different landscape management strategies which decision makers could undertake. Using the county of Cornwall, U.K., as a case study, we processed gridded maps of key ecosystem services and environmental services, including renewable energy production and urban development. We explored their spatial distribution patterns and their spatial covariance and spatial stationarity within the region. Finally we applied a complementarity-based priority ranking algorithm (zonation) using different weighting schemes. Our conclusions are that (i) there are two main patterns of service distribution in this region, clustered services (including agriculture, carbon stocks, urban development and plant production) and dispersed services (including cultural services, energy production and floods mitigation); (ii) more than half of the services are spatially correlated and there is high non-stationarity in the spatial covariance between services; and (iii) it is important to consider both ecosystem services and other environmental services in identifying priority areas. Different weighting schemes provoke drastic changes in the delineation of priority areas and therefore decision making processes need to carefully consider the relative values attributed to different services

How Best to Assess Students Taking Work Placements? An Empirical Investigation from Australian Urban and Regional Planning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, John; Jones, Martyn; Steele, Wendy; Coiacetto, Eddo

2017-01-01

Work placements (including internships) are common in urban and regional planning education but the relevant literature has largely overlooked their assessment and academic standards. To address this gap, the paper presents a study of this topic undertaken within the Australian context. The research involved systematically scoping the status of…

Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN): Transitioning Toward Sustainbale Urban Water Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arabi, M.

2015-12-01

City water systems are at risk of disruption from global social and environmental hazards, which could have deleterious effects on human health, property, and loss of critical infrastructure. The Urban Water Innovation Network (UWIN), a consortium of 14 academic institutions and other key partners across the U.S., is working to address challenges that threaten urban water systems across the nation. UWIN's mission is to create technological, institutional and management solutions to help communities increase the resilience of their water systems and enhance their preparedness for responding to water crisis. The network seeks solutions that achieve widespread adoption consistent with inclusive, equitable and sustainable urban development. The integrative and adaptive analysis framework of UWIN is presented. The framework identifies a toolbox of sustainable solutions by simultaneously minimizing pressures, enhancing resilience to extreme events, and maximizing cobenefits. The benefits of sustainable urban water solutions for linked urban ecosystems, economies, and arrangements for environmental justice and social equity, will be discussed. The network encompasses six U.S. regions with varying ecohydrologic and climatic regimes ranging from the coastal moist mid-latitude climates of the Mid-Atlantic to the subtropical semi-arid deserts of the Southwest. These regions also represent a wide spectrum of demographic, cultural, and policy settings. The opportunities for cross-site assessments that facilitate the exploration of locally appropriate solutions across regions undergoing various development trajectories will be discussed.

Deliberate self-harm in rural and urban regions: a comparative study of prevalence and patient characteristics.

PubMed

Harriss, Louise; Hawton, Keith

2011-07-01

In countries like the U.K., people living in urban regions are more likely to suffer poor physical and mental health than rural populations, and to have increased rates of psychiatric disorder. Urban/rural differences in suicidal behaviour have most frequently focussed on variations in the occurrence of suicide. We have investigated rates of deliberate self-harm (DSH) in urban and rural districts of Oxfordshire, England, and compared characteristics of DSH patients resident in these two areas. Information was collected on 6833 DSH episodes by 4054 persons aged 15 years and over presenting to the local general hospital between 2001 and 2005. We found that urban DSH rates were substantially higher than rural rates amongst both males and females aged between 15 and 64 years. This relationship was sustained even when socio-economic deprivation and social fragmentation were taken into account. There was little difference between urban and rural rates for patients aged 65 years and over. Urban DSH patients were more likely to be younger, non-white in ethnic origin, unemployed, living alone, to have a criminal record, to have previously engaged in DSH, and to report problems with housing. Rural DSH patients were more likely to suffer from physical illness, and to have higher suicide intent scores. Results of studies such as this can help identify where resources for preventive initiatives should be primarily directed and also what types of individuals may be at most risk in different areas. However, since variation by area will in part be due to differences at the individual level, further research utilising multi-level modelling techniques would be useful. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New baseline environmental assessment of mosquito ecology in northern Haiti during increased urbanization

PubMed Central

Archer, Reginald S.; Alimi, Temitope O.; Arheart, Kristopher K.; Impoinvil, Daniel E.; Oscar, Roland; Fuller, Douglas O.; Qualls, Whitney A.

2015-01-01

The catastrophic 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, led to the large-scale displacement of over 2.3 million people, resulting in rapid and unplanned urbanization in northern Haiti. This study evaluated the impact of this unplanned urbanization on mosquito ecology and vector-borne diseases by assessing land use and change patterns. Land-use classification and change detection were carried out on remotely sensed images of the area for 2010 and 2013. Change detection identified areas that went from agricultural, forest, or bare-land pre-earthquake to newly developed and urbanized areas post-earthquake. Areas to be sampled for mosquito larvae were subsequently identified. Mosquito collections comprised five genera and ten species, with the most abundant species being Culex quinquefasciatus 35% (304/876), Aedes albopictus 27% (238/876), and Aedes aegypti 20% (174/876). All three species were more prevalent in urbanized and newly urbanized areas. Anopheles albimanus, the predominate malaria vector, accounted for less than 1% (8/876) of the collection. A set of spectral indices derived from the recently launched Landsat 8 satellite was used as covariates in a species distribution model. The indices were used to produce probability surfaces maps depicting the likelihood of presence of the three most abundant species within 30 m pixels. Our findings suggest that the rapid urbanization following the 2010 earthquake has increased the amount of area with suitable habitats for urban mosquitoes, likely influencing mosquito ecology and posing a major risk of introducing and establishing emerging vector-borne diseases. PMID:26047183

Urban and rural land use in Puerto Rico

Treesearch

Sebastian Martinuzzi; William A. Gould; Olga M. Ramos Gonzalez; Maya Quinones; Michael E. Jimenez

2008-01-01

We have developed three land use regions for Puerto Rico: Urban, Suburban, and Rural (Gould et al. 2008; Martinuzzi et al. 2007). These three regions can also be considered urban, densely-populated rural, and sparsely-populated rural or as urban and wildland with a wildland-urban interface. The suburban use is the most dynamic in terms of population growth and land...

Some structural aspects of urbanization in Ethiopia.

PubMed

Rafiq, M; Hailemariam, A

1987-07-01

This article studies the emerging patterns of urbanization in Ethiopia. Over the period from 1967-1984, a number of structural changes have occurred which are likely to play a dominant role in the future urban growth in Ethiopia. In spite of its long history of settled population, Ethiopia did not witness sustained growth of urban centers. Ethiopia is 1 of the least urbanized areas in the Third World. A 3rd aspect of urbanization in Ethiopia is the wide range of regional differentials in the level of urbanization. Most of the urban population is concentrated in 2 administrative regions--Shoa and Eritrea. A more balanced urban growth may, inter alia, involve a better spread in terms of higher education, industrialization, provision of health and social services, and the development of communication and commercial infrastructure. Another striking feature of urbanization in Ethiopia is that growth has not been disproportionately concentrated in the largest urban centers. The largest urban centers have not assumed an inordinately higher level of primacy. The basic form of the curve depicting the relationship between the size of a locality and its rank has remained unchanged over the period. The post-revolution land reforms and the new socioeconomic structure emerging from reorganization of the society appear to have a rural-urban migration inhibiting effect. Some of the country's regional differentials may be associated with environmental factors.

Attenuating reaches and the regional flood response of an urbanizing drainage basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner-Gillespie, Daniel F.; Smith, James A.; Bates, Paul D.

The Charlotte, North Carolina metropolitan area has experienced extensive urban and suburban growth and sharply increasing trends in the magnitude and frequency of flooding. The hydraulics and hydrology of flood response in the region are examined through a combination of numerical modeling studies and diagnostic analyses of paired discharge observations from upstream-downstream gaging stations. The regional flood response is shown to strongly reflect urbanization effects, which increase flood peaks and decrease response times, and geologically controlled attenuating reaches, which decrease flood peaks and increase lag times. Attenuating reaches are characterized by systematic changes in valley bottom geometry and longitudinal profile. The morphology of the fluvial system is controlled by the bedrock geology, with pronounced changes occurring at or near contacts between intrusive igneous and metamorphic rocks. Analyses of wave celerity and flood peak attenuation over a range of discharge values for an 8.3 km valley bottom section of Little Sugar Creek are consistent with Knight and Shiono's characterization of the variation of flood wave velocity from in-channel conditions to valley bottom full conditions. The cumulative effect of variation in longitudinal profile, expansions and contractions of the valley bottom, floodplain roughness and sub-basin flood response is investigated using a two-dimensional, depth-averaged, finite element hydrodynamic model coupled with a distributed hydrologic model. For a 10.1 km stream reach of Briar Creek, with drainage area ranging from 13 km 2 at the upstream end of the reach to 49 km 2 at the downstream end, it is shown that flood response reflects a complex interplay of hydrologic and hydraulic processes on hillslopes and valley bottoms.

The urban moisture climate

Treesearch

Douglas L. Sisterson

1977-01-01

Data collected on 26 July 1974 as a part of project METROMEX in St. Louis show the three-dimensional structure of the urban moisture field. Mesoscale dry regions at the urban surface, corresponding to large residential and light industrial land-use characterization, were responsible for a reduction in specific humidity in the urban mixing layer. Anthropogenic sources...

Water resources management in the urban agglomeration of the Lake Biwa region, Japan: An ecosystem services-based sustainability assessment.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaochen; Chen, Yuqing; Shimizu, Toshiyuki; Niu, Jia; Nakagami, Ken'ichi; Qian, Xuepeng; Jia, Baoju; Nakajima, Jun; Han, Ji; Li, Jianhua

2017-05-15

An innovative ecosystem services-based sustainability assessment was conducted in the important urban agglomeration of the Lake Biwa region, Japan, covering the time period from 1950 to 2014. A 22-indicator system was established that was based on the major ecosystem services of Lake Biwa and its water courses, i.e., provisioning services regarding aquatic products and water; regulating services regarding floods and water quality; cultural services regarding recreation and tourism, scientific research, and environmental education; and supporting services regarding biodiversity. First, changes in the eight ecosystem services were discussed together with the considerable experience and difficult lessons that can be drawn from the development trajectory. Next, with the indicators rearranged according to sustainability principles, the regional sustainability over the past six-plus decades was assessed. In general, this urban agglomeration has been progressing in terms of its sustainability, although economic and social development was achieved at the cost of environmental degradation in the past, and the current economic downturn is hurting the balanced development and integrated benefits. The results lead directly to recommendations for regional development, especially in terms of economic rejuvenation, from the perspective of improving management of Lake Biwa's water resources. Moreover, the relevant knowledge is educational and inspirational for other places in the world that are facing similar development issues. For example, the effective and even pioneering countermeasures that have been taken against environmental degradation, as well as the participation and collaboration of multiple stakeholders, could be useful as a model. Moreover, the study invites increased understanding of ecosystem vulnerability to anthropogenic devastation and emphasizes the priority of precautionary measures over countermeasures in the context of holistic urban planning and sustainable

Detecting urban warming signals in climate records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yuting; Jia, Gensuo; Hu, Yonghong; Zhou, Zijiang

2013-07-01

Determining whether air temperatures recorded at meteorological stations have been contaminated by the urbanization process is still a controversial issue at the global scale. With support of historical remote sensing data, this study examined the impacts of urban expansion on the trends of air temperature at 69 meteorological stations in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei Province over the last three decades. There were significant positive relations between the two factors at all stations. Stronger warming was detected at the meteorological stations that experienced greater urbanization, i.e., those with a higher urbanization rate. While the total urban area affects the absolute temperature values, the change of the urban area (urbanization rate) likely affects the temperature trend. Increases of approximately 10% in urban area around the meteorological stations likely contributed to the 0.13°C rise in air temperature records in addition to regional climate warming. This study also provides a new approach to selecting reference stations based on remotely sensed urban fractions. Generally, the urbanization-induced warming contributed to approximately 44.1% of the overall warming trends in the plain region of study area during the past 30 years, and the regional climate warming was 0.30°C (10 yr)-1 in the last three decades.

Opportunity in our Ignorance: Urban Biodiversity Study Reveals 30 New Species and One New Nearctic Record for Megaselia (Diptera: Phoridae) in Los Angeles (California, USA).

PubMed

Hartop, Emily A; Brown, Brian V; Disney, R Henry L

2015-04-02

An urban biodiversity study sampling primarily from private backyards in Los Angeles, California (USA), reveals the presence of fifty-six species of Megaselia within the first few months of sampling. Thirty of these are described as new to science: M. armstrongorum, M. bradyi, M. brejchaorum, M. carthayensis, M. ciancii, M. creasoni, M. defibaughorum, M. donahuei, M. francoae, M. fujiokai, M. hardingorum, M. heini, M. hentschkeae, M. hoffmanorum, M. hoggorum, M. hoguei, M. isaacmajorum, M. kelleri, M. lombardorum, M. marquezi, M. mikejohnsoni, M. oxboroughae, M. pisanoi, M. renwickorum, M. rodriguezorum, M. sacatelensis, M. seaverorum, M. sidneyae, M. steptoeae, and M. wiegmanae. M. largifrontalis is newly reported from the Nearctic Region. The implications these findings have for future taxonomic work in Megaselia, particularly in urban areas, are discussed.

Innovative Methods of Anthropogenic Landscape Reconstruction in the Urbanized Oil and Gas Region Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shabatura, L. N.; Bauer, N. V.; Speranskaya, N. I.; Iatsevich, O. E.

2016-10-01

The article deals with the problems of the urbanized environment appearing as a result of intensive region developing. The state neglect towards people affects the population life quality of the of oil and gas extraction areas as well as problems resolving, and it provokes enormous losses for manufacturing and the whole region. The environment influences the person behaviour, one's perception and space understanding. The city environment is considered as the human existence space influencing on it directly, so it is necessary to renovate it. The authentic region developing cannot be reduced to "pure" economics (for not to be deserted), but needs to be fully mastered. To renovate the destroyed landscapes, it is necessary to use the landscape design methods making a cultural landscape. They help to increase the natural components of the city environment and to make it more harmonious, more harmless, more comfortable for residents.

Fear of childbirth in urban and rural regions of Turkey: Comparison of two resident populations

PubMed Central

Okumus, Filiz; Sahin, Nevin

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Childbirth is a natural physiological event experienced by many women; however, it is frequently also a source of fear in women. Rates of cesarean sections in Turkey are higher in the urban areas than in the rural areas. We hypothesized that lower fear of childbirth (FOC) rates would be observed in the city having the lowest cesarean section rates in Turkey. This study aimed to compare FOC in women in two resident populations: one in a rural area and the other in an urban area. METHODS: This study was conducted on 253 pregnant women in Istanbul, a large urban municipality, and Siirt, a city in rural Turkey. A descriptive information form and the A version of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) were used. RESULTS: Severe FOC levels were recorded in women in the Istanbul sample; moreover, these levels were higher than those recorded in women in the Siirt sample. In addition, women in the Istanbul sample preferred vaginal birth to cesarean section and had greater FOC, a finding which demonstrates that women prefer vaginal birth even though they have a higher FOC level and live in a city with high cesarean section rates. Where women live (rural versus urban areas) affects their perception of birth and consequently, their FOC levels. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that further cross-cultural and regional research is needed for better understanding FOC and factors associated with elevated FOC levels within each cultural setting. PMID:29270574

Regional Climate Modeling over the Marmara Region, Turkey, with Improved Land Cover Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sertel, E.; Robock, A.

2007-12-01

land cover data only a limited area along the Bosporus is shown as urban. In addition, the new land cover data indicate that the northern part of Istanbul is covered by evergreen and deciduous forest (verified by ground truth data), but the WRF data indicate that most of this region is croplands. In the northern part of the Marmara Region, there is bare ground as a result of open mining activities and this class can be identified in our land cover data, whereas the WRF data indicated this region as woodland. We then used this new data set to conduct WRF simulations for one main and two nested domains, where the inner-most domain represents the Marmara Region with 3 km horizontal resolution. The vertical domain of both main and nested domains extends over 28 vertical levels. Initial and boundary conditions were obtained from National Centers for Environmental Prediction-Department of Energy Reanalysis II and the Noah model was selected as the land surface model. Two model simulations were conducted; one with available land cover data and one with the newly created land cover data. Using detailed meteorological station data within the study area, we find that the simulation with the new land cover data set produces better temperature and precipitation simulations for the region, showing the value of accurate land cover data and that changing land cover data can be an important influence on local climate change.

Global perspectives on the urban stream syndrome

USGS Publications Warehouse

Roy, Allison; Booth, Derek B.; Capps, Krista A.; Smith, Benjamin

2016-01-01

Urban streams commonly express degraded physical, chemical, and biological conditions that have been collectively termed the “urban stream syndrome”. The description of the syndrome highlights the broad similarities among these streams relative to their less-impaired counterparts. Awareness of these commonalities has fostered rapid improvements in the management of urban stormwater for the protection of downstream watercourses, but the focus on the similarities among urban streams has obscured meaningful differences among them. Key drivers of stream responses to urbanization can vary greatly among climatological and physiographic regions of the globe, and the differences can be manifested in individual stream channels even through the homogenizing veneer of urban development. We provide examples of differences in natural hydrologic and geologic settings (within similar regions) that can result in different mechanisms of stream ecosystem response to urbanization and, as such, should lead to different management approaches. The idea that all urban streams can be cured using the same treatment is simplistic, but overemphasizing the tremendous differences among natural (or human-altered) systems also can paralyze management. Thoughtful integration of work that recognizes the commonalities of the urban stream syndrome across the globe has benefitted urban stream management. Now we call for a more nuanced understanding of the regional, subregional, and local attributes of any given urban stream and its watershed to advance the physical, chemical, and ecological recovery of these systems.

Essays in Societal System Dynamics and Transportation : Report of the Third Annual Workshop in Urban and Regional Systems Analysis

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-03-01

This document contains the White Papers on urban-regional modeling presented at the Workshop as well as additional research papers aimed at increasing our understanding of the relationships between transportation and society. The ultimate aim is to p...

Cost and Distribution of Hysterectomy and Uterine Artery Embolization in the United States: Regional/Rural/Urban Disparities

PubMed Central

Glass Lewis, Marquisette; Ekúndayò, Olúgbémiga T.

2017-01-01

Hysterectomy, the driving force for symptomatic uterine fibroids since 1895, has decreased over the years, but it is still the number one choice for many women. Since 1995, uterine artery embolization (UAE) has been proven by many researchers to be an effective treatment for uterine fibroids while allowing women to keep their uteri. The preponderance of data collection and research has focused on care quality in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, with little on location and viability related to care utilization, accessibility and physical availability. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the cost of UAE and classical abdominal hysterectomy with regard to race/ethnicity, region, and location. Data from National Hospital Discharge for 2004 through 2008 were accessed and analyzed for uterine artery embolization and hysterectomy. Frequency analyses were performed to determine distribution of variables by race/ethnicity, location, region, insurance coverage, cost and procedure. Based on frequency distributions of cost and length of stay, outliers were trimmed and categorized. Crosstabs were used to determine cost distributions by region, place/location, procedure, race, and primary payer. For abdominal hysterectomy, 9.8% of the sample were performed in rural locations accross the country. However, for UAE, only seven procedures were performed nationally in the same period. Therefore, all inferential analyses and associations for UAE were assumed for urban locations only. The pattern differed from region to region, regarding the volume of care (numbers of cases by location) and care cost. Comparing hysterectomy and UAE, the patterns indicate generally higher costs for UAE with a mean cost difference of $4223.52. Of the hysterectomies performed for fibroids on Black women in the rural setting, 92.08% were in the south. Overall, data analyzed in this examination indicated a significant disparity between rural and urban residence in both data

Cost and Distribution of Hysterectomy and Uterine Artery Embolization in the United States: Regional/Rural/Urban Disparities.

PubMed

Glass Lewis, Marquisette; Ekúndayò, Olúgbémiga T

2017-05-16

Hysterectomy, the driving force for symptomatic uterine fibroids since 1895, has decreased over the years, but it is still the number one choice for many women. Since 1995, uterine artery embolization (UAE) has been proven by many researchers to be an effective treatment for uterine fibroids while allowing women to keep their uteri. The preponderance of data collection and research has focused on care quality in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, with little on location and viability related to care utilization, accessibility and physical availability. The purpose of this study was to determine and compare the cost of UAE and classical abdominal hysterectomy with regard to race/ethnicity, region, and location. Data from National Hospital Discharge for 2004 through 2008 were accessed and analyzed for uterine artery embolization and hysterectomy. Frequency analyses were performed to determine distribution of variables by race/ethnicity, location, region, insurance coverage, cost and procedure. Based on frequency distributions of cost and length of stay, outliers were trimmed and categorized. Crosstabs were used to determine cost distributions by region, place/location, procedure, race, and primary payer. For abdominal hysterectomy, 9.8% of the sample were performed in rural locations accross the country. However, for UAE, only seven procedures were performed nationally in the same period. Therefore, all inferential analyses and associations for UAE were assumed for urban locations only. The pattern differed from region to region, regarding the volume of care (numbers of cases by location) and care cost. Comparing hysterectomy and UAE, the patterns indicate generally higher costs for UAE with a mean cost difference of $4223.52. Of the hysterectomies performed for fibroids on Black women in the rural setting, 92.08% were in the south. Overall, data analyzed in this examination indicated a significant disparity between rural and urban residence in both data

The need for a national urbanization policy in Nepal.

PubMed

Ertur, O

1994-09-01

There is a need for a national urbanization policy in Nepal as a means of redressing regional disparities in development between the hills, the Kathmandu Valley, and the Terai versus rural and urban areas. A settlement system would complement urban and rural development and reduce dependency on India. An urbanization policy would be both systematic and guided by public and private investment in existing urban and rural settlements. Regional investment in development would contribute to commercialization and agricultural industrialization (development and linkage of market towns and service centers, strengthening of basic infrastructure and land use patterns, strengthening of urban areas around transportation centers, promoting nonfarm employment opportunities, establishing strong financial and technical institutions in middle-sized cities, and strengthening municipalities' mobilization of local resources and financing). Nepal has been one of the least developed countries in its region. The agricultural economy provides economic support for 80% of total population. In 1991, density was 130 person per sq. km. 9% of the total population live in urban areas, but the rate of urban growth is the highest among South Asian Regional Cooperation countries (7.3% in Nepal compared to 6.1% in Bangladesh and 3.7% in India). Rural markets and towns are rapidly becoming urbanized but without basic infrastructure. The spatial component of urbanization must be emphasized. Total population increased in the Terai from 37% in 1971 to 47% in 1991, which increased population density by 31% but not cultivation. Harsh physical conditions in mountainous regions and lack of cultivable land are push factors. Pull factors are employment opportunities in emerging urban centers and the availability of agricultural employment in the Terai. Movement to lowlands is enhanced by the eradication of malaria. 53% of the urban population is in the Terai in 1991, which also has 65% of cultivable land, 35

Modeling Urban Energy Savings Scenarios Using Earth System Microclimate and Urban Morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allen, M. R.; Rose, A.; New, J. R.; Yuan, J.; Omitaomu, O.; Sylvester, L.; Branstetter, M. L.; Carvalhaes, T. M.; Seals, M.; Berres, A.

2017-12-01

We analyze and quantify the relationships among climatic conditions, urban morphology, population, land cover, and energy use so that these relationships can be used to inform energy-efficient urban development and planning. We integrate different approaches across three research areas: earth system modeling; impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and urban planning in order to address three major gaps in the existing capability in these areas: i) neighborhood resolution modeling and simulation of urban micrometeorological processes and their effect on and from regional climate; ii) projections for future energy use under urbanization and climate change scenarios identifying best strategies for urban morphological development and energy savings; iii) analysis and visualization tools to help planners optimally use these projections.

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 transitions: on urban resilience and human-dominated ecosystems.

PubMed

Ernstson, Henrik; van der Leeuw, Sander E; Redman, Charles L; Meffert, Douglas J; Davis, George; Alfsen, Christine; Elmqvist, Thomas

2010-12-01

Urbanization is a global multidimensional process paired with increasing uncertainty due to climate change, migration of people, and changes in the capacity to sustain ecosystem services. This article lays a foundation for discussing transitions in urban governance, which enable cities to navigate change, build capacity to withstand shocks, and use experimentation and innovation in face of uncertainty. Using the three concrete case cities--New Orleans, Cape Town, and Phoenix--the article analyzes thresholds and cross-scale interactions, and expands the scale at which urban resilience has been discussed by integrating the idea from geography that cities form part of "system of cities" (i.e., they cannot be seen as single entities). Based on this, the article argues that urban governance need to harness social networks of urban innovation to sustain ecosystem services, while nurturing discourses that situate the city as part of regional ecosystems. The article broadens the discussion on urban resilience while challenging resilience theory when addressing human-dominated ecosystems. Practical examples of harnessing urban innovation are presented, paired with an agenda for research and policy.

Socio-economic status as an environmental factor - incidence of underweight, overweight and obesity in adolescents from less-urbanized regions of Poland.

PubMed

Długosz, Anna; Niedźwiedzka, Ewa; Długosz, Tomasz; Wądołowska, Lidia

2015-01-01

Under-nutrition, over-nutrition and obesity incidence in relation to environmental diversity and socio-economic influences in adolescents from less urbanized regions of Poland has not been widely studied. To determine the correlation between socio-economic status and incidence of underweight, overweight and obesity in adolescents located in less-urbanized regions of Poland. The study involved 553 adolescents aged 13-18 living in 2 less-urbanized regions of Poland (small towns and villages in the central and north-eastern regions). The sample was randomly chosen. The distinguishing determinants of socio-economic status (SES) included 6 features. The SES index (SESI) was calculated. Low, average and high SESI adolescents were distinguished. Using logistic regression, the odds ratio (OR) of underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) and obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) incidence was calculated after BMI conversion using the international cut-off by Cole et al. (2000, 2007). The reference group were adolescents with low SESI (OR=1.00). 11% of the adolescents were underweight, 14% were overweight and 3% were obese. The odds ratio of underweight incidence for the average SESI adolescent was 0.33 (95%CI: 0.15, 0.73; p<0.01) and in high SESI adolescents - 1.05 (95%CI: 0.78, 1.42; p>0.05). The odds ratio of overweight incidence in the average SESI adolescent was 1.73 (95%CI: 0.93, 3.19; p>0.05) and in high SESI adolescents - 1.14 (95%CI: 0.83, 1.57; p>0.05). The odds ratio of obesity incidence in the average SESI adolescent was 0.70 (95%CI: 0.21, 2.34; p>0.05) and in high SESI adolescents - 0.76 (95%CI: 0.40, 1.44; p>0.05). Adjustments for gender, age or region of residence did not significantly change the ORs values or their interpretation. Underweight incidence in adolescents from less urbanized regions of Poland depended on socio-economic status. An adolescent with average socio-economic status was 3 times less likely to be underweight than an adolescent

Removing non-urban roads from the National Land Cover Database to create improved urban maps for the United States, 1992-2011

USGS Publications Warehouse

Soulard, Christopher E.; Acevedo, William; Stehman, Stephen V.

2018-01-01

Quantifying change in urban land provides important information to create empirical models examining the effects of human land use. Maps of developed land from the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) of the conterminous United States include rural roads in the developed land class and therefore overestimate the amount of urban land. To better map the urban class and understand how urban lands change over time, we removed rural roads and small patches of rural development from the NLCD developed class and created four wall-to-wall maps (1992, 2001, 2006, and 2011) of urban land. Removing rural roads from the NLCD developed class involved a multi-step filtering process, data fusion using geospatial road and developed land data, and manual editing. Reference data classified as urban or not urban from a stratified random sample was used to assess the accuracy of the 2001 and 2006 urban and NLCD maps. The newly created urban maps had higher overall accuracy (98.7 percent) than the NLCD maps (96.2 percent). More importantly, the urban maps resulted in lower commission error of the urban class (23 percent versus 57 percent for the NLCD in 2006) with the trade-off of slightly inflated omission error (20 percent for the urban map, 16 percent for NLCD in 2006). The removal of approximately 230,000 km2 of rural roads from the NLCD developed class resulted in maps that better characterize the urban footprint. These urban maps are more suited to modeling applications and policy decisions that rely on quantitative and spatially explicit information regarding urban lands.

URBAN STORMWATER BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE (BMP) RESEARCH

EPA Science Inventory

Presentation on urban best management practice research conducted by the Urban Watershed Research Branch. The presentation to Region 3 started with Branch history, discussed results of recent projects, identified mechanisms for collaboration between ORD and Regions and discussed ...

Ticks and Borrelia in urban and peri-urban green space habitats in a city in southern England.

PubMed

Hansford, Kayleigh M; Fonville, Manoj; Gillingham, Emma L; Coipan, Elena Claudia; Pietzsch, Maaike E; Krawczyk, Aleksandra I; Vaux, Alexander G C; Cull, Benjamin; Sprong, Hein; Medlock, Jolyon M

2017-03-01

Ticks are becoming increasingly recognised as important vectors of pathogens in urban and peri-urban areas, including green space used for recreational activities. In the UK, the risk posed by ticks in such areas is largely unknown. In order to begin to assess the risk of ticks in urban/peri-urban areas in southern England, questing ticks were collected from five different habitat types (grassland, hedge, park, woodland and woodland edge) in a city during the spring, summer and autumn of 2013/2014 and screened for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. In addition, seasonal differences in B. burgdorferi s.l. prevalence were also investigated at a single site during 2015. Ixodes ricinus presence and activity were significantly higher in woodland edge habitat and during spring surveys. DNA of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. was detected in 18.1% of nymphs collected across the 25 sites during 2013 and 2014 and two nymphs also tested positive for the newly emerging tick-borne pathogen B. miyamotoi. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. prevalence at a single site surveyed in 2015 were found to be significantly higher during spring and summer than in autumn, with B. garinii and B. valaisiana most commonly detected. These data indicate that a range of habitats within an urban area in southern England support ticks and that urban Borrelia transmission cycles may exist in some of the urban green spaces included in this study. Sites surveyed were frequently used by humans for recreational activities, providing opportunity for exposure to Borrelia infected ticks in an urban/peri-urban space that might not be typically associated with tick-borne disease transmission. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Recognition memory of newly learned faces.

PubMed

Ishai, Alumit; Yago, Elena

2006-12-11

We used event-related fMRI to study recognition memory of newly learned faces. Caucasian subjects memorized unfamiliar, neutral and happy South Korean faces and 4 days later performed a memory retrieval task in the MR scanner. We predicted that previously seen faces would be recognized faster and more accurately and would elicit stronger neural activation than novel faces. Consistent with our hypothesis, novel faces were recognized more slowly and less accurately than previously seen faces. We found activation in a distributed cortical network that included face-responsive regions in the visual cortex, parietal and prefrontal regions, and the hippocampus. Within all regions, correctly recognized, previously seen faces evoked stronger activation than novel faces. Additionally, in parietal and prefrontal cortices, stronger activation was observed during correct than incorrect trials. Finally, in the hippocampus, false alarms to happy faces elicited stronger responses than false alarms to neutral faces. Our findings suggest that face recognition memory is mediated by stimulus-specific representations stored in extrastriate regions; parietal and prefrontal regions where old and new items are classified; and the hippocampus where veridical memory traces are recovered.

40 CFR 268.38 - Waste specific prohibitions-newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by-product and chlorotoluene... specific prohibitions—newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by-product and chlorotoluene production wastes. (a) Effective December 19, 1994, the wastes specified in 40...

Incremental cancer detection of locoregional restaging with diagnostic mammography combined with whole breast and regional nodal ultrasound in women with newly-diagnosed breast cancer

PubMed Central

Candelaria, Rosalind P.; Huang, Monica L.; Adrada, Beatriz E.; Bassett, Roland; Hunt, Kelly K.; Kuerer, Henry M.; Smith, Benjamin D.; Chavez-MacGregor, Mariana; Yang, Wei Tse

2016-01-01

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES To determine if locoregional restaging with diagnostic mammography and ultrasound of the whole breast and regional nodes performed for quality assurance in women with newly-diagnosed breast cancer referred to a tertiary care center yields incremental cancer detection. MATERIALS AND METHODS An institutional review board-approved retrospective, single institution database review was performed on the first 1000 women referred to our center in 2010 with a provisional breast cancer diagnosis. Locoregional restaging consisted of diagnostic full-field digital mammography combined with ultrasound of the whole breast and regional nodal basins. Bilateral whole breast ultrasound was performed in women with contralateral mammographic abnormality or had heterogeneously or extremely dense parenchyma. Demographic, clinical and pathologic factors were analyzed. RESULTS Final analyses included 401 women. 34% (138/401) of women did not have their outside images available for review upon referral. Median age was 54 years, range 21–92; median tumor size was 2.9 cm, range 0.6–18, for women whose disease was upstaged and 2.2 cm, range 0.4–15, for women whose disease was not upstaged. Incremental cancer detection rates were 15.5% (62/401) in the ipsilateral breast and 3.9% (6/154) in the contralateral breast (p<0.0001). Total upstage rate was 25% (100/401). Surgical management changed from segmentectomy to mastectomy in 12% (50/401). Re-excision rate after segmentectomy was 19% (35/189). CONCLUSION Locoregional restaging with diagnostic mammography combined with whole breast and regional nodal ultrasound that is performed for standardization of the imaging workup for newly-diagnosed breast cancer patients can reduce underestimation of disease burden and impact therapeutic planning. PMID:27955877

Has climate change driven urbanization in Africa?

PubMed

Henderson, J Vernon; Storeygard, Adam; Deichmann, Uwe

2017-01-01

This paper documents strong but differentiated links between climate and urbanization in large panels of districts and cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has dried substantially in the past fifty years. The key dimension of heterogeneity is whether cities are likely to have manufacturing for export outside their regions, as opposed to being exclusively market towns providing local services to agricultural hinterlands. In regions where cities are likely to be manufacturing centers (25% of our sample), drier conditions increase urbanization and total urban incomes. There, urban migration provides an "escape" from negative agricultural moisture shocks. However, in the remaining market towns (75% of our sample), cities just service agriculture. Reduced farm incomes from negative shocks reduce demand for urban services and derived demand for urban labor. There, drying has little impact on urbanization or total urban incomes. Lack of structural transformation in Africa inhibits a better response to climate change.

Introduction: population migration and urbanization in developing countries.

PubMed

Kojima, R

1996-12-01

This introductory article discusses the correlation between migration and rapid urbanization and growth in the largest cities of the developing world. The topics include the characteristics of urbanization, government policies toward population migration, the change in absolute size of the rural population, and the problems of maintaining megacities. Other articles in this special issue are devoted to urbanization patterns in China, South Africa, Iran, Korea and Taiwan as newly industrialized economies (NIEs), informal sectors in the Philippines and Thailand, and low-income settlements in Bogota, Colombia, and India. It is argued that increased urbanization is produced by natural population growth, the expansion of the urban administrative area, and the in-migration from rural areas. A comparison of urbanization rates of countries by per capita gross national product (GNP) reveals that countries with per capita GNP of under US$2000 have urbanization rates of 10-60%. Rates are under 30% in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, China, and Indonesia. Rapid urbanization appears to follow the economic growth curve. The rate of urbanization in Latin America is high enough to be comparable to urbanization in Europe and the US. Taiwan and Korea have high rates of urbanization that surpass the rate of industrialization. Thailand and Malaysia have low rates of urbanization compared to the size of their per capita GNP. Urbanization rates under 20% occur in countries without economic development. Rates between 20% and 50% occur in countries with or without industrialization. East Asian urbanization is progressing along with industrialization. Africa and the Middle East have urbanization without industrialization. In 1990 there were 20 developing countries and 5 developed countries with populations over 5 million. In 10 of 87 developing countries rural population declined in absolute size. The author identifies and discusses four patterns of urban growth.

Remote Sensing of Urban Thermal Landscape Characteristics and Their Affects on Local and Regional Meteorology and Air Quality: An Overview of NASA EOS-IDS Project Atlanta

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quattrochi, Dale A.; Luvall, Jeffrey C.; Estes, Maurice G., Jr.

1999-01-01

As an entity, the city is a manifestation of human "management" of the land. The act of city-building, however, drastically alters the biophysical environment, which ultimately, impacts local and regional land-atmosphere energy exchange processes. Because of the complexity of both the urban landscape and the attendant energy fluxes that result from urbanization, remote sensing offers the only real way to synoptically quantify these processes. One of the more important land-atmosphere fluxes that occurs over cities relates to the way that thermal energy is partitioned across the heterogeneous urban landscape. The individual land cover and surface material types that comprise the city, such as pavements and buildings, each have their own thermal energy regimes. As the collective urban landscape, the individual thermal energy responses from specific surfaces come together to form the urban heat island phenomena, which prevails as a dome of elevated air temperatures over cities. Although the urban heat island has been known to exist for well over 150 years, it is not understood how differences in thermal energy responses for land covers across the city interact to produce this phenomenon, or how the variability in thermal energy responses from different surface types drive its development. Additionally, it can be hypothesized that as cities grow in size through time, so do their urban heat islands. The interrelationships between urban sprawl and the respective growth of the urban heat island, however, have not been investigated. Moreover, little is known of the consequential effects of urban growth, land cover change, and the urban heat island as they impact local and regional meteorology and air quality.

Has climate change driven urbanization in Africa?

PubMed Central

Henderson, J. Vernon; Storeygard, Adam; Deichmann, Uwe

2017-01-01

This paper documents strong but differentiated links between climate and urbanization in large panels of districts and cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has dried substantially in the past fifty years. The key dimension of heterogeneity is whether cities are likely to have manufacturing for export outside their regions, as opposed to being exclusively market towns providing local services to agricultural hinterlands. In regions where cities are likely to be manufacturing centers (25% of our sample), drier conditions increase urbanization and total urban incomes. There, urban migration provides an “escape” from negative agricultural moisture shocks. However, in the remaining market towns (75% of our sample), cities just service agriculture. Reduced farm incomes from negative shocks reduce demand for urban services and derived demand for urban labor. There, drying has little impact on urbanization or total urban incomes. Lack of structural transformation in Africa inhibits a better response to climate change. PMID:28458445

Use of support services in a sample of patients with high-risk primary melanomas in urban, regional and rural Queensland.

PubMed

von Schuckmann, Lena A; Smithers, Bernhard M; Khosrotehrani, Kiarash; Beesley, Vanessa L; van der Pols, Jolieke C; Hughes, Maria B; Green, Adele C

2017-06-01

To characterise use of support services in patients diagnosed with high-risk primary melanoma by their location of residence. In a cross-sectional study of 787 patients with histologically-confirmed clinical stage 1B-2 melanoma, we estimated odds ratios (ORs) using regression models to assess the association of support service use with residence in rural, regional or urban areas. We also evaluated demographic and clinical correlates of support service use. Among 113 rural patients, 33 (29%) used support services around time of diagnosis compared to 88 (39%) of 224 regional participants and 164 of 448 (37%) urban participants. Regional participants more commonly used support services compared to rural participants (OR 1.84; CI 1.09-3.10), but there was no association with urban versus rural residence (OR 1.32; CI 0.82-2.13). As well, females (OR 1.58; CI 1.15-2.18), those <65 years (OR 1.96; CI 1.42-2.71), or with higher education (OR 2.30; CI 1.53-3.44), or those with T-stage 4B (OR 2.69; CI 1.36-5.32) were more likely to use support services than other patients. Use of support services is lower among rural patients and other sub-groups of primary melanoma patients who have poorer prognoses than others. Implications for public health: Appropriate triage to support services is required for rural and other vulnerable patient groups to ensure optimal patient care. © 2017 The Authors.

Newly-formed emotional memories guide selective attention processes: Evidence from event-related potentials.

PubMed

Schupp, Harald T; Kirmse, Ursula; Schmälzle, Ralf; Flaisch, Tobias; Renner, Britta

2016-06-20

Emotional cues can guide selective attention processes. However, emotional stimuli can both activate long-term memory representations reflecting general world knowledge and engage newly formed memory representations representing specific knowledge from the immediate past. Here, the self-completion feature of associative memory was utilized to assess the regulation of attention processes by newly-formed emotional memory. First, new memory representations were formed by presenting pictures depicting a person either in an erotic pose or as a portrait. Afterwards, to activate newly-built memory traces, edited pictures were presented showing only the head region of the person. ERP recordings revealed the emotional regulation of attention by newly-formed memories. Specifically, edited pictures from the erotic compared to the portrait category elicited an early posterior negativity and late positive potential, similar to the findings observed for the original pictures. A control condition showed that the effect was dependent on newly-formed memory traces. Given the large number of new memories formed each day, they presumably make an important contribution to the regulation of attention in everyday life.

Newly-formed emotional memories guide selective attention processes: Evidence from event-related potentials

PubMed Central

Schupp, Harald T.; Kirmse, Ursula; Schmälzle, Ralf; Flaisch, Tobias; Renner, Britta

2016-01-01

Emotional cues can guide selective attention processes. However, emotional stimuli can both activate long-term memory representations reflecting general world knowledge and engage newly formed memory representations representing specific knowledge from the immediate past. Here, the self-completion feature of associative memory was utilized to assess the regulation of attention processes by newly-formed emotional memory. First, new memory representations were formed by presenting pictures depicting a person either in an erotic pose or as a portrait. Afterwards, to activate newly-built memory traces, edited pictures were presented showing only the head region of the person. ERP recordings revealed the emotional regulation of attention by newly-formed memories. Specifically, edited pictures from the erotic compared to the portrait category elicited an early posterior negativity and late positive potential, similar to the findings observed for the original pictures. A control condition showed that the effect was dependent on newly-formed memory traces. Given the large number of new memories formed each day, they presumably make an important contribution to the regulation of attention in everyday life. PMID:27321471

Warming effects on the urban hydrology in cold climate regions.

PubMed

Järvi, L; Grimmond, C S B; McFadden, J P; Christen, A; Strachan, I B; Taka, M; Warsta, L; Heimann, M

2017-07-19

While approximately 338 million people in the Northern hemisphere live in regions that are regularly snow covered in winter, there is little hydro-climatologic knowledge in the cities impacted by snow. Using observations and modelling we have evaluated the energy and water exchanges of four cities that are exposed to wintertime snow. We show that the presence of snow critically changes the impact that city design has on the local-scale hydrology and climate. After snow melt, the cities return to being strongly controlled by the proportion of built and vegetated surfaces. However in winter, the presence of snow masks the influence of the built and vegetated fractions. We show how inter-year variability of wintertime temperature can modify this effect of snow. With increasing temperatures, these cities could be pushed towards very different partitioning between runoff and evapotranspiration. We derive the dependency of wintertime runoff on this warming effect in combination with the effect of urban densification.

Cells, Agents, and Support Vectors in Interaction - Modeling Urban Sprawl based on Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Techniques in a Post-Industrial Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rienow, A.; Menz, G.

2015-12-01

Since the beginning of the millennium, artificial intelligence techniques as cellular automata (CA) and multi-agent systems (MAS) have been incorporated into land-system simulations to address the complex challenges of transitions in urban areas as open, dynamic systems. The study presents a hybrid modeling approach for modeling the two antagonistic processes of urban sprawl and urban decline at once. The simulation power of support vector machines (SVM), cellular automata (CA) and multi-agent systems (MAS) are integrated into one modeling framework and applied to the largest agglomeration of Central Europe: the Ruhr. A modified version of SLEUTH (short for Slope, Land-use, Exclusion, Urban, Transport, and Hillshade) functions as the CA component. SLEUTH makes use of historic urban land-use data sets and growth coefficients for the purpose of modeling physical urban expansion. The machine learning algorithm of SVM is applied in order to enhance SLEUTH. Thus, the stochastic variability of the CA is reduced and information about the human and ecological forces driving the local suitability of urban sprawl is incorporated. Subsequently, the supported CA is coupled with the MAS ReHoSh (Residential Mobility and the Housing Market of Shrinking City Systems). The MAS models population patterns, housing prices, and housing demand in shrinking regions based on interactions between household and city agents. Semi-explicit urban weights are introduced as a possibility of modeling from and to the pixel simultaneously. Three scenarios of changing housing preferences reveal the urban development of the region in terms of quantity and location. They reflect the dissemination of sustainable thinking among stakeholders versus the steady dream of owning a house in sub- and exurban areas. Additionally, the outcomes are transferred into a digital petri dish reflecting a synthetic environment with perfect conditions of growth. Hence, the generic growth elements affecting the future

2009 urban mobility report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-07-01

Congestion is a problem in Americas 439 urban areas, and it has gotten worse in regions of all : sizes. In 2007, congestion caused urban Americans to travel 4.2 billion hours more and to : purchase an extra 2.8 billion gallons of fuel for a conges...

Census Cities Project and atlas of urban and regional change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wray, J. R.

1970-01-01

The research design and imagery utilization for urban applications of remote sensing are reviewed, including the combined use of sensor and census data and aircraft and spacecraft sensor platforms. The related purposes of the Census Cities Project are elucidated: (1) to assess the role of remote sensors on high altitude platforms for comparative study of urban areas; (2) to detect changes in selected U.S. urban areas between the 1970 census and the time of launching of an earth-orbiting sensor platform prior to next census; (3) to test the satellite sensor platform utility to monitor urban change and serve as a control for sensor image interpretation; (4) to design an information system for incorporating graphic sensor data with census-type data gathered by traditional techniques; (5) to identify and to design user-oriented end-products or information services; and (6) to ascertain what organizational capability would be needed to provide such services on a continuing basis. A need to develop not only a spatial data information system, but also a methodology for detecting and interpreting change is implied.

Urban-rural and regional variability in the prevalence of food insecurity: the survey of the health of Wisconsin.

PubMed

Guerrero, Natalie; Walsh, Matthew C; Malecki, Kristen C; Nieto, F Javier

2014-08-01

Food insecurity is a public health concern estimated to affect 18 million American households nationally, which can result in chronic nutritional deficiencies and other health risks. The relationships between food insecurity and specific demographic and geographic factors in Wisconsin are not well documented. The goals of this paper are to investigate sociodemographic and geographic features associated with food insecurity in a representative sample of Wisconsin adults. This study used data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW). SHOW annually collects health-related data on a representative sample of Wisconsin residents. Between 2008-2012, 2,947 participants were enrolled in the SHOW study. The presence of food insecurity was defined based on the participant's affirmative answer to the question "In the last 12 months, have you been concerned about having enough food for you or your family?" After adjustment for age, race, and gender, 13.2% (95% CI, 10.8%-15.1%) of participants reported food insecurity, 56.7% (95% CI, 50.6%-62.7%) of whom were female. Food insecurity did not statistically differ by region (P = 0.30). The adjusted prevalence of food insecurity in the urban core, other urban, and rural areas was 14.1%, 6.5%, and 10.5%, respectively. These differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.13) and, for urban core and rural areas, persisted even when accounting for level of economic hardship in the community. The prevalence of food insecurity is substantial, affecting an estimated 740,000 or more Wisconsin residents. The prevalence was similarly high in all urbanicity levels and across all state public health regions in Wisconsin. Food insecurity is a common problem with potentially serious health consequences affecting populations across the entire state.

Growth and development in school-age children from Rostov region, Russia: Comparison between urban and rural settings.

PubMed

Voynov, V B; Kulba, S N; Arapova, Yu Yu

2017-12-01

The purposes of the current study were: (1) to describe growth and physical development and establish norms for schoolchildren from Rostov region in Russia; (2) to compare major characteristics of development between urban and rural children by sex and age. Nearly 200,000 children (198,712) aged between 7 and 17 years from 232 urban and rural schools of Rostov region (Southern Federal District of Russia) participated in the study. School age is a period of intensive growth and physiological and psychological development. Irregularities of personal development are caused by a multitude of factors, such as sex differences, heredity, socio-economic status of a family, standard of living, particular environmental conditions, and lifestyle. It has been established that children from the Southern Federal District of Russia had body mass index values higher than age-appropriate norms for all Russians (Total Russian, Rudnev et al., 2014) and World Health Organization charts. Children from urban settings were taller and heavier than children from rural settings. Sex is one of the most influential factors which play key role in determining specific characteristics of growth and personal development. According to our results, boys and girls both had similar age-related changes in weight and height, but their respective dynamics differed. Girls' height and weight values accelerated at the age 10 to 12 years and plateaued after the age fourteen, whereas in boys height and weight steadily increased with age, showing slight acceleration at the age 12 to 13 years, and reached a plateau by the age of seventeen. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Oral Cancer Knowledge Assessment: Newly Graduated versus Senior Dental Clinicians

PubMed Central

Salgado de Souza, Ricardo; Gallego Arias Pecorari, Vanessa; Lauria Dib, Luciano

2018-01-01

The present study assessed the level of dentists' knowledge regarding oral cancer in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. A questionnaire was used to compare the level of knowledge among newly graduated and senior clinicians. A total of 20,154 e-mails were correctly delivered to the dentists registered in the database of the Regional Dentistry Council of São Paulo, and 477 (2.36%) responses were received. This sample consisted of 84 newly graduated clinicians and 105 senior clinicians. For the statistical analysis, the chi-square test and the logistic regression analysis were performed with α = 0.05, and the results were described herein. According to their knowledge level, the results were statistically different between the groups, since 19% of the newly graduated clinicians were evaluated with knowledge grade A (excellent) in comparison to 6.7% of the senior clinicians. In spite of the results indicated that newly graduated clinicians' knowledge regarding oral cancer was 2.1 times higher, 34.5% of the professionals in this group had regular or poor knowledge on the subject, and several questions relating to clinical characteristics and risk factors indicated that there still exist some knowledge gaps, demonstrating that there is a need for further studies and information activities addressing oral cancer. PMID:29666649

Incremental Cancer Detection of Locoregional Restaging with Diagnostic Mammography Combined with Whole-Breast and Regional Nodal Ultrasound in Women with Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer.

PubMed

Candelaria, Rosalind P; Huang, Monica L; Adrada, Beatriz E; Bassett, Roland; Hunt, Kelly K; Kuerer, Henry M; Smith, Benjamin D; Chavez-MacGregor, Mariana; Yang, Wei Tse

2017-02-01

This study aims to determine if locoregional restaging with diagnostic mammography and ultrasound (US) of the whole breast and regional nodes performed for quality assurance in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer who were referred to a tertiary care center yields incremental cancer detection. An institutional review board-approved retrospective, single-institution database review was performed on the first 1000 women referred to our center in 2010 with a provisional breast cancer diagnosis. Locoregional restaging consisted of diagnostic full-field digital mammography combined with US of the whole breast and regional nodal basins. Bilateral whole-breast US was performed in women with contralateral mammographic abnormality or had heterogeneously or extremely dense parenchyma. Demographic, clinical, and pathologic factors were analyzed. Final analyses included 401 women. Of the 401 women, 138 (34%) did not have their outside images available for review upon referral. The median age was 54 years (range 21-92); the median tumor size was 2.9 cm (range 0.6-18.0) for women whose disease was upstaged and 2.2 cm (range 0.4-15.0) for women whose disease was not upstaged. Incremental cancer detection rates were 15.5% (62 of 401) in the ipsilateral breast and 3.9% (6 of 154) in the contralateral breast (P < 0.0001). The total upstage rate was 25% (100 of 401). Surgical management changed from segmentectomy to mastectomy in 12% (50 of 401). The re-excision rate after segmentectomy was 19% (35 of 189). Locoregional restaging with diagnostic mammography combined with whole-breast and regional nodal US that is performed for standardization of the imaging workup for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients can reduce underestimation of disease burden and impact therapeutic planning. Copyright © 2017 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Urban malaria transmission in a non-endemic area in the Andean region of Colombia

PubMed Central

Chaparro, Pablo E; Molina, Karen; Alzate, Alberto; Padilla, Julio; Arévalo-Herrera, Myriam; Herrera, Sócrates

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND Rapid urbanisation in difficult socio-economic conditions such as inadequate housing infrastructure, lack of public services, improper sanitation, and poor water drainage systems in vegetation-rich areas lead to ecological conditions that are conducive to the breeding of mosquitoes and transmission of malaria, in semi-urban and urban settings. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to describe the cases of malaria that were reported in the peri-urban areas of Pereira (Colombia), between 2008 and 2015. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted using data from the Malaria Surveillance System 2009-2015 and an outbreak study (between December 2008 and March 2009). Frequency distributions and summary measures, as well as univariate analysis were performed for all the variables in consideration. The annual parasite index (API) was calculated. FINDINGS Data on 214 cases were obtained from the surveillance system. A majority of the cases were reported in men (63.1%), followed by in children < 15 years (23.8%), and were caused predominantly by Plasmodium vivax (86.0%), with most of the infection occurring in the urban areas (52.8%) of Pereira. The API, by sex and age group, was higher among men ≥ 80 years. The outbreak study reported 14 cases of malaria in rural/peri-urban neighborhoods, and it was observed that the anopheline breeding sites were in close proximity to the houses in these areas. This population did not use protective measures against mosquitoes and chemical control was conducted through residual and spatial insecticide spraying. MAIN CONCLUSIONS This study suggested the presence of autochthonous malaria transmission, in Pereira, between 2008 and 2015, most of which were cases of P. vivax. A greater intensity was observed between 2008 and 2009 when malaria was possibly reintroduced to the region. During the years of the study, a gradual decrease in the number of reported cases of malaria was observed in Pereira, except for the time period between 2008 and

Impacts of urbanization on Indian summer monsoon rainfall extremes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shastri, Hiteshri; Paul, Supantha; Ghosh, Subimal; Karmakar, Subhankar

2015-01-01

areas have different climatology with respect to their rural surroundings. Though urbanization is a worldwide phenomenon, it is especially prevalent in India, where urban areas have experienced an unprecedented rate of growth over the last 30 years. Here we take up an observational study to understand the influence of urbanization on the characteristics of precipitation (specifically extremes) in India. We identify 42 urban regions and compare their extreme rainfall characteristics with those of surrounding rural areas. We observe that, on an overall scale, the urban signatures on extreme rainfall are not prominently and consistently visible, but they are spatially nonuniform. Zonal analysis reveals significant impacts of urbanization on extreme rainfall in central and western regions of India. An additional examination, to understand the influences of urbanization on heavy rainfall climatology, is carried with station level data using a statistical method, quantile regression. This is performed for the most populated city of India, Mumbai, in pair with a nearby nonurban area, Alibaug; both having similar geographic location. The derived extreme rainfall regression quantiles reveal the sensitivity of extreme rainfall events to the increased urbanization. Overall the study identifies the climatological zones in India, where increased urbanization affects regional rainfall pattern and extremes, with a detailed case study of Mumbai. This also calls attention to the need of further experimental investigation, for the identification of the key climatological processes, in different regions of India, affected by increased urbanization.

Analysis of Urban Terrain Data for Use in the Development of an Urban Camouflage Pattern

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-01

the entire lightness gamut , but concentrated in the red, orange, yellow and neutral regions of color space. 20. DISTRIBUTION I AVAILABILITY OF...le·nents grouped by color. ) Summary of Scenes Filmed for Urban Camouflage Study. 01Jtirnum Number of Do·nains Separated by Type; Sele:::ted CIELAB ...Values for All Urban Scenes. Selected CIELAB Values for Type I Urban Scenes. Selected CIELAB Values for Type II Urban Scenes. v Page 3 6 7 8 9

40 CFR 268.38 - Waste specific prohibitions-newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by-product and chlorotoluene... specific prohibitions—newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by... numbers F037, F038, K107-K112, K117, K118, K123-K126, K131, K132, K136, U328, U353, U359, and soil and...

40 CFR 268.38 - Waste specific prohibitions-newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by-product and chlorotoluene... specific prohibitions—newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by... numbers F037, F038, K107-K112, K117, K118, K123-K126, K131, K132, K136, U328, U353, U359, and soil and...

40 CFR 268.38 - Waste specific prohibitions-newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by-product and chlorotoluene... specific prohibitions—newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by... numbers F037, F038, K107-K112, K117, K118, K123-K126, K131, K132, K136, U328, U353, U359, and soil and...

40 CFR 268.38 - Waste specific prohibitions-newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by-product and chlorotoluene... specific prohibitions—newly identified organic toxicity characteristic wastes and newly listed coke by... numbers F037, F038, K107-K112, K117, K118, K123-K126, K131, K132, K136, U328, U353, U359, and soil and...

Impact of Urbanization on Precipitation Distribution and Intensity over Lake Victoria Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gudoshava, M.; Semazzi, F. H. M.

2014-12-01

In this study, sensitivity simulations on the impact of rapid urbanization over Lake Victoria Basin in East Africa were done using a Regional Climate Model (RegCM4.4-rc29) with the Hostetler lake model activated. The simulations were done for the rainy seasons that is the long rains (March-April-May) and short rains (October-November-December). Africa is projected to have a surge in urbanization with an approximate rate of 590% in 2030 over their 2000 levels. The Northern part of Lake Victoria Basin and some parts of Rwanda and Burundi are amongst the regions with high urbanization projections. Simulations were done with the land cover for 2000 and the projected 2030 urbanization levels. The results showed that increasing the urban fraction over the northern part of the basin modified the physical parameters such as albedo, moisture and surface energy fluxes, aerodynamic roughness and surface emissivity, thereby altering the precipitation distribution, intensity and frequency in the region. The change in the physical parameters gave a response of an average increase in temperature of approximately 2oC over the urbanized region. A strong convergence zone was formed over the urbanized region and thereby accelerating the lake-breeze front towards the urbanized region center. Precipitation in the urbanized region and regions immediate to the area increased by approximately 4mm/day, while drying up the southern (non-urbanized) side of the basin. The drying up of the southern side of the basin could be a result of divergent flow and subsidence that suppresses vertical development of storms.

Evaluating climate variables, indexes and thresholds governing Arctic urban sustainability: case study of Russian permafrost regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anisimov, O. A.; Kokorev, V.

2013-12-01

Addressing Arctic urban sustainability today forces planners to deal with the complex interplay of multiple factors, including governance and economic development, demography and migration, environmental changes and land use, changes in the ecosystems and their services, and climate change. While the latter can be seen as a factor that exacerbates the existing vulnerabilities to other stressors, changes in temperature, precipitation, snow, river and lake ice, and the hydrological regime also have direct implications for the cities in the North. Climate change leads to reduced demand for heating energy, on one hand, and heightened concerns about the fate of the infrastructure built upon thawing permafrost, on the other. Changes in snowfall are particularly important and have direct implications for the urban economy, as together with heating costs, expenses for snow removal from streets, airport runways, roofs and ventilation corridors underneath buildings erected on pile foundations on permafrost constitute the bulk of the city's maintenance budget. Many cities are located in river valleys and are prone to flooding that leads to enormous economic losses and casualties, including human deaths. The severity of the northern climate has direct implications for demographic changes governed by regional migration and labor flows. Climate could thus be viewed as an inexhaustible public resource that creates opportunities for sustainable urban development. Long-term trends show that climate as a resource is becoming more readily available in the Russian North, notwithstanding the general perception that globally climate change is one of the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. In this study we explore the sustainability of the Arctic urban environment under changing climatic conditions. We identify key governing variables and indexes and study the thresholds beyond which changes in the governing climatic parameters have significant impact on the economy

Effects of urbanization on climate of İstanbul and Ankara

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karaca, Mehmet; Tayanç, Mete; Toros, Hüseyi˙n.

The purpose of this work is to study regional climate change and investigate the effects of urbanization on climates of two largest cities in Turkey: İstanbul and Ankara. Air temperature (mean, maximum and minimum) data of İstanbul and Ankara are analyzed to study regional climate change and to understand the possible effects of urbanization on the climate of these regions owing to industrialization and large flux of migration from rural parts of the country. For the trend analysis, linear regression and the sequential version of the Mann-Kendall test is used. A significant upward trend is found in the urban temperatures of southern İstanbul, which is the most highly populated and industrialized part of the city compared to its rural parts. Northern stations do not show any warming trend; instead, they have a cooling trend. Urbanization and industrialization in the southern part of İstanbul has a negative effect on regional cooling. In spite of Ankara's urban geometry and air pollution problem, the urban station in Ankara does not show any warming trend. A significant urban heat island intensity ( urban-rural) is not observed in Ankara.

Baltimore Urban Waters Partnership Conceptual Framework

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Patapsco Watershed/Baltimore Region (Maryland) Area of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) reconnects urban communities with their waterways by improving coordination among federal agencies and collaborating with community-led efforts.

Role Assessment of GIS Analysis and its Reliability while Ranking Urban Sustainability Using Scenarios Specific to Regional Climate, Community and Culture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salmi, H. Al; Abdulmuttalib, H. M.

2012-07-01

sustainability using different indicator metrics, that implement vector GIS Analysis and Raster GIS analysis as basic tools to assist the evaluation and increase of its reliability besides assessing and decomposing it, after which a hypothetical implementation of the chosen evaluation model represented by various scenarios was implemented on the planned urban sustainability factors for a certain period of time to appraise the expected future grade of urban sustainability and come out with advises associated with scenarios for assuring gap filling and relative high urban future sustainability. The results this paper is reflecting are concentrating on the elements of vector and raster GIS analysis that assists the proper urban sustainability grading within the chosen model, the reliability of spatial data collected; analysis selected and resulted spatial information. Starting from selecting some important indicators to comprise the model which include regional culture, climate and community needs an example of what was used is Energy Demand & Consumption (Cooling systems). Thus, this factor is related to the climate and it's regional specific as the temperature varies around 30-45 degrees centigrade in city areas, GIS 3D Polygons of building data used to analyse the volume of buildings, attributes "building heights", estimate the number of floors from the equation, following energy demand was calculated and consumption for the unit volume, and compared it in scenario with possible sustainable energy supply or using different environmental friendly cooling systems this is followed by calculating the cooling system effects on an area unit selected to be 1 sq. km, combined with the level of greenery area, and open space, as represented by parks polygons, trees polygons, empty areas, pedestrian polygons and road surface area polygons. (initial measures showed that cooling system consumption can be reduced by around 15-20% with a well-planned building distributions, proper spaces and

A spatial multi-objective optimization model for sustainable urban wastewater system layout planning.

PubMed

Dong, X; Zeng, S; Chen, J

2012-01-01

Design of a sustainable city has changed the traditional centralized urban wastewater system towards a decentralized or clustering one. Note that there is considerable spatial variability of the factors that affect urban drainage performance including urban catchment characteristics. The potential options are numerous for planning the layout of an urban wastewater system, which are associated with different costs and local environmental impacts. There is thus a need to develop an approach to find the optimal spatial layout for collecting, treating, reusing and discharging the municipal wastewater of a city. In this study, a spatial multi-objective optimization model, called Urban wastewateR system Layout model (URL), was developed. It is solved by a genetic algorithm embedding Monte Carlo sampling and a series of graph algorithms. This model was illustrated by a case study in a newly developing urban area in Beijing, China. Five optimized system layouts were recommended to the local municipality for further detailed design.

Urban Modification of Convection and Rainfall in Complex Terrain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2018-03-01

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

District-level local measuring program of the urban environment in Budapest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dian, Csenge; Pongrácz, Rita; Dezsö, Zsuzsanna; Bartholy, Judit

2016-04-01

The natural environment and thus, the climatic conditions are modified by the concentrated human presence of urban areas. In our research we aim to analyze the resulting urban climatic effects in a downtown district of Budapest, Hungary. For this purpose, we have started a measuring program of in-situ measurements in the southern central located district called Ferencváros, which can be found near the river Danube, and mainly consists of 3- and 4-storey older and newly built buildings. The newly built buildings are mainly the results of the Ferencváros local government's efforts to improve the environment for the citizens. Within the framework of the block rehabilitation program, inner parts of the old house blocks were demolished, and inside the blocks common green areas have been created. In our urban climate measurement program air temperature and relative humidity are recorded along a pre-defined path consisting of 22 measuring points, which covers the studied area. The measuring sites are located in different characteristical points of the district, such as green parks, narrow streets, paved squares and roads. In order to calculate the urban heat island intensity, temperature measurements are compared to the hourly recorded data of the Budapest synoptic station (ID number: 12843) located in the southeastern suburb district of the city. After completing an entire year of measurements, the seasonal cycle of temperature and relative humidity differences are analyzed as well, as the diurnal changes and the spatial structure within the study area.

Global typology of urban energy use and potentials for an urbanization mitigation wedge

PubMed Central

Creutzig, Felix; Baiocchi, Giovanni; Bierkandt, Robert; Pichler, Peter-Paul; Seto, Karen C.

2015-01-01

The aggregate potential for urban mitigation of global climate change is insufficiently understood. Our analysis, using a dataset of 274 cities representing all city sizes and regions worldwide, demonstrates that economic activity, transport costs, geographic factors, and urban form explain 37% of urban direct energy use and 88% of urban transport energy use. If current trends in urban expansion continue, urban energy use will increase more than threefold, from 240 EJ in 2005 to 730 EJ in 2050. Our model shows that urban planning and transport policies can limit the future increase in urban energy use to 540 EJ in 2050 and contribute to mitigating climate change. However, effective policies for reducing urban greenhouse gas emissions differ with city type. The results show that, for affluent and mature cities, higher gasoline prices combined with compact urban form can result in savings in both residential and transport energy use. In contrast, for developing-country cities with emerging or nascent infrastructures, compact urban form, and transport planning can encourage higher population densities and subsequently avoid lock-in of high carbon emission patterns for travel. The results underscore a significant potential urbanization wedge for reducing energy use in rapidly urbanizing Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. PMID:25583508

Does rural or urban residence make a difference to neonatal outcome in premature birth? A regional study in Australia.

PubMed

Abdel-Latif, M E; Bajuk, B; Oei, J; Vincent, T; Sutton, L; Lui, K

2006-07-01

Patients living in rural areas may be at a disadvantage in accessing tertiary health care. To test the hypothesis that very premature infants born to mothers residing in rural areas have poorer outcomes than those residing in urban areas in the state of New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) despite a coordinated referral and transport system. "Rural" or "urban" status was based on the location of maternal residence. Perinatal characteristics, major morbidity and case mix adjusted mortality were compared between 1879 rural and 6775 urban infants <32 weeks gestational age, born in 1992-2002 and admitted to all 10 neonatal intensive care units in NSW and ACT. Rural mothers were more likely to be teenaged, indigenous, and to have had a previous premature birth, prolonged ruptured membrane, and antenatal corticosteroid. Urban mothers were more likely to have had assisted conception and a caesarean section. More urban (93% v 83%) infants were born in a tertiary obstetric hospital. Infants of rural residence had a higher mortality (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07 to 1.48, p = 0.005). This trend was consistently seen in all subgroups and significantly for the tertiary hospital born population and the 30-31 weeks gestation subgroup. Regional birth data in this gestational age range also showed a higher stillbirth rate among rural infants (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.32, p<0.001). Premature births from rural mothers have a higher risk of stillbirth and mortality in neonatal intensive care than urban infants.

Rates, trends, causes, and consequences of urban land-use change in the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Acevedo, William; Taylor, Janis L.; Hester, Dave J.; Mladinich, Carol S.; Glavac, Sonya

2006-01-01

. Other economic and political incentives that shaped the urban environment included Federally backed home loans, credit and tax mechanisms that encouraged new development, and less restrictive municipal ordinances regarding building codes, environmental laws, and zoning regulations.Throughout the past two centuries land use changes associated with increasing urbanization have had impacts that resonate at local, regional, and even national scales. Landscape changes resulting from urbanization can be mapped and studied over time. Understanding these changes requires a study of the causes of change as related to social, economic, and political influences. Understanding these changes also requires analysis of how urbanization physically spreads across the landscape. The knowledge gained from studying urban land-use change can be helpful when it flows into local, regional, and national decisionmaking that relates to land-use decisions that impact the people, the economy, and the environment. Deriving a correlation between physical change and the explanations of the causes of change can help anticipate and mitigate the impacts of future change.Throughout the past two centuries changes to the Nation's urban areas are inextricably linked to population changes. The Nation's population started growing slowly along the eastern seaboard during the 17th and 18th centuries, accelerated in the second half of the 19th century, and then continued steadily spreading westward throughout the next hundred years. Currently, nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population resides in urban areas. Land area dedicated to urban use continues to expand, although differently than it has in the past. Most newly urbanized areas are much less densely populated and less intensively developed than they were 50 to 100 years ago.

Oral Health Inequalities between Rural and Urban Populations of the African and Middle East Region.

PubMed

Ogunbodede, E O; Kida, I A; Madjapa, H S; Amedari, M; Ehizele, A; Mutave, R; Sodipo, B; Temilola, S; Okoye, L

2015-07-01

Although there have been major improvements in oral health, with remarkable advances in the prevention and management of oral diseases, globally, inequalities persist between urban and rural communities. These inequalities exist in the distribution of oral health services, accessibility, utilization, treatment outcomes, oral health knowledge and practices, health insurance coverage, oral health-related quality of life, and prevalence of oral diseases, among others. People living in rural areas are likely to be poorer, be less health literate, have more caries, have fewer teeth, have no health insurance coverage, and have less money to spend on dental care than persons living in urban areas. Rural areas are often associated with lower education levels, which in turn have been found to be related to lower levels of health literacy and poor use of health care services. These factors have an impact on oral health care, service delivery, and research. Hence, unmet dental care remains one of the most urgent health care needs in these communities. We highlight some of the conceptual issues relating to urban-rural inequalities in oral health, especially in the African and Middle East Region (AMER). Actions to reduce oral health inequalities and ameliorate rural-urban disparity are necessary both within the health sector and the wider policy environment. Recommended actions include population-specific oral health promotion programs, measures aimed at increasing access to oral health services in rural areas, integration of oral health into existing primary health care services, and support for research aimed at informing policy on the social determinants of health. Concerted efforts must be made by all stakeholders (governments, health care workforce, organizations, and communities) to reduce disparities and improve oral health outcomes in underserved populations. © International & American Associations for Dental Research 2015.

Urban Dynamics: Analyzing Land Use Change in Urban Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Acevedo, William; Richards, Lora R.; Buchanan, Janis T.; Wegener, Whitney R.

2000-01-01

In FY99, the Earth Resource Observation System (EROS) staff at Ames continued managing the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Urban Dynamics Research program, which has mapping and analysis activities at five USGS mapping centers. Historic land use reconstruction work continued while activities in geographic analysis and modeling were expanded. Retrospective geographic information system (GIS) development - the spatial reconstruction of a region's urban land-use history - focused on the Detroit River Corridor, California's Central Valley, and the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Census Cities Project and Atlas of Urban and Regional Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wray, J. R.

1971-01-01

The Census Cities Project has several related purposes: (1) to assess the role of remote sensors on high altitude platforms for the comparative study of urban areas; (2) to detect changes in selected U.S. urban areas between the 1970 census and the time of launching of an earth-orbiting sensor platform prior to the next census; (3) to test the utility of the satellite sensor platform to monitor urban change (When the 1970 census returns become available for small areas, they will serve as a control for sensor image interpretation.); (4) to design an information system for incorporating graphic sensor data with census-type data gathered by traditional techniques; (5) to identify and design user-oriented end-products or information services; and (6) to plan an effective organizational capability to provide such services on a continuing basis.

A Study on Urban Road Traffic Safety Based on Matter Element Analysis

PubMed Central

Hu, Qizhou; Zhou, Zhuping; Sun, Xu

2014-01-01

This paper examines a new evaluation of urban road traffic safety based on a matter element analysis, avoiding the difficulties found in other traffic safety evaluations. The issue of urban road traffic safety has been investigated through the matter element analysis theory. The chief aim of the present work is to investigate the features of urban road traffic safety. Emphasis was placed on the construction of a criterion function by which traffic safety achieved a hierarchical system of objectives to be evaluated. The matter element analysis theory was used to create the comprehensive appraisal model of urban road traffic safety. The technique was used to employ a newly developed and versatile matter element analysis algorithm. The matter element matrix solves the uncertainty and incompatibility of the evaluated factors used to assess urban road traffic safety. The application results showed the superiority of the evaluation model and a didactic example was included to illustrate the computational procedure. PMID:25587267

Active faults newly identified in Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcerak, Ernie

2012-05-01

The Bellingham Basin, which lies north of Seattle and south of Vancouver around the border between the United States and Canada in the northern part of the Cascadia subduction zone, is important for understanding the regional tectonic setting and current high rates of crustal deformation in the Pacific Northwest. Using a variety of new data, Kelsey et al. identified several active faults in the Bellingham Basin that had not been previously known. These faults lie more than 60 kilometers farther north of the previously recognized northern limit of active faulting in the area. The authors note that the newly recognized faults could produce earthquakes with magnitudes between 6 and 6.5 and thus should be considered in hazard assessments for the region. (Journal of Geophysical Reserch-Solid Earth, doi:10.1029/2011JB008816, 2012)

Contributions to Global Augmented Compound Urban Heat Extreme (ACUTE) from Climate Change and the Urban Heat Island Effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, K.

2017-12-01

Over the next decades, climate change is projected to increase the intensity and frequency of extreme heat events (EHEs). The severity and periodicity of these hazards are likely to be further compounded by stronger urban heat island (UHI) effects as the world continues to urbanize. However, there is little known about how greenhouse gases (GHG) induced changes in EHE will interact with UHI, and what this will mean for the exposure of urban populations to high temperature. This work aims to fill this knowledge gap by combining a mesoscale meteorological model (Weather Research Forecasting, WRF) with a global urban expansion forecast, to generate spatially explicit projections of compound urban temperature extremes through 2050. These global projections include all the urban areas in developing world. The respective contributions from GHG-induced climate change, the UHI effect, and their interaction vary across different types of urban areas. The resulting compound heat extremes will be more intense and frequent in emerging Asian and African mega urban regions, located in tropical/subtropical climates, due to their unprecedented sizes and the significantly reduced evaporation. Previous studies neglecting the interaction between global climate change and regional UHI effect have underestimated exposure to heat extremes in urban areas.

A modeling study on the effect of urban land surface forcing to regional meteorology and air quality over South China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Kuanguang; Xie, Min; Wang, Tijian; Cai, Junxiong; Li, Songbing; Feng, Wen

2017-03-01

The change of land-use from natural to artificial surface induced by urban expansion can deeply impact the city environment. In this paper, the model WRF/Chem is applied to explore the effect of this change on regional meteorology and air quality over South China, where people have witnessed a rapid rate of urbanization. Two sets of urban maps are adopted to stand for the pre-urbanization and the present urban land-use distributions. Month-long simulations are conducted for January and July, 2014. The results show that urban expansion can obviously change the weather conditions around the big cities of South China. Especially in the Pearl River Delta region (PRD), the urban land-use change can increase the sensible heat flux by 40 W/m2 in January and 80 W/m2 in July, while decrease the latent heat flux about -50 W/m2 in January and -120 W/m2 in July. In the consequent, 2-m air temperature (T2) increases as much as 1 °C and 2 °C (respective to January and July), planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) rises up by 100-150 m and 300 m, 10-m wind speed (WS10) decreases by -1.2 m/s and -0.3 m/s, and 2-m specific humidity is reduced by -0.8 g/kg and -1.5 g/kg. Also, the precipitation in July can be increased as much as 120 mm, with more heavy rains and rainstorms. These variations of meteorological factors can significantly impact the spatial and vertical distribution of air pollutants as well. In PRD, the enhanced updraft can reduce the surface concentrations of PM10 by -40 μg/m3 (30%) in January and -80 μg/m3 (50%) in July, but produce a correlating increase in the concentrations at higher atmospheric layers. However, according to the increase in T2 and the decrease in surface NO, the surface concentrations of O3 in PRD can increase by 2-6 ppb in January and 8-12 ppb in July. Meanwhile, there is a significant increase in the O3 concentrations at upper layers above PRD, which should be attributed to the increase in air temperature and the enhanced upward transport of

Adjustment of regional regression equations for urban storm-runoff quality using at-site data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barks, C.S.

1996-01-01

Regional regression equations have been developed to estimate urban storm-runoff loads and mean concentrations using a national data base. Four statistical methods using at-site data to adjust the regional equation predictions were developed to provide better local estimates. The four adjustment procedures are a single-factor adjustment, a regression of the observed data against the predicted values, a regression of the observed values against the predicted values and additional local independent variables, and a weighted combination of a local regression with the regional prediction. Data collected at five representative storm-runoff sites during 22 storms in Little Rock, Arkansas, were used to verify, and, when appropriate, adjust the regional regression equation predictions. Comparison of observed values of stormrunoff loads and mean concentrations to the predicted values from the regional regression equations for nine constituents (chemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, total nitrogen as N, total ammonia plus organic nitrogen as N, total phosphorus as P, dissolved phosphorus as P, total recoverable copper, total recoverable lead, and total recoverable zinc) showed large prediction errors ranging from 63 percent to more than several thousand percent. Prediction errors for 6 of the 18 regional regression equations were less than 100 percent and could be considered reasonable for water-quality prediction equations. The regression adjustment procedure was used to adjust five of the regional equation predictions to improve the predictive accuracy. For seven of the regional equations the observed and the predicted values are not significantly correlated. Thus neither the unadjusted regional equations nor any of the adjustments were appropriate. The mean of the observed values was used as a simple estimator when the regional equation predictions and adjusted predictions were not appropriate.

A new urban landscape in East-Southeast Asia, 2000-2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, A.; Mertes, C. M.; Tatem, A. J.; Tan, B.; Sulla-Menashe, D.; Graves, S. J.; Patel, N. N.; Horton, J. A.; Gaughan, A. E.; Rollo, J. T.; Schelly, I. H.; Stevens, F. R.; Dastur, A.

2015-03-01

East-Southeast Asia is currently one of the fastest urbanizing regions in the world, with countries such as China climbing from 20 to 50% urbanized in just a few decades. By 2050, these countries are projected to add 1 billion people, with 90% of that growth occurring in cities. This population shift parallels an equally astounding amount of built-up land expansion. However, spatially-and temporally-detailed information on regional-scale changes in urban land or population distribution do not exist; previous efforts have been either sample-based, focused on one country, or drawn conclusions from datasets with substantial temporal/spatial mismatch and variability in urban definitions. Using consistent methodology, satellite imagery and census data for >1000 agglomerations in the East-Southeast Asian region, we show that urban land increased >22% between 2000 and 2010 (from 155 000 to 189 000 km2), an amount equivalent to the area of Taiwan, while urban populations climbed >31% (from 738 to 969 million). Although urban land expanded at unprecedented rates, urban populations grew more rapidly, resulting in increasing densities for the majority of urban agglomerations, including those in both more developed (Japan, South Korea) and industrializing nations (China, Vietnam, Indonesia). This result contrasts previous sample-based studies, which conclude that cities are universally declining in density. The patterns and rates of change uncovered by these datasets provide a unique record of the massive urban transition currently underway in East-Southeast Asia that is impacting local-regional climate, pollution levels, water quality/availability, arable land, as well as the livelihoods and vulnerability of populations in the region.

Urban dust in the Guanzhong Basin of China, part I: A regional distribution of dust sources retrieved using satellite data.

PubMed

Long, Xin; Li, Nan; Tie, Xuexi; Cao, Junji; Zhao, Shuyu; Huang, Rujin; Zhao, Mudan; Li, Guohui; Feng, Tian

2016-01-15

Urban dust pollution has been becoming an outstanding environmental problem due to rapid urbanization in China. However, it is very difficult to construct an urban dust inventory, owing to its small horizontal scale and strong temporal/spatial variability. With the analysis of visual interpretation, maximum likelihood classification, extrapolation and spatial overlaying, we quantified dust source distributions of urban constructions, barrens and croplands in the Guanzhong Basin using various satellite data, including VHR (0.5m), Lansat-8 OLI (30 m) and MCD12Q1 (500 m). The croplands were the dominant dust sources, accounting for 40% (17,913 km(2)) of the study area in summer and 36% (17,913 km(2)) in winter, followed by barrens, accounting for 5% in summer and 10% in winter. Moreover, the total constructions were 126 km(2), including 84% of active and 16% inactive. In addition, 59% of the constructions aggregated on the only megacity of the study area, Xi'an. With high accuracy exceeding 88%, the proposed satellite-data based method is feasible and valuable to quantify distributions of dust sources. This study provides a new perspective to evaluate regional urban dust, which is seldom quantified and reported. In a companied paper (Part-2 of the study), the detailed distribution of the urban dust sources is applied in a dynamical/aerosol model (WRF-Dust) to assess the effect of dust sources on aerosol pollution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban Land Use Change Effects on Below and Aboveground Carbon Stocks—a Global Perspective and Future Research Needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pouyat, R. V.; Chen, Y.; Yesilonis, I.; Day, S.

2014-12-01

Land use change (LUC) has a significant impact on both above- and below-ground carbon (C) stocks; however, little is known about the net effects of urban LUC on the C cycle and climate system. Moreover, as climate change becomes an increasingly pressing concern, there is growing evidence that urban policy and management decisions can have significant regional impacts on C dynamics. Soil organic carbon (SOC) varies significantly across ecoregions at global and continental scales due to differential sensitivity of primary production, substrate quality, and organic matter decay to changes in temperature and soil moisture. These factors are highly modified by urban LUC due to vegetation removal, soil relocation and disruption, pollution, urban heat island effects, and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations. As a result, on a global scale urban LUC differentially affects the C cycle from ecoregion to ecoregion. For urban ecosystems, the data collected thus far suggests urbanization can lead to both an increase and decrease in soil C pools and fluxes, depending on the native ecosystem being impacted by urban development. For example, in drier climates, urban landscapes accumulate higher C densities than the native ecosystems they replaced. Results suggest also that soil C storage in urban ecosystems is highly variable with very high (> 20.0) and low (< 2.0) C densities (kg m-2 to a 1 m depth) present in the landscape at any one time. Moreover, similar to non-urban soils, total SOC densities are consistently 2-fold greater than aboveground stocks. For those soils with low SOC densities, there is potential to increase C sequestration through management, but specific urban related management practices need to be evaluated. In addition, urban LUC is a human-driven process and thus can be modified or adjusted to reduce its impacts on the C cycle. For example, policies that influence development patterns, population density, management practices, and other human factors can

Balancing urban and peri-urban exchange: water geography of rural livelihoods in Mexico.

PubMed

Díaz-Caravantes, Rolando E

2012-01-01

The peri-urban area is the region where there is a more dynamic interaction between the urban and rural. The peri-urban area supplies natural resources, such as land for urban expansion and agricultural products to feed the urban population. In arid and semi-arid lands, such as northern Mexico, these areas may also be the source of water for the city's domestic demand. In addition, scholars argue that peri-urban residents may have a more advantageous geographical position for selling their labour and agricultural products in cities and, by doing so, sustaining their livelihoods. A considerable number of studies have examined the peri-urban to urban natural resources transfer in terms of land annexation, housing construction, and infrastructure issues; however, the study of the effects of the reallocation of peri-urban water resources to serve urban needs is critical as well because the livelihoods of peri-urban residents, such as those based on agriculture and livestock, depend on water availability. In the case of Hermosillo there is a tremendous pressure on the water resources of peri-urban small farm communities or ejidos because of urban demand. Based on interviews and structured surveys with producers and water managers, this paper examines how peri-urban livelihoods have been reshaped by the reallocation of the city's natural resources in many cases caused some ejido members or ejidatarios to lose livelihoods.

Urban and community forests of the Pacific region: California, Oregon, Washington

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Eric J. Greenfield

2010-01-01

This report details how land cover and urbanization vary within the states of California, Oregon, and Washington by community (incorporated and census designated places), county subdivision, and county. Specifically this report provides critical urban and community forestry information for each state including human population characteristics and trends, changes in...

Polar pesticide contamination of an urban and peri-urban tropical watershed affected by agricultural activities (Yaoundé, Center Region, Cameroon).

PubMed

Branchet, Perrine; Cadot, Emmanuelle; Fenet, Hélène; Sebag, David; Ngatcha, Benjamin Ngounou; Borrell-Estupina, Valérie; Ngoupayou, Jules Remy Ndam; Kengne, Ives; Braun, Jean-Jacques; Gonzalez, Catherine

2018-04-18

Urban agriculture is crucial to local populations, but the risk of it contaminating water has rarely been documented. The aim of this study was to assess pesticide contamination of surface waters from the Méfou watershed (Yaoundé, Cameroon) by 32 selected herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides (mainly polar) according to their local application, using both grab sampling and polar organic compounds integrative samplers (POCIS). Three sampling campaigns were conducted in the March/April and October/November 2015 and June/July 2016 rainy seasons in urban and peri-urban areas. The majority of the targeted compounds were detected. The quantification frequencies of eight pesticides were more than 20% with both POCIS and grab sampling, and that of diuron and atrazine reached 100%. Spatial differences in contamination were evidenced with higher contamination in urban than peri-urban rivers. In particular, diuron was identified as an urban contaminant of concern because its concentrations frequently exceeded the European water quality guideline of 0.200 μg/L in freshwater and may thus represent an ecological risk due to a risk quotient > 1 for algae observed in 94% of grab samples. This study raises concerns about the impacts of urban agriculture on the quality of water resources and to a larger extent on the health of the inhabitants of cities in developing countries. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Morbidity Forecast in Cities: A Study of Urban Air Pollution and Respiratory Diseases in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, Brazil.

PubMed

de Souza, Fabio Teodoro

2018-05-29

In the last two decades, urbanization has intensified, and in Brazil, about 90% of the population now lives in urban centers. Atmospheric patterns have changed owing to the high growth rate of cities, with negative consequences for public health. This research aims to elucidate the spatial patterns of air pollution and respiratory diseases. A data-based model to aid local urban management to improve public health policies concerning air pollution is described. An example of data preparation and multivariate analysis with inventories from different cities in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba was studied. A predictive model with outstanding accuracy in prediction of outbreaks was developed. Preliminary results describe relevant relations among morbidity scales, air pollution levels, and atmospheric seasonal patterns. The knowledge gathered here contributes to the debate on social issues and public policies. Moreover, the results of this smaller scale study can be extended to megacities.

What is Urban? A study of census and satellite-derived urban classes in the United States (1990-2010) with comparisons to India and Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balk, D.; Leyk, S.; Jones, B.; Clark, A.; Montgomery, M.

2017-12-01

Geographers and demographers have contributed much to understanding urban population and urban place. Yet, we nevertheless remain ill-prepared to fully understand past urban processes and our urban future, and importantly, connect that knowledge to pressing concerns such as climate and environmental change. This is largely due to well-known data limitations and inherent inconsistencies in the urban definition across countries and over time and spatial scales, and because urban models and definitions arise out of disciplinary silos. This paper provides a new framework for urban inquiry in that it combines urban definitions used by the U.S. Census Bureau from 1990-2010 with newly available satellite-based (mostly Landsat) data on built-up area from the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL). We identify areas of agreement and disagreement, as well as the population distribution underlying various GHSL derived built-up land thresholds. Our analysis allows for a systematic means of discerning peri-urban areas from other types of urban development, as well as examines differences in these patterns at the national and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)-level. While we find overwhelming areas of agreement - about 70% of the census-designated urban population can be characterized as living on land that is at least 50% built-up - we also learn much of the significant heterogeneity in levels and patterns of growth between different MSAs. We further compare the US results with those for India and Mexico. This research unlocks the potential of such alternative measures for creating globally and temporally consistent proxies of urban land and may guide further research on consistent modeling of spatial demographic urban change, highly urgent for future work to distinguish between fine-scale levels of urban development and to forecast urban expansion.

Trends of tropospheric NO2 over the Yangtze River Delta region and the possible linkage to rapid urbanization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Mingliang; Zhang, Deying; Liu, Qiyang; Song, Yue; Zhou, Jiayuan; Shi, Runhe; Gao, Wei

2017-09-01

Over the past decade, China has experienced a rapid increase in urbanization. The urban built-up areas (population) of Shanghai increased by 16.1% (22.9%) from 2006 to 2015. This study aims to analyze the variations of tropospheric NO2 over Yangtze River Delta region and the impacts of rapid urbanization during 2006-2015. The results indicate that tropospheric NO2 vertical column density (VCD) of all cities in the study area showed an increasing trend during 2006-2011 whereas a decreasing trend during 2011-2015. Most cities showed a lower tropospheric NO2 VCD value in 2015 compared to that in 2006, except for Changzhou and Nantong. Shanghai and Ningbo are two hotspots where the tropospheric NO2 VCD decreased most significantly, at a rate of 22% and 19%, respectively. This effect could be ascribed to the implementation of harsh emission control policies therein. Similar seasonal variability was observed over all cities, with larger values observed in the summer and smaller values shown in the winter. Further investigations show that the observed increasing trend of tropospheric NO2 during 2006-2011 could be largely explained by rapid urbanization linked to car ownership, GDP, power consumption, population and total industrial output. Such effect was not prominent after 2011, mainly due to the implementation of emission control strategies.

Mentorship for newly appointed physicians: a strategy for enhancing patient safety?

PubMed

Harrison, Reema; McClean, Serwaa; Lawton, Rebecca; Wright, John; Kay, Clive

2014-09-01

Mentorship is an increasingly popular innovation from business and industry that is being applied in health-care contexts. This paper explores the concept of mentorship for newly appointed physicians in their first substantive senior post, and specifically its utilization to enhance patient safety. Semi-structured face to face and telephone interviews with Medical Directors (n = 5), Deputy Medical Directors (n = 4), and Clinical Directors (n = 6) from 9 acute NHS Trusts in the Yorkshire and Humber region in the north of England. A focused thematic analysis was used. A number of beneficial outcomes were associated with mentorship for newly appointed physicians including greater personal and professional support, organizational commitment, and general well-being. Providing newly appointed senior physicians with support through mentorship was considered to enhance the safety of patient care. Mentorship may prevent or reduce active failures, be used to identify threats in the local working environment, and in the longer term, address latent threats to safety within the organization by encouraging a healthier safety culture. Offering mentorship to all newly appointed physicians in their first substantive post in health care may be a useful strategy to support the development of their clinical, professional, and personal skills in this transitional period that may also enhance the safety of patient care.

Rural ITS toolbox and deployment plan for Regions 2, 6, 7 and 9 : ITS toolbox for rural and small urban areas

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-12-01

As a part of the Small Urban and Rural ITS Study it conducted in 4 of its more rural regions, the New York State Department of Transportation has developed a compendium of systems, devices and strategies that can enhance safety, provide information, ...

Reassessment of urbanization effect on surface air temperature trends at an urban station of North China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bian, Tao; Ren, Guoyu

2017-11-01

Based on a homogenized data set of monthly mean temperature, minimum temperature, and maximum temperature at Shijiazhuang City Meteorological Station (Shijiazhuang station) and four rural meteorological stations selected applying a more sophisticated methodology, we reanalyzed the urbanization effects on annual, seasonal, and monthly mean surface air temperature (SAT) trends for updated time period 1960-2012 at the typical urban station in North China. The results showed that (1) urbanization effects on the long-term trends of annual mean SAT, minimum SAT, and diurnal temperature range (DTR) in the last 53 years reached 0.25, 0.47, and - 0.50 °C/decade, respectively, all statistically significant at the 0.001 confidence level, with the contributions from urbanization effects to the overall long-term trends reaching 67.8, 78.6, and 100%, respectively; (2) the urbanization effects on the trends of seasonal mean SAT, minimum SAT, and DTR were also large and statistically highly significant. Except for November and December, the urbanization effects on monthly mean SAT, minimum SAT, and DTR were also all statistically significant at the 0.05 confidence level; and (3) the annual, seasonal, and monthly mean maximum SAT series at the urban station registered a generally weaker and non-significant urbanization effect. The updated analysis evidenced that our previous work for this same urban station had underestimated the urbanization effect and its contribution to the overall changes in the SAT series. Many similar urban stations were being included in the current national and regional SAT data sets, and the results of this paper further indicated the importance and urgency for paying more attention to the urbanization bias in the monitoring and detection of global and regional SAT change based on the data sets.

Planning Construction Research of Modern Urban Landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Z. Q.; Chen, W.

With the development and expansion of the city's traditional urban landscape planning methods have been difficult to adapt to the requirements of modern urban development, in the new urban construction, planning what kind of urban landscape is a new research topic. The article discusses the principles of modern urban landscape planning and development, promote the adoption of new concepts and theories, building more regional characteristics, more humane, more perfect, more emphasis on urban landscape pattern natural ecological protection and construction can sustainable development of urban living environment, and promote the development and construction of the city.

A method to characterise site, urban and regional ambient background radiation.

PubMed

Passmore, C; Kirr, M

2011-03-01

Control dosemeters are routinely provided to customers to monitor the background radiation so that it can be subtracted from the gross response of the dosemeter to arrive at the occupational dose. Landauer, the largest dosimetry processor in the world with subsidiaries in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Japan, Mexico and the UK, has clients in approximately 130 countries. The Glenwood facility processes over 1.1 million controls per year. This network of clients around the world provides a unique ability to monitor the world's ambient background radiation. Control data can be mined to provide useful historical information regarding ambient background rates and provide a historical baseline for geographical areas. Historical baseline can be used to provide site or region-specific background subtraction values, document the variation in ambient background radiation around a client's site or provide a baseline for measuring the efficiency of clean-up efforts in urban areas after a dirty bomb detonation.

Horse impoundments under Control of Horses legislation in the Munster region of Ireland: factors affecting euthanasia.

PubMed

Cullinane, M; O'Sullivan, E; Collins, D M; Byrne, A W; More, S J

2015-01-24

Recently, considerable international attention has been paid to the problem of unwanted horses. In Ireland, stray horses, particularly in urban areas, are a further problem. The Control of Horses Act 1996 was enacted in response to an ongoing problem of uncontrolled horses in public places. As yet, no research work has been conducted focusing on stray horses in Ireland. This paper describes horses impounded under the Act in the Munster region of Ireland during 2005-2012 and the factors influencing decisions regarding their disposal. A logistic regression model was developed to investigate factors influencing the probability that a horse was euthanised during impoundment. In total, 3625 seizure events were recorded, most towards the end of the study period. Predictors for euthanasia during 2010-2012 included seizure location, sex, age, colour, body condition score and year. This study highlights the problem of stray horses in Ireland, particularly in urban areas. There is a need for rigorous enforcement of newly enacted horse identification legislation, allowing a fully integrated traceability system. More is required to manage the long-established societal problems of stray horses in urban settings, with a uniform approach by all Local Authorities being long overdue. British Veterinary Association.

Bringing sexual and reproductive health in the urban contexts to the forefront of the development agenda: the case for prioritizing the urban poor.

PubMed

Mberu, Blessing; Mumah, Joyce; Kabiru, Caroline; Brinton, Jessica

2014-09-01

Estimates suggest that over 90 % of population increase in the least developed countries over the next four decades will occur in urban areas. These increases will be driven both by natural population growth and rural-urban migration. Moreover, despite its status as the world's least urbanized region, the urban population in the sub-Saharan Africa region is projected to increase from under 40 % currently to over 60 % by 2050. Currently, approximately 70 % of all urban residents in the region live in slums or slum-like conditions. Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) risks for the urban poor are severe and include high rates of unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and poor maternal and child health outcomes. However, the links between poverty, urbanization, and reproductive health priorities are still not a major focus in the broader development agenda. Building on theoretical and empirical data, we show that SRH in urban contexts is critical to the development of healthy productive urban populations and, ultimately, the improvement of quality of life. We posit that a strategic focus on the sexual and reproductive health of urban residents will enable developing country governments achieve international goals and national targets by reducing health risks among a large and rapidly growing segment of the population. To that end, we identify key research, policy and program recommendations and strategies required for bringing sexual and reproductive health in urban contexts to the forefront of the development agenda.

Impact of the global economic crisis on metal levels in particulate matter (PM) at an urban area in the Cantabria Region (Northern Spain).

PubMed

Arruti, A; Fernández-Olmo, I; Irabien, A

2011-05-01

Air pollution by particulate matter is well linked with anthropogenic activities; the global economic crisis that broke out in the last year may be a proper indicator of this close relationship. Some economic indicators show the regional effects of the crisis on the Cantabria Region. The present work aims to evaluate the impact of the economic crisis on PM10 levels and composition at the major city of the region, Santander. Some metals linked to anthropogenic activities were measured at Santander and studied by Positive Matrix Factorization; this statistical analysis allowed to identify three main factors: urban background, industrial and molybdenum-related factor. The main results show that the temporal trend of the levels of the industrial tracers found in the present study are well agree with the evolution of the studied economic indicators; nevertheless, the urban background tracers and PM10 concentration levels are not well correlated with the studied economic indicators. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing heavy metal pollution in the surface soils of a region that had undergone three decades of intense industrialization and urbanization.

PubMed

Hu, Yuanan; Liu, Xueping; Bai, Jinmei; Shih, Kaimin; Zeng, Eddy Y; Cheng, Hefa

2013-09-01

Heavy metals in the surface soils from lands of six different use types in one of the world's most densely populated regions, which is also a major global manufacturing base, were analyzed to assess the impact of urbanization and industrialization on soil pollution. A total of 227 surface soil samples were collected and analyzed for major heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) by using microwave-assisted acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Multivariate analysis combined with enrichment factors showed that surface soils from the region (>7.2 × 10(4) km(2)) had mean Cd, Cu, Zn, and As concentrations that were over two times higher than the background values, with Cd, Cu, and Zn clearly contributed by anthropogenic sources. Soil pollution by Pb was more widespread than the other heavy metals, which was contributed mostly by anthropogenic sources. The results also indicate that Mn, Co, Fe, Cr, and Ni in the surface soils were primarily derived from lithogenic sources, while Hg and As contents in the surface soils were controlled by both natural and anthropogenic sources. The pollution level and potential ecological risk of the surface soils both decreased in the order of: urban areas > waste disposal/treatment sites ∼ industrial areas > agricultural lands ∼ forest lands > water source protection areas. These results indicate the significant need for the development of pollution prevention and reduction strategies to reduce heavy metal pollution for regions undergoing fast industrialization and urbanization.

Global and Regional Brain Non-Gaussian Diffusion Changes in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

PubMed

Tummala, Sudhakar; Palomares, Jose; Kang, Daniel W; Park, Bumhee; Woo, Mary A; Harper, Ronald M; Kumar, Rajesh

2016-01-01

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients show brain structural injury and functional deficits in autonomic, affective, and cognitive regulatory sites, as revealed by mean diffusivity (MD) and other imaging procedures. The time course and nature of gray and white matter injury can be revealed in more detail with mean kurtosis (MK) procedures, which can differentiate acute from chronic injury, and better show extent of damage over MD procedures. Our objective was to examine global and regional MK changes in newly diagnosed OSA, relative to control subjects. Two diffusion kurtosis image series were collected from 22 recently-diagnosed, treatment-naïve OSA and 26 control subjects using a 3.0-Tesla MRI scanner. MK maps were generated, normalized to a common space, smoothed, and compared voxel-by-voxel between groups using analysis of covariance (covariates; age, sex). No age or sex differences appeared, but body mass index, sleep, neuropsychologic, and cognitive scores significantly differed between groups. MK values were significantly increased globally in OSA over controls, and in multiple localized sites, including the basal forebrain, extending to the hypothalamus, hippocampus, thalamus, insular cortices, basal ganglia, limbic regions, cerebellar areas, parietal cortices, ventral temporal lobe, ventrolateral medulla, and midline pons. Multiple sites, including the insular cortices, ventrolateral medulla, and midline pons showed more injury over previously identified damage with MD procedures, with damage often lateralized. Global mean kurtosis values are significantly increased in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), suggesting acute tissue injury, and these changes are principally localized in critical sites mediating deficient functions in the condition. The mechanisms for injury likely include altered perfusion and hypoxemia-induced processes, leading to acute tissue changes in recently diagnosed OSA. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Thermal management of an urban groundwater body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Epting, J.; Huggenberger, P.

2012-06-01

This study presents a management concept for the sustainable thermal use of an urban groundwater body. The concept is designed to be applied for shallow thermal groundwater use and is based on (1) a characterization of the present thermal state of the investigated urban groundwater body; (2) the definition of development goals for specific aquifer regions, including future aquifer use and urbanization; and (3) an evaluation of the thermal use potential for these regions. The investigations conducted in the city of Basel (Switzerland) focus on thermal processes down-gradient of thermal groundwater use, effects of heated buildings in the aquifer as well as the thermal influence of river-groundwater interaction. Investigation methods include: (1) short- and long-term data analysis; (2) high-resolution multilevel groundwater temperature monitoring; as well as (3) 3-D numerical groundwater flow and heat-transport modeling and scenario development. The combination of these methods allows quantifying the thermal influence on the investigated urban groundwater body, including the influences of thermal groundwater use and additional heat from urbanization. Subsequently, management strategies for minimizing further groundwater temperature increase, targeting "potential natural" groundwater temperatures for specific aquifer regions and exploiting the thermal use potential are discussed.

Characterization Urban Heat Island Effect and Modelling of Secondary Pollutant Formations at Urban Hotspots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Undi, G. S. N. V. K. S. N. S.

2017-12-01

More than 60 percent of the world population is living the urban zones by 2020. This socio of economic transformations will bring considerable changes to the ambient atmosphere. More than 70 percent of the air pollutants in the urban hotspots are from vehicular emissions. in the urban hotspots. In the urban hotspots, the meteorological and dispersion conditions will have different characteristics than in surrounding rural areas. Reactive pollutants transformations are drastically influenced by the local meteorological conditions. The complexity of urban structure alters the pollutants dispersion in the hotspots. This relationship between urban meteorology and air pollution is an important aspect of consideration. In the atmosphere, drastic changes have been noticed from micro to regional and global scales. However, the characteristics of air pollutant emissions vary with time and space, favorable dispersion conditions transport them from local to regional scale. In the present study, the impact of land cover change on Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) has been characterized by considering the three different zones with varying land use patterns. An attempt has been made to estimate the impact of UHI on secondary pollutants (O3) transformations. Envi-Met model has been used to characterize the UHI intensity for the selected zones. Meteorological and air quality measurements were carried out at the selected locations. The diurnal variations of Ozone (O3) concentration for three zones are correlated with the UHI intensity. And the monitoring and model results of O3 concentrations are in good agreement. It is observed from the obtained model results that the metrological parameters influence on local air quality is significant in urban zones.

A Regional Categorization for “New-Type Urbanization” in China

PubMed Central

Fang, Chuanglin; Ma, Haitao; Wang, Jing

2015-01-01

Regional differences in the character of urbanization in China are substantial. The promotion of what has been termed “new-type urbanization” cannot, as a result of these regional differences, be expected to follow a universal approach—rather, such a development must objectively adhere to locational and category-specific principles and adopt differentiated urbanization development models. Regional categorization is often used in geography, but is rarely deployed in research addressing human and social problems relating to urbanization. In March 2014, China published the National New-type Urbanization Plan (2014–2020), which calls for the scientific and reasonable planning of “new-type urbanization,” and appropriate regional categorizations are urgently needed in order to guide this reform. Responding to this challenge, this research engaged in the design of a “dominantly quantitative analysis, qualitatively supplemented” method in order to divide China into 5 main regions and 47 sub-regions in terms of new-type urbanization. The paper discusses the features and key problems of each region. This study introduces a new method for regional categorization, thereby remedying the lack of regional categorization in relation to “new-type urbanization” in China, and ultimately promoting the development of regional categorization in the humanities as a valuable reference for healthy and sustainable Chinese urbanization. PMID:26237405

Vertical landscraping, a big regionalism for Dubai.

PubMed

Wilson, Matthew

2010-01-01

Dubai's ecologic and economic complications are exacerbated by six years of accelerated expansion, a fixed top-down approach to urbanism and the construction of iconic single-phase mega-projects. With recent construction delays, project cancellations and growing landscape issues, Dubai's tower typologies have been unresponsive to changing environmental, socio-cultural and economic patterns (BBC, 2009; Gillet, 2009; Lewis, 2009). In this essay, a theory of "Big Regionalism" guides an argument for an economically and ecologically linked tower typology called the Condenser. This phased "box-to-tower" typology is part of a greater Landscape Urbanist strategy called Vertical Landscraping. Within this strategy, the Condenser's role is to densify the city, facilitating the creation of ecologic voids that order the urban region. Delineating "Big Regional" principles, the Condenser provides a time-based, global-local urban growth approach that weaves Bigness into a series of urban-regional, economic and ecological relationships, builds upon the environmental performance of the city's regional architecture and planning, promotes a continuity of Dubai's urban history, and responds to its landscape issues while condensing development. These speculations permit consideration of the overlooked opportunities embedded within Dubai's mega-projects and their long-term impact on the urban morphology.

Effects of urbanization expansion on landscape pattern and region ecological risk in Chinese coastal city: a case study of Yantai city.

PubMed

Zhou, Di; Shi, Ping; Wu, Xiaoqing; Ma, Jinwei; Yu, Junbao

2014-01-01

Applied with remote sensing, GIS, and mathematical statistics, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urbanization expansion of Yantai city from 1974 to 2009 was studied. Based on landscape pattern metrics and ecological risk index, the landscape ecological risk from the landscape pattern dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the area of urban land increased by 189.77 km(2) with average expansion area of 5.42 km(2) y(-1) from 1974 to 2009. The urbanization intensity index during 2004-2009 was 3.92 times of that during 1974-1990. The land use types of urban land and farmland changed greatly. The changes of landscape pattern metrics for land use patterns indicated that the intensity of human activities had strengthened gradually in study period. The landscape ecological risk pattern of Yantai city shaped half-round rings along the coastline. The ecological risk index decreased with increase of the distance to the coastline. The ratio of high ecological risk to subhigh ecological risk zones in 2009 was 2.23 times of that in 1990. The significant linear relationship of urbanization intensity index and regional ecological risk indicated that the anthropological economic activities were decisive factors for sustainable development of costal ecological environment.

Effects of Urbanization Expansion on Landscape Pattern and Region Ecological Risk in Chinese Coastal City: A Case Study of Yantai City

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, D.; Yu, J.; Li, Y.; Zhan, C.

2017-12-01

Applied with remote sensing, GIS, and mathematical statistics, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urbanization expansion of Yantai city from1974 to 2009 was studied. Based on landscape pattern metrics and ecological risk index, the landscape ecological risk from the landscape pattern dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the area of urban land increased by 189.77 km2 with average expansion area of 5.42 km2 y-1 from1974 to 2009.The urbanization intensity index during 2004-2009 was 3.92 times of that during 1974-1990. The land use types of urban land and farmland changed greatly. The changes of landscape pattern metrics for land use patterns indicated that the intensity of human activities had strengthened gradually in study period. The landscape ecological risk pattern of Yantai city shaped half-round rings along the coastline. The ecological risk index decreased with increase of the distance to the coastline. The ratio of high ecological risk to sub-high ecological risk zones in 2009 was 2.23 times of that in 1990.The significant linear relationship of urbanization intensity index and regional ecological risk indicated that the anthropological economic activities were decisive factors for sustainable development of costal ecological environment.

Effects of Urbanization Expansion on Landscape Pattern and Region Ecological Risk in Chinese Coastal City: A Case Study of Yantai City

PubMed Central

Zhou, Di; Shi, Ping; Wu, Xiaoqing; Ma, Jinwei

2014-01-01

Applied with remote sensing, GIS, and mathematical statistics, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of urbanization expansion of Yantai city from 1974 to 2009 was studied. Based on landscape pattern metrics and ecological risk index, the landscape ecological risk from the landscape pattern dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the area of urban land increased by 189.77 km2 with average expansion area of 5.42 km2 y−1 from 1974 to 2009. The urbanization intensity index during 2004–2009 was 3.92 times of that during 1974–1990. The land use types of urban land and farmland changed greatly. The changes of landscape pattern metrics for land use patterns indicated that the intensity of human activities had strengthened gradually in study period. The landscape ecological risk pattern of Yantai city shaped half-round rings along the coastline. The ecological risk index decreased with increase of the distance to the coastline. The ratio of high ecological risk to subhigh ecological risk zones in 2009 was 2.23 times of that in 1990. The significant linear relationship of urbanization intensity index and regional ecological risk indicated that the anthropological economic activities were decisive factors for sustainable development of costal ecological environment. PMID:24983003

Urban climate and energy demand interaction in Northern Eurasia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasilova, E. V.; Ginzburg, A. S.; Demchenko, P. F.

2017-11-01

The regional and urban climate change in Northern Eurasia is one of the main challenges for sustainable development of human habitats situated in boreal and temperate areas. The half of primary energy is spent for space heating even under quite a mild European climate. Implementation of the district heating in urban areas is currently seen as one of the key conditions of sustainable development. The clear understanding of main problems of the urban climateenergy demand interaction is crucial for both small towns and megacities. The specific features of the urban energy systems in Finland, Russia and China under the changing climate conditions were studied. Regional manifestations of the climate change were examined. The climate projections were established for urban regions of the Northern Eurasia. It was shown that the climate warming is likely to continue intensively there. History and actual development trends were discussed for the urban district heating systems in Russia, China and Finland. Common challenges linked with the climate change have been identified for the considered areas. Adaptation possibilities were discussed taking into account climate-energy interactions.

Variation in stream diatom communities in relation to water quality and catchment variables in a boreal, urbanized region.

PubMed

Teittinen, Anette; Taka, Maija; Ruth, Olli; Soininen, Janne

2015-10-15

Intensive anthropogenic land use such as urbanization alters the hydrological cycle, water chemistry and physical habitat characteristics, thus impairing stream physicochemical and biological quality. Diatoms are widely used to assess stream water quality as they integrate water chemistry temporally and reflect the joint influence of multiple stressors on stream biota. However, knowledge of the major community patterns of diatoms in urban streams remains limited especially in boreal regions. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of water chemistry and catchment characteristics on stream diatom communities, and to test the performance of the Index of Pollution Sensitivity (IPS) as a stream water quality indicator across an urban-to-rural gradient in southern Finland. Diatom community structure and species richness were related to local-scale variables such as water temperature, aluminium concentration, and electrical conductivity, which were in turn influenced by patterns in catchment land use and land cover. Diatoms reflected the intensity of human activities as more intensive land use increased the occurrence of pollution-tolerant species. The change in community structure along the land use intensity gradient was accompanied by a distinct decline in species richness. On the contrary, the IPS index failed to indicate differences in water quality along the urban-to-rural gradient as no consistent differences in the IPS values were found. Our results highlight the joint influence of multifaceted factors that underlie diatom patterns, and show that diatom biodiversity can be used as cost-effective metric indicating urban stream conditions. However, the IPS index turned out to be an unsuitable tool for assessing water quality among these streams. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Where Deforestation Leads to Urbanization: How Resource Extraction is Leading to Urban Growth in the Brazilian Amazon.

PubMed

Richards, Peter; VanWey, Leah

2015-07-01

Developing the Amazon into a major provider of internationally traded mineral and food commodities has dramatically transformed broad expanses of tropical forests to farm and pasturelands, and to mining sites. The environmental impacts of this transformation, as well as the drivers underlying the process, have already been well documented. In this article we turn our analytical lenses to another, less examined effect of Amazon land use and environmental change, namely the creation and development of new urban areas. Here we argue that urban growth in the Amazon is a direct residual of international interest in the production of traded commodities, and of the capacity of local urban residents to capture capital and value before it is extracted from the region. Specifically, we suggest that urban growth is occurring fastest where cities have access to both rural export commodities and export corridors. We also show correlations between urban growth and lower rural population density, and cities' capacities to draw migrants from beyond their immediate rural surroundings. More broadly, we argue that urbanization in the Amazon is better interpreted as a symptom rather than a driver of the region's land use and land cover change.

Mapping and analyzing urban growth in West Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adhikari, P.; de Beurs, K. M.

2014-12-01

Africa has experienced the highest urban growth (~3.5% per year) in the developing world. West Africa in particular has seen significant urban growth mainly driven by the high natural population growth rate and the increasing percentage of population moving to urban areas. Urban growth in West Africa is expected to continue in decades to come. This study uses Landsat data at five different time steps (1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2010) to map four cities from four different eco-regions of West Africa since the early 1970s. The selected four cities, Kumasi in Ghana, Abuja in Nigeria, Tahoua in Niger and Ouagadoughou in Burkina Faso, are some of the fastest growing cities in the region. We selected the cities in the following ecoregions: Eastern Guinean Forest, Guinean Forest-Savanna Mosaic, Sahelian Acacia Savanna and West Sudanian Savanna. We hypothesize that urban growth in West Africa is different compared to the other parts of the world primarily due to the dependency of about 60 percent of active labor force on subsistence agriculture in the region. As agriculture productivity is dependent on favorable climatic conditions (i.e., good rainfall, suitable temperature), any variability in climate impends the livelihood of subsistence farmers triggering the movements of more people towards the cities. Therefore, studying urban growth based on ecoregions help to better explain the urban development in West Africa. After mapping the urban areas, this study makes a comparative analysis of the temporal and spatial pattern of the urban growths across the ecoregions in West Africa.

Changes in South Korean urbanicity and suicide rates, 1992 to 2012

PubMed Central

Chan, Chee Hon; Caine, Eric D; You, Sungeun; Yip, Paul Siu Fai

2015-01-01

Objectives Studies have highlighted the association between the degree of urbanicity and spatial disparities in suicide, but few have evaluated its changes across time. We explored the geospatial trends of suicide in South Korea from 1992 to 2012, and their relationship to the nation's evolving urbanicity. Setting South Korea. Primary outcome measures Age-sex-specific suicide rate. Results Suicide rates increased in all regions of South Korea during the study period. Controlling the effects of age and sex, there was an overall inverse relationship between the degree of urbanicity and regional suicide rates. These associations were, however, attenuated across the periods, as there were smaller increases in suicide rates in mid-sized urban regions as compared to larger cities and to rural areas. Increases over time in the suicide rates among youth and working-age adults were greater in large urban centres and in rural regions. For elders, the increase was far greater in rural regions. Conclusions The association of urbanicity and the geospatial pattern of suicide in South Korea was a dynamic process and varied by age groups across the course of two decades. Internal migration and related social processes most likely contributed to these changes. PMID:26700283

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

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

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

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

Urban and peri-urban precipitation and air temperature trends in mega cities of the world using multiple trend analysis methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajaaj, Aws A.; Mishra, Ashok K.; Khan, Abdul A.

2018-04-01

Urbanization plays an important role in altering local to regional climate. In this study, the trends in precipitation and the air temperature were investigated for urban and peri-urban areas of 18 mega cities selected from six continents (representing a wide range of climatic patterns). Multiple statistical tests were used to examine long-term trends in annual and seasonal precipitation and air temperature for the selected cities. The urban and peri-urban areas were classified based on the percentage of land imperviousness. Through this study, it was evident that removal of the lag-k serial correlation caused a reduction of approximately 20 to 30% in significant trend observability for temperature and precipitation data. This observation suggests that appropriate trend analysis methodology for climate studies is necessary. Additionally, about 70% of the urban areas showed higher positive air temperature trends, compared with peri-urban areas. There were not clear trend signatures (i.e., mix of increase or decrease) when comparing urban vs peri-urban precipitation in each selected city. Overall, cities located in dry areas, for example, in Africa, southern parts of North America, and Eastern Asia, showed a decrease in annual and seasonal precipitation, while wetter conditions were favorable for cities located in wet regions such as, southeastern South America, eastern North America, and northern Europe. A positive relationship was observed between decadal trends of annual/seasonal air temperature and precipitation for all urban and peri-urban areas, with a higher rate being observed for urban areas.

The Urban Food-Water Nexus: Modeling Water Footprints of Urban Agriculture using CityCrop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tooke, T. R.; Lathuilliere, M. J.; Coops, N. C.; Johnson, M. S.

2014-12-01

Urban agriculture provides a potential contribution towards more sustainable food production and mitigating some of the human impacts that accompany volatility in regional and global food supply. When considering the capacity of urban landscapes to produce food products, the impact of urban water demand required for food production in cities is often neglected. Urban agricultural studies also tend to be undertaken at broad spatial scales, overlooking the heterogeneity of urban form that exerts an extreme influence on the urban energy balance. As a result, urban planning and management practitioners require, but often do not have, spatially explicit and detailed information to support informed urban agricultural policy, especially as it relates to potential conflicts with sustainability goals targeting water-use. In this research we introduce a new model, CityCrop, a hybrid evapotranspiration-plant growth model that incorporates detailed digital representations of the urban surface and biophysical impacts of the built environment and urban trees to account for the daily variations in net surface radiation. The model enables very fine-scale (sub-meter) estimates of water footprints of potential urban agricultural production. Results of the model are demonstrated for an area in the City of Vancouver, Canada and compared to aspatial model estimates, demonstrating the unique considerations and sensitivities for current and future water footprints of urban agriculture and the implications for urban water planning and policy.

Characterization of dissolved organic nitrogen in leachate from a newly established and fertilized turfgrass.

PubMed

Lusk, Mary G; Toor, Gurpal S; Inglett, Patrick W

2017-12-08

Understanding the mechanisms of nitrogen (N) retention and loss from fertilized urban turfgrass is critical to develop practices that mitigate N transport and protect water quality in urban ecosystems. We investigated the fate of N in lysimeters sodded with St. Augustine turfgrass and amended with labeled 15 N from either ammonium sulfate or urea. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectroscopy (FTICR-MS) was employed to identify various biomolecular classes in the leached dissolved organic N (DON) from one lysimeter for each treatment and the control. Mean DON concentrations, over 92 days, were 88, 94, and 94% of total N in the leachate from the control, urea, and ammonium sulfate treatments, respectively. Isotopic analysis showed that <3% of N in the leachate originated from newly applied N fertilizer, suggesting that the remainder of the N in the leachate was derived from the lysimeter soil or sod biomass pools. The 15 N fertilizer recovery was greatest in soil (44-48%), followed by sod+thatch (18-33%), grass clippings (10-13%), and leachate (<3%). Despite isotopic evidence of little contribution of N from fertilizers in the leachate, a fraction of ammonium sulfate fertilizer was recovered as DON in the leachate, likely after uptake and conversion of inorganic fertilizer to organic plant exudates and/or microbial byproducts. FTICR-MS identified N-bearing organic molecular formulas in the leachate from urea and ammonium sulfate treatments, providing evidence of N leaching from newly established turfgrass of DON compounds in a range of biomolecular compositions such as lipid-, protein-, carbohydrate-, and lignin-like molecules. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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

Temporal trends of main reproductive characteristics in ten urban and rural regions of China: the China Kadoorie biobank study of 300 000 women.

PubMed

Lewington, Sarah; Li, LiMing; Murugasen, Serini; Hong, Lai-san; Yang, Ling; Guo, Yu; Bian, Zheng; Collins, Rory; Chen, Junshi; He, Hui; Wu, Ming; He, Tianyou; Ren, Xiaolan; Meng, Jinhuai; Peto, Richard; Chen, Zhengming

2014-08-01

Chinese women's reproductive patterns have changed significantly over the past several decades. However, relatively little is known about the pace and characteristics of these changes either overall or by region and socioeconomic status. We examined the cross-sectional data from the China Kadoorie Biobank cohort study that recruited 300 000 women born between 1930 and 1974 (mean age: 51 years) from 10 socially diverse urban and rural regions of China. Temporal trends in several self-reported reproductive characteristics, and effect modification of these trends by area and education (as a surrogate for socioeconomic status), were examined. The overall mean age at menarche was 15.4 (standard deviation 1.9) years, but decreased steadily over the 45 birth cohorts from 16.1 to 14.3 years, except for an anomalous increase of ∼1 year for women exposed to the 1958-61 famine in early adolescence. Similarly large changes were seen for other characteristics: mean parity fell (urban: 4.9 to 1.1; rural: 5.9 to 1.4); mean age at first birth increased (urban: 19.0 to 25.9 years; rural: 18.3 to 23.8 years); and birth spacing increased after 1980 to over 5 years. Breastfeeding declined after 1950 in urban and, after 1980, in rural women; and 68% of urban and 48% of rural women experienced a terminated pregnancy. Mean age at menopause increased from 47.9 to 49.3 years. There have been striking changes in reproductive factors over time and between areas among these Chinese women. Their effects on major chronic diseases should be investigated. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association.

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

A framework to investigate drivers of adaptation decisions in marine fishing: Evidence from urban, semi-urban and rural communities.

PubMed

Malakar, Krishna; Mishra, Trupti; Patwardhan, Anand

2018-05-11

Traditional fishing livelihoods need to adapt to changing fish catch/populations, led by numerous anthropogenic, environmental and climatic stressors. The decision to adapt can be influenced by a variety of socio-economic and perceptual factors. However, adaptation decision-making in fishing communities has rarely been studied. Based on previous literature and focus group discussions with community, this study identifies few prominent adaptation responses in marine fishing and proposes credible factors driving decisions to adopt them. Further, a household survey is conducted, and the association of these drivers with various adaptation strategies is examined among fisherfolk of Maharashtra (India). This statistical analysis is based on 601 responses collected across three regional fishing groups: urban, semi-urban and rural. Regional segregation is done to understand variability in decision-making among groups which might be having different socio-economic and perceptual attributes. The survey reveals that only few urban fishing households have been able to diversify into other livelihoods. While having economic capital increases the likelihood of adaptation among urban and semi-urban communities, rural fishermen are significantly driven by social capital. Perception of climate change affecting fish catch drives adoption of mechanized boats solely in urban region. But increasing number of extreme events affects decisions of semi-urban and rural fishermen. Further, rising pollution and trade competition is associated with adaptation responses in the urban and semi-urban community. Higher education might help fishermen choose convenient forms of adaptation. Also, cooperative membership and subsidies are critical in adaptation decisions. The framework and insights of the study suggest the importance of acknowledging differential decision-making of individuals and communities, for designing effective adaptation and capacity-building policies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier

Assessment of regional variation in streamflow responses to urbanization and the persistence of physiography.

PubMed

Hopkins, Kristina G; Morse, Nathaniel B; Bain, Daniel J; Bettez, Neil D; Grimm, Nancy B; Morse, Jennifer L; Palta, Monica M; Shuster, William D; Bratt, Anika R; Suchy, Amanda K

2015-03-03

Aquatic ecosystems are sensitive to the modification of hydrologic regimes, experiencing declines in stream health as the streamflow regime is altered during urbanization. This study uses streamflow records to quantify the type and magnitude of hydrologic changes across urbanization gradients in nine U.S. cities (Atlanta, GA, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, Detroit, MI, Raleigh, NC, St. Paul, MN, Pittsburgh, PA, Phoenix, AZ, and Portland, OR) in two physiographic settings. Results indicate similar development trajectories among urbanization gradients, but heterogeneity in the type and magnitude of hydrologic responses to this apparently uniform urban pattern. Similar urban patterns did not confer similar hydrologic function. Study watersheds in landscapes with level slopes and high soil permeability had less frequent high-flow events, longer high-flow durations, lower flashiness response, and lower flow maxima compared to similarly developed watersheds in landscape with steep slopes and low soil permeability. Our results suggest that physical characteristics associated with level topography and high water-storage capacity buffer the severity of hydrologic changes associated with urbanization. Urbanization overlain upon a diverse set of physical templates creates multiple pathways toward hydrologic impairment; therefore, we caution against the use of the urban homogenization framework in examining geophysically dominated processes.

Spatiotemporal trends of urban heat island effect along the urban development intensity gradient in China

Treesearch

Decheng Zhou; Liangxia Zhang; Lu Hao; Ge Sun; Yongqiang Liu; Chao Zhu

2016-01-01

Urban heat island (UHI) represents a major anthropogenic modification to the Earth system and its relationshipwith urban development is poorly understood at a regional scale. Using AquaMODIS data and LandsatTM/ETM+images, we examined the spatiotemporal trends of the UHI effect (ΔT, relative to the rural reference) along theurban...

Estimating methane emissions in California's urban and rural regions using multitower observations

DOE PAGES

Jeong, Seongeun; Newman, Sally; Zhang, Jingsong; ...

2016-11-05

Here, we present an analysis of methane (CH 4) emissions using atmospheric observations from 36 thirteen sites in California during June 2013 – May 2014. A hierarchical Bayesian inversion 37 method is used to estimate CH 4 emissions for spatial regions (0.3° pixels for major regions) by 38 comparing measured CH 4 mixing ratios with transport model (WRF-STILT) predictions based 39 on seasonally varying California-specific CH 4 prior emission models. The transport model is 40 assessed using a combination of meteorological and carbon monoxide (CO) measurements 41 coupled with the gridded California Air Resources Board (CARB) carbon monoxide (CO) 42more » emission inventory. Hierarchical Bayesian inversion suggests that state annual anthropogenic 43 CH 4 emissions are 2.42 ± 0.49 Tg CH 4/yr (at 95% confidence, including transport bias 44 uncertainty), higher (1.2 - 1.8 times) than the CARB current inventory (1.64 Tg CH 4/yr in 2013). 45 We note that the estimated CH 4 emissions drop to 1.0 - 1.6 times the CARB inventory if we 46 correct for the 10% median CH 4 emissions assuming the bias in CO analysis is applicable to 47 CH 4. The CH 4 emissions from the Central Valley and urban regions (San Francisco Bay and 48 South Coast Air Basins) account for ~58% and 26% of the total posterior emissions, 49 respectively. This study suggests that the livestock sector is likely the major contributor to the 50 state total CH 4 emissions, in agreement with CARB’s inventory. Attribution to source sectors for 51 sub-regions of California using additional trace gas species would further improve the 52 quantification of California’s CH 4 emissions and mitigation efforts towards the California Global 53 Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB-32).« less

Estimating methane emissions in California's urban and rural regions using multitower observations

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

Jeong, Seongeun; Newman, Sally; Zhang, Jingsong

Here, we present an analysis of methane (CH 4) emissions using atmospheric observations from 36 thirteen sites in California during June 2013 – May 2014. A hierarchical Bayesian inversion 37 method is used to estimate CH 4 emissions for spatial regions (0.3° pixels for major regions) by 38 comparing measured CH 4 mixing ratios with transport model (WRF-STILT) predictions based 39 on seasonally varying California-specific CH 4 prior emission models. The transport model is 40 assessed using a combination of meteorological and carbon monoxide (CO) measurements 41 coupled with the gridded California Air Resources Board (CARB) carbon monoxide (CO) 42more » emission inventory. Hierarchical Bayesian inversion suggests that state annual anthropogenic 43 CH 4 emissions are 2.42 ± 0.49 Tg CH 4/yr (at 95% confidence, including transport bias 44 uncertainty), higher (1.2 - 1.8 times) than the CARB current inventory (1.64 Tg CH 4/yr in 2013). 45 We note that the estimated CH 4 emissions drop to 1.0 - 1.6 times the CARB inventory if we 46 correct for the 10% median CH 4 emissions assuming the bias in CO analysis is applicable to 47 CH 4. The CH 4 emissions from the Central Valley and urban regions (San Francisco Bay and 48 South Coast Air Basins) account for ~58% and 26% of the total posterior emissions, 49 respectively. This study suggests that the livestock sector is likely the major contributor to the 50 state total CH 4 emissions, in agreement with CARB’s inventory. Attribution to source sectors for 51 sub-regions of California using additional trace gas species would further improve the 52 quantification of California’s CH 4 emissions and mitigation efforts towards the California Global 53 Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB-32).« less

City, region, and in between: New York City's water supply and the insights of regional history.

PubMed

Soll, David

2012-01-01

Urban historians have greatly expanded their geographical purview in recent years, incorporating suburbs and hinterlands into their analysis of social and environmental change. Urban environmental historians and suburban historians have played a critical role in the regionalization of urban history over the last decade. This case study of the development of New York City’s water supply reveals the benefits of taking a regional approach to urban history. From the New York Public Library to Central Park’s Great Lawn to neighborhood parks, the New York City landscape bears the traces of the continuous development of the city’s water network. Expansion of the water system in rural hinterlands enabled municipal officials to put urban reservoirs to new uses, creating some of the city’s most beloved public spaces. The rehabilitation of urban infrastructure underscores the intimate linkages between rural development and the urban built environment.

Impact Assessment of Global Temperature Perturbations on Urban and Regional Ozone Levels in South Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biswas, Jhumoor; John, Kuruvilla; Farooqui, Zuber

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report predicts significant temperature increases over the century which constitutes the pulse of climate variability in a region. A modeling study was performed to identify the potential impact of temperature perturbations on tropospheric ozone concentrations in South Texas. A future case modeling scenario which incorporates appropriate emission reduction strategies without accounting for climatic inconsistencies was used in this study. The photochemical modeling was undertaken for a high ozone episode of 13-20 September 1999, and a future modeling scenario was projected for ozone episode days in 2007 utilizing the meteorological conditions prevalent in the base year. The temperatures were increased uniformly throughout the simulation domain and through the vertical layers by 2°C, 3°C, 4°C, 5°C, and 6°C, respectively in the future year modeling case. These temperature perturbations represented the outcome of extreme climate change within the study region. Significantly large changes in peak ozone concentrations were predicted by the photochemical model. For the 6°C temperature perturbation, the greatest amplification in the maximum 8-h ozone concentrations within urban areas of the modeling domain was approximately 12 ppb. In addition, transboundary flux from major industrialized urban areas played a major role in supplementing the high ozone concentrations during the perturbed temperature scenarios. The Unites States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is currently proposing stricter 8-h ozone standards. The effect of temperature perturbations on ozone exceedances based on current and potential stringent future National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) was also studied. Temperatures had an appreciable spatial impact on the 8-h ozone exceedances with a considerable increase in spatial area exceeding the NAAQS for the 8-h ozone levels within the study region for each successive augmentation in

Agriculture and irrigation as potential drivers of urban heat island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, R.; Buzan, J. R.; Mishra, V.; Kumar, R.; Shindell, D. T.; Huber, M.

2017-12-01

More than half the population are urban dwellers and are most vulnerable to global environmental changes. Urban extents are more prone to intense heating as compared to the surroundings rural area. Presently about 33% of India's population lives in the urban area and is expected to rise steeply, so a better understanding of the phenomenon affecting the urban population is very much important. Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a well-known phenomenon which potentially affects energy consumption, spreading of diseases and mortality. In general, almost all (90%) of the major urban area of the country faces UHI at night time in the range (1-5 °C) while 60% of the regions face Urban Cool Island (UCI) in the range of -1 to 6 °C in day time. Our observations and simulations show that vegetation and irrigation in the surrounding non urban directly affects day time Urban Cool Island effects. This is due to the relative cooling by vegetation and irrigated lands in the vicinity of these urban regions. There is a contrasting variation in UHI/UCI intensities in different seasons and in different time of the day. Most of the urban regions face UHI effect in summers whereas this phenomenton reverses in winters. Daytime UCI is more prominent in the months of April and May due to minimum availability of moisture. We observed that apart from vegetation and irrigation, aerosol is also an important factor governing UHI phenomenon.

Environmental consequences of rapid urbanization in zhejiang province, East china.

PubMed

Yang, Xuchao; Yue, Wenze; Xu, Honghui; Wu, Jingsheng; He, Yue

2014-07-11

Since reforms carried out in the late 1970s, China has experienced unprecedented rates of urban growth. Remote sensing data and surface observational data are used to investigate the urbanization process and related environmental consequences, focusing on extreme heat events and air pollution, in Zhejiang Province (ZJP, East China). Examination of satellite-measured nighttime light data indicates rapid urbanization in ZJP during the past decade, initially forming three urban clusters. With rapid urban sprawl, a significant Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has emerged. During extreme heat events in summer, the UHI effect significantly exacerbates nocturnal heat stress in highly urbanized areas. Taking a long-term view, urbanization also causes additional hot days and hot degree days in urban areas. Urbanization also imposes a heavy burden on local and regional air quality in ZJP. Degraded visibility and an increase in haze days are observed at most meteorological stations, especially in the three urban clusters. The results show that urbanization has led to serious environmental problems in ZJP, not only on the city scale, but also on the regional scale. Maintaining a balance between the continuing process of urbanization and environmental sustainability is a major issue facing the local government.

Regional/Urban Air Quality Modeling Assessment over China Using the Models-3/CMAQ System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, J. S.; Jang, C. C.; Streets, D. G.; Li, Z.; Wang, L.; Zhang, Q.; Woo, J.; Wang, B.

2004-12-01

China is the world's most populous country with a fast growing economy that surges in energy comsumption. It has become the second largest energy consumer after the United States although the per capita level is much lower than those found in developed or developing countries. Air pollution has become one of the most important problems of megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai and has serious impacts on public health, causes urban and regional haze. The Models-3/CMAQ modeling application that has been conducted to simulate multi-pollutants in China is presented. The modeling domains cover East Asia (36-kmx36-km) including Japan, South Korea, Korea DPR, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Mongolia, East China (12-kmx12-km) and Beijing/Tianjing, Shanghai (4-kmx4-km). For this study, the Asian emission inventory based on the emission estimates of the year 2000 that supported the NASA TRACE-P program is used. However, the TRACE-P emission inventory was developed for a different purpose such as global modeling. TRACE-P emission inventory may not be practical in urban area. There is no China national emission inventory available. Therefore, TRACE-P emission inventory is used on the East Asia and East China domains. The 8 districts of Beijing and Shanghai local emissions inventory are used to replace TRACE-P in 4-km domains. The meteorological data for the Models-3/CMAQ run are extracted from MM5. The model simulation is performed during the period January 1-20 and July 1-20, 2001 that presented the winter and summer time for China areas. The preliminary model results are shown O3 concentrations are in the range of 80 -120 ppb in the urban area. Lower urban O3 concentrations are shown in Beijing areas, possibly due to underestimation of urban man-made VOC emissions in the TRACE-P inventory and local inventory. High PM2.5 (70ug/m3 in summer and 150ug/m3 in winter) were simulated over metropolitan & downwind areas with significant secondary constituents. More comprehensive

Factors associated with no or delayed linkage to care in newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-infected patients identified by emergency department-based rapid HIV screening programs in two urban EDs.

PubMed

Rothman, Richard E; Kelen, Gabor D; Harvey, Leah; Shahan, Judy B; Hairston, Heather; Burah, Avanthi; Moring-Parris, Daniel; Hsieh, Yu-Hsiang

2012-05-01

The objective was to describe the proportions of successful linkage to care (LTC) and identify factors associated with LTC among newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients, from two urban emergency department (ED) rapid HIV screening programs. This was a retrospective analysis of programmatic data from two established urban ED rapid HIV screening programs between November 2005 and October 2009. Trained HIV program assistants interviewed all patients tested to gather risk behavior data using a structured data collection instrument. Reactive results were confirmed by Western blot testing. Patients were provided with scheduled appointments at HIV specialty clinics at the institutions where they tested positive within 30 days of their ED visit. "Successful" LTC was defined as attendance at the HIV outpatient clinic within 30 days after HIV diagnosis, in accordance with the ED National HIV Testing Consortium metric. "Any" LTC was defined as attendance at the outpatient HIV clinic within 1 year of initial HIV diagnosis. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine factors associated with any LTC or successful LTC. Of the 15,640 tests administered, 108 (0.7%) were newly identified HIV-positive cases. Nearly half (47.2%) of the patients had been previously tested for HIV. Successful LTC occurred in 54% of cases; any LTC occurred in 83% of cases. In multivariate analysis, having public medical insurance and being self-pay were negatively associated with successful LTC (odds ratio [OR] = 0.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.12 to 0.96; OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.13 to 0.89, respectively); being female and having previously tested for HIV was negatively associated with any LTC (OR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.93; OR = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.07 to 0.77, respectively). In spite of dedicated resources for arranging LTC in the ED HIV testing programs, nearly 50% of patients did not have successful LTC (i.e., LTC occurred at >30 days), although >80

Integrative sensing and prediction of urban water for sustainable cities (iSPUW)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seo, D. J.; Fang, N. Z.; Yu, X.; Zink, M.; Gao, J.; Kerkez, B.

2014-12-01

We describe a newly launched project in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (DFW) area to develop a cyber-physical prototype system that integrates advanced sensing, modeling and prediction of urban water, to support its early adoption by a spectrum of users and stakeholders, and to educate a new generation of future sustainability scientists and engineers. The project utilizes the very high-resolution precipitation and other sensing capabilities uniquely available in DFW as well as crowdsourcing and cloud computing to advance understanding of the urban water cycle and to improve urban sustainability from transient shocks of heavy-to-extreme precipitation under climate change and urbanization. All available water information from observations and models will be fused objectively via advanced data assimilation to produce the best estimate of the state of the uncertain system. Modeling, prediction and decision support tools will be developed in the ensemble framework to increase the information content of the analysis and prediction and to support risk-based decision making.

Premature deaths attributed to source-specific BC emissions in six urban US regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Matthew D.; Henze, Daven K.; Capps, Shannon L.; Hakami, Amir; Zhao, Shunliu; Resler, Jaroslav; Carmichael, Gregory R.; Stanier, Charles O.; Baek, Jaemeen; Sandu, Adrian; Russell, Armistead G.; Nenes, Athanasios; Pinder, Rob W.; Napelenok, Sergey L.; Bash, Jesse O.; Percell, Peter B.; Chai, Tianfeng

2015-11-01

Recent studies have shown that exposure to particulate black carbon (BC) has significant adverse health effects and may be more detrimental to human health than exposure to PM2.5 as a whole. Mobile source BC emission controls, mostly on diesel-burning vehicles, have successfully decreased mobile source BC emissions to less than half of what they were 30 years ago. Quantification of the benefits of previous emissions controls conveys the value of these regulatory actions and provides a method by which future control alternatives could be evaluated. In this study we use the adjoint of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model to estimate highly-resolved spatial distributions of benefits related to emission reductions for six urban regions within the continental US. Emissions from outside each of the six chosen regions account for between 7% and 27% of the premature deaths attributed to exposure to BC within the region. While we estimate that nonroad mobile and onroad diesel emissions account for the largest number of premature deaths attributable to exposure to BC, onroad gasoline is shown to have more than double the benefit per unit emission relative to that of nonroad mobile and onroad diesel. Within the region encompassing New York City and Philadelphia, reductions in emissions from large industrial combustion sources that are not classified as EGUs (i.e., non-EGU) are estimated to have up to triple the benefits per unit emission relative to reductions to onroad diesel sectors, and provide similar benefits per unit emission to that of onroad gasoline emissions in the region. While onroad mobile emissions have been decreasing in the past 30 years and a majority of vehicle emission controls that regulate PM focus on diesel emissions, our analysis shows the most efficient target for stricter controls is actually onroad gasoline emissions.

Urban vs. rural differences in prescription opioid misuse among adults in the United States: informing region specific drug policies and interventions.

PubMed

Rigg, Khary K; Monnat, Shannon M

2015-05-01

In the United States, prescription opioid misuse (POM) has increased dramatically over the past two decades. However, there are still questions regarding whether rural/urban differences in adult POM exist, and more important, which factors might be driving these differences. Using data from the 2011 and 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, we conducted unadjusted and adjusted binary logistic regression analyses to determine the association between metropolitan status and POM. We found that urban adults were more likely to engage in POM compared to rural adults because of their higher use of other substances, including alcohol, cannabis, and other illicit and prescription drugs, and because of their greater use of these substances as children. This study fills an important gap in the literature by not only identifying urban/rural differences in POM, but by also pointing out factors that mediate those differences. Because patterns and predictors of POM can be unique to geographic region, this research is critical to informing tailored interventions and drug policy decisions. Specifically, these findings suggest that interventions should be aimed at urban illicit drug users and adults in manual labor occupations. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Urbanization expanding process and its spatial characteristics in changping district of Beijing, China].

PubMed

Zhang, Feng; Zhang, Xinshi

2005-06-01

Urbanization is a massive and unplanned experiment that already affects large acreages worldwide, and has profound social and ecological consequences for both urban and rural residents. Therefore, to comprehensively quantify the urbanization process and to investigate its ecological consequences become the central issues in urban ecological studies. Combining urbanization expanding index with landscape metrics, this paper quantified the urbanization expanding process and the urbanization spatial characteristics in Changping District of Beijing. The results showed that there were three main urbanization models, i. e., urban fringe belt-expending model, main transportation routes line-expending model, and satellite city panel-expending model. The urbanization expansion index showed that urbanization mainly took place during the period from 1989 to 1996, and the urban landscape metrics indicated that there were urban patches isolated expanding and new urban patches emerged from 1989 to 1996, mainly amalgamated expanding from 1996 to 2001 in urban fringe belt-expanding region. In transportation routes line-expanding region, the urban patches isolated expanding, amalgamated expanding and new urban patches emerging took place simultaneously, and mainly urban patches amalgamated expanding during the former period, and new urban patches constantly turning up around satellite city during the latter in satellite city panel-expanding region. This study showed that urbanization expansion integrating landscape metrics might reveal the urbanization expanding process and its spatial characteristics, and would be a good example for the application of landscape metrics.

Population, migration and urbanization.

PubMed

1982-06-01

in rural areas. According to UN data, at the global level the trend in longterm and permanent migration is towards stabilization or decline in the rate of movement into developed countries like the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia from developing countries. Migrants in the Asian and Pacific region mostly tend to be in the 15-25 year age group. Most migrants streams are male dominant. The rural urban migration stream includes a large proportion of people who are better educated than their rural counterparts but generally less educated than the urban natives. Reasons for migrating in the Asian and Pacific region are economic, educational, sociocultural and political. A negative factor in rural migration is that it deprives villages of the ablest people.

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-Rural and Regional Variability in the Prevalence of Food Insecurity: the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin

PubMed Central

Guerrero, Natalie; Walsh, Matthew C; Malecki, Kristen C; Nieto, F Javier

2014-01-01

Background Food insecurity is a public health concern and it is estimated to affect 18 million American households nationally, which can result in chronic nutritional deficiencies and other health risks. The relationships between food insecurity and specific demographic and geographic factors in Wisconsin is not well documented. The goals of this paper are to investigate socio-demographic and geographic features associated with food insecurity in a representative sample of Wisconsin adults. Methods This study used data from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW). SHOW annually collects health-related data on a representative sample of Wisconsin residents. Between 2008-2012, 2,947 participants were enrolled in the SHOW study. The presence of food insecurity was defined based on the participant's affirmative answer to the question “In the last 12 months, have you been concerned about having enough food for you or your family?” Results After adjustment for age, race, and gender, 13.2% (95% Confidence Limit (CI): 10.8%-15.1%) of participants reported food insecurity, 56.7% (95% CI: 50.6%-62.7%) of whom were female. Food insecurity did not statistically differ by state public health region (p=0.30). The adjusted prevalence of food insecurity in the urban core, other urban, and rural areas of Wisconsin was 14.1%, 6.5% and 10.5%, respectively. These differences were not statistically significant (p=0.13). Conclusions The prevalence of food insecurity is substantial, affecting an estimated number of 740,000 Wisconsin residents. The prevalence was similarly high in all urbanicity levels and across all state public health regions in Wisconsin. Food insecurity is a common problem with potentially serious health consequences affecting populations across the entire state. PMID:25211799

Mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in urban green spaces: implications for urban wildlife conservation.

PubMed

Gallo, Travis; Fidino, Mason; Lehrer, Elizabeth W; Magle, Seth B

2017-12-01

As urban growth expands and natural environments fragment, it is essential to understand the ecological roles fulfilled by urban green spaces. To evaluate how urban green spaces function as wildlife habitat, we estimated mammal diversity and metacommunity dynamics in city parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and natural areas throughout the greater Chicago, Illinois, USA region. We found similar α-diversity (with the exception of city parks), but remarkably dissimilar communities in different urban green spaces. Additionally, the type of urban green space greatly influenced species colonization and persistence rates. For example, coyotes (Canis latrans) had the highest, but white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) the lowest probability of persistence in golf courses compared to other green space types. Further, most species had a difficult time colonizing city parks even when sites were seemingly available. Our results indicate that urban green spaces contribute different, but collectively important, habitats for maintaining and conserving biodiversity in cities. © 2017 by the Ecological Society of America.

Urban Intensification and Expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa: Impacts on Urban Agriculture and Food Security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uzokwe, V. N. E. N.; Muchelo, R. O.; Odeh, I. A.

2015-12-01

In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), urban intensification and expansion are increasing at alarming rates due to rapid population growth and rural-to-urban migration. This has led to the premise that the proportion of SSA urban residents most vulnerable to food insecurity is the highest in the world. Using a focused survey and multi-temporal (decadal) land use/cover classification of Landsat images, we explored the effect of urban intensification and expansion on urban agriculture and food security, focusing on a megacity and a regional center in Uganda: Kampala and Mbarara, respectively. We found that food insecurity arose due to a number of reasons, among which are: i) expansion and intensification of of urban settlements into previously productive agricultural lands in urban and peri-urban areas; ii) loss of predominantly young (rural agricultural) adult labor force to urban centers, leading to decline in rural food production; iii) lack of proper urban planning incorporating green and agricultural development leading to low productive market garden systems. We discussed these outcomes in light of existing studies which estimated that urban agriculture alone supports over 800 million people globally and accounts for 15-20% of world food supply. In spite of this relatively low contribution by urban/peri-urban agriculture, it probably accounts for higher proportion of food supply to urban poor in SSA and thus are most vulnerable to the loss of urban and peri-urban agricultural land. Further recommendations require policy makers and urban planners to team up to design a suitable framework for sustainable urban planning and development.

Urbanization and Slum Formation

PubMed Central

Phua, Kai Hong

2007-01-01

The formation of slums need not be inevitable with rapid urbanization. Such an argument appears to be contradicted by evidence of large slum populations in a large number of developing countries and particularly in rapidly urbanizing regions like Asia. The evidence discussed suggests that city authorities faced with rapid urban development lack the capacity to cope with the diverse demands for infrastructural provision to meet economic and social needs. Not only are strategic planning and intervention major issues in agenda to manage rapid urbanization, but city governments are not effectively linking the economic development trajectory to implications for urban growth and, hence, housing needs. In the following discussion, a case study is presented in support of the argument that city governments have to first recognize and then act to establish the link that is crucial between economic development, urban growth, and housing. This is the agendum that has been largely neglected by city and national governments that have been narrowly focused on economic growth with the consequent proliferation of slum formation as a housing solution. PMID:17387618

Adaptive evolution of newly emerged micro-RNA genes in Drosophila.

PubMed

Lu, Jian; Fu, Yonggui; Kumar, Supriya; Shen, Yang; Zeng, Kai; Xu, Anlong; Carthew, Richard; Wu, Chung-I

2008-05-01

How often micro-RNA (miRNA) genes emerged and how fast they evolved soon after their emergence are some of the central questions in the evolution of miRNAs. Because most known miRNA genes are ancient and highly conserved, these questions can be best answered by identifying newly emerged miRNA genes. Among the 78 miRNA genes in Drosophila reported before 2007, only 5 are confirmed to be newly emerged in the genus (although many more can be found in the newly reported data set; e.g., Ruby et al. 2007; Stark et al. 2007; Lu et al. 2008). These new miRNA genes have undergone numerous changes, even in the normally invariant mature sequences. Four of them (the miR-310/311/312/313 cluster, denoted miR-310s) were duplicated from other conserved miRNA genes. The fifth one (miR-303) appears to be a very young gene, originating de novo from a non-miRNA sequence recently. We sequenced these 5 miRNA genes and their neighboring regions from a worldwide collection of Drosophila melanogaster lines. The levels of divergence and polymorphism in these miRNA genes, vis-à-vis those of the neighboring DNA sequences, suggest that these 5 genes are evolving adaptively. Furthermore, the polymorphism pattern of miR-310s in D. melanogaster is indicative of hitchhiking under positive selection. Thus, a large number of adaptive changes over a long period of time may be essential for the evolution of newly emerged miRNA genes.

EnviroAtlas Connects Urban Ecosystem Services and Human ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Ecosystem services in urban areas can improve public health and well-being by mitigating natural and anthropogenic pollution, and by promoting healthy lifestyles that include engagement with nature and enhanced opportunities for physical activity and social interaction. EPA’s EnviroAtlas online mapping tool identifies urban environmental features linked in the scientific and medical literature to specific aspects of public health and well-being. EnviroAtlas researchers have synthesized newly-generated one-meter resolution landcover data, downscaled census population data, and other existing datasets such as roads and parks. Resulting geospatial metrics represent health-related indicators of urban ecosystem services supply and demand by census block-group and finer scales. EnviroAtlas maps include percent of the population with limited window views of trees, tree cover along walkable roads, overall neighborhood green space, and proximity to parks. Demographic data can be overlaid to perform analyses of disproportionate distribution of urban ecosystem services across population groups. Together with the Eco-Health Relationship Browser, EnviroAtlas data can be linked to numerous aspects of public health and well-being including school performance, physical fitness, social capital, and longevity. EnviroAtlas maps have been developed using consistent methods to allow for comparisons between neighborhoods and across multiple U.S. communities. To feature eco-heal

Urbanization and watershed sustainability: Collaborative simulation modeling of future development states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Randhir, Timothy O.; Raposa, Sarah

2014-11-01

Urbanization has a significant impact on water resources and requires a watershed-based approach to evaluate impacts of land use and urban development on watershed processes. This study uses a simulation with urban policy scenarios to model and strategize transferable recommendations for municipalities and cities to guide urban decisions using watershed ecohydrologic principles. The watershed simulation model is used to evaluation intensive (policy in existing built regions) and extensive (policy outside existing build regions) urban development scenarios with and without implementation of Best Management practices (BMPs). Water quantity and quality changes are simulated to assess effectiveness of five urban development scenarios. It is observed that optimal combination of intensive and extensive strategies can be used to sustain urban ecosystems. BMPs are found critical to reduce storm water and water quality impacts on urban development. Conservation zoning and incentives for voluntary adoption of BMPs can be used in sustaining urbanizing watersheds.

Homicide in post-Soviet Belarus: urban-rural trends.

PubMed

Stickley, Andrew; Leinsalu, Mall; Razvodovsky, Yury E

2009-01-01

To investigate the occurrence of homicide in urban and rural regions of Belarus in the post-Soviet period. All-age male and female homicide mortality and population data were obtained for the years 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 for urban and rural regions of Belarus. These data were recalculated into three age categories and directly standardised. To assess relative changes in rural-urban homicide rates across time Poisson regression models were used to calculate rate ratios. Between 1990 and 1995 homicide rates rose sharply in urban and rural regions although the rise was greater in the former. Although there was little change in homicide rates in 2000, a notable divergence had occurred by 2005. While homicide rates rose slightly in rural areas, a large fall occurred in the rates of both men and women in urban areas. This resulted in significantly higher rural homicide rate ratios at the end of the study period. With some variations age-specific homicide rates followed this overall general pattern resulting in significantly higher homicide rate ratios in all rural groups aged 15 and above in 2005. It is probable that a combination of factors such as high levels of poverty, the effects of alcohol consumption, as well as the poor provision of emergency medical services underlie both the high levels of lethal violence and the growing rural-urban divergence in homicide rates in contemporary Belarus. Urgent action is now needed to address the deteriorating social and economic conditions underpinning violence, especially in rural regions.

Airborne black carbon concentrations over an urban region in western India-temporal variability, effects of meteorology, and source regions.

PubMed

Bapna, Mukund; Sunder Raman, Ramya; Ramachandran, S; Rajesh, T A

2013-03-01

This study characterizes over 5 years of high time resolution (5 min), airborne black carbon (BC) concentrations (July 2003 to December 2008) measured over Ahmedabad, an urban region in western India. The data were used to obtain different time averages of BC concentrations, and these averages were then used to assess the diurnal, seasonal, and annual variability of BC over the study region. Assessment of diurnal variations revealed a strong association between BC concentrations and vehicular traffic. Peaks in BC concentration were co-incident with the morning (0730 to 0830, LST) and late evening (1930 to 2030, LST) rush hour traffic. Additionally, diurnal variability in BC concentrations during major festivals (Diwali and Dushera during the months of October/November) revealed an increase in BC concentrations due to fireworks displays. Maximum half hourly BC concentrations during the festival days were as high as 79.8 μg m(-3). However, the high concentrations rapidly decayed suggesting that local meteorology during the festive season was favorable for aerosol dispersion. A multiple linear regression (MLR) model with BC as the dependent variable and meteorological parameters as independent variables was fitted. The variability in temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction accounted for about 49% of the variability in measured BC concentrations. Conditional probability function (CPF) analysis was used to identify the geographical location of local source regions contributing to the effective BC measured (at 880 nm) at the receptor site. The east north-east (ENE) direction to the receptor was identified as a major source region. National highway (NH8) and two coal-fired thermal power stations (at Gandhinagar and Sabarmati) were located in the identified direction, suggesting that local traffic and power plant emissions were likely contributors to the measured BC.

Housing Shortages in Urban Regions: Aggressive Interactions at Tree Hollows in Forest Remnants

PubMed Central

Davis, Adrian; Major, Richard E.; Taylor, Charlotte E.

2013-01-01

Urbanisation typically results in a reduction of hollow-bearing trees and an increase in the density of particularly species, potentially resulting in an increased level of competition as cavity-nesting species compete for a limited resource. To improve understanding of hollow usage between urban cavity-nesting species in Australia, particularly parrots, we investigated how the hollow-using assemblage, visitation rate, diversity and number of interactions varied between hollows within urban remnant forest and continuous forest. Motion-activated video cameras were installed, via roped access to the canopy, and hollow usage was monitored at 61 hollows over a two-year period. Tree hollows within urban remnants had a significantly different assemblage of visitors to those in continuous forest as well as a higher rate of visitation than hollows within continuous forest, with the rainbow lorikeet making significantly more visitations than any other taxa. Hollows within urban remnants were characterised by significantly higher usage rates and significantly more aggressive interactions than hollows within continuous forest, with parrots responsible for almost all interactions. Within urban remnants, high rates of hollow visitation and both interspecific and intraspecific interactions observed at tree hollows suggest the number of available optimal hollows may be limiting. Understanding the usage of urban remnant hollows by wildlife, as well as the role of parrots as a potential flagship for the conservation of tree-hollows, is vital to prevent a decrease in the diversity of urban fauna, particularly as other less competitive species risk being outcompeted by abundant native species. PMID:23555657

Does rural or urban residence make a difference to neonatal outcome in premature birth? A regional study in Australia

PubMed Central

Abdel‐Latif, M E; Bajuk, B; Oei, J; Vincent, T; Sutton, L; Lui, K

2006-01-01

Background Patients living in rural areas may be at a disadvantage in accessing tertiary health care. Aim To test the hypothesis that very premature infants born to mothers residing in rural areas have poorer outcomes than those residing in urban areas in the state of New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) despite a coordinated referral and transport system. Methods “Rural” or “urban” status was based on the location of maternal residence. Perinatal characteristics, major morbidity and case mix adjusted mortality were compared between 1879 rural and 6775 urban infants <32 weeks gestational age, born in 1992–2002 and admitted to all 10 neonatal intensive care units in NSW and ACT. Results Rural mothers were more likely to be teenaged, indigenous, and to have had a previous premature birth, prolonged ruptured membrane, and antenatal corticosteroid. Urban mothers were more likely to have had assisted conception and a caesarean section. More urban (93% v 83%) infants were born in a tertiary obstetric hospital. Infants of rural residence had a higher mortality (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07 to 1.48, p  =  0.005). This trend was consistently seen in all subgroups and significantly for the tertiary hospital born population and the 30–31 weeks gestation subgroup. Regional birth data in this gestational age range also showed a higher stillbirth rate among rural infants (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.32, p<0.001). Conclusions Premature births from rural mothers have a higher risk of stillbirth and mortality in neonatal intensive care than urban infants. PMID:16428354

Urban growth patterns in major Southeast Asian cities: Toward exposure mapping and vulnerability assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandapaka, Pradeep; Kamarajugedda, Shankar A.; Lo, Edmond Y. M.

2017-04-01

Southeast Asia (SEA) is undergoing rapid urbanization, with urban population percentage increasing from 32% in 1990 to 48% in 2015. It is projected that by the year 2040, urban regions in SEA account for 60% of its total population. The region is home to 600 million people, with many densely populated cities, including megacities such as Jakarta, Bangkok, and Manila. The region has more than 20,000 islands, and many cities lie on coastal low-lands and floodplains. These geographical characteristics together with the increasing population, infrastructure growth, and changing climate makes the region highly vulnerable to natural hazards. This study assessed urban growth dynamics in major (defined as population exceeding 1 million) SEA cities using remotely sensed night-time lights (NTL) data. A recently proposed brightness gradient approach was applied on 21 years (1992-2012) of NTL annual composites to derive core-urban (CU) and peri-urban (PU) regions within each city. The study also assessed the sensitivity of above extracted urban categories to different NTL thresholds. The temporal trends in CU and PU regions were quantified, and compared with trends in socio-economic indicators. The spatial expansion of CU and PU regions were found to depend on geographical constraints and socio-economic factors. Quantification of urban growth spatial-temporal patterns, as conducted here contributes towards the understanding of exposure and vulnerability of people and infrastructures to natural hazards, as well as the evolving trends for assessment under projected urbanization conditions. This will underpin better risk assessment efforts for present and future planning.

Environmental Consequences of Rapid Urbanization in Zhejiang Province, East China

PubMed Central

Yang, Xuchao; Yue, Wenze; Xu, Honghui; Wu, Jingsheng; He, Yue

2014-01-01

Since reforms carried out in the late 1970s, China has experienced unprecedented rates of urban growth. Remote sensing data and surface observational data are used to investigate the urbanization process and related environmental consequences, focusing on extreme heat events and air pollution, in Zhejiang Province (ZJP, East China). Examination of satellite-measured nighttime light data indicates rapid urbanization in ZJP during the past decade, initially forming three urban clusters. With rapid urban sprawl, a significant Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect has emerged. During extreme heat events in summer, the UHI effect significantly exacerbates nocturnal heat stress in highly urbanized areas. Taking a long-term view, urbanization also causes additional hot days and hot degree days in urban areas. Urbanization also imposes a heavy burden on local and regional air quality in ZJP. Degraded visibility and an increase in haze days are observed at most meteorological stations, especially in the three urban clusters. The results show that urbanization has led to serious environmental problems in ZJP, not only on the city scale, but also on the regional scale. Maintaining a balance between the continuing process of urbanization and environmental sustainability is a major issue facing the local government. PMID:25019266

Subsurface information for risk-sensitive urban spatial planning in Dhaka Metropolitan City, Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Günther, Andreas; Aziz Patwary, Mohammad Abdul; Bahls, Rebecca; Asaduzzaman, Atm; Ludwig, Rüdiger; Ashraful Kamal, Mohammad; Nahar Faruqa, Nurun; Jabeen, Sarwat

2016-04-01

Dhaka Metropolitan City (including Dhaka and five adjacent municipal areas) is one of the fastest developing urban regions in the world. Densely build-up areas in the developed metropolitan area of Dhaka City are subject to extensive restructuring as common six- or lower storied buildings are replaced by higher and heavier constructions. Additional stories are built on existing houses, frequently exceeding the allowable bearing pressure on the subsoil as supported by the foundations. In turn, newly developing city areas are projected in marshy terrains modified by extensive, largely unengineered landfills. In most areas, these terrains bear unfavorable building ground conditions within 30 meters. Within a collaborative technical cooperation project between Bangladesh and Germany, BGR supports GSB in the provision of geo-information for the Capital Development Authority (RAJUK). For general urban planning, RAJUK successively develops a detailed area plan (DAP) at scale 1 : 50000 for the whole Dhaka Metropolitan City area (approx. 1700 km2). Geo-information have not been considered in the present DAP. Within the project, geospatial information in form of a geomorphic map, a digital terrain model and a 3-D subsurface model covering the whole city area have been generated at a scale of 1 : 50000. An extensive engineering geological data base consisting of more than 2200 borehole data with associated Standard Penetration Testing (SPT) and lab data has been compiled. With the field testing (SPT) and engineering geological lab data, the 3-D subsurface model can be parameterized to derive important spatial subsurface information for urban planning like bearing capacity evaluations for different foundation designs or soil liquefaction potential assessments for specific earthquake scenarios. In conjunction with inundation potential evaluations for different flooding scenarios, comprehensive building ground suitability information can be derived to support risk

Simulated Climate Impacts of Mexico City's Historical Urban Expansion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benson-Lira, Valeria

Urbanization, a direct consequence of land use and land cover change, is responsible for significant modification of local to regional scale climates. It is projected that the greatest urban growth of this century will occur in urban areas in the developing world. In addition, there is a significant research gap in emerging nations concerning this topic. Thus, this research focuses on the assessment of climate impacts related to urbanization on the largest metropolitan area in Latin America: Mexico City. Numerical simulations using a state-of-the-science regional climate model are utilized to address a trio of scientifically relevant questions with wide global applicability. The importance of an accurate representation of land use and land cover is first demonstrated through comparison of numerical simulations against observations. Second, the simulated effect of anthropogenic heating is quantified. Lastly, numerical simulations are performed using pre-historic scenarios of land use and land cover to examine and quantify the impact of Mexico City's urban expansion and changes in surface water features on its regional climate.

Aerosol optical properties and types over the tropical urban region of Hyderabad, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kharol, Shailesh Kumar; Kaskaoutis, D. G.; Rani Sharma, Anu; Kvs, Badarinath; Kambezidis, H. D.

India is densely populated, industrialized and in the recent years has witnessed an impressive economic development. Aerosols over and around India not only affect the Indian monsoon but also the global climate. The growing population coupled with revolution in industry has resulted in higher demands for energy and transport. With more and more urbanization the usage pattern of fossil and bio-fuels are leading to changes in aerosol properties, which may cause changes in precipitation and can decelerate the hydrological cycle. Over urban areas of India aerosol emissions from fossil fuels such as coal, petrol and diesel oil dominate. Further-more, the Indian subcontinent exhibits different land characteristics ranging from vegetated areas and forests to semiarid and arid environments and tall mountains. India experiences large seasonal climatic variations, which result in extreme temperatures, rainfall and relative humidity. These meteorological and climatic features introduce large variabilities in aerosol op-tical and physico-chemical characteristics at spatial and temporal scales. In the present study, seasonal variations in aerosol properties and types were analysed over tropical urban region of Hyderabad, India during October 2007-September 2008 using MICROTOPS II sun photometer measurements. Higher aerosol optical depth (AOD) values are observed in premonsoon, while the variability of the ˚ngstrüm exponent (α) seems to be more pronounced with higher values A in winter and premonsoon and lower in the monsoon periods. The AOD at 500 nm (AOD500 ) is very large over Hyderabad, varying from 0.46±0.17 in postmonsoon to 0.65±0.22 in premon-soon periods. A discrimination of the different aerosol types over Hyderabad is also attempted using values of AOD500 and α380-870. Such discrimination is rather difficult to interpret since a single aerosol type can partly be identified only under specific conditions (e.g. anthropogenic emissions, biomass burning or dust

Conversion of prime agricultural land to urban land uses in Kansas City

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shaklee, R. V.

1976-01-01

In an expanding urban environment, agriculture and urban land uses are the two primary competitors for regional land resources. As a result of an increasing awareness of the effects which urban expansion has upon the regional environment, the conversion of prime agricultural land to urban land uses has become a point of concern to urban planners. A study was undertaken for the Kansas City Metropolitan Region, to determine the rate at which prime agricultural land has been converted to urban land uses over a five year period from 1969 to 1974. Using NASA high altitude color infrared imagery acquired over the city in October, 1969 and in May, 1974 to monitor the extent and location of urban expansion in the interim period, it was revealed that 42% of that expansion had occurred upon land classified as having prime agricultural potential. This involved a total of 10,727 acres of prime agricultural land and indicated a 7% increase over the 1969 which showed that 35% of the urban area had been developed on prime agricultural land.

NeuroPlace: Categorizing urban places according to mental states

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Urban spaces have a great impact on how people’s emotion and behaviour. There are number of factors that impact our brain responses to a space. This paper presents a novel urban place recommendation approach, that is based on modelling in-situ EEG data. The research investigations leverages on newly affordable Electroencephalogram (EEG) headsets, which has the capability to sense mental states such as meditation and attention levels. These emerging devices have been utilized in understanding how human brains are affected by the surrounding built environments and natural spaces. In this paper, mobile EEG headsets have been used to detect mental states at different types of urban places. By analysing and modelling brain activity data, we were able to classify three different places according to the mental state signature of the users, and create an association map to guide and recommend people to therapeutic places that lessen brain fatigue and increase mental rejuvenation. Our mental states classifier has achieved accuracy of (%90.8). NeuroPlace breaks new ground not only as a mobile ubiquitous brain monitoring system for urban computing, but also as a system that can advise urban planners on the impact of specific urban planning policies and structures. We present and discuss the challenges in making our initial prototype more practical, robust, and reliable as part of our on-going research. In addition, we present some enabling applications using the proposed architecture. PMID:28898244

Impact of vegetable crop agriculture on anopheline agressivity and malaria transmission in urban and less urbanized settings of the South region of Cameroon.

PubMed

Akono, Patrick Ntonga; Mbida, Jean Arthur Mbida; Tonga, Calvin; Belong, Philippe; Ngo Hondt, Odette Etoile; Magne, Gaëlle Tamdem; Peka, Marie Florence; Lehman, Leopold Gustave

2015-05-28

The use of inland valley swamps for vegetable crop agriculture contributes to food security in urban and less urbanized settings in Africa. The impact of this agriculture on aggressive mosquitoes' diversity and malaria transmission in central Africa is poorly documented. This study is aimed at assessing the impact of vegetable crop agriculture on these entomological parameters in urban and less urbanized settings of the forest area, south of Cameroon. The human bait technique was used for the capture of aggressive mosquitoes from January to December 2012. For three consecutive days each month, captures were performed on volunteers in hydro-agricultural and river bank sites of Akonolinga and Yaoundé. Physico-chemical characteristics of mosquito breeding sites were recorded. Molecular alongside morpho-taxonomic techniques were used for the identification of mosquito species; ELISA test was used to reveal Plasmodium falciparum infected mosquitoes through the detection of CSP. Mosquito diversity, aggressivity and malaria transmission in sites and settings were determined and compared. Biting rates were higher in hydro-agricultural sites of less urbanized and urban settings (31.8 b/p/n and 28.6 b/p/n respectively) than in river banks sites (6.83 b/p/n and 3.64 b/p/n respectively; p < 0.0001). Physico-chemical parameters of breeding sites were not fundamentally different. Five anopheline species were identified; An. gambiae, An. funestus s.s., An. moucheti s.s., An. hancocki and An. nili s.s. In hydro-agricultural sites 2 species were captured in the urban setting versus 4 in the less urbanized setting, meanwhile in river bank sites, 3 species were captured in the urban setting versus 4 species in the less urbanized setting. An. nili s.s. was found in river banks only. An. hancocki was not found to insure Plasmodium falciparum Welch transmission. EIR in hydro-agricultural sites varied from 1.86 ib/p/n (urban area) to 2.13 ib/p/n (less urbanized area) with higher

Governance of urban transitions: towards sustainable resource efficient urban infrastructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swilling, Mark; Hajer, Maarten

2017-12-01

The transition to sustainable resource efficient cities calls for new governance arrangements. The awareness that the doubling of the global urban population will result in unsustainable levels of demand for natural resources requires changes in the existing socio-technical systems. Domestic material consumption could go up from 40 billion tons in 2010, to 89 billion tons by 2050. While there are a number of socio-technical alternatives that could result in significant improvements in the resource efficiency of urban systems in developed and developing countries (specifically bus-rapid transit, district energy systems and green buildings), we need to rethink the urban governance arrangements to get to this alternative pathway. We note modes of urban governance have changed over the past century as economic and urban development paradigms have shifted at the national and global levels. This time round we identify cities as leading actors in the transition to more sustainable modes of production and consumption as articulated in the Sustainable Development Goals. This has resulted in a surge of urban experimentation across all world regions, both North and South. Building on this empirically observable trend we suggest this can also be seen as a building block of a new urban governance paradigm. An ‘entrepreneurial urban governance’ is proposed that envisages an active and goal-setting role for the state, but in ways that allows broader coalitions of urban ‘agents of change’ to emerge. This entrepreneurial urban governance fosters and promotes experimentation rather than suppressing the myriad of such initiatives across the globe, and connects to global city networks for systemic learning between cities. Experimentation needs to result in a contextually appropriate balance between economic, social, technological and sustainable development. A full and detailed elaboration of the arguments and sources for this article can be found in chapter 6 of Swilling M et

Monitoring the effects of land cover change on the supply of ecosystem services in an urban region: A study of Santiago-Valparaíso, Chile

PubMed Central

de la Barrera, Francisco; Salazar, Alejandro; Inostroza, Luis

2017-01-01

Mankind’s quest for well-being results in continuous pressure to transform landscapes, with said transformation driven by land use changes, urbanization, production activity, and protective measures in addition to climate variability and other environmental drivers. The relationship between anthropogenic landscape changes and the provision of ecosystem services (ES) is a topic of increasing interest in Latin America. In Chile, land cover changes due to increased urbanization and forestry, and expansion of agricultural land, in addition to conservation initiatives as a part of land planning, have been intensive in the last few decades. In this study, the effects of anthropogenic landscape changes on the supply of ES were analyzed for the urban region of Santiago-Valparaiso (Chile) using a method based on expert consultation and land cover change assessment. A pool of experts scored the potential of specific land covers to provide certain ES. The results enabled calculation and mapping of changes in the potential of the landscape to supply ES. The aforementioned changes over a period of 15 years were evaluated. The results indicate a tenuous balance between positive and negative changes to the supply of ES derived from land cover changes. Understanding and reporting how these processes occur in urban regions contributes to the conservation of valuable landscapes through spatial planning tools, especially in areas close to housing developments and sensitive ecosystems. PMID:29136016

Monitoring the effects of land cover change on the supply of ecosystem services in an urban region: A study of Santiago-Valparaíso, Chile.

PubMed

Montoya-Tangarife, Claudia; de la Barrera, Francisco; Salazar, Alejandro; Inostroza, Luis

2017-01-01

Mankind's quest for well-being results in continuous pressure to transform landscapes, with said transformation driven by land use changes, urbanization, production activity, and protective measures in addition to climate variability and other environmental drivers. The relationship between anthropogenic landscape changes and the provision of ecosystem services (ES) is a topic of increasing interest in Latin America. In Chile, land cover changes due to increased urbanization and forestry, and expansion of agricultural land, in addition to conservation initiatives as a part of land planning, have been intensive in the last few decades. In this study, the effects of anthropogenic landscape changes on the supply of ES were analyzed for the urban region of Santiago-Valparaiso (Chile) using a method based on expert consultation and land cover change assessment. A pool of experts scored the potential of specific land covers to provide certain ES. The results enabled calculation and mapping of changes in the potential of the landscape to supply ES. The aforementioned changes over a period of 15 years were evaluated. The results indicate a tenuous balance between positive and negative changes to the supply of ES derived from land cover changes. Understanding and reporting how these processes occur in urban regions contributes to the conservation of valuable landscapes through spatial planning tools, especially in areas close to housing developments and sensitive ecosystems.

Lipid profiles and determinants of total cholesterol and hypercholesterolaemia among 25-74 year-old urban and rural citizens of the Yangon Region, Myanmar: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Htet, Aung Soe; Kjøllesdal, Marte Karoline; Aung, Wai Phyo; Moe Myint, Aye Nyein; Aye, Win Thuzar; Wai, Myint Myint; Nu, Than Than; Hla, Ei Mon; Soe, Pyone Pyone; Tun, Nan Wut Yi; Angela, Naw; Khaing, Mya Mya; Htoo, Aung Kyaw; Tun, Soe; Thitsar, Pai; Lwin, Theeoo; Wai, San San; Aung, Thi Thi; Thant, Khin Aye; Aung Po, Wai Wai; Gauzam, Seng Taung; Naing, Tun Tun; Tun, Thet Min; Myint, Khin San; Oo, Kyi Kyi; Mang, Nang Kee Myu; Naing, Soe Moe; Zaw, Ko Ko; Bjertness, Marius Bergsmark; Sherpa, Lhamo Yangchen; Oo, Win Myint; Stigum, Hein; Bjertness, Espen

2017-11-15

The first is to estimate the prevalence of dyslipidaemia (hypercholesterolaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level), as well as the mean levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL and HDL, in the urban and rural Yangon Region, Myanmar. The second is to investigate the association between urban-rural location and total cholesterol. Two cross-sectional studies using the WHO STEPS methodology. Both the urban and rural areas of the Yangon Region, Myanmar. A total of 1370 men and women aged 25-74 years participated based on a multistage cluster sampling. Physically and mentally ill people, monks, nuns, soldiers and institutionalised people were excluded. Compared with rural counterparts, urban dwellers had a significantly higher age-standardised prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia (50.7% vs 41.6%; p=0.042) and a low HDL level (60.6% vs 44.4%; p=0.001). No urban-rural differences were found in the prevalence of hypertriglyceridaemia and high LDL. Men had a higher age-standardised prevalence of hypertriglyceridaemia than women (25.1% vs 14.8%; p<0.001), while the opposite pattern was found in the prevalence of a high LDL (11.3% vs 16.3%; p=0.018) and low HDL level (35.3% vs 70.1%; p<0.001).Compared with rural inhabitants, urban dwellers had higher age-standardised mean levels of total cholesterol (5.31 mmol/L, SE: 0.044 vs 5.05 mmol/L, 0.068; p=0.009), triglyceride (1.65 mmol/L, 0.049 vs 1.38 mmol/L, 0.078; p=0.017), LDL (3.44 mmol/L, 0.019 vs 3.16 mmol/L, 0.058; p=0.001) and lower age-standardised mean levels of HDL (1.11 mmol/L, 0.010 vs 1.25 mmol/L, 0.012; p<0.001). In linear regression, the total cholesterol was significantly associated with an urban location among men, but not among women. The mean level of total cholesterol and the prevalence of hypercholesterolaemia were alarmingly high in men and women in both the urban and rural areas of Yangon Region, Myanmar

Developing of the database of meteorological and radiation fields for Moscow region (urban reanalysis) for 1981-2014 period with high spatial and temporal resolution. Strategy and first results.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konstantinov, Pavel; Varentsov, Mikhail; Platonov, Vladimir; Samsonov, Timofey; Zhdanova, Ekaterina; Chubarova, Natalia

2017-04-01

The main goal of this investigation is to develop a kind of "urban reanalysis" - the database of meteorological and radiation fields under Moscow megalopolis for period 1981-2014 with high spatial resolution. Main meteorological fields for Moscow region are reproduced with COSMO_CLM regional model (including urban parameters) with horizontal resolution 1x1 km. Time resolution of output fields is 1 hour. For radiation fields is quite useful to calculate SVF (Sky View Factor) for obtaining losses of UV radiation in complex urban conditions. Usually, the raster-based SVF analysis the shadow-casting algorithm proposed by Richens (1997) is popular (see Ratti and Richens 2004, Gal et al. 2008, for example). SVF image is obtained by combining shadow images obtained from different directions. An alternative is to use raster-based SVF calculation similar to vector approach using digital elevation model of urban relief. Output radiation field includes UV-radiation with horizontal resolution 1x1 km This study was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research within the framework of the scientific project no. 15-35-21129 _mol_a_ved and project no 15-35-70006 mol_a_mos References: 1. Gal, T., Lindberg, F., and Unger, J., 2008. Computing continuous sky view factors using 3D urban raster and vector databases: comparison and application to urban climate. Theoretical and applied climatology, 95 (1-2), 111-123. 2. Richens, P., 1997. Image processing for urban scale environmental modelling. In: J.D. Spitler and J.L.M. Hensen, eds. th Intemational IBPSA Conference Building Simulation, Prague. 3. Ratti, C. and Richens, P., 2004. Raster analysis of urban form. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 31 (2), 297-309.

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

EPA Science Inventory

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

Changes in South Korean urbanicity and suicide rates, 1992 to 2012.

PubMed

Chan, Chee Hon; Caine, Eric D; You, Sungeun; Yip, Paul Siu Fai

2015-12-23

Studies have highlighted the association between the degree of urbanicity and spatial disparities in suicide, but few have evaluated its changes across time. We explored the geospatial trends of suicide in South Korea from 1992 to 2012, and their relationship to the nation's evolving urbanicity. South Korea. Age-sex-specific suicide rate. Suicide rates increased in all regions of South Korea during the study period. Controlling the effects of age and sex, there was an overall inverse relationship between the degree of urbanicity and regional suicide rates. These associations were, however, attenuated across the periods, as there were smaller increases in suicide rates in mid-sized urban regions as compared to larger cities and to rural areas. Increases over time in the suicide rates among youth and working-age adults were greater in large urban centres and in rural regions. For elders, the increase was far greater in rural regions. The association of urbanicity and the geospatial pattern of suicide in South Korea was a dynamic process and varied by age groups across the course of two decades. Internal migration and related social processes most likely contributed to these changes. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Urban Environmental Education for Global Transformation Initiatives - Integrating Information and Communication Systems for Urban Sustainability in 2050.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaudhari, K.

2017-12-01

The Urban population of developing countries is predicted to rise from one third in 1990 to over 50% by 2025. In 1950 the world's total urban population was 734 million, of whom 448 million were living in developed countries and remaining 286 were in developing region. The total population on earth is predicted to increase by more than one billion people within the next 15 years, reaching 8.5 billion in 2030, and to increase further to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion by 2100. Looking at the ever increasing urbanization.In 2016, an estimated 54.5 per cent of the world's populations inhabited in urban region. By 2030, urban areas are projected to shelter 60 per cent of people worldwide and one in every three people will live in cities with at least half a million inhabitants.On the basis of these figures and other global trends, it would appear that Africa and Asia will have the highest share of world's urban growth in next 25 years, resulting consideration rise of large number of metropolitan cities and towns. Therefore issues related to urban climate change will be important for socio economic development for urban transformation through environmental sustainability.The information and communication systems plays an important role in achieving the social sustainability through environmental sustainability for urban transformation. This presentation aims to start the Global initiatives on the problem identifications in environment education for global transformation, education for socio-economic and environmental sustainability due to urbanization in 2050 to investigate problems related to social-economic risks and management issues resulting from urbanization to aid mitigation planning in globalized world and to educate scientists and local populations to form a basis for sustainable solutions in environment learning.The presentation aims to assess the potential of information and communication technology for environment education,both within different

Urban atmospheric pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean : lessons from the TRANSEMED initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borbon, Agnes; Salameh, Therese; Gaimoz, Cecile; Sauvage, Stephane; Locoge, Nadine; Oztürk, Fatma; Cetin, Banu; Keles, Melek; Afif, Charbel

2016-04-01

The East Mediterranean Basin (EMB) is a highly sensitive environment under considerable pressures. Future decadal projections point to the EMB as a possible hot spot of poor air quality and predict a continual and gradual warming in the region, much stronger than other regions. The increase and accumulation of anthropogenic emissions of gaseous and particulate pollutants from surrounding urban areas, are suspected as one of the key compounding factors of those environmental impacts. The quantification of emission distribution is a challenge, and even more in cities of the EMB where local emission data are sparse. While some highly resolved inventories have been developed at the regional scale in the EMB area for Beirut and Istanbul, their uncertainties are unknown. The paucity of observations in this region, especially for VOCs and PM composition, is a strong limitation to the achievement of evaluated and accurate emission inventories. As part of the TRANSEMED initiative (https://charmex.lsce.ipsl.fr/index.php/sister-projects/transemed.html), one of our objectives is to develop a systematic source-receptor methodology for emission inventory evaluation. We combine existing and newly collected observations and complementary source-receptor approaches (ie., urban enhancement emission ratios, multivariate models like PMF) in representative areas of the EMB: Beirut (Lebanon), Istanbul (Turkey), Cairo (Egypt) and, more recently, Athens (Greece). Over the past five years a very detailed database of ambient and near-source observations has been built-up especially regarding the composition of gaseous organic carbon. Results show (i) the extremely high levels of pollution for organics, (ii) the dominance of traffic emissions on VOC concentration levels, (iii) the relative poor spatial variability of speciated hydrocarbon traffic emissions regardless of the region, and (iv) the high uncertainty on global emission inventories when compared to observations. For the latter, and

Remote sensing assessment of carbon storage by urban forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanniah, K. D.; Muhamad, N.; Kang, C. S.

2014-02-01

Urban forests play a crucial role in mitigating global warming by absorbing excessive CO2 emissions due to transportation, industry and house hold activities in the urban environment. In this study we have assessed the role of trees in an urban forest, (Mutiara Rini) located within the Iskandar Development region in south Johor, Malaysia. We first estimated the above ground biomass/carbon stock of the trees using allometric equations and biometric data (diameter at breast height of trees) collected in the field. We used remotely sensed vegetation indices (VI) to develop an empirical relationship between VI and carbon stock. We used five different VIs derived from a very high resolution World View-2 satellite data. Results show that model by [1] and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index are correlated well (R2 = 0.72) via a power model. We applied the model to the entire study area to obtain carbon stock of urban forest. The average carbon stock in the urban forest (mostly consisting of Dipterocarp species) is ~70 t C ha-1. Results of this study can be used by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority to better manage vegetation in the urban environment to establish a low carbon city in this region.

Disaster incubation, cumulative impacts and the urban/ex-urban/rural dynamic

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

Mulvihill, Peter R.; Ali, S. Harris

2007-05-15

This article explores environmental impacts and risks that can accumulate in rural and ex-urban areas and regions and their relation to urban and global development forces. Two Southern Ontario cases are examined: an area level water disaster and cumulative change at the regional level. The role of disaster incubation analysis and advanced environmental assessment tools are discussed in terms of their potential to contribute to more enlightened and effective assessment and planning processes. It is concluded that conventional approaches to EA and planning are characteristically deficient in addressing the full range of impacts and risks, and particularly those originating frommore » pathogens, dispersed and insidious sources. Rigorous application of disaster incubation analysis and more advanced forms of EA has considerable potential to influence a different pattern of planning and decision making.« less

Spatio-Temporal Variability of Urban Heat Island and Urban Mobility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kar, B.; Omitaomu, O.

2017-12-01

A 2016 report by the U.S. Census stated that while the rural areas cover 97% of the U.S. landmass, these areas house only 19.7% of the nation's population. Given that the U.S. coastal counties are home to more than 50% of the U.S. population, these urban areas are clustered along the coast that is susceptible to sea level rise induced impacts. In light of increasing climate variability and extreme events, it is pertinent to understand the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect that results from increasing population density and mobility in the urban areas, and that contributes to increased energy consumption and temperature as well as unmitigated flooding events. For example, in Illinois, warmer summers contribute to heavy precipitation that overwhelms the region's drainage capacity. This study focuses on understanding the spatio-temporal variability of the relationship between population density and mobility distribution, and creation of UHI due to temperature change in selected cities across the U.S. This knowledge will help us understand the role of UHI in energy-water nexus in urban areas, specifically, energy consumption.

Pesticides analysed in rainwater in Alsace region (Eastern France): Comparison between urban and rural sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scheyer, Anne; Morville, Stéphane; Mirabel, Philippe; Millet, Maurice

Current-used pesticides commonly applied in Alsace region (Eastern France) on diverse crops (maize, vineyard, vegetables, etc.) were analysed, together with Lindane, in rainwater between January 2002 and June 2003 simultaneously on two sites situated in a typical rural (Erstein, France) and urban area (Strasbourg, France). Rainwater samples were collected on a weekly basis by using two automatic wet only collectors associated with an open collector for the measurement of rainwater height. Pesticides were analysed by GC-MSMS and extracted from rainwater by SPME. Two runs were performed. The first one was performed by using a PDMS (100 μm) fibre for pesticides where direct injection into GC is possible (alachlor, atrazine, azinphos-ethyl, azinphos-methyl, captan, chlorfenvinphos, dichlorvos, diflufenican, α- and β-endosulfan, iprodione, lindane, metolachlor, mevinphos, parathion-methyl, phosalone, phosmet, tebuconazole, triadimefon and trifluralin). The second run was performed by using PDMS/DVB fibre and this run concerns pesticides where a preliminary derivatisation step with pentafluorobenzylbromide (PFBBr) is required for very low volatiles (bromoxynil,2,4-MCPA, MCPP and 2,4-D) or thermo labiles (chlorotoluron, diuron and isoproturon) pesticides. Results showed that the more concentrated pesticides detected were those used as herbicides in large quantities in Alsace region for maize crops (alachlor, metolachlor and atrazine). Maximum concentrations for these herbicides have been measured during intensive applications periods on maize crops following by rapid decrease immediately after use. For Alachlor, most important peaks have been observed between 21 and 28 April 2003 (3327 ng L -1 at Erstein and 5590 ng L -1 at Strasbourg). This is also the case for Metolachlor where most important peak was observed during the same week. Concentrations of pesticides measured out of application periods were very low for many pesticides and some others where never detected