Measurements and comparison of primary biological aerosol above and below a tropical forest canopy using a dual channel fluorescence spectrometer

Original article can be found at: http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/issue10.html Copyright - the authors. Authors grant any third party the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors and citation details are identified. The article and any associated published material is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.Aerosol particle size distributions were measured below and above a tropical rainforest canopy in Borneo, Malaysia, in June/July 2008 using the WIBS-3: a single particle dual channel fluorescence spectrometer. Material in the size range 0.8–20 μm was characterized according to optical equivalent diameter (DP), morphology and fluorescence at 310–400 nm and 400–600 nm following excitation at 280 nm and 370 nm respectively. Particles fluorescent after both excitations are likely to be fluorescent primary biological aerosol particles (FBAP). Measured FBAP number concentration (NFBAP) at both sites exhibited clear diurnal cycles. The largest variability was observed in the understorey, where NFBAP reached a minimum of 50–100 L−1 in late morning. In mid afternoon it exhibited strong transient fluctuations as large as 4000 L−1 that were followed by sustained concentrations of 1000–2500 L−1 that reduced steadily between midnight and sunrise. Above the canopy FBAP number ranged from 50–100 L−1 during the daytime to 200–400 L−1 at night but did not exhibit the transient enhancements seen in the understorey. The strong FBAP fluctuations were attributed to the release of fungal spores below the canopy and appeared to be linked to elevated relative humidity. The mean FBAP number fraction in the size range 0.8 μm<DP<20 μm was 55% in the understorey and 28% above canopy. A size mode at 2 μm<DP<4 μm appears at both sites and is primarily FBAP, which dominated the coarse (DP≥2.5 μm) number concentration at both sites, accounting for 75% in the understorey and 57% above the canopy. In contrast, the concentration of non-fluorescent particles (NNON) at both sites was typically 200–500 L−1, the majority of which occupied a size mode at 0.8<DP<1.5 μm. Enhanced understorey NNON was observed daily in mid-afternoon and also at midday on three occasions: the former coincided with the FBAP enhancements and measured approximately 10% of their magnitude; the latter occurred independently of the NFBAP diurnal cycle and comprised particles smaller than 2 μm. Particle diameter of 3–5 μm is consistent with smaller fungal spores, though absolute identification of biological species is not possible with the UV-LIF technique. Based on the measured FBAP and non-fluorescent particle abundances and their observed recovery times following rain showers, FBAP originated beneath the canopy while the non-fluorescent material was transported from further away. It is concluded that these separate sources contributed the majority of the aerosol measured by the WIBS-3 at both sites.Peer reviewe

Scoping studies to establish the capability and utility of a real-time bioaerosol sensor to characterise emissions from environmental sources

A novel dual excitation wavelength based bioaerosol sensor with multiple fluorescence bands called Spectral Intensity Bioaerosol Sensor (SIBS) has been assessed across five contrasting outdoor environments. The mean concentrations of total and fluorescent particles across the sites were highly variable being the highest at the agricultural farm (2.6 cm−3 and 0.48 cm−3, respectively) and the composting site (2.32 cm−3 and 0.46 cm−3, respectively) and the lowest at the dairy farm (1.03 cm−3 and 0.24 cm−3, respectively) and the sewage treatment works (1.03 cm−3 and 0.25 cm−3, respectively). In contrast, the number-weighted fluorescent fraction was lowest at the agricultural site (0.18) in comparison to the other sites indicating high variability in nature and magnitude of emissions from environmental sources. The fluorescence emissions data demonstrated that the spectra at different sites were multimodal with intensity differences largely at wavelengths located in secondary emission peaks for λex 280 and λex 370. This finding suggests differences in the molecular composition of emissions at these sites which can help to identify distinct fluorescence signature of different environmental sources. Overall this study demonstrated that SIBS provides additional spectral information compared to existing instruments and capability to resolve spectrally integrated signals from relevant biological fluorophores could improve selectivity and thus enhance discrimination and classification strategies for real-time characterisation of bioaerosols from environmental sources. However, detailed lab-based measurements in conjunction with real-world studies and improved numerical methods are required to optimise and validate these highly resolved spectral signatures with respect to the diverse atmospherically relevant biological fluorophores

Rural and Urban Influence on Intragroup Microaggressions of Southeastern Filipino-Americans

After considerable assessment, research has identified the significance of intragroup prejudice through the form of microaggressions. Microaggressions, in terms of intergroup dynamics, are a relatively new phenomenon, but literature on intragroup dynamics is arising alongside with it and provides a different relational perspective. By factoring in a multitude of variables, literature has suggested that the concept of intragroup microaggressions is a multidimensional behavior that varies amongst different Asian groups. By focusing even more so on the micro-level of ethnicity, most literature on the topic is based on model minority Asians in the United States’ West, Midwest, or Northeastern areas. That being said, this proposal offers insight to the nuances of Filipino-Americans in the Southeast. The main themes of this paper focus on the overall behavior of Filipino-American microaggressions as well as any urban or rural influence from current and childhood locations. Because there is little research on the intricacies of intraethnic microaggressions in Filipino-American culture, this paper focuses on that intragroup dynamic and urban-rural dichotomy. Based on the data, Filipino-Americans perceive that their experience with microaggressions is worse with people of other ethnicities rather than in their own culture. This research concludes with a discussion about the challenges of this process and the prospective ideas that could further Filipino-American research within the Southeast. Keywords: microaggression, intragroup prejudice, intraethnic microaggressions, Filipino-Americans, urbanism-ruralis

Recommendations for processing atmospheric attenuated backscatter profiles from Vaisala CL31 ceilometers

Ceilometer lidars are used for cloud base height detection, to probe aerosol layers in the atmosphere (e.g. detection of elevated layers of Saharan dust or volcanic ash), and to examine boundary layer dynamics. Sensor optics and acquisition algorithms can strongly influence the observed attenuated backscatter profiles; therefore, physical interpretation of the profiles requires careful application of corrections. This study addresses the widely deployed Vaisala CL31 ceilometer. Attenuated backscatter profiles are studied to evaluate the impact of both the hardware generation and firmware version. In response to this work and discussion within the CL31/TOPROF user community (TOPROF, European COST Action aiming to harmonise ground-based remote sensing networks across Europe), Vaisala released new firmware (versions 1.72 and 2.03) for the CL31 sensors. These firmware versions are tested against previous versions, showing that several artificial features introduced by the data processing have been removed. Hence, it is recommended to use this recent firmware for analysing attenuated backscatter profiles. To allow for consistent processing of historic data, correction procedures have been developed that account for artefacts detected in data collected with older firmware. Furthermore, a procedure is proposed to determine and account for the instrument-related background signal from electronic and optical components. This is necessary for using attenuated backscatter observations from any CL31 ceilometer. Recommendations are made for the processing of attenuated backscatter observed with Vaisala CL31 sensors, including the estimation of noise which is not provided in the standard CL31 output. After taking these aspects into account, attenuated backscatter profiles from Vaisala CL31 ceilometers are considered capable of providing valuable information for a range of applications including atmospheric boundary layer studies, detection of elevated aerosol layers, and model verification

Statistical characterisation of bio-aerosol background in an urban environment

In this paper we statistically characterise the bio-aerosol background in an urban environment. To do this we measure concentration levels of naturally occurring microbiological material in the atmosphere over a two month period. Naturally occurring bioaerosols can be considered as noise, as they mask the presence of signals coming from biological material of interest (such as an intentionally released biological agent). Analysis of this 'biobackground' was undertaken in the 1-10 um size range and a 3-9% contribution was found to be biological in origin - values which are in good agreement with other studies reported in the literature. A model based on the physics of turbulent mixing and dispersion was developed and validated against this analysis. The Gamma distribution (the basis of our model) is shown to comply with the scaling laws of the concentration moments of our data, which enables us to universally characterise both biological and non-biological material in the atmosphere. An application of this model is proposed to build a framework for the development of novel algorithms for bio-aerosol detection and rapid characterisation.Comment: 14 Pages, 8 Figure

Anthropogenic Heat Flux Estimation from Space: Results of the first phase of the URBANFLUXES Project

H2020-Space project URBANFLUXES (URBan ANthrpogenic heat FLUX from Earth observation Satellites) investigates the potential of Copernicus Sentinels to retrieve anthropogenic heat flux, as a key component of the Urban Energy Budget (UEB). URBANFLUXES advances the current knowledge of the impacts of UEB fluxes on urban heat island and consequently on energy consumption in cities. This will lead to the development of tools and strategies to mitigate these effects, improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency. In URBANFLUXES, the anthropogenic heat flux is estimated as a residual of UEB. Therefore, the rest UEB components, namely, the net all-wave radiation, the net change in heat storage and the turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes are independently estimated from Earth Observation (EO), whereas the advection term is included in the error of the anthropogenic heat flux estimation from the UEB closure. The project exploits Sentinels observations, which provide improved data quality, coverage and revisit times and increase the value of EO data for scientific work and future emerging applications. These observations can reveal novel scientific insights for the detection and monitoring of the spatial distribution of the urban energy budget fluxes in cities, thereby generating new EO opportunities. URBANFLUXES thus exploits the European capacity for space-borne observations to enable the development of operational services in the field of urban environmental monitoring and energy efficiency in cities. H2020-Space project URBANFLUXES (URBan ANthrpogenic heat FLUX from Earth observation Satellites)investigates the potential of Copernicus Sentinels to retrieve anthropogenic heat flux, as a key component of the UrbanEnergy Budget (UEB). URBANFLUXES advances the current knowledge of the impacts of UEB fluxes on urban heatisland and consequently on energy consumption in cities. This will lead to the development of tools and strategies tomitigate these effects, improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency. In URBANFLUXES, the anthropogenic heatflux is estimated as a residual of UEB. Therefore, the rest UEB components, namely, the net all-wave radiation, the netchange in heat storage and the turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes are independently estimated from EarthObservation (EO), whereas the advection term is included in the error of the anthropogenic heat flux estimation from theUEB closure. The project exploits Sentinels observations, which provide improved data quality, coverage and revisittimes and increase the value of EO data for scientific work and future emerging applications. These observations canreveal novel scientific insights for the detection and monitoring of the spatial distribution of the urban energy budgetfluxes in cities, thereby generating new EO opportunities. URBANFLUXES thus exploits the European capacity forspace-borne observations to enable the development of operational services in the field of urban environmentalmonitoring and energy efficiency in cities

Evaluation of the Surface Urban Energy and Water balance Scheme (SUEWS) at a dense urban site in Shanghai: sensitivity to anthropogenic heat and irrigation

The Surface Urban Energy and Water balance Scheme (SUEWS) is used to investigate the impact of anthropogenic heat flux (QF) and irrigation on surface energy balance partitioning in a central business district of Shanghai. Diurnal profiles of QF are carefully derived based on city-specific hourly electricity consumption data, hourly traffic data and dynamic population density. QF is estimated to be largest in summer (mean daily peak 236 W m-2). When QF is omitted, the SUEWS sensible heat flux (QH) reproduces the observed diurnal pattern generally well, but the magnitude is underestimated compared to observations for all seasons. When QF is included, the QH estimates are improved in spring, summer and autumn, but poorer in winter indicating winter QF is overestimated. Inclusion of QF has little influence on the simulated latent heat flux (QE), but improves the storage heat flux estimates except in winter. Irrigation, both amount and frequency, has a large impact on QE. When irrigation is not considered, the simulated QE is underestimated for all seasons. The mean summer daytime QE is largely overestimated compared to observations under continuous irrigation conditions. Model results are improved when irrigation occurs with a 3-day frequency, especially in summer. Results are consistent with observed monthly out-door water use. This study highlights the importance of appropriately including the QF and irrigation in urban land surface models - terms not generally considered in many previous studies

Anthropogenic heat flux: advisable spatial resolutions when input data are scarce

Anthropogenic heat flux (QF) may be significant in cities, especially under low solar irradiance and at night. It is of interest to many practitioners including meteorologists, city planners and climatologists. QF estimates at fine temporal and spatial resolution can be derived from models that use varying amounts of empirical data. This study compares simple and detailed models in a European megacity (London) at 500 m spatial resolution. The simple model (LQF) uses spatially resolved population data and national energy statistics. The detailed model (GQF) additionally uses local energy, road network and workday population data. The Fractions Skill Score (FSS) and bias are used to rate the skill with which the simple model reproduces the spatial patterns and magnitudes of QF, and its sub-components, from the detailed model. LQF skill was consistently good across 90% of the city, away from the centre and major roads. The remaining 10% contained elevated emissions and B hot spots ^ representing 30 – 40% of the total city-wide energy. This structure was lost because it requires workday population, spatially resolved building energy consumption and/or road network data. Daily total building and traffic energy consumption estimates from national data were within ± 40% of local values. Progressively coarser spatial resolutions to 5 km improved skill for total Q F , but important features (hot spots, transport network) were lost at all resolutions when residential population controlled spatial variations. The results demonstrate that simple QF models should be applied with conservative spatial resolution in cities that, like London, exhibit time-varying energy use patterns

PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM TERHADAP PEMERIKSAAN MATA PADA OPTIKAL YANG TIDAK MEMILIKI TENAGA REFRAKSIONIS OPTISIEN

ABSTRAK\ud Gabey Freschilia Permata Sari (B11108331) Perlindungan Hukum terhadap Pemeriksaan Mata pada Optikal yang Tidak Memiliki Tenaga Refraksionis Optisien. Penulisan skripsi ini dibimbing oleh Ibu Badriyah Rivai, sebagai pembimbing I dan Ibu Harustiati A. Moein, sebagai pembimbing II. \ud Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perlindungan hukum terhadap konsumen pada optikal yang tidak memiliki tenaga Refraksionis Optisien dan tanggung jawab penyelenggara optikal.\ud Penelitian ini dilakukan di Makassar khususnya pada Ikatan Refraksionis Optisien Indonesia (IROPIN) Pengurus Sul-Sel, Yayasan Lembaga Konsumen (YLK) Sulawesi Selatan, serta 7 optikal di Makassar, dan 50 konsumen pengguna kacamata. Untuk mencapai tujuan tersebut penulis menggunakan teknik pengumpulan data dengan turun langsung ke lapangan untuk mengumpulkan data dengan cara wawancara dan studi dokumentasi. Data yang diperoleh, baik primer maupun sekunder dianalisis cara kualitatif untuk kemudian disajikan secara deskriptif yaitu dengan menguraikan, menjelaskan, dan menggambarkan sesuai dengan permasalahan yang erat kaitannya dengan penelitian ini. \ud Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa (1) Belum ada pengaturan secara khusus untuk melindungi konsumen terhadap pemeriksaan mata pada optikal yang tidak memiliki Refraksionis Optisien. Bila dikaitkan dengan undang-undang perlindungan konsumen, hukum perlindungan konsumen secara tegas telah mengatur mengenai hak dan kewajiban konsumen dan pelaku usaha, perbuatan yang dilarang bagi pelaku usaha, ketentuan pencantuman klausula baku dan tanggung jawab pelaku usaha. Meskipun telah diatur mengenai hal tersebut, namun dalam praktiknya masih terdapat penyimpangan dan pelanggaran yang dilakukan pemilik optikal sehingga menimbulkan kerugian bagi konsumen. Salah satu bentuk perlindungan bagi konsumen dengan adanya garansi yang diberikan oleh optikal kepada konsumen kacamata. (2) Bentuk pertanggungjawaban penyelenggara optikal berupa pemeriksaan mata kembali, pengaturan ulang lensa dan bingkai agar kacamata lebih nyaman untuk digunakan, memberikan penggantian dengan ukuran yang seharusnya apabila kacamata yang dibeli telah merugikan konsumen, atau memberikan penggantian dengan potongan biaya. Penyelenggara optikal bersedia memberikan pertanggungjawaban selama kesalahan tersebut berasal dari pihak optikal

Pemanfaatan Minyak Jelantah Untuk Pembuatan Sabun Batang Bagi Anggota Karang Taruna Duri Pulo, Kecamatan Gambir, Jakarta Pusat

The amount of used cooking oil waste is thrown into the sewer, which over time will compress the sewer and can also pollute the environment. Therefore, it would be good if this used cooking oil is further processed into bar soap that can be used to wash clothes or other kitchenware. The process of making this bar soap uses a cold process, which does not use heating (stove). the chemical used is NaOH. The first stage is the purification of crude oil. Purification is done by soaking charcoal in used cooking oil, for about two days, then the used cooking oil is filtered. This purification does not remove the cloudy color of the used cooking oil, but the odor and turbid color of the used cooking oil is reduced. Then the purified used cooking oil is mixed into the lye, which is a mixture of water and NaOH. Then stir to mix until the solution is slightly thickened like the consistency of liquid soap. Then the mixture is put into a mold made of silicon, after 24 hours or after the soap is solid, the soap can be removed from the mold. This soap cannot be used yet, because it requires a curing process, which is a waiting time phase after solid soap, approximately 45 days. After going through the curing process, leaving it in the open air to ensure the water content evaporates well and the pH of the soap is normal. The solid soap produced from this training is able to clean the dirt on cooking utensils and can also be used as a clothes wash, and does not itch on the skin.The amount of used cooking oil waste is thrown into the sewer, which over time will compress the sewer and can also pollute the environment. Therefore, it would be good if this used cooking oil is further processed into bar soap that can be used to wash clothes or other kitchenware. The process of making this bar soap uses a cold process, which does not use heating (stove). the chemical used is NaOH. The first stage is the purification of crude oil. Purification is done by soaking charcoal in used cooking oil, for about two days, then the used cooking oil is filtered. This purification does not remove the cloudy color of the used cooking oil, but the odor and turbid color of the used cooking oil is reduced. Then the purified used cooking oil is mixed into the lye, which is a mixture of water and NaOH. Then stir to mix until the solution is slightly thickened like the consistency of liquid soap. Then the mixture is put into a mold made of silicon, after 24 hours or after the soap is solid, the soap can be removed from the mold. This soap cannot be used yet, because it requires a curing process, which is a waiting time phase after solid soap, approximately 45 days. After going through the curing process, leaving it in the open air to ensure the water content evaporates well and the pH of the soap is normal. The solid soap produced from this training is able to clean the dirt on cooking utensils and can also be used as a clothes wash, and does not itch on the skin