Effects of urban morphology on traffic noise: A parameter study including indirect noise exposure and estimated health impact

Noise exposure has been calculated and analysed for 31 different urban morphologies in an urban setting. For five of the urban morphologies also vegetation surfaces on facades and roofs were studied. Facade exposures were analysed for both smaller (single-sided) flats and larger (floor-through) flats, considering the direct exposure from the roads as well as the indirect exposure at noise-shielded positions like inner yards. Also, grid map area exposures at ground level were calculated and analysed for both sidewalk and yard areas. The facade exposure levels, using indicators Lden and Lnight, were used to estimate annoyance and sleep disturbance as well as disease burden in terms of DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) per person. In all urban morphology cases, single-sided flats showed overall better performance (i.e. lower DALY) than larger, floor-through flats; however, the inclusion of a bonus for additional facade elements having a lower noise exposure gave the large flats a similar or better predicted overall performance compared with the small flats. Among the building types studied, for small flats and constant building density, the use of perimeter blocks with closed inner yards, slightly open yards and U-shaped buildings showed results of relatively better overall performance compared with I-shaped, L-shaped and point buildings. When the yards grow in size, the performance of closed inner yards dropped. As general trends, perimeter blocks were shown to perform better than morphologies with less enclosed yards and densification with constant traffic flow was shown to result in improved performance. However, building types with slightly open yards may provide an attractive compromise solution due to its relatively good noise shielding at the same time as enabling solutions to air pollution and corner-flat layouts. In addition, complementing the perimeter blocks with towers was shown to enable improvement. Furthermore, traffic concentration by locating all local traffic to a single road was shown to be beneficial, increasingly so by widening the road. Predicted effects of vegetation surfaces on facades and roofs showed significant overall improvement, where closed inner yards benefit from vegetated roofs. The area exposure results showed that when the building blocks are successively less enclosed the levels are reduced on the sidewalks and increased in the yards. Also, the benefit of facade vegetation is shown for the area exposures

A multi-state weather generator for daily precipitation for the Torne River basin, northern Sweden/western Finland

This paper describes a new weather generator – the 10-state empirical model – that combines a 10-state, first-order Markov chain with a non-parametric precipitation amounts model. Using a doubly-stochastic transition-matrix results in a weather generator for which the overall precipitation distribution (including both wet and dry days) and the temporal-correlation can be modified independently for climate change studies. This paper assesses the ability of the 10-state empirical model to simulate daily area-average precipitation in the Torne River catchment in northern Sweden/western Finland in the context of 3 other models: a 10-state model with a parametric (Gamma) amounts model, a wet/dry chain with the empirical amounts model, and a wet/dry chain with the parametric amounts model. The ability to accurately simulate the distribution of multi-day precipitation in the catchment is the primary consideration. Results showed that the 10-state empirical model represented accumulated 2- to 14-day precipitation most realistically. Further, the distribution of precipitation on wet days in the catchment is related to the placement of a wet day within a wet-spell, and the 10-state models represented this realistically, while the wet/dry models did not. Although all four models accurately reproduced the annual and monthly averages in the training data, all models underestimated inter-annual and inter-seasonal variance. Even so, the 10-state empirical model performed best. We conclude that the multi-state model is a promising candidate for hydrological applications, as it simulates multi-day precipitation well, but that further development is required to improve the simulation of interannual variation

Assessment of agrarian reform in Latvia (1920-1937) in historiography

Bakalaura darba “Latvijas agrārās reformas (1920.-1937.g.) atspoguļojums historiogrāfijā” mērķis ir apkopot agrāras reformas uzstādījumu un rezultātu izvērtējumu galvenās tendences historiogrāfijā. Darbs veidots, ievērojot hronoloģiskos un lokālos atskaites punktus, sākot ar reformas uzsākšanu un beidzot ar mūsdienām, atsevišķas nodaļas veltot starpkaru perioda, emigrācijas, padomju un mūsdienu latviešu autoru darbiem. Darbā tika secināts, ka agrārās reformas vērtējums ir izkliedēts dažādu virzienu pētījumos, kā arī, vispamatīgāk agrārās reformas vērtējums ir saistīts ar tautsaimniecības vēsturei veltītiem pētījumiem. Darba procesā arī atklājās jauna, līdz šim nepētīta agrārās reformas šķautne - urbānais agrārās reformas aspekts - pilsētu un agrārās reformas attiecību jautājums.The aim of the Bachelor thesis "Assessment of agrarian reform in Latvia (1920-1937) in Historiography" is to summarize the evaluation of results of agrarian reform, and the major trends in historiography. This work is created on the chronological and local reference points, starting with the launch of agrarian reform and ending with the present day, devoting a separate chapters on the interwar period, emigration, the Soviet and contemporary Latvian authors. In the study was concluded that the assessment of agrarian reform is divided into different directions, as well as studies. Mainly assessment of agrarian reform is related to research in national economic history. Work process also revealed a new facet of the agrarian reform - the urban aspect of the agrarian reform

Effect of urban morphology and greening on noise and air pollution - case studies including disease burden estimates

Exposure of both noise and air pollution due to road traffic in urban environments has been calculated and evaluated for multiple cases. A model study in an urban setting used 31 cases of building morphologies and traffic concentration. An evaluating second set was based on a real case of an arterial road transformed into a boulevard. Besides the effect of building morphology, the effects of driving speed, electric vehicles and urban greening were studied. The levels of noise exposure (Lden and Lnight at housing fa\ue7ades) and air pollution (NO2 and PM10 at sidewalks and yards) were calculated as input to estimating the health impact using DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years). Concluding from the results, the best solution from a noise perspective is closed blocks with green roofs, while the best solution concerning air quality is point buildings or closed blocks with added high towers. Urban greening was shown to improve the noise situation in general whereas air quality varied due to the interaction between wind speed, dispersion, and filtering effect of leaves. Urban planning guidelines were formulated, including also suggestions of traffic concentration by locating all local traffic to a single widened road as well as transitioning to electric vehicles in combination with reduced vehicle speed