Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather

The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal heating and the acceleration of the ambient solar wind. We also discuss where the community stands in its ability to forecast how variations in the solar wind (i.e., fast and slow wind streams) impact the Earth. Although the last few decades have seen significant progress in observations and modeling, we still do not have a complete understanding of the relevant physical processes, nor do we have a quantitatively precise census of which coronal structures contribute to specific types of solar wind. Fast streams are known to be connected to the central regions of large coronal holes. Slow streams, however, appear to come from a wide range of sources, including streamers, pseudostreamers, coronal loops, active regions, and coronal hole boundaries. Complicating our understanding even more is the fact that processes such as turbulence, stream-stream interactions, and Coulomb collisions can make it difficult to unambiguously map a parcel measured at 1 AU back down to its coronal source. We also review recent progress -- in theoretical modeling, observational data analysis, and forecasting techniques that sit at the interface between data and theory -- that gives us hope that the above problems are indeed solvable.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Special issue connected with a 2016 ISSI workshop on "The Scientific Foundations of Space Weather." 44 pages, 9 figure

Nitrogen transformations during co-composting of herbal residues, spent mushrooms, and sludge*

Sewage sludge composting is an important environmental measure. The reduction of nitrogen loss is a critical aim of compost maturation, and the addition of spent mushrooms (SMs) and herbal residues (HRs) may be helpful. To evaluate the nitrogen transformations during co-composting of sewage sludge, SMs, and HRs, windrows were constructed in a residual processing plant. Dewatered sewage sludge and sawdust were mixed with SMs and HRs at two proportions on a fresh weight basis, 3:1:1 (sewage sludge:sawdust:SMs or HRs) and 3:1:2 (sewage sludge:sawdust:SMs or HRs). The mixture was then composted for 40 d. Changes in the physicochemical characteristic of sewage sludge during composting were recorded and analyzed. Addition of SMs and HRs accelerated the temperature rise, mediating a quicker composting maturation time compared to control. The addition also resulted in lower nitrogen losses and higher nitrate nitrogen levels in the compost products. Among the windrows, SM and HR addition improved the nitrogen status. The total nitrogen (TN) and nitrogen losses for SM and HR treatments ranged from 22.45 to 24.99 g/kg and from 10.2% to 22.4% over the control values (18.66–21.57 g/kg and 40.5%–64.2%, respectively). The pile with the highest proportion of SMs (3:1:2 (sewage sludge:sawdust:SMs)) had the highest TN level and the lowest nitrogen loss. The germination index (GI) values for all samples at maturity were above 80%, demonstrating optimal maturity. The addition of SMs and HRs augments sewage composting

Catalytic ozonation-biological coupled processes for the treatment of industrial wastewater containing refractory chlorinated nitroaromatic compounds*

A treatability study of industrial wastewater containing chlorinated nitroaromatic compounds (CNACs) by a catalytic ozonation process (COP) with a modified Mn/Co ceramic catalyst and an aerobic sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was investigated. A preliminary attempt to treat the diluted wastewater with a single SBR resulted in ineffective removal of the color, ammonia, total organic carbon (TOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Next, COP was applied as a pretreatment in order to obtain a bio-compatible wastewater for SBR treatment in a second step. The effectiveness of the COP pretreatment was assessed by evaluating wastewater biodegradability enhancement (the ratio of biology oxygen demand after 5 d (BOD5) to COD), as well as monitoring the evolution of TOC, carbon oxidation state (COS), average oxidation state (AOS), color, and major pollutant concentrations with reaction time. In the COP, the catalyst preserved its catalytic properties even after 70 reuse cycles, exhibiting good durability and stability. The performance of SBR to treat COP effluent was also examined. At an organic loading rate of 2.0 kg COD/(m3·d), with hydraulic retention time (HRT)=10 h and temperature (30±2) °C, the average removal efficiencies of NH3-N, COD, BOD5, TOC, and color in a coupled COP/SBR process were about 80%, 95.8%, 93.8%, 97.6% and 99.3%, respectively, with average effluent concentrations of 10 mg/L, 128 mg/L, 27.5 mg/L, 25.0 mg/L, and 20 multiples, respectively, which were all consistent with the national standards for secondary discharge of industrial wastewater into a public sewerage system (GB 8978-1996). The results indicated that the coupling of COP with a biological process was proved to be a technically and economically effective method for treating industrial wastewater containing recalcitrant CNACs