ALBERT

Description:    Using a bioeconomic model of the cod ( Gadus morhua ) and capelin ( Mallotus villosus ) fisheries of the Barents Sea, this study assesses the role of the fishermen’s behavior in reducing or intensifying the effects on the stocks caused by altered population dynamics. The analysis focuses on the economic development of the fisheries employing a coupled stock size–hydrography-based fishing strategy, which attempts to maximize returns from fishing over a given number of fishing periods. Results show that if the fishing strategy is based on a short optimization period of only two fishing periods, changes in population dynamics have a direct influence on the returns from fishing due to the strong pressure on the stocks applied by the fisheries. If the strategy is based on a longer optimization period, fishing activities may be deferred to allow for stock regrowth, which improves the economic performance of the fisheries. However, in that case, the relationship between population dynamics and fishing activities becomes less clear, as even a reduction of the carrying capacities of the two species allows for an increase in the amount of fish landed without causing a stock collapse due to an increased efficiency of fleet utilization. The simulations indicate that management considerations and the time horizon of the fishing strategy dominate the influence of altered population dynamics on the development of the stocks considered in the model. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-17 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9267-1 Authors Peter Michael Link, Research Group Climate Change and Security, KlimaCampus Hamburg, University of Hamburg, Bundesstrasse 53 #018, 20146 Hamburg, Germany Uwe A. Schneider, Research Unit Sustainability and Global Change, Center for Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Hamburg, Bundesstrasse 55, Pavilion, 20146 Hamburg, Germany Richard S. J. Tol, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    Groundwater flow modelling is an important tool in simulating and predicting hydraulic behaviour of groundwater transporting in the domain consisted of groundwater flow zone (aquifer) and permeable reactive barriers (PRBs). The aquifer regime is modelled using the Darcy equation, whereas PRBs are simulated by the Brinkman equation. By combining the above equations, the present paper is devoted to analyse the effect of permeability of aquifer ( K aq ) and reactive media ( K p ), groundwater flow velocity, and barrier size as well as assembled style of barriers on key barrier design parameter, such as the hydraulic capture zone width. The simulations indicate that the capture zone width generally decreases with a decrease in K p at a given K aq ; however, there is relatively little decrease in capture zone width when the K p of freshly installed reactive media is roughly 10 times higher than the K aq . For a given barrier system, the absolute capture zone width increases with an increase in barrier size, whereas the increment of relative capture zone width decreases dramatically. Although the capture zone width remains relatively unchanged as groundwater flow velocity increases, it results in a shorter residence time in the reactive media that may require greater barrier thickness so that contaminant levels can be reduced to regulatory limits. In addition, the effect of parallel barriers interaction on the capture zone width should be incorporated into the design. The present paper is based on the continuous reactive barrier and homogeneous barrier system. Similar methods can be used to analyse the hydrodynamics of funnel-and-gate system and heterogeneous settings by the appropriate modification. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-8 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9268-0 Authors Shejiang J. Liu, School of Environmental Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 China Xingang G. Li, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 China Hongxing X. Wang, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072 China Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    Sustainable development is a widespread concept. Indicator selection and sustainability assessment are basic methods to analyse the sustainable development process. This study aims to develop a software application to select indicators and to allocate weightings to the indicators and the sub-indexes, so that they can be listed in a sustainability assessment. The Visual Basic software is used to develop a software package based on Delphi, analytic hierarchy, normalization and combination processes. Software for sustainability assessment was developed. Thirty-five indicators are selected as a first step of which eight health indicators and eight environmental ones and their sub-indexes are given weightings. The indicators are normalized. Sub-indexes are combined into a composite sustainable development index. The model is validated showing the ‘main features’ of the sustainability situation on health and environmental aspects in the Quang Tri province during the period 2000–2005. The results support the decision-making process of the competent authorities. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9264-4 Authors Le Trinh Hai, Institute of Geography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam Pham Hoang Hai, Institute of Geography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam Chu Lam Thai, Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, Hanoi, Vietnam Jean Hugé, Human Ecology Department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Albert Ahenkan, Human Ecology Department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Le Xuan Quynh, Human Ecology Department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Vu Van Hieu, Centre for Environmental Monitoring and Modelling, Vietnam National University in Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam Nguyen Le The Tung, Department of Professional Informatics, Ministry of Public Security, Hanoi, Vietnam Luc Hens, Human Ecology Department, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    Customarily, climate studies of long-range temperature variability have been carried out using annual or monthly averages. The approach mixes the details of short- and long-range variability that are different for air temperature series. This work shows that a useful method for eliminating short-range variability on long-range variability is to apply a sufficiently long (about 2 months) time step to the daily series. An autoregressive integrated moving average model is fitted to daily maximum and minimum temperature anomalies from the mean seasonal cycle, using data from a number of Australian and New Zealand weather stations. The fitted model can be considered as a sum of random walk plus white noise. This enables us to obtain a quantitative long-term description of the temperature variability. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9269-z Authors Olavi Kärner, Tartu Observatory, Toravere, Estonia Chris R. de Freitas, School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    Urban wastewater and agriculture activities are the main sources of urban water pollution and of eutrophying nutrients in many water ecosystems. Several EU directives have been adopted and affect the control of urban water pollution. The EU legislation requires the achievement of good ecological and chemical status in all water. This paper focuses on the use of economic instruments as a priority in the context of implementation. Our analysis only considers public wastewater utilities facing demand and capacity shocks. The proposed mechanism constitutes efficient means of moving towards sustainability by promoting full-cost pricing and considering external costs from wastewater services. Environmental damage associated with urban water pollution are internalized. The model also explicitly considers the investment needed to set-up wastewater system facilities. Our results indicate that savings in capacity could be achieved by adopting the proposed incentive-based mechanism that characterizes the optimal capacity selection rule. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-16 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9261-7 Authors Jihad C. Elnaboulsi, CRESE, Centre de Recherche sur les Stratégies Economiques, Université de Franche-Comté, 45 D, Av. de l’Observatoire, 25030 Besançon cedex, France Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    This paper presents comprehensive 3D numerical investigations on depositions of particles flowing through a horizontal pipe loop consisting of four bends. The multiphase mixture model available in FLUENT 6.2 was used in this study. In this numerical simulation, five different particle sizes have been used as secondary phases to calculate real multiphase effect in which inter-particle interaction has been considered. The deposition of particles along the periphery of the pipe wall was investigated as a function of particle size and fluid velocity. The simulations showed that near the upstream of the bends, maximum particle concentration occurred at the bottom of the pipe. However, downstream the bends, the maximum particle concentration occurred at an angle of 60° from the bottom. The larger particles clearly showed deposition near the bottom wall except downstream. As expected, the smaller particles showed less tendency of deposition and lesser at higher velocity. This numerical investigation showed qualitative agreement with the experiments conducted by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Melbourne team for similar conditions. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9252-8 Authors Alamgir Hossain, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia Jamal Naser, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia Monzur Alam Imteaz, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    The concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) in background air varies temporally and spatially and is influenced by meteorological and anthropogenic factors. Background concentrations used in local air quality modelling studies have a significant effect on the accuracy of the overall result and when based on short-term monitoring data, variation in concentrations with air mass history is often unaccounted for. The current paper presents a powerful tool for the quantification and separation of local and regional air mass effects on background air quality. The origin of and the regions traversed by an air mass prior to reaching a receptor has been modelled using HYsplit-4. Trajectories (between 12 and 96 h duration) were defined based on the frequency with which they passed into 16 predefined compass quadrants and each represented as a vector. Using this vector as the predictor variable and the background concentration as the response variable, non-parametric regression using a Gaussian kernel function was carried out. A graphical output indicated the trajectory direction of maximum NO 2 concentration, while allowing distinction to be made between spurious and true peaks. In all cases, air mass history was found to have a statistically significant effect on NO 2 concentrations. Incorporating emissions data into the analysis local and regional effects were separated and quantified. It was found that emissions in the UK and Europe have a significant effect on background NO 2 concentrations in Ireland and in some instances supersede domestic emissions. The methods can be used to identify source regions, separate local and regional effects and improve predictions of background concentrations based on limited monitoring data. In particular, the results highlight the importance of considering air mass history when assessing background concentration levels for use in local air quality modelling studies. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-11 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9301-3 Authors Aoife Donnelly, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland Brian Broderick, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland Bruce Misstear, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Museum Building, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    Vegetation in the upper catchment of Yellow River is critical for the ecological stability of the whole watershed. The dominant vegetation cover types in this region are grassland and forest, which can strongly influence the eco-environmental status of the whole watershed. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for grassland and forest has been calculated and its daily correlation models were deduced by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer products on 12 dates in 2000, 2003, and 2006. The responses of the NDVI values with the inter-annual grassland and forest to three climatic indices (i.e., yearly precipitation and highest and lowest temperature) were analyzed showing that, except for the lowest temperature, the yearly precipitation and highest temperature had close correlations with the NDVI values of the two vegetation communities. The value of correlation coefficients ranged from 0.815 to 0.951 ( p  〈 0.01). Furthermore, the interactions of NDVI values of vegetation with the climatic indicators at monthly interval were analyzed. The NDVI of vegetation and three climatic indices had strong positive correlations (larger than 0.733, p  〈 0.01). The monthly correlations also provided the threshold values for the three climatic indictors, to be used for simulating vegetation growth grassland under different climate features, which is essential for the assessment of the vegetation growth and for regional environmental management. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-10 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9297-8 Authors Fanghua Hao, School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China Xuan Zhang, School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China Wei Ouyang, School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Water Environment Simulation, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875 China Andrew K. Skidmore, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Hengelosestraat 99, P.O. Box 6, Enschede, 7500 AA The Netherlands A. G. Toxopeus, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Hengelosestraat 99, P.O. Box 6, Enschede, 7500 AA The Netherlands Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    As a result of the continuously increasing numbers of motor vehicles in metropolitan areas worldwide, road traffic emission levels have been recognized as a challenge during the planning and management of transportation. Experiments were conducted to collect on-road emission data using portable emission measurement systems in two Chinese cities in order to estimate real traffic emissions and energy consumption levels and to build computational models for operational transport environment projects. In total, dynamic pollutant emissions and fuel consumption levels from dozens of light duty vehicles, primarily from four different vehicle classes, were measured at a second-by-second level. Using the collected data, several microscopic emission models including CMEM, VT-Micro, EMIT, and POLY were evaluated and compared through calibration and validation procedures. Non-linear optimization methods are applied for the calibration of the CMEM and EMIT models. Numerical results show that the models can realize performance levels close to the CMEM model in most cases. The VT-Micro model shows advantages in its unanimous performance and ability to describe low emission profiles while the EMIT model has a clear physics basis and a simple model structure. Both of them can be applied when extensive emission computation is required in estimating environmental impacts resulting from dynamic road traffic. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9296-9 Authors Xiaoliang Ma, Faculty of Traffic and Logistics, Department of Transportation Sciences, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Teknikringen 72, Stockholm, 10044 Sweden Wei Lei, Intelligent Transportation System Centre (ITSC), Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT), Wuhan, 430063 Hubei, China Ingmar Andréasson, Centre for Traffic Research (CTR), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Teknikringen 72, Stockholm, 10044 Sweden Hui Chen, Intelligent Transportation System Centre (ITSC), Wuhan University of Technology (WHUT), Wuhan, 430063 Hubei, China Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026

Description:    Data referring to an approximately 8-year period (1999–2007) are analyzed in order to estimate the trend of the daily maximum hourly value of ozone concentration at the east coast of central Greece, where the summer background ozone concentration is high. A Kolmogorov–Zurbenko filter is applied to remove the short-term component from the raw time series of ozone and meteorological variables. Regression models are developed in order to produce meteorologically adjusted ozone time series, involving the noise-free temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed as independent variables. The analysis verifies that the meteorological adjustment provides better results on estimating ozone’s trend, which is found to be increasing ( α  = 0.001) with an annual rate of 1.34 ± 0.07 μg/m 3 . This trend could mainly be attributed to policy and changes in the emissions of ozone’s precursors. Additionally, the short-term component of ozone concentration is also meteorologically adjusted and its impact on the trend is examined. The analysis shows that its contribution is of minor importance when the ozone trend is adjusted by temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. Moreover, the sea breeze circulation system that is frequently developed in the area influences the short-term and seasonal ozone variation, and therefore, it should be taken into account when producing meteorologically adjusted time series. The study’s conclusions could be exploited by environmental and agricultural authorities in order to develop their long-term strategies towards the air quality management. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s10666-011-9299-6 Authors D. K. Papanastasiou, Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, Institute of Technology and Management of Agricultural Ecosystems, Centre for Research and Technology—Thessaly, Technology Park of Thessaly, 1st Industrial Area of Volos, 38500 Volos, Greece D. Melas, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Department of Applied and Environmental Physics, School of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Campus Box 149, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece T. Bartzanas, Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, Institute of Technology and Management of Agricultural Ecosystems, Centre for Research and Technology—Thessaly, Technology Park of Thessaly, 1st Industrial Area of Volos, 38500 Volos, Greece C. Kittas, Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering and Environment, Institute of Technology and Management of Agricultural Ecosystems, Centre for Research and Technology—Thessaly, Technology Park of Thessaly, 1st Industrial Area of Volos, 38500 Volos, Greece Journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment Online ISSN 1573-2967 Print ISSN 1420-2026