How changes in human activities during the lockdown impacted air quality parameters: A review

The health emergency linked to the spread of COVID-19 has led to important reduction in industrial and logistics activities, as well as to a drastic changes in citizens' behaviors and habits. The restrictions on working activities, journeys and relationships imposed by the lockdown have had important consequences, including for environmental quality. This review aims to provide a structured and critical evaluation of the recent scientific bibliography that analyzed and described the impact of lockdown on human activities and on air quality. The results indicate an important effect of the lockdown during the first few months of 2020 on air pollution levels, compared to previous periods. The concentrations of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide have decreased. Tropospheric ozone, on the other hand, has significantly increased. These results are important indicators that can become decision drivers for future policies and strategies in industrial and logistics activities (including the mobility sector) aimed at their environmental sustainability. The scenario imposed by COVID-19 has supported the understanding of the link between the reduction of polluting emissions and the state of air quality and will be able to support strategic choices for the future sustainable growth of the industrial and logistics sector

Real time crop coefficient from SEBAL method for estimating the evapotranspiration

Crop coefficients (Kc) are defined as the ratio of actual crop evapotranspiration to the evapotranspiration (Eto) of a grass reference crop, often taken from Penman/Monteith"s methodology. They are used to estimate theoretical crop evapotranspiration (Etc). Actual evapotranspiration is measured in field lysimeters but this lacks acceptability when applied to the field or large irrigation schemes where conditions are very variable. This paper uses the SEBAL method (Bastiaanssen et al., 1998) to determine actual evapotranspiration from satellite images. This is compared with estimated Eto from both Penman/Monteiths methodology and Eto estimated from a SEBAL estimation of reference crop evaporation within a project. The range of Kc values for the cotton crop were then calculated. Crop coefficient Kc maps were made for two irrigation projects. The methodology was applied on a large cotton irrigation scheme (Starikan) southern Kazakhstan. The estimated mean real time Kc value of 1.16 (±1-3% error) was higher than the standard Kc value of 1.1 identified by FAO-56. The methodology was validated on a different date and different irrigation schemes (Chardara) 200 km south Starikan. The methodology is discussed

Investigation of Aerosol Climatology, Optical Characteristics and Variability over Egypt Based on Satellite Observations and In-Situ Measurements

Egypt experiences high rates of air pollution, which is a major threat to human health and the eco-environment and therefore needs to be tackled by defining major causes to hinder or mitigate their impacts. The major driving forces of air pollution are either of local and/or regional origin. In addition, seasonal aerosols may be natural, such as dust particles transported from the western desert, or anthropogenic aerosols which are transported from industrial areas and smoke particles from seasonal biomass burning. Monitoring the optical properties of aerosols and their pattern in the atmosphere on a daily basis requires a robust source of information and professional analytical tools. This research explored the potential of using time series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data to comprehensively investigate the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and variability for the period 2012–2018 on a daily basis. The data show that spring, summer and autumn seasons experienced the highest anomaly originating from regional and national sources. The high AOD in spring associated with a low Ångström exponent (AE) indicates the presence of coarse particles which naturally originate from desert dust or sea spray. In contrast, the high AE in summer and autumn demonstrated the dominance of fine anthropogenic aerosols such as smoke particles from local biomass burning. The observation of a high number of fire incidents over Egypt in October and November 2018, during the months of rice crop harvesting, showed that these incidents contribute to the presence of autumn aerosols across the country. In-situ measurements of Particulate Matter (PM10) from local stations from an environmental based network as well as the AERONET AOD were used to validate the MODIS AOD, providing a high correlation coefficient of r = 0.73

Evaluation of kaolin clay as natural material for

Copper sulfide formation is one of the possible corrosion mechanisms involving the corrosive sulfur of copper. EDX scans of copper strip before and after immersing in aged transformer oils containing sulfur without copper passivator at 100 °C for 3 h indicated that copper sulfide was formed on the copper strip surface. The reclaimed oil by using kaolin clay reduced the sulfur content of all tested aged oils reducing the corrosion on copper strips in all samples investigated. In every case studied, the oil after reclamation by kaolin clay showed no sign at all of corrosive sulfur on the surface of copper strips. Nevertheless the atomic absorption analysis of copper ions in oil samples showed that the dissolution of copper was increased with increasing the sulfur content in the oil at different times of immersed copper strip in the oil