The present study is concerned with the feasibility of simulating the release and transport of a ``generic' pollutant within an urban area. The motivation behind this effort lies in the need for accurate and timely predictions of the effects of a pollutant release in a densely populated region, in order to coordinate relief and/or evacuation efforts or design rapid-response scenarios in the event of a possible accident. In order to achieve the above goal, following geometrical, physical, and algorithmic steps have to be taken, generation of a three-dimensional grid, numerical solution of the governing fluid dynamics equations, and numerically solving the transport (reaction/advection/diffusion) equations for a generic pollutant. Some preliminary results will be presented at this time. A sample of representative results will be shown for the generation and transport of a generic pollutant ``plume', using different starting wind conditions and release points. Future efforts in this endeavor will focus on obtaining reasonably accurate simulations of pollutant transport at a reasonable computational price. Specifically, ``reduced' models for the geometry and/or the governing equations will be investigated.

Hyporheic exchange in streams supports many important ecosystem services but can also contribute to legacy pollution, by trapping less reactive contaminants in streambed sediments that are then slowly released back to the stream over time. In this study we evaluated three different analytical representations of the backward transit time distribution (bTTD) of water leaving the hyporheic zone, corresponding to different mechanisms for how water and solutes in hyporheic zone storage are sampled for outflow: (1) uniform sampling (exponential bTTD), plug-flow sampling (Dirac delta bTTD), and preferential sampling of either young or old water (Gamma bTTD). Using the Method of Moments, these three bTTDs were tested against data from 47 previously published hyporheic exchange experiments conducted in laboratory flumes over a range of flow conditions, sediment grain sizes, and bedform sizes and types. Based on measures of model fit and parsimony (AICc), in all 47 experiments hyporheic exchange was best represented by either the Gamma or exponential distributions. Further, values for key process variables, including hyporheic exchange flux and the Gamma distribution's shape parameter are correlated with readily measured field variables, including mean grain diameter of the streambed, streambed roughness, and mean stream discharge and velocity. This work advances understanding of hyporheic exchange processes and their representation in models of pollutant fate and transport in streams. / Master of Science / The sediments beneath a stream, where surface water and groundwater interact, play an important role in supporting aquatic ecosystems and nutrient cycling. In natural streams, conservative pollutants enter into the permeable sediments and slowly return to the stream over time, known as legacy pollution. This study looks at different models of how conservative pollutants circulate through the in-stream sediments, and tests how well each model represents published laboratory experiments. Model parameters were also correlated to physical parameters such as flow velocity, mean grain size diameter, and porosity. This study helps clarify the role that sediments play in pollutant transport in streams and articulates implications for legacy pollution in stream bed sediments.

A finite volume, shock-capturing scheme is used to solve the shallow water equations on unstructured triangular meshes. The conditions are characterised by: slow flow velocities (up to 1m/s), long time scale (around 10 days), and large domains (50-100km across). Systematic verification is carried out by comparing numerical with analytical results, and by comparing parameter variation in the numerical scheme with perturbation analysis, and good agreement is found. It is the first time a shock-capturing scheme has been applied to slow flows in Moreton Bay. The scheme is used to simulate transport of a pollutant in Moreton Bay, to the east of the city of Brisbane, Australia. Tidal effects are simulated using a sinusoidal time-dependent boundary condition. An advection equation is solved to model the path of a contaminant that is released in the bay, and the effect of tide and wind on the contaminant is studied. Calibration is done by comparing numerical results with measurements made at a study site in Moreton Bay. It is found that variation in the wind speed and bed friction coefficients changes the solution in the way predicted by the asymptotics. These results vary according to the shape of the bathymetry of the domain: in shallower areas, flow is more subject to shear and hence changes in wind speed or bed friction had a greater effect in adding energy to the system. The results also show that the time-dependent boundary condition reproduces the tidal effects that are found on the Queensland coast, i.e. semi-diurnal with amplitude of about 1 metre, to a reasonable degree. It is also found that the simulated path of a pollutant agrees with field measurements. The computer model means different wind speeds and directions can be tested which allows management decisions to be made about which conditions have the least damaging effect on the area.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a análise do transporte de poluentes atmosféricos gerados na queima da cana-de-açúcar no estado de São Paulo durante o ano de 2010, pois a cultura canavieira no estado é muito forte, abastecendo o mercado alimentício, energético e de bebidas. Porém, apresenta um grave problema com a queima da plantação antes da colheita, gerando poluição e enfraquecendo o argumento de energia limpa. Baseado nas teorias: dos Sistemas e dos Geossistemas, na dinâmica atmosférica e no uso de modelagem como instrumento de análise; além do levantamento dos dados atmosféricos e de poluição aferidos, mapeamento da área e das queimadas, concluiu-se que há áreas com picos de poluição ao longo do ano; a pluma de poluentes normalmente vai para outros estados como Minas Gerais e Mato Grosso do Sul e ocorreram eventos generalizados de queima de biomassa, principalmente entre agosto e setembro, porém com a mudança na direção do vento, geralmente quando está prestes a chegar uma frente fria, quando esses poluentes são direcionados para a Região Metropolitana de São Paulo e Campinas; confirmando a hipótese observando a distribuição e concentração de poluentes segundo os dados de circulação atmosférica e de poluição / This study has the objective to analyze the air pollution transport from sugarcane burn in Sao Paulo State in 2010, as the planted areas are very vast, it supplies the food, energy and beverage industry. By the other hand, it presents severe problem of burning culture before the harvest period, it causes air pollution and disqualify the clean energy argument. Based on the System and Geosystem theories, on atmospheric dynamic and using models as analysis instrument; in addiction getting atmospheric and pollution data observed, mapping sugarcane and the burned area, it was concluded there were parts with peaks of pollution during this year, the plume of pollutants normally are transported to other States as Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul and also there were several and generalized events of biomass burn principally in August and September, despite the wind change generally when it is upcoming a cold front, those pollutants are directed to Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo and Campinas; confirming the hypothesis observing the concentration and distribution of them by the air circulation and pollutants data

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo a análise do transporte de poluentes atmosféricos gerados na queima da cana-de-açúcar no estado de São Paulo durante o ano de 2010, pois a cultura canavieira no estado é muito forte, abastecendo o mercado alimentício, energético e de bebidas. Porém, apresenta um grave problema com a queima da plantação antes da colheita, gerando poluição e enfraquecendo o argumento de energia limpa. Baseado nas teorias: dos Sistemas e dos Geossistemas, na dinâmica atmosférica e no uso de modelagem como instrumento de análise; além do levantamento dos dados atmosféricos e de poluição aferidos, mapeamento da área e das queimadas, concluiu-se que há áreas com picos de poluição ao longo do ano; a pluma de poluentes normalmente vai para outros estados como Minas Gerais e Mato Grosso do Sul e ocorreram eventos generalizados de queima de biomassa, principalmente entre agosto e setembro, porém com a mudança na direção do vento, geralmente quando está prestes a chegar uma frente fria, quando esses poluentes são direcionados para a Região Metropolitana de São Paulo e Campinas; confirmando a hipótese observando a distribuição e concentração de poluentes segundo os dados de circulação atmosférica e de poluição / This study has the objective to analyze the air pollution transport from sugarcane burn in Sao Paulo State in 2010, as the planted areas are very vast, it supplies the food, energy and beverage industry. By the other hand, it presents severe problem of burning culture before the harvest period, it causes air pollution and disqualify the clean energy argument. Based on the System and Geosystem theories, on atmospheric dynamic and using models as analysis instrument; in addiction getting atmospheric and pollution data observed, mapping sugarcane and the burned area, it was concluded there were parts with peaks of pollution during this year, the plume of pollutants normally are transported to other States as Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul and also there were several and generalized events of biomass burn principally in August and September, despite the wind change generally when it is upcoming a cold front, those pollutants are directed to Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo and Campinas; confirming the hypothesis observing the concentration and distribution of them by the air circulation and pollutants data

The expanding urbanisation, growing population, and industrial development are threatening global surface water quality. With increasing concern about surface-water quality, it is crucial to deeply understand the evolution of surface-water quality problems and comprehensively de-termine its fundamental driving forces. In this Dissertation, systematic work on the mechanisms of water pollution with trace elements has been carried out in three steps: i) to identify the sources contributing to surface water pollution by receptor-based models, ii) to determine the factors dominating the pollution risk transmission from sources to surface water by a source-based model, and iii) to capture the primary driving forces to the spatiotemporal variation in surface water pollution by Bayesian-based approaches. The following specific topics were ad-dressed based on five publications: a) The temporal trends of trace metal pollution in the surface water were characterised by the Mann-Kendall test and the Generalised Additive Model. b) The primary source contributors to the long-term trace metal pollution in a river system were determined by the Self-organised Map, Positive Matrix Factorization receptor model, and Bayesian multivariate receptor model. The distributions of the source contributions to trace metal pollution were estimated. c) The risk transmission of trace pollutants in the surface water was estimated by a source-based dynamic model. The sensitivities of the risk to human activities, characteristics of wastewater treatment plants, and river flow regimes were evaluated. d) The contributions of hydro-chemical factors, climate impact, and sampling methods to water pollution and data uncertainty were analysed by the Wavelet Analysis and Bayesian Net-work. Both the models’ accuracy and robustness were evaluated by statistical analysis. The methods and results provided herein could improve the standard of statistical rigour and support the authorities’ decision-making.

Yes / The Three Gorges Dam (TGD) constructed at the Yangtze River, China represents a revolutionary project to battle against the mage-scale flooding problems while improving the local economy at the same time. However, the large-scale fine-size sediment and pollutant material transport caused by the TGD operation are found to be inevitable and long-lasting. In this paper, a multi-fluid Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ISPH) model is used to simulate the multi-fluid flows similar to the fine sediment materials transport (in muddy flows) and water flow mixing process. The SPH method is a mesh-free particle modeling approach that can treat the free surfaces and multi-interfaces in a straightforward manner. The proposed model is based on the universal multi-fluid flow equations and a unified pressure equation is used to account for the interaction arising from the different fluid components. A Sub-Particle-Scale (SPS) turbulence model is included to address the turbulence effect generated during the flow process. The proposed model is used to investigate two cases of multi-fluid flows generated from the polluted flow intrusions into another fluid. The computations are found in good agreement with the practical situations. Sensitivity studies have also been carried out to evaluate the particle spatial resolution and turbulence modeling on the flow simulations. The proposed ISPH model could provide a promising tool to study the practical multi-fluid flows in the TGD operation environment. / The Major State Basic Research Development Program (973 program) of China (No. 2013CB036402) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51479087).

The use of agrochemicals, like neonicotinoid insecticides can threaten human and environmental health when they are transported from agricultural fields. To minimize environmental impact of neonicotinoid pesticides to non-target organisms, it is important to quantify the movement of neonicotinoids from agricultural fields and examine how conventional agricultural practices can be altered using best management practices to minimize neonicotinoid transport. We developed a proportional runoff sampler that is inexpensive, rugged, and adaptable to existing runoff quantification systems. The sampler accurately collected flow-weighted samples under a broad range of steady-state and variable flow conditions. We then incorporated the sampler, along with leachate and soil sampling techniques, in a two-year field study testing the effects of winter cover crops and different edge-of-field buffer strip plant types on movement of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam (TMX) and its metabolite clothianidin (CLO) in treated agricultural fields. Due to dry weather and other complications, runoff and leachate data could not be statistically analyzed. Soil samples indicated that cover crops had no effect on insecticide retention, so cover crops may not be a viable strategy to prevent neonicotinoid transport. Soil TMX was higher in grass buffers than native forb buffers in 2020; however, this result was not repeated in 2021 when vegetative cover was more consistent across treatments. CLO concentration did not vary by buffer in either year. Therefore, buffer strip plant type may have less impact on TMX and CLO retention than other factors like plant density. / Master of Science / Since the 1950's high yield crops and the use of pesticides and fertilizers have helped farmers increase yields from agricultural land. Increased yields have helped food production keep pace with population growth, but the use of pesticides and fertilizers can pose a threat to human and environmental health. Neonicotinoid insecticides can kill not only agricultural pests but beneficial invertebrates like bees and butterflies when the pesticides leave agricultural fields. To lessen environmental impact of neonicotinoid pesticides to the environment, it is important to understand 1) how these insecticides move from agricultural fields, and 2) how conventional agricultural practices can be altered to minimize neonicotinoid transport. We first developed a runoff sampler that was inexpensive, low maintenance, and adaptable to existing systems used to measure runoff. The sampler collects water at a rate proportional to the runoff rate under constant and changing flow rates. We then used the sampler along with leachate and soil sampling techniques in a field study testing the effect of winter cover crops and the species planted in edge-of-field vegetated buffer strips on the amount of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam (TMX) and its degradation product clothianidin (CLO) remaining in the soil of treated fields during two growing seasons. Due to dry weather and other complications, runoff and leachate data could not be statistically analyzed. Cover crops did not change soil pesticide concentration either year, so cover crops may not be a viable strategy for preventing neonicotinoid transport. Soil TMX was higher in grass buffers than native forb buffers in 2020; however, this result was not detected in 2021 when plant growth in buffers was more uniform across treatments. CLO concentration did not vary by buffer type in either year. Therefore, the species planted in buffer strips may not be as important to holding TMX and CLO in soils as other factors like plant density.

Among the most ubiquitous and persistent air quality problems facing urban areas are high concentrations of gas phase oxidants and fine particulate matter. Ozone and particulate matter concentrations in urban areas are significantly influenced by other factors in addition to local emissions, such as regional transport spanning distances as large as 1000 kilometers. Despite the importance of regional transport in meeting air quality standards, to date most analyses of regional transport have focused only on short duration episodes, or semi-quantitative assessments. The development and evaluation of seasonal, quantitative assessments of regional pollutant transport, based on modeling calculations and observational data is the topic of this dissertation. The observational data available through the Texas Air Quality Studies in 2000 and 2006 provide a unique opportunity to develop, evaluate, and improve methods for characterizing regional air pollutant transport. Measurements collected during these studies are used as the primary observational basis for characterizing regional ozone transport and to evaluate the performance of photochemical models. Results suggest that measurements (from aircraft and surface monitors) and the photochemical model provide consistent estimates of the magnitude of ozone transport. On this basis, photochemical modeling is used to determine potential impacts of regional ozone transport in Texas, under varying meteorological and photochemical conditions, as well as to characterize the dominant chemical and physical processes within urban plumes. While qualitative studies and limited quantitative analyses have been performed to assess regional ozone transport, this work includes the first detailed quantitative characterization of the importance of ozone transport over the course of an entire ozone season using both photochemical modeling and ambient data. Results demonstrate that urban plumes in Texas are capable of transporting significant amounts of ozone over distances spanning hundreds of kilometers. Furthermore, on a seasonal basis, there are a number of days characterized by high contributions from inter-city transport coinciding with high total ozone concentrations, suggesting that the role of inter-city transport will remain significant for many areas to demonstrate attainment of the NAAQS for ozone. Results also indicate that reductions in the impacts of inter-city transport are possible by decreases in emissions from source regions. / text

Este trabalho apresenta a caracterização geoambiental de solos de uma área contaminada, localizada no município de Santo André, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. O objetivo foi determinar parâmetros experimentais para permitir o estudo de alguns aspectos do transporte do pesticida organoclorado Hexaclorociclohexano (HCH). A área de estudo contém células com cerca de 30.000 toneladas de um material contendo HCH em elevadas concentrações. As investigações de campo demonstram que há concentrações de HCH na água subterrânea. Em 2011, foram coletadas amostras deformadas e indeformadas de solo em quatro diferentes pontos superficiais da área contaminada, e posteriormente uma amostra composta da camada de solo de alteração de rocha (SAR), a fim de responder a questionamentos quanto à mobilidade do contaminante na área. A caracterização geoambiental, baseada em ensaios laboratoriais, foi realizada por meio das seguintes análises: análise granulométrica, limites de Atterberg, densidade específica, porosidade, umidade do solo, curva de retenção de água no solo, condutividade hidráulica, ensaio de adsorção, pH, condutividade elétrica, capacidade de troca catiônica (CTC), teor de matéria orgânica e teor de voláteis. O solo superficial da área é heterogêneo e a capacidade de adsorção dos solos analisados foi menor do que o esperado. Esta caracterização subsidiou o estudo de fluxo e transporte do HCH, por meio de simulação numérica, utilizando o programa Hydrus 1D. As simulações tiveram dois objetivos diferentes: no primeiro foi avaliado os resultados da simulação em comparação à situação atual no campo; no segundo foi avaliada a sensibilidade do transporte em função da alteração dos parâmetros obtidos experimentalmente Ks; Kd; s e (Van Genuchten); e dos parâmetros obtidos na literatura. Os resultados permitiram concluir que o modelo Hydrus 1D consegue representar a contaminação do HCH no solo. O parâmetro de degradação na água foi essencial para chegar em ordens de grandeza de concentrações próximas das identificadas em campo. Os parâmetros de degradação, difusividade, dispersividade e condutividade hidráulica são os que mais afetam os resultados finais de concentração do HCH na água subterrânea e, portanto, merecem atenção maior durante as futuras investigações. / This paper presents the geoenvironmental characterization of soils from a contaminated site, located in Santo André, São Paulo State, Brazil. The objective was to determine experimental parameters to allow the study of some aspects of transport of the organochlorine pesticide hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). The study site contains trenches with about 30,000 tons of a material containing high concentrations of HCH. The site investigations show that there are HCH concentrations in groundwater. In 2011, disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected at four different surface points of the contaminated site, and then a sample of soil from rock alteration layer (SAR) was also composed for characterization in order to answer questions concerning the mobility of contaminant in the site. The environmental characterization based on laboratory tests, was performed by the following analyzes: grain size distribution, Atterberg limits, specific gravity, porosity, moisture content, water retention curve, hydraulic conductivity, pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic matter content and volatile content. The surface soil of the area is heterogeneous and the adsorption capacity of the soils analyzed were lower than expected. This characterization allowed the study of flow and transport of HCH through numerical simulation using the Hydrus 1D software. The simulations had two different goals, the first was evaluated the simulation results compared to the current situation in the field. In a second step the sensitivity of transport due to the change of the parameters obtained experimentally Ks; Kd; s and (Van Genuchten); and parameters obtained from the literature. The results showed that the Hydrus 1D model simulates HCH contamination in soil. Water degradation parameter was essential to get orders of magnitude similar to those identified in field concentrations. The degradation, diffusivity, hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity parameters are those that most affect the final results of concentration of HCH in groundwater and therefore deserve more attention in future investigations.