Suchergebnisse

Environmental pollution control is one of the most important goals in pollution risk assessment today. The aim of this study is conducting a retrospective view of the evolution of particulate matter (PM10) and heavy metals (As, Cd, Ni and Pb) at different localities in the Spanish cluster ceramic in the period between January 2007 and December 2011. The study area is in the province of Castellón. This province is a strategical area in the framework of European Union Pollution control. Approximately 80% of European ceramic tiles and ceramic frits manufacturers are concentrated in two areas, forming the so-called "Ceramics Clusters"; one is in Modena (Italy) and the other in Castellón (Spain). In this kind of areas, there are a lot of pollutants from this industry that represent an important contribution to soil contamination so it is necessary to control the air quality in them. These atmospheric particles are deposited in the ground through both dry and wet deposition. Soil is a major sink for heavy metals released into the environment. The level of pollution of soils by heavy metals depends on the retention capacity of the soil, especially on physical-chemical properties (mineralogy, grain size, organic matter) affecting soil particle surfaces and also on the chemical properties of the metal. The most direct consequences on the ground of air pollutants are acidification, salinization and the pollutions that can cause heavy metals as components of suspended particulate matter. For this purpose the levels of PM10 in ambient air and the corresponding annual and weekly trend were calculated. The results of the study show that the PM10 and heavy metals concentrations are below the limit values recommended by European Union Legislation for the protection of human health and ecosystems in the study

Abstract. Post-event damage assessments are of paramount importance to document the effects of high-impact weather-related events such as floods or strong wind events. Moreover, evaluating the damage and characterizing its extent and intensity can be essential for further analysis such as completing a diagnostic meteorological case study. This paper presents a methodology to perform field surveys of damage caused by strong winds of convective origin (i.e. tornado, downburst and straight-line winds). It is based on previous studies and also on 136 field studies performed by the authors in Spain between 2004 and 2018. The methodology includes the collection of pictures and records of damage to human-made structures and on vegetation during the in situ visit to the affected area, as well as of available automatic weather station data, witness reports and images of the phenomenon, such as funnel cloud pictures, taken by casual observers. To synthesize the gathered data, three final deliverables are proposed: (i) a standardized text report of the analysed event, (ii) a table consisting of detailed geolocated information about each damage point and other relevant data and (iii) a map or a KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file containing the previous information ready for graphical display and further analysis. This methodology has been applied by the authors in the past, sometimes only a few hours after the event occurrence and, on many occasions, when the type of convective phenomenon was uncertain. In those uncertain cases, the information resulting from this methodology contributed effectively to discern the phenomenon type thanks to the damage pattern analysis, particularly if no witness reports were available. The application of methodologies such as the one presented here is necessary in order to build homogeneous and robust databases of severe weather cases and high-impact weather events.

Environmental pollution control is one of the most important goals in pollution risk assessment today. The aim of this study is to conduct a retrospective view of the evolution of matter particulate (PM10) and the heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb) at different localities (Alcora, Castellón and Onda) in the Spanish cluster ceramic in a period between January 2007 and December 2011. The study area is in the province of Castellón. This province is a strategic area in the framework of European Union Pollution control. Approximately 80% of European ceramic tiles and ceramic frits manufacturers are concentrated in two areas, forming the so-called "ceramic clusters"; one is in Modena (Italy) and the other in Castellón (Spain). In these kind of areas, there are a lot of pollutants from this industry that represent an important contribution to soil contamination so it is necessary to control their air quality. In these areas atmospheric particles are deposited in the ground through both dry and wet deposition. Soil is a major sink for heavy metals released into the environment. For this purpose the levels of PM10 in ambient air and the corresponding annual and seasonal trend were calculated. The results of the study show that the PM10 and heavy metal concentrations are below the limit values recommended by European Union Legislation for the protection of human health and ecosystems in the study period. There is an important reduction of them from 2009 in all control stations due to economic crisis and subsequent decrease of industrial activity. The atmospheric seasonal tendency of pollutant concentrations is marked by the rate of industrial activity and additionally by the temperature. Complementarily, a comparative study of heavy metal levels in soils was performed in this area. Soils with low pollution by Ni and Pb were detected, while different pollution by Cd was found depending on the sampling site. Although there is an evident reduction of PM10 and heavy metal levels, the results show that these polluta

Environmental pollution control is one of the most important goals in pollution risk assessment today. The aim of this study is to conduct a retrospective view of the evolution of matter particulate (PM10) and the heavy metals (Cd, Ni and Pb) at different localities (Alcora, Castellón and Onda) in the Spanish cluster ceramic in a period between January 2007 and December 2011. The study area is in the province of Castellón. This province is a strategic area in the framework of European Union Pollution control. Approximately 80% of European ceramic tiles and ceramic frits manufacturers are concentrated in two areas, forming the so-called "ceramic clusters"; one is in Modena (Italy) and the other in Castellón (Spain). In these kind of areas, there are a lot of pollutants from this industry that represent an important contribution to soil contamination so it is necessary to control their air quality. In these areas atmospheric particles are deposited in the ground through both dry and wet deposition. Soil is a major sink for heavy metals released into the environment. For this purpose the levels of PM10 in ambient air and the corresponding annual and seasonal trend were calculated. The results of the study show that the PM10 and heavy metal concentrations are below the limit values recommended by European Union Legislation for the protection of human health and ecosystems in the study period. There is an important reduction of them from 2009 in all control stations due to economic crisis and subsequent decrease of industrial activity. The atmospheric seasonal tendency of pollutant concentrations is marked by the rate of industrial activity and additionally by the temperature. Complementarily, a comparative study of heavy metal levels in soils was performed in this area. Soils with low pollution by Ni and Pb were detected, while different pollution by Cd was found depending on the sampling site. Although there is an evident reduction of PM10 and heavy metal levels, the results show that these pollutants have been accumulated in the soil close to emission sources.

This research was funded by the Spanish Government through projects CGL2015-65627-C3-1-R, CGL2015-65627-C3-2-R (MINECO/FEDER), CGL2016-81828-REDT and RTI2018-098693-B-C32 (AEI/FEDER). ; This paper describes a methodology for processing spectral raw data from Micro Rain Radar (MRR), a K-band vertically pointing Doppler radar designed to observe precipitation profiles. The objective is to provide a set of radar integral parameters and derived variables, including a precipitation type classification. The methodology first includes an improved noise level determination, peak signal detection and Doppler dealiasing, allowing us to consider the upward movements of precipitation particles. A second step computes for each of the height bin radar moments, such as equivalent reflectivity (Ze), average Doppler vertical speed (W), spectral width (σ), the skewness and kurtosis. A third step performs a precipitation type classification for each bin height, considering snow, drizzle, rain, hail, and mixed (rain and snow or graupel). For liquid precipitation types, additional variables are computed, such as liquid water content (LWC), rain rate (RR), or gamma distribution parameters, such as the liquid water content normalized intercept (Nw) or the mean mass-weighted raindrop diameter (Dm) to classify stratiform or convective rainfall regimes. The methodology is applied to data recorded at the Eastern Pyrenees mountains (NE Spain), first with a detailed case study where results are compared with different instruments and, finally, with a 32-day analysis where the hydrometeor classification is compared with co-located Parsivel disdrometer precipitation-type present weather observations. The hydrometeor classification is evaluated with contingency table scores, including Probability of Detection (POD), False Alarm Rate (FAR), and Odds Ratio Skill Score (ORSS). The results indicate a very good capacity of Method3 to distinguish rainfall and snow (PODs equal or greater than 0.97), satisfactory results for mixed and drizzle (PODs of ...

This paper describes a methodology for processing spectral raw data from Micro Rain Radar (MRR), a K-band vertically pointing Doppler radar designed to observe precipitation profiles. The objective is to provide a set of radar integral parameters and derived variables, including a precipitation type classification. The methodology first includes an improved noise level determination, peak signal detection and Doppler dealiasing, allowing us to consider the upward movements of precipitation particles. A second step computes for each of the height bin radar moments, such as equivalent reflectivity (Ze), average Doppler vertical speed (W), spectral width (s), the skewness and kurtosis. A third step performs a precipitation type classification for each bin height, considering snow, drizzle, rain, hail, and mixed (rain and snow or graupel). For liquid precipitation types, additional variables are computed, such as liquid water content (LWC), rain rate (RR), or gamma distribution parameters, such as the liquid water content normalized intercept (Nw) or the mean mass-weighted raindrop diameter (Dm) to classify stratiform or convective rainfall regimes. The methodology is applied to data recorded at the Eastern Pyrenees mountains (NE Spain), first with a detailed case study where results are compared with different instruments and, finally, with a 32-day analysis where the hydrometeor classification is compared with co-located Parsivel disdrometer precipitation-type present weather observations. The hydrometeor classification is evaluated with contingency table scores, including Probability of Detection (POD), False Alarm Rate (FAR), and Odds Ratio Skill Score (ORSS). The results indicate a very good capacity of Method3 to distinguish rainfall and snow (PODs equal or greater than 0.97), satisfactory results for mixed and drizzle (PODs of 0.79 and 0.69) and acceptable for a reduced number of hail cases (0.55), with relatively low rate of false alarms and good skill compared to random chance in all cases (FAR 0.70). The methodology is available as a Python language program called RaProM at the public github repository ; This research was funded by the Spanish Government through projects CGL2015-65627-C3-1-R, CGL2015-65627-C3-2-R (MINECO/FEDER), CGL2016-81828-REDT and RTI2018-098693-B-C32 (AEI/FEDER). ; Postprint (published version)

Póster presentado en: 10th European Conference on Radar in Meteorology and Hydrology celebrado en Wageningen, Países Bajos, del 1 al 6 de julio de 2018. ; This study was partly supported by projects CGL2015-65627-C3-2-R (MINECO/FEDER), CGL2016-81828-REDT (MINECO) and DI065/2017 (Industrial Doctorate Programme of the Regional Government of Catalonia)

In this paper, we illustrate a new, simple and complementary ground-based methodology to retrieve the vertically resolved atmospheric precipitation intensity through a synergy between measurements from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Micropulse Lidar network (MPLNET), an analytical model solution and ground-based disdrometer measurements. The presented results are obtained at two mid-latitude MPLNET permanent observational sites, located respectively at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA, and at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. The methodology is suitable to be applied to existing and/or future lidar/ceilometer networks with the main objective of either providing near real-time (3 h latency) rainfall intensity measurements and/or to validate satellite missions, especially for critical light precipitation (<3 mm h-1). ; The MPL measurements and processing in Barcelona are supported by the European Union (H2020, grant 654109, ACTRIS-2), the European Fund for Regional Development, the Spanish Government (grants TEC2015-63832-P, CGL2015-65627-C3-2-R, CGL2016-81828-REDT and CGL2017-90884-REDT) and the Catalan Government (grant 2014 SGR 583). CommSensLab is a Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu (grant MDM-2016-0600) funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación.