Aerosols released from biomass burning affect the tropospheric chemistry, radiation budget and cloud processes and hence can cause significant climate modifications. Due to certain economical reasons, the open burning of crop residue has become popular in Pakistan. In the present work we have analyzed the optical and physical properties of aerosols during crop residue burning over Lahore, a central location of Pakistan. The data from ground based Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), satellite based MODIS and CALIPSO remote sensing instruments have been used for the characterization of aerosols during crop residue burning event of October 2010. The maximum value (2.75) of daily mean AOD was observed on 20 October 2010 and the next highest value of 2.64 was observed on 19 October 2010, indicating heavy aerosol loading over Lahore on both days due to intense crop residue burning. The fine mode AOD values ranged from 0.14 to 2.68 (on 20 October 2010) with average value of 0.87 during October 2010 over Lahore. It was found that fine mode aerosols have greater contribution than coarse mode aerosols towards total aerosol burden indicating the presence of fine mode (crop residue burning) aerosols over Lahore. Cluster analysis showed that the mixed aerosols (biomass burning and urban-industrial) were present during the heavy aerosol loading period over Lahore. The highest volume concentration of fine mode occurred on 19 and 20 October 2010 representing the dominance of fine mode aerosols. Due to scattering of incoming solar radiation by intense smoke observed on 19 and 20 October 2010 high values of SSA (∼0.95) were found. HYSPLIT model backward trajectories showed that the winds transported aerosols from southeast and northwest directions.

Understanding the respective roles of environment and interspecific interactions in shaping species’ distributions is a critical aspect in determining the potential impacts of newcomer species on occupied habitats. The invasive caprellid amphipod Caprella scaura has successfully spread along southern Europe in a short time period, coinciding with a decline in the population of an ecologically similar congener, Caprella equilibra. To understand the mechanisms underlying the establishment success of this aggressive species and its potential role in shaping C. equilibra’s distribution, we analyze the biotic and abiotic factors involved in the patterns of distribution and co-occurrence of both species along the Iberian Peninsula and northern Africa. Our analyses support that C. scaura is competitively displacing C. equilibra from the study area, but also point out the critical role of salinity and temperature in modulating this interaction and limiting the invasive success of C. scaura on the Iberian North-Atlantic coast.

Seasonal mean oxygen depletion in offshore and coastal North Sea bottom waters was shown to range between 0.9 and 1.8mg/L, corresponding to 95–83% saturation, between July and October over a 30-year assessment period (1980–2010). The magnitude of oxygen depletion was controlled by thermal stratification, modulated by water depth and nitrogen availability. Analyses were based on about 19,000 combined data sets. Eutrophication problem areas were identified mainly in coastal waters by oxygen minima, the lower 10th percentile of oxygen concentrations, and deviations of oxygen depletion from correlated stratification values. Connections between oxygen consumption and nitrogen sources and conversion, including denitrification, were indicated by correlations. Mean oxygen consumption reflected a minimum seasonal turnover of 3.1gN/m2 in the south-eastern North Sea, including denitrification of 1gN/m2. Oxygen depletion was underestimated in shallow coastal waters due to repeated erosion of stratification as indicated by local high variability.

Sediments in eight types of mangroves were sampled in the Leizhou Peninsula. Heavy metals were analyzed to investigate the effects on metal distribution of mangrove communities, to evaluate contamination levels, identify sources and relationships between the two. Results showed that mangrove communities have effects on most heavy metal distributions in sediments, especially in the sediment with shrub communities of Aegiceras corniculatum where the contents of many metals are highest. As, Cr and Ni were identified as metal pollutants of primary concern, while Cd was of no concern. Zn, Pb, As mainly originated from anthropogenic source while the other metals are geogenic. Heavy metal distributions were affected by the independent and joint effects of landscape and sediment context; landscape context explains more variations in heavy metals than does sediment physicochemical variables. Total sulfur, total phosphorus and total potassium in sediment, and the existence of paddy field and forest land within 2000m around the sampling sites are significant variables also.

PBDEs (10 congeners) were analyzed using GC–MS in superficial sediments and organisms of the Concepción Bay after the 2010 Tsunami. From all congeners analyzed PBDE-47, -99, -100 and -209 were the most frequently detected. Concentrations (ngg−1 d.w.) in sediments for ΣPBDE-47, -99, -100 were low (0.02–0.09). However, PBDE-209 showed significantly higher values ∼20ngg−1 d.w. This result were ∼10 times lower than those reported in a previous study of the 2010 Tsunami. The high result might be influenced by the massive urban debris dragged by the 2010 Tsunami. In organisms, concentrations of PBDE-47, -99, -100 (∼0.4ngg−1 d.w.) were higher than those found in sediments (∼0.04ngg−1 d.w.). Differences in PBDE pattern were also observed between different levels of the trophic food chain (primary and secondary consumers). This is the first attempt to assess the current status of Concepción Bay after the 2010 Tsunami.

The exotic emission of ballast water has threatened the coastal ecological environment and people’s health in many countries. This paper firstly introduces pulse intense light to treat ballast water. 99.9±0.09% inactivation of Heterosigma akashiwo and 99.9±0.16% inactivation of Pyramimonas sp. are observed under treatment conditions of 350V pulse peak voltage, 15Hz pulse frequency, 5ms pulse width and 1.78L/min flow rate. The energy consumption of the self-designed pulse intense light treatment system is about 2.90–5.14 times higher than that of the typical commercial UV ballast water treatment system. The results indicate that pulse intense light is an effective technique for ballast water treatment, while it is only a competitive one when drastic decreasing in energy consumption is accomplished.

The analysis of microplastics in various environmental samples requires the identification of microplastics from natural materials. The identification technique lacks a standardized protocol. Herein, stereomicroscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscope (FT-IR) identification methods for microplastics (<1mm) were compared using the same samples from the sea surface microlayer (SML) and beach sand. Fragmented microplastics were significantly (p<0.05) underestimated and fiber was significantly overestimated using the stereomicroscope both in the SML and beach samples. The total abundance by FT-IR was higher than by microscope both in the SML and beach samples, but they were not significantly (p>0.05) different. Depending on the number of samples and the microplastic size range of interest, the appropriate identification method should be determined; selecting a suitable identification method for microplastics is crucial for evaluating microplastic pollution.

Beach nourishment practices are a key aspect in coastal management plans for stakeholders and communities. Stemming from a concrete case-study (Tuscany), this research analyzes: (i) principal problems of current law regulating dredging, (ii) gaps in technical guidelines, (iii) advantages of integrated approaches to the decision-making process, (iv) possible applicable nourishment options and their costs and benefits. Our results show that sand compatibility is driven mainly by grain-size stability due to the occurrence of lower pollution levels in off-shore deposits than in threatened beaches, thus current laws and guidelines should be improved to fill the evident gap in the evaluation process and to include a more complete approach to data evaluation and an integrated approach to ecotoxicity evaluation, which is relevant in cases of geochemical anomalies. The cost-benefit analysis performed indicates that only dredging intended to manage more than 1millionm3 of aggregates would represent a real advantage for local communities.

In this work, we investigated if the Eulerian and the Lagrangian approaches for the computation of the Transport Time Scales (TTS) of semi-enclosed water bodies can be used univocally to define the spatial variability of basin flushing features. The Eulerian and Lagrangian TTS were computed for both simplified test cases and a realistic domain: the Venice Lagoon. The results confirmed the two approaches cannot be adopted univocally and that the spatial variability of the water renewal capacity can be investigated only through the computation of both the TTS. A specific analysis, based on the computation of a so-called Trapping Index, was then suggested to integrate the information provided by the two different approaches. The obtained results proved the Trapping Index to be useful to avoid any misleading interpretation due to the evaluation of the basin renewal features just from an Eulerian only or from a Lagrangian only perspective.

The main objective of this study is to apply artificial neural network (ANN) and wavelet-neural network (WNN) models for predicting a variety of ocean water quality parameters. In this regard, several water quality parameters in Hilo Bay, Pacific Ocean, are taken under consideration. Different combinations of water quality parameters are applied as input variables to predict daily values of salinity, temperature and DO as well as hourly values of DO. The results demonstrate that the WNN models are superior to the ANN models. Also, the hourly models developed for DO prediction outperform the daily models of DO. For the daily models, the most accurate model has R equal to 0.96, while for the hourly model it reaches up to 0.98. Overall, the results show the ability of the model to monitor the ocean parameters, in condition with missing data, or when regular measurement and monitoring are impossible.