Spatial analysis of urban form and pedestrian exposure to traffic noise.

In the Macao Peninsula, the high population density (49,763 inhabitants/km2) and the lack of control over the number of vehicles (460 vehicles/km) have led to an increase in urban pollution. To provide useful information to local government and urban planners, this paper investigates the spatial distribution of traffic noise in the Macao Peninsula. The interactions among urban form, traffic flow and traffic noise are addressed. Considering the spatial nature of urban geometry and traffic, a high-resolution GIS-based traffic noise model system is applied. Results indicate that the Macao Peninsula has fallen into a situation of serious traffic noise pollution. About 60% of traffic noise levels along the major pedestrian sidewalks in the evening peak hour exceed the National Standard of 70 dB(A) in China. In particular, about 21% of traffic noise levels along the pedestrian sidewalks are above the National Standard by 5 dB(A). Noticeably, the high pedestrian exposure to traffic noise in the historical urban area reduces the comfort of tourists walking in the historic centre and is ruining the reputation of the area as a World Cultural Heritage site.

[Investigations of microscopic morphology of individual inhalable particulates in Macao in summer].

By means of high resolution field emission scanning electron microcopy (FESEM) and image analysis (IA), microscopic morphologies and the number-size and volume-size distributions of different types of individual inhalable particles collected in Macao in summer of 2007 were investigated. The results showed that the soot aggregates and mineral particles were ubiquitous in the PM10 of Macao in July, 2007. The mineral particles mostly showed an irregular morphology and the soot aggregates displayed chain-like and fluffy morphology. The soot aggregates accounted for approximately 30%-40% in average by number, and the mineral particles accounted for approximately 20%. The relatively higher percentages of more soot aggregates implied that emission from motor vehicle exhausts was serious in Macao during summer. The number-size distributions revealed that the majority of the particles in PM10 of Macao were fine particles, with the equivalent diameter being concentrated in a range from 0.2-0.4 microm. A distinct spatial difference existed in the types of particles collected at different sampling sites. Soot particles dominated the busy transportation sites and the tunnel site, while the mineral particles had a higher proportion at the dock site.

Determining gaseous emission factors and driver's particle exposures during traffic congestion by vehicle-following measurement techniques.

Vehicle gaseous emissions (NO, CO, CO2, and hydrocarbon [HC]) and driver's particle exposures (particulate matter < 1 microm [PM1], < 2.5 microm [PM2.5], and < 10 microm [PM10]) were measured using a mobile laboratory to follow a wide variety of vehicles during very heavy traffic congestion in Macao, Special Administrative Region, People's Republic of China, an urban area having one of the highest population densities in the world. The measurements were taken with high time resolution so that fluctuations in the emissions can be seen readily during vehicle acceleration, cruising, deceleration, and idling. The tests were conducted in close proximity to the vehicles, with the inlet of a five-gas analyzer mounted on the front bumper of the mobile laboratory, and the distance between the vehicles was usually within several meters. To measure the driver's particle exposures, the inlets of the particle analyzers were mounted at the height of the driver's breathing position in the mobile laboratory, with the driver's window open. A total of 178 and 113 vehicles were followed individually to determine the gaseous emission factor and the driver's particle exposures, respectively, for motorcycle, passenger car, taxi, truck, and bus. The gaseous emission factors were used to model the roadside air quality, and good correlations between the modeled and monitored CO, NO2, and nitrogen oxide (NO(x)) verified the reliability of the experiments. Compared with petrol passenger cars and petrol trucks, diesel taxies and diesel trucks emitted less CO but more NO(x). The impact of urban canyons is shown to cause a significant increase in the PM1 peak. The background concentrations contributed a significant amount of the driver's particle exposures.

[Primarily study of alkylphenols in sediment core from Nam Van artificial lake of Macao].

Alkylphenols, nonylphenols (NPs), octylphenol (OP), are known to have estrogenic effects. In a sediment core from Nam Van artificial lake of Macao, the concentrations of NPs ranged from 2.17 to 5.91 microg/g, with mean value of 3.66 microg/g during the estuarine sedimentary environment from 1970s-1980s and from 0.69 to 3.04 microg/g, with mean value of 2.08 microg/g during lagoon sedimentary environment in 1990s. The concentrations of OP during the initial stages of lagoon environment in the early 1990s were similar to that in the estuarine environment, and ranged from 14.33 to 39.11 ng/g. Subsequently, the concentration of OP was rapidly decreasing from 6.52 to 2.58 ng/g. Sources of APs in the estuarine condition included the urban runoffs from the upstream waters of Pearl River Delta and Macao city, but just from Macao in the lagoon condition. Consequently, concentration of APs in estuary condition was higher than that in lagoon condition. The vertical profile of concentration of APs in the sediment core, to some degree, was correlated with the development degree of regional economy and the proceeding of wastewater treatment. The results also showed that the alkylphenols in overlapping silty layer preferred to transfer downward to filling sandy layer.

[Study on on-board measurements and modeling of vehicular emissions].

It's a basic work to study the characteristics of vehicular emissions and give emission factors for development of vehicular emission inventory and decision-making of the control strategies. On-board emission measurements of on-road vehicles are regarded as important complementary to emission laboratory dynamometer tests. On-board exhaust emission measurements were conducted on seven samples of gasoline cars in a typical road in Macao, using AVL DiGas 4000 light five-gas analyzer. It was found that there was an obvious reduction of gaseous pollutant emissions from cars equipped with electronic fuel injection and three-way catalytic converter system (referred to as EFI cars in the following), compared to old carburetor cars. The average volume concentrations of CO, HC and NO of carburetor cars were 227 x 10(-6), 1.57% and 1477 x 10(-6), respectively, while those of EFI cars were 33 x 10(-6), 0.21% and 131 x 10(-6), which were about 1/11 through 1/7 of the former. However, there were high emissions during the cold start of EFI cars. The arithmetical mean concentrations of CO and NO emissions of EFI cars were calculated and their absolute values were predominantly contributed by high concentrations with low frequency. Furthermore, the emission factors of gasoline cars were estimated by test data, and at the same time, MOBILES model was used to calculate average emission factors of gasoline cars in Macao in 2000. The ratios between the results calculated by model and estimated by experiment data were in the range of 59%-139%, which would narrow into 68%-132% if only annual average emission factors were compared. The results suggest that EFI + TWC systems equipped in vehicles have good effect on the emission reduction, but catalytic converters are not activated during the cold start. Technical improvement of EFI cars, which could reduce the occurrence of high emissions with low frequency during the operation, would decrease their average level on exhaust emissions a lot. Furthermore, it's reliable that the emission factors of gasoline cars in Macao calculated by modified MOBILES model.

Persistent organic pollutants in environment of the Pearl River Delta, China: an overview.

In the Pearl River Delta of China, the rapidly developing industrial and agricultural activities, municipal development and use of chemicals caused serious environmental problems. This report summarizes the published scientific data on POPs in the environment of the Pearl River Delta, including the levels of POPs in the air, water, soil, river and estuarine sediments, the marine organisms like fish and shellfish in this region. The data preliminarily reveal the state of contamination in this region and give insight into the fate of POPs in this sub-tropical area. However, most research in this area is limited to a few kinds of POP compounds.

[An artificial neural network model for lake color inversion using TM imagery].

The technology of artificial neural network was used for inversing water quality parameters from TM imagery data in the paper in order to study water quality and eutrophic status of lake. On the basis of satellite synchronous monitoring experiment, a BP neural network model was constructed, in which concentrations of SS, CODMn, DO, T-N, T-P and chlo-a were inversed from Landsat TM data and the accuracy of which was good, the relative error of which could be controlled below 25%. Moreover, the reasons of simulating error, ways of improving model and applications of the model were also analyzed in detail. The results of this research told that based on a small-scale of satellite synchronous experiment, the model could be applied successfully in investigation, analysis and estimation of lake water quality.