Development and implementation of a near-real-time web reporting system on ground-level ozone in Europe.

This article presents the development and results of Ozone Web--near-real-time approach to communicate environmental information to policy makers, researchers, and the general public. In Ozone Web, ground-level ozone information from 750 air quality measurement stations across Europe is collected on an hourly basis, filtered, interpolated, and presented on zoomable maps and graphs. Compared with other environmental information initiatives, the main aspects of this Website is the allowance for user interactivity, free access to data, and high timeliness. Data are published 2 to 3 h after actual monitoring. In a response to the acute characteristics of air pollution, the basic principle is that up-to-date and accurate information about air pollution levels will help (1) citizens to protect their health, (2) policy makers in assessing the state of the environment, and (3) researchers in exchanging data and knowledge. Near-real-time information systems on the Web seem to be a valuable complement to future environmental reporting, and the European Environment Agency is currently investigating the requirements needed to extend the use of near-real-time data, including reporting on air pollutants other than ozone.

Effective dose of a microbial inoculant is one to four cells in the rhizosphere.

A single-cell approach for studying the growth potential and the establishment of bacteria in the barley phytosphere is presented, using Pseudomonas fluorescens strain with the capability for biological control. The incidence of growth of one to four bacterial cells dispersed to the young rhizosphere approximated to 100%, and specific growth rate averaged 0.05. Net growth occurred for cells added to the rhizosphere at densities between 1 and 100,000 cells, while at higher densities population sizes declined, but always approached 10(5)-10(6) cells per rhizosphere. No net growth was observed in bulk soil, and cells died in the phyllosphere. Our results showed that bacterial establishment was more related to the availability of microhabitats supporting growth, than related to the number of bacteria released.