Modelling of mercury transport and transformations in the water compartment of the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Basin is highly heterogeneous with regard to its climatic and oceanographic properties. The appropriate approach for simulating the transport and transformations of Hg in the water compartment requires the use of a hydrodynamic model with additional modules for transport-dispersion and biogeochemistry. In this work, the PCFLOW3D model was upgraded with a biogeochemical module and used for simulation of mercury transport and transformation processes in the Mediterranean. The circulation for the four seasons due to wind, thermohaline forcing and inflow momentum of the main rivers and through the straits was calculated. The results were compared with measurements and the results of another model (POM - Princeton Ocean Model). An acceptable agreement was achieved. The seasonally averaged velocity fields obtained were used to simulate transport and dispersion of mercury. A new biogeochemical module dealing with the different mercury species: gaseous elemental (Hg0), divalent (Hg2+), and mono-methyl mercury (MMHg) in dissolved form and bound to particulate matter and plankton was introduced. Exchange of mercury at the boundaries (bottom sediment/water and water/atmosphere) and transformation processes such as methylation, demethylation, reduction and oxidation were taken into account. The transformation rates between the mercury species were described using simple equations, and thus the time and space variable reaction coefficients should be determined from in-situ measurements. Instead, machine-learning tools and classical statistical methods were used to connect the measured sets of geophysical/environmental parameters and concentrations of different Hg species. The provisional annual Hg mass balance established for the Mediterranean showed that exchange with the atmosphere is the most important source/sink of mercury for the water compartment. Therefore, the model was further upgraded with a gas exchange module for Hg0. To improve the results of the simulations the PCFLOW3D aquatic model was further linked to the RAMS-Hg atmospheric model which provided real-time meteorological data, deposition and concentrations of mercury in the atmosphere. Simulations with the integrated modelling tool were performed and the results were compared to the measurements. Acceptable agreement of the average concentrations down the water column for both total mercury (HgT) and elemental mercury (Hg0) was achieved. Agreement of Hg0 concentrations near the surface was good; thus exchange with the atmosphere can be simulated with relatively high reliability. Agreement of simulated MMHg concentrations with measurements was not satisfactory, which is probably due to poor understanding of the processes of MMHg formation and its dependence on environmental factors, which have, so far, not been taken into account in the modelling. In view of the satisfactory modelling results obtained for HgT and Hg0, a simulation of management scenarios, particularly the policy target (PoT) scenarios for 2010 and 2020, was performed. The results of these simulations were further used to establish the mass balance of HgT in the Mediterranean Sea. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Maailmankauppa Mangon tuotetietokansion uudistaminen

Tämän toiminnallisen opinnäytetyön tavoite oli uudistaa Maailmankauppa Mangon tuotetietokansio. Maailmankauppa Mango on Jyväskylän kehitysmaayhdistys ry:n ylläpitämä Reilun kaupan erikoismyymälä ja toimii työn toimeksiantajana. Maailmankauppa Mango toimii pääasiallisesti vapaaehtoisvoimin ja se sijaitsee Jyväskylässä Kauppakatu 5:ssä. Tuotetietokansion uudistamisella on pyritty tekemään siitä käytännöllinen työväline vapaaehtoisille. Vapaaehtoisille ei välttämättä kerry tuotetietoa tuotteista ja asiakkaiden palvelu voi olla näin hankalaa. Uudistaminen pyrkii siihen, että vapaaehtoisilla olisi tuotetietokansio, joka on selkeä ja helppo käyttää. Opinnäytetyö jakaantuu teoria osaan ja toiminnalliseen osaan. Teoriaosa käsittelee Reilua kauppaa ja vapaaehtoistoimintaa liittyen Maailmankauppa Mangon toimintaan sekä sisäistä markkinointia, josta tuotetietokansion kannalta oleellisina käsitteinä olen nostanut esiin visuaalisen viestinnän ja perehdytyksen. Toiminnallinen osa sisältää selvityksen, kuvauksen tuotetietokansion suunnittelusta ja lopputulok-sesta. Selvityksellä halusin saada vapaaehtoisten mielipiteitä tuotetietokansiosta ja ideoita uudistamiseen. Tein selvityksen teemahaastattelun avulla. Haastattelut suoritin maaliskuussa 2013. Vastauksista selvisi, että tuotetietokansio on tarpeellinen Maailmankauppa Mangolla ja uudistamiselle on tarvetta. Sain vastauksista myös apua tuotetietokansion käytännön uudistamiseen. Tuotetietokansio on suunniteltu vapaaehtoisten toiveiden mukaisesti ja se on muuten valmis, vain tuotetiedot puuttuvat. Tuotetietojen täyttäminen on kaikkien vapaaehtoisten työ. Jatkotutkimuksina voisi tutkia onko uudistamisesta ollut hyötyä sekä selvittää vapaaehtoisten asiakaspalvelutaitoja ja asiakastyytyväisyyttä.The aim of this bachelor’s thesis was to reform an old product information file for Worldshop Mango. Worldshop Mango is a shop specialized in selling Fairtrade products and it is run by Jyväskylän kehitysmaayhdistys – association which I got the assignment from. Worldshop Mango works mainly with volunteer workers and it is located in Kauppakatu 5 in Jyväskylä. The product information file’s reforming aims to make a usable tool of it to the volunteers. The volunteers don’t necessarily get enough information of the products so serving customers can be difficult. The endeavour of the reforming is that the volunteers would have a clear and easy-to-use product information file. The thesis is divided in theory part and functional part. The theory part processes about Fair trade and volunteer work relating to Worldshop Mango and also internal marketing with visual communication and introduction been raised as important aspects to the product information file. The functional part includes the study, description of the planning of the reforming and of the final result. With the study I wanted to get the volunteers opinions about the product information file and also their ideas for the reforming. I used theme interview for this. The interviews I made in March 2013. The study showed that the product information file is considered to be important at Worldshop Mango and the reforming is needed. The answers also gave me help for the practical planning of the reforming. The final result has been planned with the wishes from the volunteers and it is ready to be used; only the product information is missing. Filling in the product information is every volunteer’s job. In the future it would be good to investigate if the reforming has been as helpful as hoped and perhaps make a research of the customer service abilities of the volunteers and make a customer satisfaction survey