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Grazia GHERMANDI

Professore Ordinario
Dipartimento di Ingegneria "Enzo Ferrari"

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Pubblicazioni

2024 - Measurement report: Source attribution and estimation of black carbon levels in an urban hotspot of the central Po Valley: An integrated approach combining high-resolution dispersion modelling and micro-aethalometers [Articolo su rivista]
Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Stortini, Michele; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Understanding black carbon (BC) levels and their sources in urban environments is of paramount importance due to their far-reaching health, climate and air quality implications. While several recent studies have assessed BC concentrations at specific fixed urban locations, there is a notable lack of knowledge in the existing literature on spatially resolved data alongside source estimation methods. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a comprehensive investigation of BC levels and sources in Modena (Po Valley, Italy), which serves as a representative example of a medium-sized urban area in Europe. Using a combination of multi-wavelength micro-aethalometer measurements and a hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian modelling system, we studied two consecutive winter seasons (February–March 2020 and December 2020–January 2021). Leveraging the multi-wavelength absorption analyser (MWAA) model, we differentiate sources (fossil fuel combustion, FF, and biomass burning, BB) and components (BC vs. brown carbon, BrC) from micro-aethalometer measurements. The analysis reveals consistent, minimal diurnal variability in BrC absorption, in contrast to FF-related sources, which exhibit distinctive diurnal peaks during rush hours, while BB sources show less diurnal variation. The city itself contributes significantly to BC concentrations (52 % ± 10 %), with BB and FF playing a prominent role (35 % ± 15 % and 9 % ± 4 %, respectively). Long-distance transport also influences BC concentrations, especially in the case of BB and FF emissions, with 28 % ± 1 % and 15 % ± 2 %, respectively. When analysing the traffic related concentrations, Euro 4 diesel passenger cars considerably contribute to the exhaust emissions. These results provide valuable insights for policy makers and urban planners to manage BC levels in medium-sized urban areas, taking into account local and long-distance sources.

2023 - Aerosol absorption using in situ filter-based photometers and ground-based sun photometry in the Po Valley urban atmosphere [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Veratti, Giorgio; Andrews, Elisabeth; Collaud Coen, Martine; Guerrieri, Lorenzo; Bernardoni, Vera; Massabò, Dario; Ferrero, Luca; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Light-absorbing aerosols (LAAs) are short-lived climate forcers with a significant impact on Earth’s radiative balance. LAAs include dust aerosols, black carbon (BC) and organic light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol (collectively termed brown carbon, BrC), which have also been proven to be highly toxic. In this study, aerosol absorption at five wavelengths (ranging from ultraviolet to infrared) was monitored continuously using filter-based photometers during two winter seasons in 2020 and 2021 in the city of Modena (southern central Po Valley, northern Italy), at two regulatory air quality monitoring sites, along with other pollutants (coarse partic- ulate matter, PM 10; fine particulate matter, PM 2.5 ; O 3 ; NO; NO 2 ; and C 6 H 6 ) and the vehicular traffic rate. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) and other column aerosol optical properties were concurrently monitored at four wavelengths by an AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sun photometer under urban background conditions within Modena. In situ absorption levels were apportioned to both sources (fossil fuel and biomass burning) and species (BC and BrC), while columnar absorption was apportioned to BC, BrC and mineral dust. The combined analysis of the atmospheric aerosol and gas measurements and of the meteorological conditions (in situ and from the ERA5 reanalysis) identified the location of potential urban sources of BC and BrC, most likely related to traf- fic and biomass burning. In situ data show different diurnal/weekly patterns for BrC from biomass burning and BC from traffic, with minor differences between the background and the urban traffic conditions. AERONET version 3 absorption aerosol optical depth (AAOD) retrievals at four wavelengths allowed the estimation of the absorptive direct radiative effect due to LAAs over the same period under the reasonable assumption that the AOD signal is concentrated within the mixing layer. AERONET retrievals showed a modest correlation of columnar absorption with planetary boundary layer (PBL)-scaled in situ observations, although the correlation improved significantly during a desert dust transport event that affected both in situ aerosol and columnar ab- sorption, particularly in the blue spectrum range. A low correlation occurred between the contribution of BrC to aerosol absorption for the in situ and the columnar observations, with the BrC contribution being generally larger for in situ observations. Finally, evidence of a highly layered atmosphere during the study period, featur- ing significant spatial mixing and modest vertical mixing, was shown by ERA5-based atmospheric temperature profiles and by the large correlation of concurrent AERONET AOD retrievals in Modena and in Ispra (on the northwestern side of the Po Valley, ca. 225 km from Modena).

2023 - Evaluation of low-cost gas sensors to quantify intra-urban variability of atmospheric pollutants [Articolo su rivista]
Baruah, Arunik; Zivan, Ohad; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Low-cost air quality monitoring units were tested within the context of the European research project TRAFAIR. This study aims to quantify the intra-urban variability of atmospheric pollutants by means of a low-cost sensor network, which was deployed across the urban area of Modena, in the Po Valley (Italy) for the assessment of air quality in the city. Each sensor unit featured a set of electrochemical cells responding to NO, NO 2 and O 3 delivering a current/voltage proportional to the mixing ratio of the target atmospheric pollutant. Each unit was calibrated using field colocation next to an urban regulatory air quality monitoring station in the city. A machine learning Random Forest algorithm was used as a calibration model and different configurations of the model were applied. The results from these configurations were compared in terms of their prediction performance and consistency of the explanatory variable role within the model. A significant variability in all pollutants across town was revealed by the units, highlighting areas impacted by local sources.

2023 - Photocatalytic-treated asphalt road in Copenhagen for urban NOx removal [Articolo su rivista]
Dahl, Lilja; Jensen, Henrik; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

2023 - Tracing Airborne Microplastics in Modena: results from the MicroTRACES project [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio; Ferrari, Valentina; Scaramelli, Marco; Righi, Sara; Simonini, Roberto; Prevedelli, Daniela; Bergami, Elisa; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

2022 - Air quality (PM10) scenarios resulting from the expansion of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle in Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Fabbi, Sara; Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

2022 - IMPATTO DELLA DIFFUSIONE DI VEICOLI ELETTRICI E A IDROGENO SULLE CONCENTRAZIONI DI PM10 IN EMILIA-ROMAGNA [Articolo su rivista]
Fabbi, Sara; Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

PM10 is a critical pollutant for the air quality in Emilia Romagna, a Northern Italy region that includes a large part of the Po Valley. The atmospheric levels of PM10 are strongly affected by vehicular traffic emissions, due to fuel exhaust and also to tires, brake and road surface wear, and to road dust resuspension (non-exhaust emissions). This study presents atmospheric PM10 scenarios deriving from vehicular traffic emissions in Emilia Romagna as resulting in 2030 from the growth of the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) fleet in the region. Both exhaust and non-exhaust vehicular emissions are considered, evaluated according to the most up-to-date regional bottom-up emission inventory, which attributes about 60% of total primary PM10 traffic emissions to wear processes. PM10 concentration maps for actual (2019) and 2030 scenarios are obtained by a Lagrangian dispersion model (PMSS). Preliminary results highlight the future impact on atmospheric PM10 from tires, brake and road surface wear produced by battery electric vehicles, due to their larger mass compared to FCEVs, which have smaller batteries and mass. These emissions will partially offset the lack of PM10 exhaust emissions for electric vehicles. Finally, the daily primary PM10 levels by traffic emissions simulated by PMSS and CHIMERE models were compared at specific sites relevant for the studied domain, i.e. the regulatory air quality monitoring stations, only for actual (2019) scenario.

2022 - Mitigating Indoor Risk of Airborne Infections: the MIRAI project [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Filippini, Tommaso; Vinceti, Marco; Ghermandi, Grazia; Bigi, Alessandro
abstract

2022 - The new Unimore interdisciplinary teaching on transversal sustainability skills [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Despini, Francesca
abstract

The global situation of the Covid-19 pandemic has changed several aspects of University life and management. In this context, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Unimore) has introduced a new course for all of its students called "Transversal Skills on Sustainability". This course consists of 13 Modules offered by the various Unimore Departments to address the issue of Sustainability at 360 degrees. Each Department offers a thematic module concerning Sustainability in its own field of study and research. The course ranges from engineering issues with renewable energy, waste, air quality, to economics and sustainable finance. In addition, the course deals with issues related to sustainability in the medical, chemical and legal fields and many others. In this first year of delivery, this teaching has proven to be highly appreciated among students. Over 950 students have enrolled in teaching for the 2020/2021 academic year. Enrolled students come from all areas of the university: there are students of engineering, geology, economics, chemistry, but also of medicine, pharmacy, and many others.

2021 - “COMPETENZE TRASVERSALI SULLA SOSTENIBILITÀ”, IL NUOVO INSEGNAMENTO ATTIVATO IN UNIMORE [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Despini, Francesca
abstract

La formazione transdisciplinare sulla sostenibilità è riconosciuta come indispensabile in ogni ambito, professionale, politico, sociale. La situazione globale pandemica di Covid-19 ha modificato diversi aspetti della vita e della gestione degli Atenei, italiani e mondiali, fra cui certamente le modalità di erogazione della didattica. In questo contesto, l'Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Unimore) ha introdotto un nuovo insegnamento aperto a tutti gli studenti, denominato "Competenze Trasversali sulla Sostenibilità", fruibile on line. L’insegnamento si compone di 12 moduli offerti dai diversi Dipartimenti di Unimore, che affrontano il tema della Sostenibilità da ogni prospettiva. Ciascun Dipartimento propone uno o più moduli tematici relativi alla Sostenibilità nei propri ambiti di studio e ricerca. L’insegnamento quindi spazia da moduli su energie rinnovabili, gestione rifiuti, qualità dell'aria, cambiamenti climatici, rischi naturali e antropici, fino ad altri su economia e finanza sostenibile e alla sostenibilità in ambito medico e legale, nella filosofia e nelle scienze umane. Nel primo anno di erogazione, 2020/2021, questo insegnamento ha riscosso grande interesse fra gli studenti. Oltre 950 studenti si sono iscritti, provenienti da tutti i corsi di studio dell'Ateneo, sia di primo che di secondo livello (triennali e magistrali) che a ciclo unico.

2021 - PMSS and gral inter-comparison: Strengths and weaknesses of the two models in reproducing Urban NOx levels in a real case application [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Veratti, G.; Bigi, A.; Fabbi, S.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

Air dispersion models are useful tools for quantifying pollutant concentrations in urban environment however many issues related to the dispersion estimation within urban canopy still persist. Most of them concern the emissions estimation, the flow field reconstruction between obstacles (buildings, bridges, tunnels, etc.) and the pollutant dispersion driven by the estimated flow field. This study presents results of a model inter-comparison conducted in a real case study, focusing on a 6 km x 6 km square domain covering the city of Modena (Italy), between two Lagrangian dispersion models set-up with the aim of estimating the NOx concentrations produced by traffic flow within the urban area of the city. Comparisons are made between the Graz Lagrangian Model (a.k.a. GRAL) and the Parallel Micro SWIFT and SPRAY (a.k.a. PMSS) modelling suite, in terms of dispersion concentrations and computing cost. The horizontal resolution for both the models is set to 4 meters and the traffic emissions estimation is based on a bottom-up approach: the PTV VISUM traffic model is used to estimate traffic flows on the Modena urban road network and the EMEP/EEA cold and hot emission factors are employed to estimate related emissions. All the other urban emission sources were considered to contribute to the regional background concentrations and estimated with the WRF-Chem model, which estimates also initial and boundary meteorological conditions (multi-scale approach). The general objective of the inter-comparison is to use equivalent input data for both the models keeping the emissions and the meteorological initial and boundary/condition consistent so that any discrepancies in output would be the results of differences in the micro-scale dispersion models. Since different turbulence parametrisation and dispersion scheme are implemented in the two models, the goal of this study is to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of both the models in reproducing urban NOx concentrations, in a real case application, at urban traffic and urban background sites.

2021 - Urban population exposure forecast system to predict NO2 impact by a building-resolving multi-scale model approach [Articolo su rivista]
Veratti, G.; Bigi, A.; Lupascu, A.; Butler, T. M.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

Operational forecasting systems based on chemical transport models (CTMs) nowadays generally produce concentration maps with a resolution in the order of 2–5 km, very rarely exceeding the sub-kilometre scale. The main reason for this restriction is the prohibitive computing cost that a simulation covering an entire country would have if set-up with a resolution in the order of meters. In this paper a hybrid forecast system, relying on the WRF-Chem model coupled with the PMSS Lagrangian modelling suite, has been developed and applied for each day of February 2019, to predict hourly NO2 and NOx concentrations with a spatial resolution of 4 m, for the urban area of Modena (a city located in the central Po Valley). Simulated meteorological fields (temperature, wind speed and direction) were assessed at three urban stations, compliant with WMO standards, and modelled concentrations were compared with measurements at two urban air quality stations located at background and traffic sites. Results show that meteorological variables are well captured by the hybrid system and statistical performances are in line with the benchmark values suggested by the European Environmental Agency and with similar case studies focusing on the same area. Modelled NO2 and NOx concentrations, notwithstanding a slight underestimation mainly evident at urban traffic stations for NOx, present a large agreement with related observations. The NO2 Model Quality Objective, as defined by Fairmode guidelines, was met for both the urban stations and the other statistical indexes considered in the evaluation fulfilled the acceptance criteria for dispersion modelling in urban environment, for both NO2 and NOx concentrations. In the second section of the study, the population exposure to forecasted NO2 concentrations has been evaluated adopting a generic model of dynamic population activity. The population was distributed at hourly time steps in specific urban micro-environments at the same resolution of the concentration maps (4 m) and the short-term exposure has been computed as the product between the population density in each model cell and related surface NO2 concentrations. An infiltration factor was also applied to estimate indoor concentrations. The hybrid system was shown to be particularly suited for assessing short-term peak exposure in areas influenced by traffic emissions. On the other hand, due to the limited time spent by the population within traffic related environments, the long-term population exposure calculated by the hybrid system tends to be similar to the WRF-Chem stand-alone estimate.

2020 - Environmental impact estimation of ceramic lightweight aggregates production starting from residues [Articolo su rivista]
Barbieri, Luisa; Bigi, Alessandro; Andreola, Nora Maria; Lancelotti, Isabella; Ghermandi, Grazia; Teresa Cotes Palomino, Maria; Martínez García, Carmen
abstract

Within a circular economy approach, this study investigates the environmental impact of lightweight aggregates (LWAs) produced starting from different mixes of different clays with brewery sludge and cattle bone flour ash, used as poring and fertilizing agents, respectively. The environmental impact was evaluated by means of release tests, insulation capacity, carbon footprint and particulate matter emission during pellets firing. Release tests representative of LWAs realistic application showed very high release of phosphate and satisfactory release of potassium. The thermal insulation of the LWAs was tested by thermal imaging camera and resulted highly variable depending on the composition, with the mix containing cattle bone flour ash performing best. This latter composition leads also to the smallest CO2 equivalent emission, due to the calorific power of cattle bone flour ash, allowing lower consumption of fossil fuels during the LWA production. Finally, total particulate emissions during the thermal treatment resulted similar in terms of mass for all mixes, while differences in terms of particle morphology and composition occurred. Samples containing residues resulted with a quite good release behavior, carbon footprint and insulation properties, but higher emission of particles, particularly when glass is added.

2020 - Estimate of Secondary NO2 Levels at Two Urban Traffic Sites Using Observations and Modelling [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

2020 - The development of a building-resolved air quality forecast system by a multi-scale model approach and its application to Modena Urban area, Italy [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Veratti, G.; Bigi, A.; Fabbi, S.; Lupascu, A.; Tinarelli, G.; Teggi, S.; Brusasca, G.; Butler, T. M.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

One of the main critical air pollutants in terms of health effects is nitrogen dioxide (NO2), whose levels in the last years exceeded national and WHO (World Health Organization) standards in many urban areas across the Po Valley (Northern Italy), exposing urban population to the risk of pollution-related diseases and health conditions. The main goal of this study was to develop a multi-scale modelling system able to forecast hourly NO2 and NOx concentration fields at a building-resolving scale in the urban area of Modena, a city in the middle of the Po Valley, in order to support environmental policies and to take timely protective actions given a forecast of impeding poor air quality. The modelling system relied on two different tools: the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), which is able to compute concentration fields over regional domain by considering specific emission scenarios and the Parallel Micro SWIFT and SPRAY (PMSS) modelling suite accounting for dispersion phenomena within the urban area. PMSS was used to simulate at building-scale resolution the dispersion of NO and primary NO2 produced by urban sources. Conversely, the WRF-Chem model was selected to reproduce the meteorological input for PMSS and to estimate the formation of secondary NO2. Modelled NO2 and NOx concentrations were compared with measurements at two urban stations, one at traffic site and at background location. Notwithstanding a slight underestimation, mainly evident at urban traffic stations for NOx, simulated concentrations present a large agreement with related observations. The NO2 Model Quality Objective, as defined by Fairmode guidelines, was met for both the urban stations and the other statistical indexes considered in the evaluation fulfilled the acceptance criteria for dispersion modelling in urban environment, for both NO2 and NOx concentrations. In the second section of the study, the population exposure to forecasted NO2 concentrations has been evaluated adopting a generic model of dynamic population activity. Indoor house micro-environments contributed up to 67 % of the total exposure, whilts other outdoor spaces contributed with 24%, divided between traffic environments (8 %) and other outdoor spaces (16 %). Work related buildings contributed for the ramaining share (9 %).

2020 - The use of a physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling in a “full-chain” exposure assessment framework: A case study on urban and industrial pollution in northern italy [Articolo su rivista]
Vaccari, L.; Ranzi, A.; Colacci, A.; Ghermandi, G.; Teggi, S.
abstract

Background and goals: The estimate of the internal dose provided by physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling is a big step forward in the frame of human health risk assessment (HRA) from contaminating sources. The PBPK model included in the MERLIN-Expo platform was here tested with data collected in a human biomonitoring (HBM) pilot study to check model efficacy in predicting concentrations in human blood and urine of people exposed to a modern solid waste incinerator (SWI). The aim of the study was to investigate if the use of a PBPK model integrated in a computational platform could replace more expensive and invasive pilot studies. Twenty eight subjects living and working within 4 km of the incinerator (exposed) and 21 subjects living and working outside this area (unexposed) were selected among the population recruited in the HBM study. The group of exposed (E) subjects and the group of non-exposed (NE) subjects were comparable for all relevant anthropometric characteristics and exposure parameters except for the exposure to SWI emissions. Three different scenarios were created: an “only diet-scenario” (DS), a “worst case scenario” (WCS) and a “most likely scenario” (MLS). The platform was tested for blood-lead (B-Pb), urinary-lead (U-Pb), urinary-anthracene (U-Ant) and urinary-fluoranthene (U-Flt). Average estimated U-Pb was statistically equal to the measured one (est. 0.411~0.278; meas. 0.398~0.455 µg/L) and estimated vs. measured U-Ant differ by one order of magnitude only (est. 0.018~0.010; meas. 0.537~0.444 ng/L) while for U-Flt and B-Pb, the error was respectively of two and four orders of magnitude. It is likely that the extremely high accuracy in the Pb concentration input values referring to diet led to the very accurate estimate for this chemical in urine, but the higher error in the B-Pb computed value suggests that PBPK model equations cannot entirely capture the dynamics for blood compartments. MERLIN-Expo seems a very promising tool in saving time, energy and money in the screening step of the HRA framework; however, many software validations are still required.

2020 - Towards the coupling of a chemical transport model with a micro-scale Lagrangian modelling system for evaluation of urban NOx levels in a European hotspot [Articolo su rivista]
Veratti, Giorgio; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Lupascu, Aurelia; Tinarelli, Gianni; Teggi, Sergio; Brusasca, Giuseppe; Butler, Tim M.; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

2019 - A multiscale modelling approach for evaluation of urban air quality in Modena (Italy) [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Veratti, G.; Fabbi, S.; Bigi, A.; Lupascu, A.; Tinarelli, G.; Teggi, S.; Brusasca, G.; Butler, T. M.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

A multi-scale modelling system was developed to provide hourly NOx concentrations field at building resolving scale in the urban area of Modena. The WRF-Chem model was employed with aim of reproducing local background concentrations taking into account meteorological and chemical transformation at regional scale, conversely the PMSS modelling system was applied to simulate 3D air pollutant dispersion with a very high-resolution (4 m) on a 6 km x 6 km domain. Modelled NOx concentrations reproduced by this modelling system show a good agreement with observation at both traffic and background urban stations.

2019 - Estimate of secondary NO2 levels at an urban traffic site by microscale simulation of traffic emissions [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, G.; Fabbi, S.; Veratti, G.; Asaro, S.; Bigi, A.; Teggi, S.
abstract

2019 - Forecast of the impact by local emissions at an urban micro scale by the combination of Lagrangian modelling and low cost sensing technology: The TRAFAIR project [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Bigi, A.; Veratti, G.; Fabbi, S.; Po, L.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

2019 - Impact assessment of vehicular exhaust emissions by microscale simulation using automatic traffic flow measurements [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Veratti, Giorgio; Despini, Francesca; Teggi, Sergio; Barbieri, Carla; Torreggiani, Luca
abstract

In order to assess the impact of traffic on local air quality a microscale simulation of pollutant concentration fields was produced for two busy intersections, in Reggio Emilia and in Modena, Italy. The simulation was performed by the model suite Micro-Swift-Spray, a Lagrangian particle dispersion model accounting for buildings. Direct measurements of traffic flow were continuously collected in Reggio Emilia over the period January 13–24, 2014 by a two channel radar traffic counter and in Modena from October 28 to November 8, 2016 by four single channel radar traffic counters and used for the hourly modulation of vehicular emissions. Combining radar counts with vehicular fleet composition for each municipality, specific emission factors were obtained. For both cities, simulated concentration fields were compared to local air quality measurements at the nearest urban traffic and urban background sites. The simulated NOx showed large correlation with the observations, notwithstanding some underestimation. The results proved the reliability of the procedure and provided a fair estimate of the NO2 mass fraction of total NOx (primary NO2) due to vehicular emissions in the investigated traffic sites.

2019 - Impact of vehicular emissions in an urban area of the Po valley by microscale simulation with the GRAL dispersion model [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Fabbi, S.; Asaro, S.; Bigi, A.; Teggi, S.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

This work sets out the test of the GRAL model (Graz Lagrangian Model, vs.18.1) in the urban area of Modena (Po valley, Northern Italy). The simulation domain sizes 2 000 x 3 000 m2 and it features 'microscale' cells of 4 x 4 m2. The simulation focuses on an intersection featured by large traffic flows next to a school and a regulatory air quality monitoring station classified as an urban traffic site. The model is a lagrangian particle dispersion model and it takes into account the presence of buildings as obstacles and generating microscale wind fields accordingly, making this class of model suitable for investigating spatial pattern of atmospheric pollution in urban areas where local accumulation might occur. The simulation investigates traffic emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the period October 29 to November 10, 2016, when direct measurements of traffic flow were collected by four one-channel doppler radar traffic counters. These counters provided continuous estimate of vehicle length, speed and number. These latter data were combined with available traffic flows at rush hour by PTV VISUM mobility software and the fleet composition of the municipality to estimate the total NOx emissions by vehicular traffic over the roads included in the simulation domain. NOx simulated concentrations showed a moderate correlation with the NOx observations at the nearby monitoring site. To have a better insight on the potential and the limitations of the GRAL model, its results will be compared with the output of the lagrangian particle dispersion model PMSS over the same area.

2019 - SENSORI A BASSO COSTO PER IL CONTROLLO DIFFUSO DELLA QUALITÀ DELL’ARIA URBANA [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

ABSTRACT L'inquinamento atmosferico colpisce tutti, ed è la seconda principale causa di morte per malattie non trasmissibili dopo il fumo di tabacco. Secondo l’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS), si sono verificati oltre 550˙000 decessi in Europa nel 2016 attribuibili agli effetti congiunti dell'inquinamento atmosferico indoor e outdoor e stime recenti (Lelieveld et at., 2019), ancora più allarmanti, rendono l'inquinamento atmosferico la prima causa ambientale di morte prematura in Europa. Oltre l'80% delle persone che vivono in aree urbane ove sia monitorato l'inquinamento atmosferico sono esposte a livelli di contaminanti che superano i limiti delle linee guida dell'OMS per la qualità dell’aria, con esposizioni più alte nei paesi a basso e medio reddito. In Europa, tra le principali fonti di inquinamento atmosferico si trovano il traffico stradale, il riscaldamento domestico e la combustione industriale. Gli impatti ambientali del traffico veicolare sono assai rilevanti in molte aree metropolitane europee. Le direttive sulla qualità dell’aria ambiente (2004/107/CE; 2008/50 /CE) stabiliscono l'obbligo di sviluppare e attuare piani di qualità dell'aria e conseguenti misure per zone e agglomerati ove le concentrazioni di inquinanti superino gli standard dell'Unione Europea (UE). Piani e misure sono stati quindi implementati dagli stati membri, e costituiscono l’elemento centrale della gestione della qualità dell'aria. Nel 2013 la Commissione Europea ha pubblicato il pacchetto "Aria pulita" (Clean Air Policy) che mira sostanzialmente a ridurre l'inquinamento atmosferico in tutta l'UE, stabilisce obiettivi per diminuire gli impatti sulla salute e sull'ambiente entro il 2030 e contiene proposte legislative volte ad attuare norme più severe in materia di emissioni e di inquinamento atmosferico. Nel febbraio 2017, la Commissione Europea ha allertato cinque paesi, tra cui Spagna e Italia, per i ripetuti superamenti dei limiti di inquinamento atmosferico da biossido di azoto (NO2), ed ha esortato tali stati ad attivarsi per garantire una buona qualità dell'aria e salvaguardare la salute pubblica. Il maggiore contributo alle emissioni totali di biossido di azoto nell'UE viene dal settore dei trasporti su strada, mentre la combustione di carburanti nell’ambito di attività commerciali, istituzionali e domestiche contribuisce principalmente alle emissioni di particolato primario, soprattutto in alcune nazioni dell’Est Europa.La maggior parte delle misure attivate dagli Stati membri in ottemperanza alle direttive sulla qualità dell'aria ambiente negli ultimi 3 anni mira a ridurre concentrazioni e numero di superamenti dei valori limite di PM10 e NO2 (EEA, 2018). Per diminuire l’impatto del traffico veicolare si adottano agevolazioni per passare ad altre modalità di trasporto, si interviene su pianificazione urbanistica ed infrastrutture per il trasporto sostenibile, su miglioramenti al trasporto pubblico, sugli appalti pubblici. Seguono misure relative a combustione commerciale e residenziale, all'industria per il PM10, e alla combustione industriale, commerciale e residenziale per NO2, prevedendo principalmente il passaggio a carburanti a basse emissioni, l’introduzione di apparecchiature per il controllo delle emissioni e l’aggiornamento delle tecnologie. Sono infine importanti anche le modalità di comunicazione: l'amministrazione locale è il principale responsabile della pianificazione ed attuazione delle misure e della notificazione delle azioni che i singoli possono adottare per ridurre l'inquinamento atmosferico (EEA, 2018). La valutazione della qualità dell'aria a termini di legge (D.Lgs. 155 del 13/08/2010, attuazione 2008/50/CE) viene svolta dagli enti territoriali preposti (Agenzie ARPA) con reti di stazioni di misura in siti fissi, ove il monitoraggio segue un rigoroso protocollo Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA /QC) per garantire incertezze d

2018 - A GIS-based atmospheric dispersion model for pollutants emitted by complex source areas [Articolo su rivista]
Teggi, Sergio; Costanzini, Sofia; Ghermandi, Grazia; Malagoli, Carlotta; Vinceti, Marco
abstract

Gaussian dispersion models are widely used to simulate the concentrations and deposition fluxes of pollutants emitted by source areas. Very often, the calculation time limits the number of sources and receptors and the geometry of the sources must be simple and without holes. This paper presents CAREA, a new GIS-based Gaussian model for complex source areas. CAREA was coded in the Python language, and is largely based on a simplified formulation of the very popular and recognized AERMOD model. The model allows users to define in a GIS environment thousands of gridded or scattered receptors and thousands of complex sources with hundreds of vertices and holes. CAREA computes ground level, or near ground level, concentrations and dry deposition fluxes of pollutants. The input/output and the runs of the model can be completely managed in GIS environment (e.g. inside a GIS project). The paper presents the CAREA formulation and its applications to very complex test cases. The tests shows that the processing time are satisfactory and that the definition of sources and receptors and the output retrieval are quite easy in a GIS environment. CAREA and AERMOD are compared using simple and reproducible test cases. The comparison shows that CAREA satisfactorily reproduces AERMOD simulations and is considerably faster than AERMOD.

2018 - Adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with changing patterns of exposure to the emissions of a municipal waste incinerator [Articolo su rivista]
Vinceti, Marco; Malagoli, Carlotta; Werler, Martha M.; Filippini, Tommaso; De Girolamo, Gianfranco; Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Astolfi, Gianni; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

Municipal solid waste incinerators emissions contain pollutants that, despite their low concentration, might adversely affect reproductive health. In the present study, we examined rates of miscarriage and birth defects among women who resided or were employed in the vicinity of a municipal solid waste incinerator plant from 2003-2013. In 2009, a progressive shutdown of the old incineration lines and operation of a new line caused considerably higher atmospheric release of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, particularly of dioxins, due to these irregular operating conditions, technological renovation, and increased capacity. We used dioxin emission levels, based on a dispersion model, as a marker of air pollution due to waste incineration. In women who resided in areas characterized by higher emission exposures compared with a referent area, the relative risk (RR) of miscarriage was 1.04 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.80-1.32) based on 62 cases overall, with little evidence of a dose-response relation. RRs were similarly null for both 2003-2008 and 2010-2013 periods (RR 1.12 (95% CI 0.80-1.53) and 0.98 (95% CI 0.63-1.48), respectively). Concerning birth defects in the offspring of women residing in the exposed area, no evidence of increased risk emerged, since the prevalence ratio at birth was 0.64 (95% CI 0.29-1.26), with comparable results in the 2003-2008 and 2010-2013 period. Corresponding analyses carried out in municipal residents who worked in the exposed area confirmed these findings. We also did not detect abnormally high rates of miscarriage and birth defects in the exposed cohorts in the single year 2009. Overall, these results do not suggest an effect of exposure to the emissions of the municipal solid waste incinerator we investigated on two indicators of reproductive health. However, the limited statistical stability of the estimates and the absence of individual-based information on some potential confounders suggest caution in the interpretation of study findings.

2018 - Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling and Spatial Analysis to Evaluate Population Exposure to Pesticides from Farming Processes [Articolo su rivista]
Costanzini, Sofia; Teggi, Sergio; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia; Filippini, Tommaso; Malagoli, Carlotta; Nannini, Roberta; Vinceti, Marco
abstract

This work originates from an epidemiological study aimed to assess the correlation between population exposure to pesticides used in agriculture and adverse health effects. In support of the population exposure evaluation two models implemented by the authors were applied: a GIS-based proximity model and the CAREA atmospheric dispersion model. In this work, the results of the two models are presented and compared. Despite the proximity analysis is widely used for these kinds of studies, it was investigated how meteorology could affect the exposure assessment. Both models were applied to pesticides emitted by 1519 agricultural fields and considering 2584 receptors distributed over an area of 8430 km2. CAREA output shows a considerable enhancement in the percentage of exposed receptors, from the 4% of the proximity model to the 54% of the CAREA model. Moreover, the spatial analysis of the results on a specific test site showed that the effects of meteorology considered by CAREA led to an anisotropic exposure distribution that differs considerably from the symmetric distribution resulting by the proximity model. In addition, the results of a field campaign for the definition and planning of ground measurement of concentration for the validation of CAREA are presented. The preliminary results showed how, during treatments, pesticide concentrations distant from the fields are significantly higher than background values.

2018 - Investigating the environmental risk factors for childhood leukaemia: the research activity at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Northern Italy. [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Vinceti, M; Malagoli, C; Filippini, T; Violi, F; Cilloni, S; Malavolti, M; Borsari, L; Storani, S; Arcolin, E; Palazzi, G; Teggi, S; Fabbi, S; Costanzini, Sofia; Ghermandi, G; Bagni, Enrico
abstract

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2018 - Performance of NO, NO<sub>2</sub> low cost sensors and three calibration approaches within a real world application [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Mueller, Michael; Grange, Stuart K.; Ghermandi, Grazia; Hueglin, Christoph
abstract

Low cost sensors for measuring atmospheric pollutants are experiencing an increase in popularity worldwide among practitioners, academia and environmental agencies, and a large amount of data by these devices is being delivered to the public notwithstanding their behaviour, performance and reliability are not yet fully investigated and understood. In the present study we investigate the medium term performance of a set of NO and NO2 electrochemical sensors in Switzerland using 3 different regression algorithms within a field calibration approach. In order to mimic a realistic application of these devices, the sensors were initially co-located at a rural regulatory monitoring site for a 4–month calibration period, and subsequently deployed for 4 months at two distant regulatory urban sites in traffic and urban background conditions, where the performance of the calibration algorithms was explored. The applied algorithms were Multivariate Linear Regression, Support Vector Regression and Random Forest; these were tested, along with the sensors, in terms of generalisability, selectivity, drift, uncertainty, bias, precision and suitability for spatial mapping intra-urban pollution gradients with hourly resolution. Results from the deployment at the urban sites show a better performance of the non-linear algorithms (Support Vector Regression and Random Forest) achieving RMSE < 5 ppb, R2 between 0.74–0.95 and MAE between 2–4 ppb. The combined use of both NO and NO2 sensor output in the estimate of each pollutant showed some contribution by NO sensor to NO2 estimate and vice-versa. All algorithms exhibited a drift ranging between 5–10 ppb for Random Forest and 15 ppb for Multivariate Linear regression at the end of the deployment. The lowest concentration correctly estimated, with a 25 % relative expanded uncertainty, resulted in ca. 15–20 ppb and it was provided by the non-linear algorithms. As an assessment for the suitability of the tested sensors for a targeted application, the probability of resolving hourly concentration difference in cities was investigated. It was found that NO concentration differences of 5–10 ppb (8–10 for NO2) can reliably be detected (90 % confidence), depending on the air pollution level. The findings of this study, although derived from a specific sensor type and sensor model, base on a flexible methodology and have a large potential to explore the performance of other low cost sensors, different in target pollutant and sensing technology.

2018 - Performance of NO, NO2 low cost sensors and three calibration approaches within a real world application [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Mueller, Michael; Grange, Stuart K.; Ghermandi, Grazia; Hueglin, Christoph
abstract

Low cost sensors for measuring atmospheric pollutants are experiencing an increase in popularity worldwide among practitioners, academia and environmental agencies, and a large amount of data by these devices are being delivered to the public. Notwithstanding their behaviour, performance and reliability are not yet fully investigated and understood. In the present study we investigate the medium term performance of a set of NO and NO2 electrochemical sensors in Switzerland using three different regression algorithms within a field calibration approach. In order to mimic a realistic application of these devices, the sensors were initially co-located at a rural regulatory monitoring site for a 4-month calibration period, and subsequently deployed for 4 months at two distant regulatory urban sites in traffic and urban background conditions, where the performance of the calibration algorithms was explored. The applied algorithms were Multivariate Linear Regression, Support Vector Regression and Random Forest; these were tested, along with the sensors, in terms of generalisability, selectivity, drift, uncertainty, bias, noise and suitability for spatial mapping intra-urban pollution gradients with hourly resolution. Results from the deployment at the urban sites show a better performance of the non-linear algorithms (Support Vector Regression and Random Forest) achieving RMSE < ĝ€5ĝ€ppb, <i>R</i>2 between 0.74 and 0.95 and MAE between 2 and 4ĝ€ppb. The combined use of both NO and NO2 sensor output in the estimate of each pollutant showed some contribution by NO sensor to NO2 estimate and vice-versa. All algorithms exhibited a drift ranging between 5 and 10ĝ€ppb for Random Forest and 15ĝ€ppb for Multivariate Linear Regression at the end of the deployment. The lowest concentration correctly estimated, with a 25ĝ€% relative expanded uncertainty, resulted in ca. 15–20ĝ€ppb and was provided by the non-linear algorithms. As an assessment for the suitability of the tested sensors for a targeted application, the probability of resolving hourly concentration difference in cities was investigated. It was found that NO concentration differences of 5–10ĝ€ppb (8–10 for NO2) can reliably be detected (90ĝ€% confidence), depending on the air pollution level. The findings of this study, although derived from a specific sensor type and sensor model, are based on a flexible methodology and have extensive potential for exploring the performance of other low cost sensors, that are different in their target pollutant and sensing technology.

2017 - Air dispersion modelling for the evaluation of population exposure to pollutants emitted by complex areal sources. [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Costanzini, Sofia; Teggi, Sergio; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia; Filippini, Tommaso; Malagoli, Carlotta; Vinceti, Marco; Nannini, R.
abstract

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2017 - Hourly composition of gas and particle phase pollutants at a central urban background site in Milan, Italy [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Bianchi, F.; De Gennaro, G.; Di Gilio, A.; Fermo, P.; Ghermandi, Grazia; Prévôt, A. S. H.; Urbani, M.; Valli, G.; Vecchi, R.; Piazzalunga, A.
abstract

A comprehensive range of gas and particle phase pollutants were sampled at 1-hour time resolution in urban background Milan during summer 2012. Measurements include several soluble inorganic aerosols (Cl−,NO2−,NO3−,SO42−,Ca2+,K+,Mg2+,Na+,NH4+) and gases (HCl, HNO2,HNO3, NH3, NO, NO2,O3, SO2), organic, elemental and black carbon and meteorological parameters. Analysis methods used include mean diurnal pattern on weekdays and Sundays, pollution roses, bivariate polar plots and statistical models using backtrajectories. Results show how nitrous acid (HONO) was mainly formed heterogeneously at nighttime, with a dependence of its formation rate on NO2 consistent with observations during the last HONO campaign in Milan in summer 1998, although since 1998 a drop in HONO levels occurred following to the decrease of its precursors. Nitrate showed two main formation mechanisms: one occurring through N2O5 at nighttime and leading to nitrate formation onto existing particles; another occurring both daytime and nighttime following the homogeneous reaction of ammonia gas with nitric acid gas. Air masses reaching Milan influenced nitrate formation depending on their content in ammonia and the timing of arrival. Notwithstanding the low level of SO2 in Milan, its peaks were associated to point source emissions in the Po valley or shipping and power plant emissions SW of Milan, beyond the Apennines. A distinctive pattern for HCl was observed, featured by an afternoon peak and a morning minimum, and best correlated to atmospheric temperature, although it was not possible to identify any specific source. The ratio of primary-dominated organic carbon and elemental carbon on hourly PM2.5 resulted 1.7. Black carbon was highly correlated to elemental carbon and the average mass absorption coefficient resulted MAC = 13.8 ± 0.2 m2 g−1. It is noteworthy how air quality for a large metropolitan area, in a confined valley and under enduring atmospheric stability, is nonetheless influenced by sources within and outside the valley.

2017 - Impact assessment of pollutant emissions in the atmosphere from a power plant over a complex terrain [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, G.; Fabbi, S.; Arvani, B.; Veratti, G.; Bigi, A.; Teggi, S.
abstract

2017 - Impact Assessment of Pollutant Emissions in the Atmosphere from a Power Plant over a Complex Terrain and under Unsteady Winds [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Arvani, Barbara; Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

The development of a natural gas-fired tri-generation power plant (520 MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbines + 58 MW Tri-generation) in the Republic of San Marino, a small independent country in Northern Italy, is under assessment. This work investigates the impact of atmospheric emissions of NO x by the plant, under the Italian and European regulatory framework. The impact assessment was performed by the means of the Aria Industry package, including the 3D Lagrangian stochastic particle dispersion model SPRAY, the diagnostic meteorological model SWIFT, and the turbulence model SURFPRO (Aria Technologies, France, and Arianet, Italy). The Republic of San Marino is almost completely mountainous, 10 km west of the Adriatic Sea and affected by land-sea breeze circulation. SPRAY is suitable for simulations under non-homogenous and non-stationary conditions, over a complex topography. The emission scenario included both a worst-case meteorological condition and three 10-day periods representative of typical atmospheric conditions for 2014. The simulated NO x concentrations were compared with the regulatory air quality limits. Notwithstanding the high emission rate, the simulation showed a spatially confined environmental impact, with only a single NO x peak at ground where the plume hits the hillside of the Mount Titano (749 m a.s.l.), 5 km west of the future power plant.

2017 - Magnetic fields exposure from high-voltage power lines and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in two Italian populations [Articolo su rivista]
Vinceti, Marco; Malagoli, Carlotta; Fabbi, Sara; Kheifets, Leeka; Violi, Federica; Poli, Maurizio; Caldara, Salvatore; Sesti, Daniela; Violanti, Silvia; Zanichelli, Paolo; Notari, Barbara; Fava, Roberto; Arena, Alessia; Calzolari, Roberta; Filippini, Tommaso; Iacuzio, Laura; Arcolin, Elisa; Mandrioli, Jessica; Fini, Nicola; Odone, Anna; Signorelli, Carlo; Patti, Francesco; Zappia, Mario; Pietrini, Vladimiro; Oleari, Paola; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Dimartino, Angela; Ledda, Caterina; Mauceri, Cristina; Sciacca, Salvatore; Fiore, Maria; Ferrante, Margherita
abstract

The aetiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a rare and extremely severe neurodegenerative disease, has been associated with magnetic fields exposure. However, evidence for such a relation in the general population is weak, although the previous null results might also be due to exposure misclassification, or a relationship might exist only for selected subgroups. To test such a hypothesis we carried out a population-based case-control study in two Northern and Southern Italy regions, including 703 ALS cases newly diagnosed from 1998 to 2011 and 2737 controls randomly selected from the residents in the study provinces. Overall, we found that a residence near high-voltage power lines, within the corridors yielding a magnetic fields of 0.1 lT, was not associated with an excess disease risk, nor did we identify a dose-response relationship after splitting the exposed corridor according to the 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4 lT cut-points of exposure. These results were confirmed taking into account age at onset, period of diagnosis, sex, geographical area, and length of exposure. Overall, despite the residual possibility of unmeasured confounding or small susceptible subgroups not identified in our study, these results appear to confirm that the exposure to magnetic fields from power lines occurring in the general population is not associated with increased ALS risk.

2017 - µ-MO assessing the contribution of NOXtraffic emission to atmospheric pollution in modena by microscale dispersion modelling [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Veratti, Giorgio; Fabbi, Sara; Tinarelli, Gianni; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio; Brusasca, Giuseppe; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Based on the air pollutant emission inventory data (INEMAR – Arpa Emilia-Romagna 2010) road traffic in Modena, a city in the central Po valley (Northern Italy), contributes up to the 60% of the total emission in terms of NOx, followed by Domestic Heating (15%) and Industrial Combustion (14%). Goal of the -MO project is to assess the road traffic impact on air quality in the urban area of Modena by a combined experimental and modelling approach. Dispersion of vehicular NOxwas simulated by Parallel Micro Swift Spray (PMSS, Arianet srl, Italy and Aria Technologies, France) over a domain of 6 km x 6 km, including most of the urban areas of Modena, with a horizontal resolution of 4 m. The atmospheric emission sources were estimated by merging local fleet composition data, traffic flux at rush hours simulated by PTV VISUM mobility software and direct measurements collected by radar traffic counters, provided by the Municipality of Modena. The modelling system, implemented on a 16 cores cluster (64 GB of total memory), includes PSWIFT, a parallelized mass-consistent diagnostic wind field model, and PSPRAY, a three-dimensional parallel lagrangian particle dispersion model, both able to take into account obstacles (buildings). A run of the system on an entire day has been performed and is presented. In the next step of the work, NOxatmospheric concentration measurements will be provided by the two urban air quality monitoring sites and by a set of 10 monitoring boxes distributed over the domain and featured by small sensors for NO, NO2and particulates. Among the final goals of the -MO project there is the tentative source-apportionment of urban atmospheric NOxbetween traffic emissions, domestic heating and regional background, to support epidemiological studies and finally future urban development strategies.

2017 - Pesticide exposure assessed through agricultural crop proximity and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [Articolo su rivista]
Vinceti, Marco; Filippini, Tommaso; Violi, Federica; Rothman, Kenneth J.; Costanzini, Sofia; Malagoli, Carlotta; Wise, Lauren A.; Odone, Anna; Signorelli, Carlo; Iacuzio, Laura; Arcolin, Elisa; Mandrioli, Jessica; Fini, Nicola; Patti, Francesco; Fermo, Salvatore Lo; Pietrini, Vladimiro; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Scillieri, Renato; Ledda, Caterina; Mauceri, Cristina; Sciacca, Salvatore; Fiore, Maria; Ferrante, Margherita
abstract

Background: Epidemiologic studies have raised the possibility that some pesticide compounds induce the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), though the available evidence is not entirely consistent. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study in two Italian populations to assess the extent to which residence in the vicinity of agricultural crops associated with the application of neurotoxic pesticides is a risk factor for ALS, using crop acreage in proximity to the residence as an index of exposure. Results: Based on 703 cases and 2737 controls, we computed an ALS odds ratio of 0.92 (95% confidence interval 0.78-1.09) for those in proximity to agricultural land. Results were not substantially different when using alternative exposure categories or when analyzing specific crop types, with the exception of a higher risk related to exposure to citrus orchards and olive groves in Southern Italy, though based on few exposed subjects (N = 89 and 8, respectively). There was little evidence of any dose-response relation between crop proximity and ALS risk, and using long-term residence instead of current residence did not substantially change our estimates. Conclusions: Though our index of exposure is indirect and subject to considerable misclassification, our results offer little support for the hypothesis that neurotoxic pesticide exposure increases ALS risk.

2017 - Vehicular exhaust impact simulated at microscale from traffic flow automatic surveys and emission factor evaluation [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Baranzoni, Giulia; Veratti, Giorgio; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio; Barbieri, Carla; Torreggiani, Luca
abstract

Vehicular emissions are a large NOx and CO source in Italian urban areas. In order to assess the impact of heavy traffic roads on local air quality a micro-scale simulation of pollutant concentration fields was produced. The investigated areas are in downtown of Reggio Emilia and Modena, two cities in central Po valley, Italy, and focused on high traffic intersections. An urban traffic station of the regional air quality monitoring network is present in both investigated areas, where traffic is expected to be the main local source of atmospheric pollutants. The simulation has been performed by the micro-scale model suite Micro-Swift-Spray (Aria Technologies, France and ARIANET, Italy) a Lagrangian particle dispersion model directly derived from the SPRAY code, able to account for buildings and obstacles. Simulated pollutants are NOx and CO, as main tracers of combustion emissions. Direct measurements of traffic flow have been continuously collected for 12 day survey periods (in Reggio Emilia from January 13 to 24, 2014 by a two channel doppler radar traffic counter and in Modena from October 28 to November 8, 2016 by four one channel doppler radar traffic counters) and used for the hourly modulation of vehicular emissions. Specific emission factors were obtained by the combination of radar counts with vehicular fleet composition for each municipality: these depend on vehicle type, fuel type, speed and EURO category and were calculated according to the EMEP/EEA guidelines for air pollutant emission inventory. Simulated concentration fields were evaluated over the period with direct traffic counts for the two studied areas: for both areas the results were compared to local air quality measurements collected at the traffic urban monitoring stations and also at the respective urban background stations. The simulated NOx hourly concentrations show a very large agreement with the observations, even if they result underestimated compared to the observed atmospheric concentrations at the traffic site. Simulated and observed concentrations show a fair agreement for CO. The results outline the representativeness of air quality stations in characterizing the sites for pollution level and for dominant pollutant sources.

2016 - Correlation between remote sensing data and ground based measurements for solar reflectance retrieving [Articolo su rivista]
Despini, Francesca; Ferrari, Chiara; Bigi, Alessandro; Libbra, Antonio; Teggi, Sergio; Muscio, Alberto; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Surface and atmospheric modifications due to urbanization generally lead to the urban heat island effect (UHI). This phenomenon is an issue of growing interest and has long been studied by ground based observation. With the advent of remote sensing technologies, observation of UHIs became possible with airborne and spaceborne sensors. Remote sensing data allow urban surfaces characterization to study UHI mitigation methodologies such as the application of cool roofs and cool colors. In this study remote sensing data have been used first to identify urban surfaces and then to retrieve the solar reflectance value of these surfaces. The first area of interest is the city of Modena in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy). On this area orthorectified images by an airborne sensor are used. Available images do not allow to directly obtain the solar reflectance value. Therefore it has been investigated a correlation between satellite remote sensing data and ground based measurements. The solar reflectance was obtained for all urban surfaces of interest such as roofs and pavements. In this way it was possible to assess the real situation and to hypothesize achievable improvements in the solar reflectance of several urban surfaces aimed at improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency of buildings.

2016 - Dati satellitari MODIS per il monitoraggio del particolato atmosferico in Pianura Padana [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Arvani, Barbara; Pierce, R. Bradley; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Il particolato atmosferico, a causa degli effetti negativi indotti alla saluta umana, è fra gli inquinanti maggiormente osservati e controllati. Le Agenzie italiane preposte al monitoraggio della qualità dell’aria si avvalgono di reti di stazioni di misura a terra sempre più fitte, ciò nonostante, su aree molto estese e molto antropizzate la completezza della copertura spaziale rimane un serio problema. In questa presentazione sono mostrati alcuni risultati di una sperimentazione volta all’uso dello spessore ottico atmosferico degli aerosol telerilevato dal sensore MODIS in supporto al monitoraggio e alla modellazione del trasporto del PM10 sulla Pianura Padana.

2016 - Dispersione atmosferica a microscala di emissioni veicolari da flussi di traffico rilevati automaticamente e confronto con misure di qualità dell’aria [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio; Torreggiani, Luca
abstract

La stima del contributo del traffico veicolare all’inquinamento atmosferico urbano è una informazione fondamentale per la popolazione e le amministrazioni. A questo scopo è stata condotta una simulazione microscala della dispersione delle emissioni da traffico veicolare presso un incrocio trafficato lungo la circolare interna a Reggio Emilia, una città di medie dimensioni nella parte centrale della pianura Padana (Italia settentrionale). L’area studiata include una stazione della rete regionale di monitoraggio della qualità dell’aria: la stazione è classificata come sito urbano di traffico, ovvero ci si attende che la stazione sia principalmente influenzata dalle emissioni da traffico veicolare. I modelli di simulazione a microscala sono maggiormente adatti alla modellizzazione della dispersione in aree urbane, dove la concentrazione in gran parte dipende anche dalla stagnazione di aria dovuta ad edifici ed ostacoli. Micro-Swift-Spray (Aria Technologies, Francia), un modello di dispersione lagrangiano a particelle derivato direttamente dal modello Spray a scala locale, è stato utilizzato per simulare al dispersione delle emissioni da traffico veicolare (in particolare NOx e CO), tenendo conto anche della volumetria degli edifici e degli ostacoli. Un radar conta traffico installato localmente ha fornito velocità e lunghezza dei veicoli in continuo per un periodo di 12 giorni (13 – 24 gennaio 2014). Questi dati, assieme ai dettagli della composizione della flotta, sono stati usati per calcolare fattori di emissioni su misura in base alla tipologia, alimentazione, velocità e classe EURO di emissione. Sono stati prodotti dei campi 3D di concentrazione e i risultati sono stati confrontati con le misure locali di qualità dell’aria: la correlazione tra le concentrazioni orarie di NO x simulate ed osservate è risultata estremamente soddisfacente (r = 0.86). Il confronto con le misure di qualità dell’aria in condizioni di fondo urbano ha permesso di stimare meglio la performance del modello e la quantità di NO x primario e secondario al sito di studio.

2016 - Microscale simulation of road traffic emissions from vehicular flow automatic surveys and comparison with measured concentration data [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, G.; Fabbi, S.; Bigi, A.; Teggi, S.; Torreggiani, L.
abstract

2016 - Seasonal monitoring and estimation of regional aerosol distribution over Po valley, northern Italy, using a high-resolution MAIAC product [Articolo su rivista]
Arvani, Barbara; Pierce, R. Bradley; Lyapustin, Alexei I.; Wang, Yujie; Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

In this work, the new 1 km-resolved Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm is employed to characterize seasonal PM10 - AOD correlations over northern Italy. The accuracy of the new dataset is assessed compared to the widely used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 5.1 Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data, retrieved at 0.55 μm with spatial resolution of 10 km (MYD04_L2). We focused on evaluating the ability of these two products to characterize both temporal and spatial distributions of aerosols within urban and suburban areas. Ground PM10 measurements were obtained from 73 of the Italian Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) monitoring stations, spread across northern Italy, during a three-year period from 2010 to 2012. The Po Valley area (northern Italy) was chosen as the study domain because of its severe urban air pollution, resulting from it having the highest population and industrial manufacturing density in the country, being located in a valley where two surrounding mountain chains favor the stagnation of pollutants. We found that the global correlations between the bin-averaged PM10 and AOD are R2 = 0.83 and R2 = 0.44 for MYD04_L2 and for MAIAC, respectively, suggesting a greater sensitivity of the high-resolution product to small-scale deviations. However, the introduction of Relative Humidity (RH) and Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) depth corrections allowed for a significant improvement to the bin-averaged PM - AOD correlation, which led to a similar performance: R2 = 0.96 for MODIS and R2 = 0.95 for MAIAC. Furthermore, the introduction of the PBL information in the corrected AOD values was found to be crucial in order to capture the clear seasonal cycle shown by measured PM10 values. The study allowed us to define four seasonal linear correlations that estimate PM10 concentrations satisfactorily from the remotely sensed MAIAC AOD retrieval. Overall, the results show that the high resolution provided by MAIAC retrieval data is much more relevant than the 10 km MODIS data to characterize PM10 in this region of Italy which has a pretty limited geographical domain but a broad variety of land usages and consequent particulate concentrations.

2016 - Trends and variability of atmospheric PM2.5 and PM10-2.5 concentration in the Po Valley, Italy [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The Po Valley is one of the largest European regions with a remarkably high concentration level of atmospheric pollutants, both for particulate and gaseous compounds. In the last decade stringent regulations on air quality standards and on anthropogenic emissions have been set by the European Commission, including also for PM2.5 and its main components since 2008. These regulations have led to an overall improvement in air quality across Europe, including the Po Valley and specifically PM10, as shown in a previous study by Bigi and Ghermandi (2014). In order to assess the trend and variability in PM2.5 in the Po Valley and its role in the decrease in PM10, we analysed daily gravimetric equivalent concentration of PM2.5 and of PM10-2.5 at 44 and 15 sites respectively across the Po Valley. The duration of the times series investigated in this work ranges from 7 to 10 years. For both PM sizes, the trend in deseasonalized monthly means, annual quantiles and in monthly frequency distribution was estimated: this showed a significant decreasing trend at several sites for both size fractions and mostly occurring in winter. All series were tested for a significant weekly periodicity (a proxy to estimate the impact of primary anthropogenic emissions), yielding positive results for summer PM2.5 and for summer and winter PM10-2.5. Hierarchical cluster analysis showed moderate variability in PM2.5 across the valley, with two to three main clusters, dividing the area in western, eastern and southern/Apennines foothill sectors. The trend in atmospheric concentration was compared with the time series of local emissions, vehicular fleet details and fuel sales, suggesting that the decrease in PM2.5 and in PM10 originates from a drop both in primary and in precursors of secondary inorganic aerosol emissions, largely ascribed to vehicular traffic. Potentially, the increase in biomass burning emissions in winter and the modest decrease in NH3 weaken an otherwise even larger drop in atmospheric concentrations.

2015 - High spatial resolution aerosol retrievals used for daily particulate matter monitoring over Po valley, northern Italy [Articolo su rivista]
Arvani, Barbara; Pierce, R. B.; Lyapustin, A. I.; Wang, Y.; Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Collection 5.1 Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data retrieved at 0.55 μm with spatial resolution of 10 km (MYD04) and the new 1 km Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm from MODIS is investigated in this work. We focus on evaluating the ability of these two products to characterize the spatial distribution of aerosols within urban areas. This is done through the comparison with PM10 measurements from 126 of the Italian Regional Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) ground monitoring stations during 2012. The Po Valley area (northern Italy) was chosen as the study domain since urban air pollution is one of the most important concerns in this region. Population and industrial activities are located within a large number of urban areas within the valley. We find that the annual correlations between PM10 and AOD are R2 = 0.90 and R2 = 0.62 for MYD04 and for MAIAC respectively. When the depth of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) is used to normalize the AOD, we find a significant improvement in the PM–AOD correlation. The introduction of the PBL information is needed for AOD to capture the seasonal cycle of the observed PM10 over the Po valley and significantly improves the PM vs. AOD relationship, leading to a correlation of R2 = 0.98 for both retrievals when they are normalized by the PBL depth. The results show that the normalized MAIAC retrieval provides a higher resolution depiction of the AOD within the Po Valley and performs as well in a statistical sense as the normalized standard MODIS retrieval for the same days and locations.

2015 - Micro–scale simulation of atmospheric emissions from power–plant stacks in the Po Valley [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Zaccanti, MARCO MICHELE; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

The atmospheric dispersion of the NOX plume that will be emitted from a new power–plant, at present under installation, was simulated at micro–scale with Micro–Swift–Spray (MSS) Model. The plant will be constructed in a residential urban area in the town of Modena (Po Valley, Northern Italy), where low wind speeds and thermal inversions are quite frequent. Simulation results point out a different behavior of urban canopy in influencing the 3D dispersion patterns among urban obstacles, according to atmospheric mixing conditions: in case of moderate wind events, urban canyon phenomena may occur with a consequent increasing of NOX concentration gradients among buildings, while with low winds the near–field influence of the buildings emphasizes pollutant accumulation. The MSS simulated NOX concentrations result always much lower than the regulatory limits for air quality. The comparison of simulation results with measured concentration data for NOX shows the importance of micro–scale dispersion modeling to perform an accurate and reliable assessment of meteorological condition effects on pollutant distribution, and the ability of MSS in providing reliable simulations of atmospheric dispersion.

2014 - Air pollution assessment over Po valley (Italy) using satellite data and ground station measurements [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Arvani, Barbara; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Bigi, Alessandro; Pierce, R. Bradley
abstract

Due to their effect on human health, the study of atmospheric pollutants is an important concern in the Po valley – northern Italy – one of the main industrialized and populated areas of the country. Our work focuses on the applicability of satellite Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrievals in support of air quality monitoring and assessment in urban environments within the Po valley. This has been accomplished by using the implementation of the International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package (IMAPP) Air Quality Applications software, IDEA-I (Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications-International) over the Po valley study area. IDEA-I is a globally configurable software package that uses either Terra or Aqua MODerate resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) AOD product retrievals to identify local domains of high values of aerosol. For our specific analyses, IDEA-I has been used over the large European domain, centred over the Po Valley. One year (2012) of MODIS AOD product retrievals from MODIS on board NASA’s Terra (MOD04) or Aqua (MYD04) satellite has been considered using IDEA-I in a retrospective study. These retrieved data have been also compared with the Particulate Matter (PM 10 ) measurements from the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) ground-based network stations. The acceptable results obtained by the correlation PM 10 – AOD suggest the satellite AOD as a good substitute for monitoring air quality over the Po valley domain. Yet the 10 km resolution of MODIS – AOD product is considered too large for air quality studies at urban scale. Recently, a new Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm has been developed for MODIS which provides AOD data at 1 km of spatial resolution. We have evaluated ability of MODIS product MOD04 and MAIAC products to characterize the spatial distribution of aerosols in the urban area through comparison with surface PM 10 measurements. Using MAIAC data at 1 km, we have examined the relationship between PM 10 concentrations, AOD, and AOD normalized by Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) depths obtained from NOAA National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS), for the same period of analysis. Results show that the MAIAC retrieval provides a high resolution depiction of the AOD within the Po Valley and performs nearly as well in a statistical sense as the standard MODIS retrieval during the time period considered. Results also highlight that normalization by the analyzed PBL depth to obtain an estimate of the mean boundary layer extinction is needed to capture the seasonal cycle of the observed PM 10 over the Po Valley.

2014 - Atmospheric impact of power plant stack emissions using air pollutant dispersion model at micro-scale [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Zaccanti, MARCO MICHELE; Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

This study deals with a case of local air quality impact arising from a power plant (tri-generator and conventional boilers) designed to meet the energy demand of the General Hospital of Modena, central Po Valley, Northern Italy. Stack emissions are expected to fall over the densely populated urban area nearby the General Hospital, where main impacting sources currently are vehicular traffic and household heating system. Pollutant accumulation phenomena often occur in Modena, especially during winter season, even because calm wind events and strong atmospheric stability are very frequent and tend to prevent pollution removal. Hence high concentration levels for atmospheric pollutants, such as NO x , CO and PM10, are recurrently expected. The atmospheric impact of the power plant can be assessed using dispersion modeling, in order to simulate pollutant distribution, i.e. concentration fields, in the surrounding of the source. Since the plant is placed within the urban area the dispersion phenomena are not only driven by meteorology, but depend also on airflow perturbations by turbulence due to the urban canopy. In such complex conditions, the simulation of pollutant dispersion has been performed by a micro-scale dispersion model, which is able to take into account building shape and arrangement, as well as non-homogeneous and non-stationary conditions. Micro-scale simulations were carried out for power plant NO x emissions according to different daily meteorological scenarios; all simulations span over a period of 24 hours, and a hourly modulation of emission pattern and meteorological data is considered. Simulation results are presented through concentration maps and compared with hourly concentration data measured at the air quality monitoring sites by the Local Environmental Agency in Modena. Aim of the study is to compare the contribution of power plant emissions on air quality with the other NO x emission sources impacting on the receptors. Future analyses will focus on more detailed investigation of source contribution apportionment, by the simulation of both power plant and vehicular traffic emissions. All simulations were performed using ARIA INDUSTRY software package, developed by Arianet s.r.l.

2014 - Climatology of atmospheric PM10 concentration in the Po Valley [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The limits to atmospheric pollutant concentration set by the European Commission provide a challenging target for the municipalities in the Po Valley, because of the characteristic climatic conditions and high population density of this region. In order to assess climatology and trends in the concentration of atmospheric particles in the Po Valley, a dataset of PM10 data from 41 sites across the Po Valley have been analysed, including both traffic and background sites (either urban, suburban or rural). Of these 41 sites, 18 with 10 yr or longer record have been analysed for long term trend in de-seasonalized monthly means, in annual quantiles and in monthly frequency distribution. A widespread significant decreasing trend has been observed at most sites, up to few percent per year, by Generalised Least Square and Theil-Sen method. All 41 sites have been tested for significant weekly periodicity by Kruskal–Wallis test for mean anomalies and by Wilcoxon test for weekend effect magnitude. A significant weekly periodicity has been observed for most PM10 series, particularly in summer and ascribed mainly to anthropic particulate emissions. A cluster analysis has been applied in order to highlight stations sharing similar pollution conditions over the reference period. Five clusters have been found, two gathering the metropolitan areas of Torino and Milano and their respective nearby sites and the other three clusters gathering north-east, north-west and central Po Valley sites respectively. Finally the observed trends in atmospheric PM10 have been compared to trends in provincial emissions of particulates and PM precursors, and analysed along with data on vehicular fleet age, composition and fuel sales. Significant basin-wide drop in emissions occurred for gaseous pollutants, contrarily to emissions of PM10 and PM2.5, whose drop resulted low and restricted to few provinces. It is not clear whether the decrease for only gaseous emissions is sufficient to explain the observed drop in atmospheric PM10, or if the low drop in particulate emissions is indeed due to the uncertainty in the emission inventory data for this species.

2014 - Long-term trend and variability of atmospheric PM10 concentration in the Po Valley [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The limits to atmospheric pollutant concentration set by the European Commission provide a challenging target for the municipalities in the Po Valley, because of the characteristic climatic conditions and high population density of this region. In order to assess climatology and trends in the concentration of atmospheric particles in the Po Valley, a data set of PM10 data from 41 sites across the Po Valley have been analysed, including both traffic and background sites (either urban, suburban or rural). Of these 41 sites, 18 with 10 yr or longer record have been analysed for long-term trend in deseasonalized monthly means, in annual quantiles and in monthly frequency distribution. A widespread significant decreasing trend has been observed at most sites, up to a few percent per year, by a generalized least squares and Theil–Sen method. All 41 sites have been tested for significant weekly periodicity by Kruskal–Wallis test for mean anomalies and by Wilcoxon test for weekend effect magnitude. A significant weekly periodicity has been observed for most PM10 series, particularly in summer and ascribed mainly to anthropic particulate emissions. A cluster analysis has been applied in order to highlight stations sharing similar pollution conditions over the reference period. Five clusters have been found, two encompassing the metropolitan areas of Turin and Milan and their respective nearby sites and the other three clusters gathering northeast, northwest and central Po Valley sites respectively. Finally, the observed trends in atmospheric PM10 have been compared to trends in provincial emissions of particulates and PM precursors, and analysed along with data on vehicular fleet age, composition and fuel sales. A significant basin-wide drop in emissions occurred for gaseous pollutants, contrarily to emissions of PM10 and PM2.5, whose drop was low and restricted to a few provinces. It is not clear whether the decrease for only gaseous emissions is sufficient to explain the observed drop in atmospheric PM10, or if the low drop in particulate emissions is indeed due to the uncertainty in the emission inventory data for this species.

2014 - Pesticidi e rischio di sclerosi laterale amiotrofica: il contributo della metodologia gis in uno studio in Emilia-Romagna e in Sicilia. [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Filippini, Tommaso; Fiore, M; Mandrioli, Jessica; Odone, A; Malagoli, Carlotta; Iacuzio, Laura; Arcolin, Elisa; Violi, Federica; Mazzini, F; Rossi, R; Nannini, R; Guermandi, M; Staffilani, F; Marchi, N; Fabbi, Sara; Teggi, Sergio; Costanzini, Sofia; Ghermandi, Grazia; Pietrini, V; Fini, N; Ledda, C; Mauceri, C; Di Martino, A; Patti, F; Sentina, E; Signorelli, C; Ferrante, M; Vinceti, Marco
abstract

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2014 - PM2.5 in the Po valley: patterns, long term trends and their influence on air quality [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

Po Valley is one the largest European region with remarkably high concentration level of atmospheric pollutants, both for particulate and gaseous compounds. In the last decade stringent regulations on air quality standards and on anthropogenic emissions have been set by the European Commission, leading to the latest 2008/50/CE, which requires a monitoring plan also for PM2.5, used as an indicator of population exposure to atmospheric particulates. These regulations lead to an overall improvement on air quality across Europe, including PM10 in the Po valley (Bigi and Ghermandi, 2014). Due to the different nature of PM2.5 and its large fraction of secondary aerosols, patterns and trends of PM2.5 exhibit large difference to PM10 features, therefore the latest air quality regulations may represent a hard challenge for municipalities and environmental agencies. Daily gravimetric equivalent PM2.5 concentration at 44 sites over the Po valley (either in urban or rural background conditions) has been analysed. Long term trends on deseasonalized monthly means have been estimated by Generalised Least Squares. These results have been compared with trends on annual quantiles. Changes, over the sampling period, in frequency distribution of PM2.5 in each month have also been estimated. For each site, impact of primary anthropogenic particulate emissions has been qualitatively estimated by testing PM2.5 series for a significant weekly periodicity using three different metrics. The former compares the median among time series of PM2.5 anomalies of weekdays, the second consists in the weekend effect magnitude. The latter used frequency domain analysis in order to test whether estimated spectral density at 1/7 day-1 frequency is significantly higher than the spectral density of a red noise series. Finally a cluster analysis on the dataset has been performed, showing a geographical pattern for PM2.5 concentration across the valley. This study provides a reliable tool to asses the impact of the current and previous emission control policies across the Po valley.

2014 - Preliminary analysis of urban surfaces for the characterizaͳ tion and the mitigation of the heat island effect [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Despini, Francesca; Teggi, Sergio; Muscio, Alberto; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon is an issue of growing interest and the subject of numerous studies. UHI is defined as the metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas. UHI has significant impacts on the buildings energy consumption and outdoor air quality, therefore it is considered an important environmental topic. The most effective approaches to mitigate UHI include, among others, the albedo increase of materials used for manmade surfaces (e.g. pavements, roofs), the increment of vegetated areas (e.g. parks, flowerbed, gardens), the increment of water surfaces (e.g. ponds). The UHI mitigation results in a reduction of the energy consumption and in an improvement of outdoor air quality. A recent model study carried by Rossi et al. (CIRIAF, University of Perugia) correlated the increase of materials albedo with energy saving in terms of reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore surfaces characterization is an useful information for planning UHI mitigation actions. Albedo of different types of urban surfaces can be obtained from bibliographic data, from laboratory measurements or retrieved from spaceborne or airborne remote sensing data. This data reported surface reflectance for each band, from which albedo can be directly obtained. In this work, airborne remote sensing data have been used for UHI characterization and for the study of UHI mitigation. The area of interest is the city of Modena in the Emilia Romagna region (Italy). On this area four orthorectified images acquired in the electromagnetic regions of the visible and near-infrared by an airborne sensor with a spatial resolution of 2 meters are used. Using an object-oriented technique, the four images have been segmented and classified into categories representing different types of land cover significant for UHI: Cultivated Soils, Green Areas, Roads, Parking, Railways and Buildings. The "Buildings" class is further divided in pitched roofs made of tiles (typical buildings of the historical center of the city) and in flat roofs of industrial buildings with both bright and dark coverings. This information will be used in the model described above in order to study UHI mitigation. This study presents some preliminary results of the application of this methodology that will be developed in the upcoming years for the application to various sites of interest.

2014 - Remote sensing and GIS for the modeling of persistent organic pollutant in the marine environment [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Costanzini, Sofia; Teggi, Sergio; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The characterization of the marine environment plays an important role in the understanding of the dynamics affecting the transport, fate and persistence (TFP) of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). This work is part of a project funded by the Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca. The aim of the project is the assessment of the TFP of POPs in the Mediterranean sea. The analysis will be carried out at regionalmesoscale (central Mediterranean), and at local spatial scale considering different Italian test sites (the Delta of the Po River, the Venice Lagoon and the estuary of the Rio Nocella). The first step of this work involves the implementation of GIS geodatabases for the definition of the input dataset. The geodatabases were populated with MERIS and MODIS level 2 and level 3 products of Chlorophyll-a (CHL-a), Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM), Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC), Particulate Inorganic Carbon (PIC), Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) and Sea Surface Temperature (SST). The spatial scale (central Mediterranean sea) and the reference system (Plate Carrée projection) have been imposed as a constraint for the geodatabases. Four geodatabases have been implemented, two for MODIS and two for MERIS products with a monthly, seasonal and climatological temporal scale (2002 -2013). Here, we present a first application of a methodology aimed to identify vulnerable areas to POPs accumulation and persistence. The methodology allowed to assess the spatial distribution of the CHL-a in the central Mediterranean sea. The chlorophyll concentration is related to the amount of nutrients in the water and therefore provides an indicator of the potential presence of POPs. A pilot area of 300 x 200 km located in the North Adriatic sea has been initially considered. The seasonal and climatological MODIS and MERIS CHL-a variability were retrieved and compared with in-situ forcing parameters, i.e. Po River discharge rates and wind data. Study outlooks include a better accuracy of the distribution of the vulnerable areas achieved through the use of additional parameters (CDOM, SST, POC), and an assessment of the contribution of the contaminants by atmospheric dry deposition to the marine environment. © (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

2014 - Study of Saharan dust outbreak episode over the Po valley (northern Italy) using IDEA-international air quality forecast product [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Arvani, Barbara; Pierce, R. Bradley; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

Transport of Saharan (northern Africa) dust above the Mediterranean Sea and Europe is widely studied throughout the literature. A plume of African dust may result in an anomalous increase of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), often accompanied by increases in surface Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations over the entire Mediterranean basin, including the Po valley in northern Italy. Therefore, it is important for air quality assessment and forecasting to understand how Saharan dust contributes to the increase of the AOD, since AOD is strongly correlated with an increment of the daily legal limit of particulate matter PM10 (50 μg/m3), set by the European Union on 2008 (2008/50/CE). The present work studies an intense African dust outbreak episode which affected the Po valley in early May, 2013. The approach used in this work includes the use of the International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package (IMAPP) Air Quality Applications software, IDEA-I (Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications-International) in order to evaluate the impact of the plume of Sahara dust on the air quality measurements of surface PM10 concentrations over the Po valley domain. The satellite (MODIS Terra/Aqua) observations show the intense outbreak of dust from north of Africa over Italy. They also show significant cloud cover over northern Italy during the outbreak. Even though significant outbreak occurred between the end of April and May 2013, the ground based concentrations do not show significant increases, with values of PM10 remaining within the daily legal limit.

2014 - Tri-generation power plant and conventional boilers: pollutant flow rate and atmospheric impact of stack emissions [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Zaccanti, MARCO MICHELE
abstract

The atmospheric impact of stack emissions from a power plant (tri-generator and boilers) that will be installed in an urban area in the central Po valley (Northern Italy), characterized by calm wind events, are studied and compared to the impact of the existing plant (conventional boilers). Both the plants are supplied by methane gas. The atmospheric dispersion of NOx emitted is simulated, both in the current and future scenario, by the software package ARIA INDUSTRY. The NOx emission rates are set equal to the regulatory emission limits for existing and future boilers, while the tri-generation system emission rates are set equal to the emission limits certified by the system manufacturer. The simulation periods focus over the 2010 winter season. The simulation estimates the impact of NOx emissions on air quality (vertical concentration profiles and concentration maps at the ground) in the urban area close to the plant. The future power plant impact on air quality results lower than the impact of the existing plant, even if the yearly total mass of pollutants emitted in atmosphere from the new power plant is higher than from the existing plant. The emissions of conventional boilers result the main responsible of the air pollution at the ground in the future scenario.

2014 - Urban micro-scale investigation of nox and co emissions from vehicular traffic and comParison with air quality data [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, G.; Fabbi, S.; Zaccanti, M.; Bigi, A.; Teggi, S.
abstract

2013 - Application of MAIAC high spatial resolution aerosol retrievals over Po Valley (Italy) [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Arvani, Barbara; R. B., Pierce; A. I., Lyapustin; Y., Wang; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) data retrieved at 0:55 μm with spatial resolutions of 10 km and 1 km AOD have been considered in this work. The 10 km resolution of MODIS AOD product is from the MODIS Collection 5:1 dark target retrieval and the 1 km resolution retrieval is from the new Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm. We evaluate ability of these two products to characterize the spatial distribution of aerosols in urban areas through comparison with surface PM10 measurements. The Po Valley area (northern Italy) is considered in this study since urban air pollution is an important concern. Population and industrial activities are located in a large number of urban areas distributed within the valley. The 10 km spatial resolution of MODIS AOD product is considered too large for air quality studies at the urban scale. Using MAIAC data at 1 km, we examine the relationship between PM10 concentrations, AOD, and AOD normalized by Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) depths obtained from NCEP global analysis, for year 2012 over the Po Valley. Results show that the MAIAC retrieval provides a high resolution depiction of the AOD within the Po Valley and performs nearly as well in a statistical sense as the standard MODIS retrieval during the time period considered. Results also show that normalization by the analyzed PBL depth to obtain an estimate of the mean boundary layer extinction is needed to capture the seasonal cycle of the observed PM10 over the Po Valley.

2013 - Epidemiologia e fattori ambientali di rischio della sclerosi laterale amiotrofica sporadica: metodologia di uno studio realizzato in ambiente gis. [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Vinceti, Marco; Fiore, M; Odone, A; Signorelli, C; Mandrioli, Jessica; Fini, N; Fabbi, Sara; Teggi, Sergio; Costanzini, Sofia; Ghermandi, Grazia; Iacuzio, Laura; Malagoli, Carlotta; Arcolin, Elisa; Ferrante, M.
abstract

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2013 - H15-123: From local-scale to micro-scale assessment of the atmospheric impact of the pollutant plume emitted from a power-plant stack [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, G.; Teggi, S.; Fabbi, S.; Bigi, A.; Zaccanti, M. M.
abstract

2013 - Implementation of IMAPP/IDEA-I over the Po Valley region, northern Italy, for air quality monitoring and forecasting [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Arvani, Barbara; R. B., Pierce; Teggi, Sergio; Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Satellite Earth Observations (EO) represent a powerful tool for environmental applications such as air quality monitoring and forecasting; new sensors and image processing methodologies allow for better spatial resolution. Air pollution is an important concern in the Po valley (northern Italy), one of the main industrialized and populated areas of the country, and, for this reason, intensely studied. In this work we focus on the applicability of satellite Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrievals in support of air quality monitoring and assessment in urban environments within the Po valley by using the implementation of the International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package (IMAPP) Air Quality Applications software, IDEA-I (Infusing satellite Data into Environmental Applications-International) over the area. For our specific analyses, IDEA-I was installed at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, (Italy) using a large European domain, and a smaller domain over the Po valley. One year (2012) of MOD04 AOD retrievals from MODIS on board NASA’s Terra satellite was considered using IDEA-I in a retrospective study. We needed to develop tools to adapt IDEA-I using MODIS AOD data archived at the NASA Level 1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS). This was required because IDEA- I is setup for near-real time use of MODIS Direct Broadcast retrievals by default. The Level 2 Aerosol Products, collection 5.1 have been used, which returns AOD data at 0.55 µm with a spatial resolution of 10X10 km 2 retrieved from MODIS (MOD04). These retrieved data were compared with PM 10 mass concentration measurements from the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection (ARPA) network. Correspondence between AOD and PM 10 data suggests that satellite AOD values could be a good substitute for monitoring air quality over the Po valley domain. Moreover, the integration of the use of IDEA-I over the Po valley could give the opportunity to monitor and forecast air pollution and understand particular polluted situations in the past with a retrospective use of IDEA- I. Because of the limited domain of analyses, it is useful to refine the spatial resolution of MODIS AOD maps. This will be accomplished by introducing the use of a recently developed AOD algorithm, MAIAC (Multi-angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction), which provides MODIS AOD maps at a high spatial resolution of 1 km. This new application will permit us to obtain high resolution AOD maps for the year 2012 over the Po valley domain.

2012 - Analysis of the air pollution climate at a background site in the Po valley [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia; R. M., Harrison
abstract

The Po valley in northern Italy is renowned for its high air pollutant concentrations. Measurements of air pollutants from a background site in Modena, a town of 200 thousand inhabitants within the Po valley, are analysed. These comprise hourly data for CO, NO, NO2, NOx, and O3, and daily gravimetric equivalent data for PM10 from 1998–2010. The data are analysed in terms of long-term trends, annual, weekly and diurnal cycles, and auto-correlation and cross-correlation functions. CO, NO and NO2 exhibit a strongly traffic-related pattern, with daily peaks at morning and evening rush hour and lower concentrations over the weekend. Ozone shows an annual cycle with a peak in July due to local production; notwithstanding the diurnal cycle dominated by titration by nitrogen oxide, the decreasing long term trend in NO concentration did not affect the long term trend in O3, whose mean concentration remained steady over the sampling period. PM10 shows a strong seasonality with higher concentration in winter and lower concentration in summer and spring. Both PM10 and ozone show a marked weekly cycle in summer and winter respectively. Regressions of PM10 upon NOx show a consistently greater intercept in winter, representing higher secondary PM10 in the cooler months of the year. There is a seasonal pattern in primary PM10 to NOx ratios, with lower values in winter and higher values in summer, but the reasons are unclear.

2012 - GIS methods for health and environmental monitoring and assessment [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Vinceti, Marco; Malagoli, Carlotta
abstract

Very often, health and environmental studies are based on the identification of correlations between population exposure to environmental agents and their effects on population health. Time and space are among the principal variables for this kind of analysis. The latter generates a significant increase in complexity of the study. Spatial analysis requires very different methods and skills, such as those on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and on geostatistics. In this work we describe the models of geographic data (GIS data models) implemented in the framework of several health studies done recently. As an example, we describe the GIS data model generated for the city of Modena. We highlight the potentiality of GIS for health and environmental monitoring and assessment, by describing the GIS data models contents, the elaboration levels and the principal studies for which it has been used so far.

2012 - Long term trends and patterns of atmospheric pollutants in Modena, Po valley, Italy [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

The concentration of atmospheric pollutants in the Po Valley is renowned for its remarkably high levels, both for particulate and gaseous compounds. This analysis focussed on measurements of air pollutants from a background site in Modena, Po valley, Italy. These comprise hourly data for CO, NO, NO2, NOx, O3 and daily gravimetric equivalent data for PM10 from 1998 – 2010. The data are analysed in terms of long-term trends, and of annual, weekly and diurnal patterns. Auto-correlation and cross-correlation functions are also investigated. Influence of anthropogenic sources on pollutant concentration has been studied by checking the presence of weekly cycles on pollutants. Gaseous pollutant characteristic of vehicular traffic emissions (i.e. CO, NO and NO2) exhibit a daily pattern featured by peaks at morning and evening rush-hour and lower concentrations over the weekend. Ozone, whose annual pattern is typified by summer peak due to local production, did not show a significant variation in long term trend notwithstanding the significant decrease in NO over the decade. Regression models of PM10 upon NOx show a greater intercept in winter, representing higher secondary PM10 in the cooler months of the year, and a seasonal pattern in the PM10 to NOx ratio, with lower values in winter and higher in summer.

2012 - Model comparison in simulating the atmospheric dispersion of a pollutant plume in low wind conditions [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

Simulations of emitted plume dispersion in atmosphere performed by means of different models are compared: the study evaluates the capabilities of gaussian and lagrangian models in simulating pollutant plume dispersion in low wind conditions.

2012 - Soil salinization assessment on Iraq using satellite remote sensing imagery [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; S., Costanzini; Despini, Francesca; Ghermandi, Grazia; F., Immordino
abstract

Soil salinization is a form of topsoil degradation due to the formation of soluble salts at deleterious levels. This phenomenon can seriously compromise vegetation health and agricultural productivity, and represents a worldwide environmental problem. Remote sensing is a very useful tool for soil salinization monitoring and assessment. In this work we show some results of a study aimed to define the most suitable remote sensing methodologies for soil salinity assessment in Iraq. This activity is part of the Strategies for Water and Land Resources in Iraq project. The satellite images used were acquired by the ETM+ and by the SPOT5 satellite sensors, in the Visible-Near Infrared electromagnetic region, and with spatial resolution of 30 m (ETM+) and of 10 m (SPOT5). The methods used for the investigation of bare soils and vegetation can be summarized in: pre-elaborations (atmospheric corrections, georeferentiation, reflectance computation); individuation of bare soils and of vegetated soils; analysis of the correlations between several surface quantities computed from the satellite images and soil salinity indicators; analysis of the suitability of these quantities for soil salinity classification of the images using for example class separability analysis, principal component analysis and vegetation indexes. The first results obtained indicate that some areas with soil salinization, in particular those with outcrop of salt at the surface, and different type of vegetation can be individuated. The work carried out until now shows that remote sensing images could be fruitfully used for the soil salinization characterization of the studied area, but the definition of the methodology would require a dataset of ground information that describes in detail the actual soil salinization.

2012 - Statistical analysis of surface atmospheric pollutant measurement series for various sites across the Po valley [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

In order to assess recent changes in the concentration of pollutants in the Po valley, ten-year or longer time series of atmospheric pollutants have been analyzed, including both traffic and background sites (either urban, suburban or rural) at main towns and cities in the Po valley. The dataset comprise pollution data from Regional Environmental Agency monitoring networks; all data are referred to actual sampling condition, as by 2008/50/EC. Weekly pattern at each site has been estimated, in order to assess pollution condition and anthropogenic sources influence at each station. Time series have been checked for significant change in de-seasonalized mean monthly concentration and in annual median concentration. Mean daily concentration data have been tested for significant weekly (i.e. anthropogenic) cycles. Long term trend of atmospheric pollutants has been estimated via parametric and non-parametric methods. Finally, cluster analysis has been applied in order to highlight stations sharing similar pollution conditions over the reference period.

2012 - Tri-generation power plant and conventional boilers: pollutant flow rate and atmospheric impact of stack emissions [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Zaccanti, MARCO MICHELE
abstract

The atmospheric impact of stack emissions from a power plant (tri-generator and boilers) that will be installed in an urban area in the central Po valley, characterized by calm wind events, are studied and compared to the impact of the existing plant (conventional boilers). Both the plants are supplied by methane gas. The atmospheric dispersion of NOx emitted is simulated, both in the current and future scenario, by the software package ARIA INDUSTRY. The emission rates are set equal to the regulatory emission limits for existing and future boilers, while the tri-generation system emission rates are set equal to the emission limits certified by the system manufacturer. Local datasets have been used. The simulation periods span over the 2010 winter season. The simulation estimates the impact of emissions on air quality (vertical concentration profiles and concentration maps at the ground) in the urban area close to the plant. The future power plant impact on air quality (i.e. respect to the regulatory pollutant concentration limits) results lower than the impact of the existing plant, even if the yearly total mass of pollutants emitted in atmosphere from the new power plant is higher than from the existing plant.

2011 - Atmospheric impact of power plant stack emissions [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; M. M., Zaccanti
abstract

The atmospheric impact of stack emissions from a tri-generation power plant that will be installed in a urban area in the central Po valley are studied and compared to the impact of the existing plant (conventional boilers). Both the plants are supplied by methane gas. The atmospheric dispersion of the emissions is simulated both in the current and the future scenario, i.e. before and after tri-generation plant activation respectively. The plant is assumed as a continuous emission point source. The emission rates are set equal to the regulatory emission limits for the existing plant and to the emission limits certified by the tri-generation system maker company for the future plant. The local meteorological, topographical and surface land cover datasets have been used. The simulation periods span over each one of the four seasons, using 2010 meteorological data, to test conditions both favourable and unfavourable to pollutant accumulation in the atmosphere; simulation period spanning over the whole 2010 year are also performed (long-term) . The dispersion of different air pollutants (NOx mainly) is presented; the concentration fields obtained for the same period in the two different scenarios are compared. The aim of the simulation is to estimate the impact of emissions on air quality in the urban area close to the plant, in different weather conditions, in a region characterized by calm wind events. The tri-generation power plant impact on air quality (i.e. respect to the regulatory concentration limits for pollutants in atmosphere) results lower than the impact of the existing plant, even if the yearly total mass of pollutants emitted in atmosphere from the tri-generation power plant is higher than from the existing plant. The simulation is performed by the software package ARIA INDUSTRY, that is made up of the 3D lagrangian stochastic particle dispersion model SPRAY, the diagnostic meteorological model MINERVE and the turbulence model SURFPRO.

2011 - Improvement of the spatial resolution of MODIS coastal waters thermal mapping [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Despini, Francesca; Ghermandi, Grazia; M., Serafini
abstract

Thermal mapping is an highly relevant tool for the assessment of the quality of coastal waters. Remote sensing is an useful technique for monitoring large surfaces in near real time, nevertheless, spatial resolution represents an important limiting factor. In this work it the spatial improvement, from 1km to 250m, of MODIS thermal imagery on coastal water obtained with the SWTI (SharpeningWater Thermal Imagery) is shown. This algorithm is applied, for the first time, to MODIS images acquired on the lagoon of Venice and on the delta of the Po River. The performances of SWTI are evaluated taking as a reference a couple of ASTER images acquired simultaneously to the MODIS images and on the same areas. Moreover, the water temperatures obtained with a simple bilinear interpolation of the MODIS images is also considered. Several statistical parameters, as bias and root mean square difference, are used to quantify the the difference between ASTER and MODIS/SWTI water temperatures along coastlines. In all the the cases these differences are lower than 1K.

2011 - Mapping traffic atmospheric emissions for epidemiological studies using atmospheric dispersion models and geostatistical methods: a case study [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Malagoli, Carlotta; Vinceti, Marco; L., Guerra; A., Sterni; G., Maffeis
abstract

In some cases, epidemiological studies require the air pollutant concentrations at the exposure points. In these cases air dispersion models represent a very important tool. When additional points of exposure are inserted or when some exposure points must be relocated, spatial interpolators can be used in place of new runs of the air dispersion model. In this work the uncertainties and the problematic related to spatial interpolation methods are inspected. The case studied is based on an epidemiological study aimed to study the risk of childhood leukemia associated with benzene exposure due to traffic emissions. The concentration values of benzene computed by the atmospheric dispersion model ADMS are taken as reference and compared with the concentration values computed using several interpolation methods and additional data sets of concentrations computed by ADMS in the same area. The comparison is done following two approaches: the summary statistics of the differences and the correctness of the assignment of the exposure points to the concentration categories used in the epidemiological study. These comparisons show that the values computed by the interpolators are very problematic: important differences and categories assignment and categories uncertainties were found. The main conclusion of this work is that the use of interpolators must be done with extreme caution. Moreover, it is highlighted the importance and the potential pitfalls of exposure modelling methodologies when assessing the health effects of environmental pollutants

2011 - Particle number size distribution and weight concentration of background urban aerosol in a Po valley site [Articolo su rivista]
Bigi, Alessandro; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Abstract Measurements of particle size distributions and PM2.5 from an urban background site in the Central Po Valley are analysed; the site is one of the medium–small-size cities in the central valley, without the direct influence of the metropolitan and industrial area of Milan and of the Adriatic Sea. The data comprise number concentration of particle with diameters ranging between 10 and 700 nm, PM2.5 and main meteorological variables from February to August 2008. Daily cycles of the observed pollutants are analysed, along with auto-correlation function for particle number concentration and principal component analysis (PCA) of all the available variables; finally, the diurnal pattern of PM2.5 low-, medium- and high-pollution events has been investigated. Total particle number concentration showed a daily pattern both in winter and summer, although different between weekdays and Sundays and with wider variations during the cold season. A daily cycle is present for the geometric mean diameter of nucleation mode particles in winter and of nucleation and Aitken mode particles in summer. PM2.5 showed a slight daily pattern for weekdays and Sundays, similar, but lagged, to total particle count cycle. Mixing layer depth resulted the main process controlling PM2.5, although also human activities contribute to PM2.5 concentration and allow some deposition and (re-) mobilisation at the first hours of the day and morning rush hour, respectively, while particle number concentration responds immediately to anthropogenic sources. PCA confirmed the dependence of particle number concentration also on meteorological variables, e.g. mixing layer height, wind speed or atmospheric pressure, showing the important influence of regional meteorology on local pollution conditions. Modena can be considered a representative test area of the effect of the meteorological regime for the Central Po Valley on atmospheric particle concentration patterns, characterised by steady high-background concentration.

2010 - Atmospheric dispersion modelling for the assessment of population exposure to contaminants emitted by municipal waste incinerators [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Vinceti, Marco; Malagoli, Carlotta
abstract

In this work two examples of the use of pollutants atmospheric dispersion modelling for the study of the risk of spontaneous abortion and birth of congenital anomalies due to the emissions from municipal waste incineration plants are shown. The main purposes of the work are to show the importance of atmospheric dispersion modelling for epidemiological studies and to discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different models used. For this study the emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans and biphenyls (PCDD/F) from the municipal waste incinerators of Modena (Italy, Case A) and of Reggio Emilia (Italy, Case B) have been considered. Ground-level (0 – 10 m) concentrations of PCDD/F over the city of Modena were computed using the ARIA Industry dispersion model for the period from 1 October, 2005 to 1 October, 2006. Ground-level concentrations of PCDD/F over the city of Reggio Emilia were computed using the WinDimula 3.0 model for the years 1999, 2000 and 2001, and for the period from 1 July, 2005 to 30 June, 2006. The ground level concentration grids computed by the models were exported in a GIS along with rates of spontaneous abortion and prevalence at birth of congenital anomalies in women residing or working near the incinerators. Successively, the maps of exposure to PCDD/F and of risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes have been computed in the GIS environment. In both the cases the study results provide little evidence of an excess risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women exposed to emissions from a modern municipal solid waste incinerator.

2010 - Improving of the thermal mapping of coastal and river waters obtained from satellite remote sensing [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; M. P., Bogliolo; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Bigi, Alessandro
abstract

The temperature of coastal and river water is very important in various areas of environmental concern. Very often, the heat released by human activities in water bodies is classified as a pollutant and it is subjected to regulatory. Remote sensing images acquired by the satellite sensor ASTER could be a very valuable tool in this area. Nevertheless, the spatial resolution (90 m) of this sensor in the thermal infrared is very important limiting factor for the compute of temperature of narrow watercourses or of coastal waters. In this work, an algorithm for the improvement of ASTER images acquired in the TIR based on information on the type of coverage of the area extracted from ASTER images acquired in the VIS-NIR and with spatial resolution varying between 15 m and 30 m. The algorithm produces a downscaling of the ASTER TIR images, from 90 m to 30 m, more complete than those obtainable by usual interpolation techniques. In this paper it is given a summary description of the structure of the algorithm followed by two applications on the coastal areas of the lagoon of Venice and the Po River delta.

2010 - Performance of Different Models to Evaluate Atmospheric Dispersion in Calm Wind Conditions [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara; Bigi, Alessandro; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

The study investigates the performance of different air pollution dispersion models in wind calm conditions. The models have been applied to two case studies: the cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, both placed in the Po river valley (Northern Italy), an area characterized by prevailing weak winds conditions. The emission sources are the municipal waste incinerator of Modena and the Turbo Gas plant of Reggio Emilia. Total suspended particulate (TSP) concentration levels are estimated by three models: the gaussian Industrial Source Complex (ISC3) and WinDimula 3.0 models, and the langrangian particle model SPRAY. The performances of the models have been compared: ISC3 provides less reliable results, while SPRAY and WinDimula 3.0 have shown a good capability to describe a domain characterized by wind calm conditions and SPRAY simulation performs significantly better in the vicinity of the source.

2010 - Seasonal and weekly pattern of atmospheric particles in a urban background site in the Po valley, Italy [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Bigi, Alessandro; Fabbi, Sara; Teggi, Sergio; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

Combined measurements of number and weight particle concentration have been performed in an urban background site in the Po valley, Italy. Particle count measurements have been performed by Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer: number concentration for particles with diameter ranging between 10 to 700 nm are acquired each 120 seconds in the grounds of the University campus. PM2.5 is measured by TEOM-FDMS: the instrument estimates hourly particle weight concentration performing a correction for losses of semi-volatile particles collected on the sampling filter, whose temperature is kept at 30°C. The data analyzed in this study have been collected from February to August 2008. Daily and weekly pattern of total particle count, particle number size distribution and weight concentration have been investigated, along with meteorological data. Number concentration peaks resulted mostly related to morning and evening rush-hour traffic, particularly in winter; weight concentration resulted influenced both by anthropic activities and atmospheric dispersion conditions and shows a different diurnal pattern. Coagulation of finer particles occurs after evening rush-hour, mostly during wintertime. An analysis of the most and less polluted days of the investigated period has been performed, and the daily patterns of pollutants have been compared for both seasons.

2008 - DEFINING THE GEOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE EPICA DOME C ICE CORE DUST DURING THE LAST GLACIAL-INTERGLACIAL CYCLE [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; E., Castellano; D., Ceccato; P., DE DECKKER; B., Delmonte; Ghermandi, Grazia; V., Maggi; J. R., Petit; M., REVEL ROLLAND; R., Udisti
abstract

The major element composition of the insoluble, windborne long-range dust archived in the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C ice core has been determined by Particle Induced X-ray Emission analyses. The geochemistry of dust from the last glacial maximum (LGM) and from the Holocene is discussed in terms of past environmental changes, throughout the last climatic cycle. Antarctic dust from glacial and interglacial climate clearly reveals different geochemical compositions. The weathered crustal-like signature of LGM dust is characterized by a low compositional variability, suggesting a dominant source under the glacial regime. The close correspondence between the major element composition of Antarctic glacial dust and the composition of southern South American sediments supports the hypothesis of a dominant role of this area as major dust supplier during cold conditions. Conversely, the major element composition of Holocene dust displays high variability and high Al content on average. This implies that an additional source could also play some role. Comparison with size-selected sediments suggests that a contribution from Australia is likely during warm times, when a reduced glacial erosion decreases the primary dust production and a more intense hydrological cycle and larger vegetation cover inactivates dust mobility in a large part of southern South America, weakening its contribution as a massive dust supplier to Antarctica.

2008 - GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF DUST IN THE EPICA DOME C ICE CORE BY MAYOR ELEMENT PIXE ANALYSIS: PALAEO-ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; V., Maggi; D., Ceccato; Ghermandi, Grazia; B., Delmonte; J. R., Petit
abstract

MAJOR ELEMENT CONCENTRATION HAS BEEN DETERMINED BY PIXE ANALYSIS IN INSOLUBLE DUST FROM EPICA DOME C ICE CORE SAMPLES. THE GEOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF INSOLUBLE DUST, POSSIBLE SOURCES AND RELATED PALAEO-ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES ARE INVESTIGATED.

2008 - Geostatistical methods for 3D pollutants mapping in site remediation [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Tridimensional (volume) spatial interpolation of soil pollutants concentrations or of other soil properties is a demanding phase of polluted site characterization. In this paper are presented the first steps of a research activity aimed to improve 3D spatialization using a geostatistical approach and information retrieved from satellite remote sensing images. The work done mainly consists in the implementation of a set of software tools for spatial correlation/variability (variogram) compute (experimental) and modeling (theoretical), for the data spatialization using Kriging interpolators, and for the validation (cross validation) of the results. These tools have been implemented in Fortran77 and MatLab® programming languages and are based on the GSLIB (Geostatistical Software Library) library. Besides the methodologies/ procedures above mentioned, an application to a real case is presented. The case study is an industrial area polluted by inorganic compounds and for which measures of Arsenic concentration obtained on samples collected at different locations and depths (196) area available. These data are first geostatistically studied, modeled (spatial variability), 3D interpolated using the ordinary Kriging method and validated.

2008 - PM2.5 monitoring in urban site (Modena, Italy) by TEOM [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Bigi, Alessandro; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara
abstract

A Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM, Rupprecht & Patashnick Co.) has been installed at the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia. The instrument allows automated and continuous measurement of weight concentration of airborne particulate matter; the inlet is provided with an EPA-standard PM10 head impactor and a PM2.5 sharp cut cyclone. The weighting microbalance is kept at 50°C in order to measure particulate matter in conditions of constant and low humidity and to avoid sampling artefacts from particle-bound water. Underestimation of PM concentration from TEOM measurements have been documented in the literature, due to particulate volatilisation caused by sensor heating. The instrumental equipment has been set up at a height of 9 m above the ground in the Faculty of Engineering building, with the inlet stretched 1 m outside the window and connected to the sensor unit by a 5 cm long conductive Tygon tube. From June 2007 continuous monitoring of PM2.5 has been ran, and since December 2007 the TEOM has been enhanced with a FDMS (Filter Dynamic Measurement System) device to correct PM underestimation of conventional TEOM. The University site can be considered representative of air quality of the residential background for the municipality of Modena: summer and autumn PM2.5 average hourly concentration resulted in 15.0 μg/m3 and 20.7 μg/m3 respectively. From recent FDMS measurements, underestimation of autumn PM can be roughly assessed in 33%.

2008 - Size distribution of sub micron atmospheric particles by DMA [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Bigi, Alessandro; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio; Fabbi, Sara
abstract

A Differential Mobility Analyzer (DMA) has been installed at the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at the University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia. The instrument allows automated and continuous measurement of number concentration of air suspended particulate matter within an electrical mobility diameter range of 10 to 800 nm. The DMA has been assembled at the Université Blaise Pascal in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The instrument is capable of operating in a scanning mode as a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) and in stepwise mode as a Differential Mobility Particle Sizer (DMPS). In the SMPS mode measurements are completed in 2 minutes, whereas in DMPS mode, it takes about 10-12 minutes to complete a measurement over the complete diameter range. For this first testing period (March to May 2007) the DMA have been set up at a height of ~9m above the ground in the Faculty of Engineering building; the inlet have been equipped with a PM1 cyclone, stretched 1 m outside the window and shared with a TEOM instrument. Total particle number concentration and number size distribution spectra observed from March 19th to March 21st 2007 and from April 22nd to April 23rd 2007 are analysed in detail. Hourly variation of total particle concentration for the complete sampling period has been studied. Generally, concentration peaks resulted associated with rush hour during morning and with local meteorological conditions during evenings.

2008 - Surface parameters evaluated from satellite remote sensing images for pollutant atmospheric dispersion modelling [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Bogliolo, M. P.; Ghermandi, Grazia; Fabbi, Sara; Funaro, M.; Gariazzo, C.
abstract

This contribute deals with the use of surface parameters extracted from satellite remote sensing images (SRSI) for the setup of the input dataset required by pollutants atmospheric dispersion models (PATM). Accurate PATM need 2D distributions (grids) of many surface parameters to model turbulence parameters, as roughness length, albedo, leaf area index and Bowen’s ratio. Very often these parameters are set using predefined tables defined as a function of land cover (LC). Usually, this last information is extracted from public dataset, such as, for European countries, the Corine Land Cover (CLC). Several of these parameters can be computed directly from SRSI. Moreover, land cover classification evaluated from SRSI can be used to update existing LC datasets.In the first part of this work it is shown how ASTER remote sensing images have been used to calculate several surface parameters maps, as albedo, vegetation indexes (NDVI, LAI) and net radiation flux on a study area at Porto Marghera (Venice, Italy). This area is located near the coastline of a very complex areas surrounded by Venice lagoon, Adriatic Sea, cultivated, industrialized and habited zones. Moreover, the area is characterised by particular meteorological situation, with heavy sea-breeze phenomena. In the second part, the ASTER image is used to evaluate, using a supervised classification method, the LC of the area. Then, this LC is used to update the CLC. In the last part of the work the importance of these information extracted from the ASTER image is evaluated using the SPRAY lagrangian PATM. SPRAY has been used to simulated the dispersion of an inert generic pollutant emitted from a virtual source located in central part of the area, near the coast, from 29 August to 10 September 2006. For this time period a real (measured) meteorological data set have been used.

2008 - Uso di immagini telerilevate in supporto alla caratterizzazione e alla modellazione dei siti contaminati [Capitolo/Saggio]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Fabbi, Sara; Bogliolo, M. P.
abstract

La Parte IV del Decreto Legislativo 152 del 3 dicembre 2006 e le successive Direttive Tecniche redatte dall’ l’Agenzia per la Protezione dell’Ambiente e per i servizi Tecnici (APAT) fissano i criteri generali per la caratterizzazione dei siti contaminati. Varie parti di questi documenti riguardano settori per i quali i dati telerilevati da satellite o da aereo possono essere di grande utilità. Fra di essi si possono citare la descrizione delle componenti ambientali esterne al sito, la ricostruzione di storica del sito, la mappatura dei contaminanti e la modellazione usata nell’analisi di rischio. In questo studio l’uso di immagini telerilevate per gli scopi sopra citati è presentato e discusso. Ognuna di queste parti è corredata di applicazioni a scenari reali. Inoltre, nella parte iniziale viene fornita una panoramica sintetica dei principali sensori satellitari utilizzabili per questi scopi.

2007 - Geochemistry of mineral dust from epica dome c ice core: implication of dust source identification over the last two glacial cycles [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; D., Ceccato; Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; V., Maggi; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

THE WORK PRESENTS THE GEOCHEMISTRY OF MINERAL DUST COLLECTED FROM EPICA DOME C ICE CORE SAMPLES AND EVALUATES THE IMPLICATION OF DUST SOURCE IDENTIFICATION OVER THE LAST TWO GLACIAL CYCLES

2006 - Applicazione di tecniche innovative per la caratterizzazione e il monitoraggio di siti contaminati [Capitolo/Saggio]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

Il numero di applicazioni ambientali nelle quali le immagini acquisite da piattaforma aerea o satellitare sono utilizzate è ormai elevato ed è in continua crescita. La risoluzione spaziale, il contenuto spettrale e i tempi di acquisizione hanno oggigiorno raggiunto livelli tali da consentire l’utilizzo dei dati telerilevati in settori quali il monitoraggio della qualità delle acque costiere e oceaniche, i fenomeni di deforestazione e alluvionali, i censimenti dell’uso del suolo e lo studio delle dinamiche urbane. E’ quindi abbastanza logico aspettarsi che queste tecniche possano essere impiegate anche in supporto alle attività di bonifica dei siti contaminati. In questo lavoro sono presentate due di queste possibili applicazioni centrate entrambe sull’estrazione di parametri superficiali da immagini telerilevate: la prima riguarda la caratterizzazione del sito; la seconda è pensata in supporto alla modellizzazione degli inquinanti in atmosfera, la quale è una delle fasi previste nell’analisi di rischio sanitario.

2006 - ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION OF SUSPENDED PARTICLES EMITTED BY STABILIZED WASTES USING A LAGRANGIAN MODEL AND REMOTE SENSING DATA [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Fabbi, Sara
abstract

In this work the importance of the land cover-usage data retrieved by remote sensing images in support of air dispersion models is shown. Models for the simulation of the dispersion of pollutants emitted in atmosphere are considered very useful tools for studying, monitoring and managing the environment. One of the most important input for these models is the land cover-usage, that must be furnished for each cell of the computational grid. In general, this information is retrieved from shared data set that are not sufficiently upgraded and not enough spatially detailed in order to obtain an accurate simulation of atmospheric dispersion. In this frame, land usage-cover retrieved from remote sensing image could represent a very useful support. The AIR INDUSTRY dispersion package is used to model the atmospheric dispersion of the suspended particulate matter emitted from a disposal area located in the main landfill site of the city of Modena (Italy), using two different land cover-usage data set: that extracted from the European Corine Land Cover data base, and that obtained by the integration of the previous with information retrieved from a satellite image acquired by the ETM+ sensor. The comparison of the pollutant concentration fields obtained for the two cases shows important differences, both in the area interested by pollution and in concentration levels. Nevertheless, this work highlight also the necessity of making more tests, for different case studies, before drawing final conclusion.

2006 - ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION SIMULATION OF THE EMISSION FROM A TURBOGAS POWER PLANT USING LAGRANGIAN AND GAUSSIAN MODELS [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Fabbi, Sara
abstract

In this work the comparison between two models for the simulation of the dispersion of pollutants emitted in atmosphere is performed. The case studied is the plume continuously emitted from a point source, the stack of a turbogas power plant sited in the Po Valley (Pianura Padana) in Italy : the spatial domain of the simulation is part of the Reggio Emilia district. In the investigated site very light winds (<2 m/s) frequently persist for long period, and this condition is not easily simulated by the most of dispersion models. In this work the performances of the ISC3 gaussian model and the SPRAY (AIR INDUSTRY dispersion package) lagrangian model are tested. The pollutant dispersion is simulated with both the models in different seasons, corresponding to typical atmospheric conditions (stable or unstable) and to winds speed higher or lower than 2 m/s. The used meteorological data set is obtained by the CALMET model at the ARPA-Emilia Romagna.

2006 - Impiego di immagini telerilevate per modelli di dispersione di inquinanti in atmosfera [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
M. P., Bogliolo; Fabbi, Sara; Ghermandi, Grazia; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

In many cases, atmospheric dispersion models require in input maps of surface parameters, as landcover, usually extracted from the CLC2000 dataset, and albedo. But, CORINE data do not describeseasonal changes and, some times, require upgrades. In this work a procedure, based on remote sensingdata, for the improvement of CORINE data and for albedo assessment is shown. The procedure was setfor the ARIA INDUSTRY dispersion model, and in the final part of the paper, a case study is shown.

2005 - Health risk assessment of municipal solid waste inceneration [Capitolo/Saggio]
Vinceti, Marco; R., Vivoli; Malagoli, Carlotta; Bergomi, Margherita; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The incineration of municipal solid waste leads to the environmemal release of some toxic substances, albeit of low atmospheric concentration in the proximity of the most recently built incinerators thanks to the substantial advancements in air pollution control equipment. An excess risk of some adverse health outcomes (cancer, birth defects, and respiratory diseases in particular) has been linked to the environmental release of these toxic substances on the basis or epidemiologic and laboratory studies. The methodologies most frequently adopted by environmental scientists and regulatory agencies to evaluate these potential risk are the potential risk are the modelling of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks, and the implementation of epidemiologic studies in the populations residing near the incincrators. Geographic lnfornation System (GlS) software to map specific diseases in the areas around the incinerators can also be used in support of data management and data representation. We describe a health surveillance program concerning the popubtion of a northen Italian town where capacity of a municipal solid waste incinerator is planned to substantially increase in the near future. The program wilI analyse the risk of birth defects and spontaneous abortions in the population potentially exposed to the incinerator emissions.

2005 - Health risk assessment of municipal solid waste incineration [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Vinceti, M.; Vivoli, R.; Malagoli, C.; Bergomi, M.; Teggi, S.; Ghermandi, G.
abstract

The incineration of municipal solid waste leads to the environmental release of some toxic substances, albeit of low atmospheric concentration in the proximity of the most recently built incinerators thanks to the substantial advancements in air pollution control equipment. An excess risk of some adverse health outcomes (cancer, birth defects, and respiratory diseases in particular) has been linked to the environmental release of these toxic substances on the basis of epidemiologic and laboratory studies. The methodologies most frequently adopted by environmental scientists and regulatory agencies to evaluate these potential risk are the modelling of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks, and the implementation of epidemiologic studies in the populations residing near the incinerators. Geographic Information System (GIS) software to map specific diseases in the areas around the incinerators can also be used in support of data management and data representation. We describe a health surveillance program concerning the population of a northern Italian town where the capacity of a municipal solid waste incinerator is planned to substantially increase in the near future. The program will analyse the risk of birth defects and spontaneous abortions in the population potentially exposed to the incinerator emissions. © 2005 WIT Press.

2005 - Internal/external mixing of aerosol particles elemental composition retrieved from microPIXE and PIXE [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Lusvarghi, Luca; P., Laj; S., Zappoli; D., Ceccato
abstract

A statistical evaluation of the association between different elements contained in atmospheric aerosol particles has been made using the microPIXE technique. We derived elemental maps of Al, Si, S, Ca, Cl, K, Fe, Mg spatial distribution on the surface of a Nuclepore filter sample. The microPIXE measurements are validated by comparison to conventional PIXE and SEM-EDAX. Then, the spatial coherence of the different elements is analysed using statistical methods. The elements are not homogeneously distributed and the association among specific elements can be identified. MicroPIXE and factorial analysis can be coupled to understand the state of mixing of the different elements on the filter surface.

2005 - Miglioramento della spazializzazione di dati satellitari mediante l’uso di misure a terra [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; M. P., Bogliolo
abstract

This work shows a procedure for the evaluation of the spatial distributions of chemical-physical parameters measured by ground stations and satellite remote sensing. The description of the procedure is focused on the measures of atmospheric parameters characteristic of air quality and on the MODIS sensor, but it can be used for other cases also. The evaluation of the spatial distributions is done following two main approaches: in the first the distributions are computed separately for the two data sets; in the second, which is the principal subject of this work, the spatialisation of the remote sensing data set is done by using information extracted by ground measurements also. The procedure has been developed and provided with a graphic user interface in IDL.

2005 - Physicochemical properties of fine aerosols at Plan d'Aups during ESCOMPTE [Articolo su rivista]
A., Marinoni; P., Laj; P. A., Deveau; F., Marino; Ghermandi, Grazia; F., Aulagnier; H., Cachier
abstract

The physical and chemical properties of aerosol particles were investigated at Plan d'Aups, one of the ESCOMPTE sites located in the St. Baume mountain area (700 m a.s.l.), 50 km east of Marseilles (France). The site is ideally located for assessing the vertical and horizontal extent of the pollution plume from the Marseilles–Berre area.Our study showed that polluted air masses from the Marseilles–Berre area are advected to Plan d'Aups in the early afternoon. Average daily concentration of particles reaches up to 40 μg m−3 while 1-h average particle number concentration is greater than 30,000 cm−3. Most of the particle mass is composed of SO42− and organic carbon (OC). The chemical properties of the particles revealed that an additional source, possibly from the industrial area of Gardanne, contributes to the aerosol mass. This last source is characterised by significant emissions of elements, such as Zn, V, Al and Si.In addition to transport, we found that gas-to-particle conversion takes place at the interface between the free troposphere and the boundary layer. We estimated that on average, 30% of the particle number is accounted for by direct nucleation. This is potentially a major aerosol source to the free troposphere.

2005 - PIXE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF MINERAL DUST FROM EPICA ICE CORE [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio; V., Maggi
abstract

THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF MINERAL DUST COLLECTED FROM EPICA ICE CORE SAMPLES HAS BEEN DETERMINED BY MEANS OF PIXE ANALYSIS

2005 - Progetto di sorveglianza sanitaria della popolazione residente in prossimità dell’inceneritore per rifiuti urbani di Modena [Abstract in Rivista]
Malagoli, Carlotta; Vinceti, Marco; Vivoli, R; Bergomi, Margherita; Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Poichè l’incenerimento è ormai divenuto una delle risposte più diffuse nei paesi industrializzati per affrontare il problema dello smaltimento dei rifiuti urbani, gli eventuali effetti sulla salute legati al rilascio di inquinanti da tali impianti meritano particolare attenzione da parte delle istituzioni preposte alla tutela della salute pubblica e della comunità scientifica. In tal senso, ed in relazione all’imminente ampliamento dell’inceneritore per rifiuti solidi urbani sito nel Comune di Modena, è stato predisposto da parte dell’Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia un programma di sorveglianza sanitaria della popolazione potenzialmente esposta alle emissioni di tale impianto. Tale programma prenderà in esame l’abortività spontanea e la prevalenza nei nuovi nati di malformazioni congenite, in quanto la salute riproduttiva appare essere un indicatore particolarmente sensibile e tempestivo degli eventuali rischi sanitari associati all’esposizione a diossine e metalli pesanti. Il programma disorveglianza verrà a applicato a due coorti di residenti in prossimità dell’inceneritore ed ai lavoratori la cui sede di lavoro è sita nelle vicinanze dell’impianto stesso. In particolare, verranno calcolati in tali coorti i rischi di aborto spontaneo e di nati con malformazioni, utilizzando come riferimento i rischi rilevati nella rimanente popolazione del comune di Modena. Quali fonti informative verranno utilizzati i flussi SDO e CEDAP delServizio Sanitario Nazionale ed il Registro Malformazioni della regione Emilia Romagna (IMER-EUROCAT).Sarà inoltre realizzato un report cartografico utilizzando il Geographical Information System (GIS), in grado di fornire un’analisi di tipo spaziale georeferenziata dei risultati. L’elaborazione verrà effettuata per ciascun anno compreso nel periodo 2003-2011, ed i dati ottenuti verranno presentati alla Conferenza dei Servizi della Provincia di Modena ed alla popolazione locale.

2004 - Element size distribution in urban aerosol: PIXE measurements and multivariate analysis [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

Aerosol samples were collected in Modena (Italy) in July 2002 with an inertial 12-stage impactor (SDI) in a urban sampling station at street level where the meteorological parameters were continuously monitored. Concentrations of S, Na, Cl, Al, P, Mg, K, Ca, V, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, and also trace of Pd, Rh and Pt were determined in the aerosol samples by means of PIXE technique. Size distribution curves for each element were obtained, and modal parameters identified. The elements were classified depending on their prevalent source, natural and anthropogenic. The origin of the sampled air masses suggested by their elemental content was compared with the meteorological conditions and backward trajectories evaluated with the HYSPLIT4 model by NOAA. The results agree with the element association determined by principal component analyses of the PIXE data. The enrichment factors of the measured elements generally confirmed the prevalent marine or continental origin of thesampled air masses.

2004 - ELEMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL (DUST) IN THE EPICA-DOME C ICE CORE ( EAST ANTARCTICA) [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
F., Marino; V., Maggi; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

ELEMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL (DUST) IS PERFORMED BY PIXE ANALYSIS OF ICE SAMPLES IN THE EPICA-DOME C ICE CORE ( EAST ANTARCTICA)

2004 - Elemental composition (Si, Fe, Ti) of atmospheric dust over the last 220 kyr from the EPICA ice core (Dome C, Antarctica) [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; V., Maggi; B., Delmonte; Ghermandi, Grazia; J. R., Petit
abstract

In this work, we present the records of insoluble silicon (Si), iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti) from continental mineral particles (dust) archived in the first 2200 m of the EPICA Dome C (EDC) ice core. More than 200 samples covering the last 220 kyr, back to marine isotopic stage 7.4, were analyzed using the particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique, applied here for the first time to the investigation of the mineral content of an Antarctic ice core. The measurements were made exclusively on the insoluble fraction, obtained from filtration of the melted ice samples. The mineral fraction of the particle mass determined from the PIXE measurements is highly correlated to the total dust mass determined by particle counting using a Coulter© Counter. The principal variations during the different climatic periods are very coherent between the PIXE analysis results and the total dust mass determined by counting. Both sets of results show increasing concentration values during glacial stages 2, 4 and 6 and very low particle content during interglacials (Holocene and stage 5e). The large increase in atmospheric dustiness during cold stages is assumed to be caused by several factors, among which are the enhanced vigour of atmospheric transport. However, the PIXE results from this work highlight some slight differences in Si, Fe and Ti concentrations with respect to the total dust mass during the different climatic periods. As a hypothesis, such variations could reflect either different atmospheric processes affecting particles during transport, or changes that occurred in the dust source regions.

2004 - MINERAL DUST ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OVER THE LAST 220 KYR FROM THE EPICA-DOME C ICE CORE (EAST ANTARCTICA) [Abstract in Rivista]
F., Marino; V., Maggi; B., Delmonte; Ghermandi, Grazia; J. R., Petit; T. K., Hinkley
abstract

Mineral windblown aerosol (dust) represents a small fraction of the total mass of atmospheric aerosols. However, it may play an important role in climate and, in turn, it is itself sensitive to climatic changes.The investigation of the temporal variability of dust flux as well as the changes of its mineralogical composition within different climatic periods offers a unique way of assessing the source-related environmental changes, the variation in atmospheric circulation, and the potential influence of dust on biogeochemical cycles, for several key elements (such as Si and Fe). The mineral composition of dust found in ice cores is still poorly known, because few techniques are able to provide information on the chemical composition of the insoluble aerosol fraction, because of the very low mass of dust usually present in polar ice samples. Total volume of mineral content is provided by Coulter Counter measurements, and the dust record shows higher dust input during glacial periods than during interglacials (Delmonte et al., 2004). Sr and Nd isotopic tracers for identification of dust provenance to East Antarctica suggest southern South America as the dominant common source for dust in glacial periods of the late Pleistocene (Delmonte et al., 2004), whereas dust provenance during interglacials periods is still highly uncertain. Elemental composition of mineral dust from the Dome C ice core (75ø 06' S, 123ø 21' E) drilled in the framework of the European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) is presented, showing measurements obtained by the Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) technique applied on insoluble atmospheric dust in ice cores. Within this work, substantial improvements to the experimental set-up and data processing have been made, compared to previously presented works on the first 2200 m of the EDC ice core, corresponding to about 220 kyr of climatic history (Marino et al., 2004; Ghermandi et al., 2003). The PIXE technique, based on X-ray spectrometry, allows direct measurements on filters of the insoluble dust fraction without sample pre-treatment, with analytical detection limits less than 1 ppb. The minimum required mass density of sample material on the filter is about 0.1 microg cm-2. Improvements made here allowed us to obtain accurate records of 8 major and minor crustal elements (Si, Al, Fe, Ti, K, Ca, Mg, Na). The data for these 8 elements, as well as their proportions as oxides, are shown for different climatic periods. Because O, Si, Al, Fe, Ti, K, Ca, Mg, Na are the principal constituents (99.90 %)

2004 - Presentazione [Ambiente] [Prefazione o Postfazione]
Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Presentazione al libro: Ambiente: una formula multidisciplinare. Analisi della competenze e sperimentazione in percorsi di tirocinio

2004 - SI,FE,TI IN ATMOSPHERIC DUST OVER THE LAST 220 KYRS FROM EPICA ICE CORE [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio; V., Maggi
abstract

CONCENTRATION OF SI,FE,TI DETERMINED BY PIXE IN ATMOSPHERIC DUST COLLECTED FROM EPICA ICE CORE SAMPLES, SPANNING OVER THE LAST 220 KYRS, ARE PRESENTED

2004 - Time behaviour of metals in the leachate of a pretreated solid waste landfill [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

Two pilot landfills were activated at the Dept. of Hydraulics, Transportation and Roads of Rome (Italy): one was filled by organic fraction of solid urban waste and incineration residues and the other only by organic fraction of solid urban waste. They were periodically monitored and their leachate sampled for metal concentration analyses. Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Zn concentrations were measured by PIXE technique (at the National Lab. of Legnaro, Padua, Italy) in the leachate samples collected from the pilot landfills during their activity. The experimentation was carried on up to the landfills stabilization, up to 200 and 600 days respectively The metal concentration profiles versus time were compared with the pH and COD behaviour, monitored in the leachate over the same time interval. The acid phase and the methane fermentation were identified in the pilot landfill evolution. The metal concentrations follow substantially the trend expected for a generalized real landfill evolution, over more longer time. The presence of basic incineration waste affects the pH and the metal concentration behaviour in the leachate, even if the acide phase duration is reduced.

2004 - USO DI IMMAGINI TELERILEVATE IN SUPPORTO A MISURE DI PARTICOLATO ATMOSFERICO DA STAZIONI A TERRA [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; M. P., Bugliolo
abstract

IMMAGINI TELERILEVATE SONO USATE IN SUPPORTO A MISURE DI PARTICOLATO ATMOSFERICO EFFETTUATE DA STAZIONI A TERRA E SI E' SPERIMENTATA L'INFLUENZA DEL METODO DI ORTORETTIFICA.

2003 - A 220 KYR RECORD OF INSOLUBILE ATMOSPHERIC SI, FE AND TI FROM EPICA-DOME C (EAST ANTARCTICA) ICE CORE, USING PIXE TECHNIQUE [Abstract in Rivista]
Marino, F.; Delmonte, B.; Ghermandi, Grazia; Petit, J. R.; Maggi, V.
abstract

A 220 KYR RECORD OF INSOLUBILE ATMOSPHERIC SI, FE AND TI IS EVALUATED FROM EPICA-DOME C (EAST ANTARCTICA) ICE CORE, USING PIXE TECHNIQUE

2003 - Capitolo 1 - I NUOVI BACINI D’IMPIEGO NEL SETTORE DELLO SVILUPPO SOSTENIBILE: UN'ANALISI COMPARATA DELLE FONTI [Capitolo/Saggio]
F., Scaringella; F., Bebber; P., Campani; L., Ceranovi; C., Varri Fornaciari; Ghermandi, Grazia; M., Ferrari; G., Iemmi; G., Rompianesi
abstract

Il lavoro esamina i possibili bacini di occupazione legati alle valenze delle tematiche ambientali emergenti

2003 - ELEMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF INSOLUBILE ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL IN EPICA ICE CORE SAMPLES, USING PIXE ANALYSES [Articolo su rivista]
F., Marino; Ghermandi, Grazia; V., Maggi
abstract

Ice samples from EPICA core have been filtered and the collected insoluble particles have been analysed by PIXE; the element concentration records have been determined and correlated with dust mass concentration.

2003 - ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION DETERMINED BY PIXE ANALYSIS OF THE INSOLUBLE AEROSOL PARTICLES IN EPICA-DOME C ICE CORE SAMPLES REPRESENTING THE LAST 27000 YEARS [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; M., Capotosto; F., Marino
abstract

107 samples from the first 581 m of the EPICA ice core, Dome C, East Antarctica, representing a 27000 year record, were analysed by the PIXE technique. The concentrations of several elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe) were determined in the insoluble particles, collected by filtration from the melted ice samples. The average elemental ratios for Holocene and LGM are in agreement with continental crust values. The element depositional fluxes, evaluated from PIXE concentration data by means of the EPICA ice accumulation rate, are smaller in the Holocene than during Glacial times, confirming the differences in dust loads in the atmosphere during the contrasting climatic conditions. In Holocene, the fraction of the insoluble particle mass (estimated as the sum of the measured element oxides) agrees well with the total dust mass as determined from Coulter Counter measurements, but during the LGM the particle counting shows a larger dust mass.

2003 - MASS BALANCE OF FREE TROPOSPHERIC AEROSOL AT THE PUY DE DÔME (FRANCE) IN WINTER [Articolo su rivista]
K., Sellegri; P., Laj; F., Peron; R., Dupuy; M., Legrand; S., Preunkert; J. P., Putaud; H., Cachier; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The size-segregated chemical composition of aerosols was investigated during winters 2000 and 2001 at Puy de Dome (1465 m above sea level, France), a site most of the time located in the free troposphere. Aerosols have been sampled using low-pressure cascade impactors (Electrical Low Pressure Impactor (ELPI) and Small Deposition Impactor (SDI) 13 and 12 stages) and analyzed for inorganic (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, NO3-, and SO42-) and organic (HCOO-, CH3COO-, and C2O42-) ions, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), insoluble dust, and total mass. Under cloudy conditions, the sampling includes interstitial aerosol as well as the residue of evaporated cloud droplets. Aerosols (and residues of cloud droplets) were sampled in different air masses, which can be classified into three different categories according to their aerosol load and composition: background (BG), anthropogenic (ANT), and specific events (EV) that include advection of Saharan dust and upward transport from the polluted boundary layer to the site. On the basis of the presence or absence of coarse sea-salt particles, a further classification permits us to distinguish air masses that have or have not been exposed to the ocean. A closed mass balance is achieved on submicron ranges (mean departure of 18.5%) for the three main air mass categories, providing a reliable description of main aerosol types in the west European free troposphere. The total aerosol mass at 50% relative humidity is close to 2.7 +/- 0.6 mg m(-3) in BG, 5.3 +/- 1.0 mg m(-3) in ANT, and 15 to 22 mg m(-3) in EV air masses. The aerosol mass distribution generally exhibits two submicron modes (Acc1 at 0.2 +/- 0.1 mm and Acc2 at 0.5 +/- 0.2 mm geometric mean diameter (calculated for every impactor stage) and a supermicron mode (2 +/- 1 mm). Aerosols exhibit a high degree of external mixing with carbonaceous (EC and OC) and ionic species associated with Acc1 and Acc2. Concentrations of light carboxylates and mineral dust never exceed 4% of the total content of analyzed compounds, except for a Saharan dust event during which the contribution of insoluble dust reaches 26% of the total aerosol mass. Depending on the sampled air mass, bulk water-soluble inorganic species and carbonaceous material account for 25-70% and 15-60% of the total mass, respectively. The OC fraction is higher in air masses with low aerosol load (53%, 32%, and 22% for BG, ANT, and EV, respectively). Conversely, the EC fraction is enhanced from 4% in BG to 10% in ANT and 14% in EV. The inorganic fraction is more abundant in EV (55%) and ANT (60%) than in BG (40%) air masses as a result of enhanced nitrate and, to a lesser extent, sulfate and ammonium levels.

2003 - Remote sensing for landfill investigations [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; M. P., Bogliolo
abstract

REMOTE SENSING IS APPLIED FOR LANDFILL INVESTIGATIONS.

2003 - The PIXE (Proton-Induced X-rays Emission) Analytical technique to detect insoluble atmospheric microparticles achieved in the EPICA-dome C ice core (Antarctica): paleoclimatic implications [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
F., Marino; V., Maggi; Ghermandi, Grazia; D., Ceccato; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

Element concentration records determined by PIXE in EPICA ice core are in agreement with the principal variations during the different climatic periods and the total dust mass.

2003 - TIME BEHAVIOUR OF METALS IN THE LEACHATE OF A PRETREATED SOLID WASTE LANDFILL [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

THE TIME BEHAVIOUR OF METAL CONCENTRATION DETERMINED BY PIXE IN THE LEACHATE SAMPLES FROM A PRETREATED SOLID WASTE LANDFILL IS PRESENTED

2002 - A NEW ANALYTICAL POURPOSE TO STUDY THE IMPACT OF WATER POTABILIZATION ON HUMIC SUBSTANCE ACTIVITY [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio; Am, Stortini
abstract

The paper presents a a new analytical pourpose based on the evaluation of humic substance activity as trace element scavenger in the study of the effect of water potabilization systems.

2002 - Analysis of urban aerosol sampled in Modena, Italy, with an inertial multistage impactor [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

Element concentrations determined by PIXE in aerosol samples collected in urban area by means of a inertial multistage impactor are presented.

2002 - Caratterizzazione di aerosol urbano a Modena con Impattore inerziale multistadio [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; E., Benedetti; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

Il lavoro descrive i risultati ottenuti analizzando con tecnica PIXE campioni di aerosol raccolti con un impattore inerziale multistadio (SDI) in sito urbano (Modena, ITALIA)

2002 - DISINFECTION PROCESS IMPACT ON WATER QUALITY IN AN AQUEDUCT DISTRIBUTION NET [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; A. M., Stortini; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

A NEW PROCEDURE IS PRESENTED TO EVALUATE THE DISINFECTION PROCESS IMPACT ON WATER QUALITY IN AN AQUEDUCT DISTRIBUTION NET

2002 - Mappatura forestale sulla provincia di modena da immagini ETM+ e IKONOS [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Ghermandi, Grazia; M. C., Ferrari; E., Chiari
abstract

In this work is presented a study of some aspects concerning the evaluation of the forest inventory of the territory of the Modena (Italy) district using remote sensing data. The considered sensors are the ETM+ (Landsat7) and the multispectral sensor on board of the IKONOS-2 satellite. In particular, some considerations about the pre-elaboration methods of the data and about the quality of the classification retrieved using the images acquired by the two sensors are presented.

2002 - PIXE analysis of urban aerosol sampled with an inertial multi-stage impactor [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Teggi, Sergio; E., Benedetti
abstract

PIXE ANALYSIS OF URBAN AEROSOL SAMPLES COLLECTED WITH AN INERTIAL 12-STAGE IMPACTOR IN THE PARTICLE SIZE RANGE 8-0.04 MICRON IS PRESENTED

2002 - Remote sensing images for environmental applications [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

In this work we present two examples of how information extracted from images acquired by imaging radiometers (remote sensing), installed on board of satellites, is used in support of local territory management. In the first case, the remote sensing images used were acquired over the district of Modena (Italy) by the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensor, on board of Landsat5 satellite, and by the panchromatic sensor of the IRS-1C satellite. The images were used to build a georeferenced map showing urban details, validated to the 1:10000 scale that can be inserted in the cartographic data set used for regional planning to the 1:25000 scale. In the second example we describe an experiment, still under progress, concerning the employment of remote sensing images for forest inventory of the Modena territory. The images considered were acquired by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+, Landsat7 satellite) sensor and by the Ikonos sensor (Ikonos satellite). In this case the images are used to produce thematic maps of vegetation (forests in particular). The objective of the experiment is to furnish indications regarding the capability of the two sensors in mapping vegetation in the specific area and the most appropriate methods of images elaboration for the evaluation of the thematic maps. At the moment, being the experiment under progress, the only consideration that we can furnish, taking into account the needs of the local users of the vegetation maps, is that the maps extracted from Ikonos images, have a spatial scale suitable for many applications, but it contains few vegetation classes. On the contrary, classifications obtained from ETM+ data contain various classes of vegetation, but it coarser spatial scale restricts their use. The final results and considerations of this work will be available, and then presented, during the meeting.

2001 - CHEMICAL MASS BALANCE OF AEROSOLS IN THE FREE TROSPOSPHERIC SITE OF PUY DE DOME (CENTRAL FRANCE) [Abstract in Rivista]
K., Sellegri; F., Peron; P., Laj; M., Legrand; J. L., Jaffrezo; H., Cachier; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

A CHEMICAL MASS BALANCE OF AEROSOLS IN THE FREE TROSPOSPHERIC SITE OF PUY DE DOME (CENTRAL FRANCE) IS PRESENTED.

2001 - Estrazione di parametri superficiali da immagini ETM+ per modelli di dispersione di inquinanti in atmosfera [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Teggi, Sergio; M. P., Bogliolo; C., Gariazzo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

We present the first results of a study aimed to use data retrieved from remote sensing as input to pollutants atmospheric dispersion models. These models require data on the local meteorological conditions and on the physical characteristics of the surface to model the dynamic of the first atmospheric layers. The surface parameters are usually assigned to a land use map on the basis of tables of reference mean values. Remotely sensed data can give a direct, up-to-date, spatially continuous information on some of these parameters. In this work we extract an empirical relation to calculate the surface albedo from Landsat 7 ETM+ images; the results are compared with reference mean values available from literature. The effects of the found differences on the model are evaluated by comparing maps of net radiation calculated with the equation used in the SPRAY dispersion model used at ISPESL.

2001 - TRACE ELEMENT BEHAVIOUR IN DRINKING WATER DURING THE DISINFECTION PROCESS [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Am, Stortini; Lombroso, Luca; Teggi, Sergio
abstract

THE TRACE ELEMENT BEHAVIOUR DEREMINED BY PIXE ANALYSIS IN DRINKING WATER SAMPLES COLLECTED DURING THE DISINFECTION PROCESS IS PRESENTED

2000 - DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS IN ICE CORE SAMPLES OF THE LAST 30000 YEARS [Abstract in Rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; M., Capotosto
abstract

The concentrations of several elements ( Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca Ti, Cr, Mg, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) were measured in the insoluble fraction of ice samples from an Anctartic ice core of about 700 m depth. The insoluble particles were collected by filtration from melted samples. The element concentrations were determined by PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) with measurement errors generally lower than 10%. The concentration trends were related to temperature profile, obtained from the behavior of D (that dated about 30000 years over the core), to compare the climate variability with the precipitation composition.

2000 - PALUDE DI CONA: CIRCOLAZIONE IDRICA E TRASPORTO DEI METALLI PESANTI [Capitolo/Saggio]
R., Zonta; Ghermandi, Grazia; L., Marotta; L., Zaggia
abstract

Viene presentata una sintesi dei principali risultati ottenuti nello studio della circolazione idrica e del comportamento dei metalli pesanti nella palude di Cona (Laguna di Venezia).

2000 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENTS IN ANTARCTIC ICE SAMPLES FROM EPICA [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; M., Capotosto; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENTS HAVE BEEN DETERMINED BY PIXE IN ANTARCTIC ICE SAMPLES FROM EPICA ICE CORE.

2000 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN MARINE ENVIRONMENT [Capitolo/Saggio]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

A review of PIXE technique application in the study of marine environment is presented : sample treatment and experimental set up for the analyses of marine aerosol, marine water, sedimet and pore water specimen are described.

2000 - POTENZIALITA' DELLA TECNICA PIXE NELLO STUDIO DELLA DISTRIBUZIONE DEGLI ELEMENTI IN TRACCE IN LAGUNA DI VENEZIA [Capitolo/Saggio]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Il lavoro descrive le metodologie messe a punto per applicare la tecnica PIXE nello studio del sistema lagunare veneziano.

2000 - Proton Induced X-Ray Emission in Environmental Analysis [Voce in Dizionario o Enciclopedia]
Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

A depth review on Proton Induced X-Ray Emission in Environmental Analysis

1999 - Elemental and mineral characterisation of coastal antarctic aerosols in snow using PIXE and SEM-EDAX [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; P., Laj; M., Capotosto; Cecchi, Rodolfo; C., Riontino
abstract

The chemical constituents of snow from a 3 m pit sampled at a coastal Antarctic site were characterised by means of PIXE and SEM-EDAX. Oxygen isotope dating revealed that the pit spanned an 8-year period. from 1986 to 1994. Concentrations measured by PIXE ranged from less than 1 ng g(-1) of H2O for Cu, and Zn to several tens of ng g(-1) for Si, S and Cl. The major elements found were Si, S, Al, and Na, which contributed more than 75% of the element loading. Snow layers with elevated Cl concentration were regularly found along the pit. The mineralogy of the insoluble particles determined by SEM-EDAX analyses showed that quartz, plagioclase and clays were the prevalent minerals. The proportion of each element in the insoluble phase was comparable with that previously found in similar studies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

1999 - FACTOR ANALYSIS APPLIED TO MICRO-PIXE MEASUREMENTS OF AEROSOL SAMPLES [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Lusvarghi, Luca
abstract

FACTOR ANALYSIS IS APPLIED TO MICRO-PIXE MEASUREMENTS OF AEROSOL SAMPLES TO STUDY MIXING OF AEROSOL PARTICLE COMPOSITION

1999 - SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF ELEMENTS AND MINERALS IN COASTAL ANTARCTIC AEROSOLS BY MEANS OF PIXE AND SEM-EDAX ANALYSES OF SNOW SAMPLES [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; P., Laj; M., Capotosto; Cecchi, Rodolfo; C., Riontino; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

SEASONAL VARIABILITY OF ELEMENTS AND MINERAL CONCENTRATION IN COASTAL ANTARCTIC AEROSOLS IS DETERMINED BY MEANS OF PIXE AND SEM-EDAX ANALYSES OF SNOW SAMPLES COLLECTED DURING PNRA CAMPAIGN

1998 - ENVIRONMENT AND NEW PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND TERRITORIAL ENGINEER [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY INVOLVES NEW PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND TERRITORIAL ENGINEER IS DISCUSSED

1998 - PIXE APPLICATION IN THE STUDY OF POLLUTANT ENRICHMENT IN MARINE AEROSOLS [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; A. M., Stortini; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

POLLUTANT ENRICHMENT IN MARINE AEROSOLS IS STUDIED BY MEANS OF PIXE MEASUREMENTS OF AEROSOL SAMPLES FROM SEA WATER

1998 - SOLUBLE/INSOLUBLE SPECIATION OF LIGHT ELEMENTS IN POLAR ICE AS MEASURED BY PIXE AND SEM-EDAX [Articolo su rivista]
P., Laj; Ghermandi, Grazia; V., Maggi
abstract

THE SPECIATION OF LIGHT ELEMENTS IN SOLUBLE/INSOLUBLE SAMPLES FROM POLAR ICE IS DETERMINED BY PIXE AND SEM-EDAX MEASUREMENTS

1997 - Distribution Models of Pollutants in the Marine Environment [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Major, minor and trace chemical components are involved in marine geochemical cycles. This work is also focused on the development and applications of analytical techniques for accurate determination of element concentration in seawater, and on the effect of pollution on the marine environment, since small quantities of other elements may have a significant influence on global chemical cycling.

1997 - Distribution of Ca, Fe, K, and S between soluble and insoluble material in the Greenland Ice Core Project ice core [Articolo su rivista]
P., Laj; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; V., Maggi; C., Riontino; S. M., Hong; J. P., Candelone; C., Boutron
abstract

We have developed an original method coupling particle induced X ray emission and scanning electron microscope/X ray dispersive analysis in order to characterize the partitioning of Fe, Ca, K, and S between the soluble and the insoluble phases in wind-blown deposits in the Greenland ice. We applied this technique to several sections of the Greenland Ice Core Project ice core. We found that the dominant fraction (from 25 to 100%) of Ca and S deposited in Greenland is soluble, while the proportion of soluble material is lower for K and Fe (between 10 and 80%). For all elements the distribution between soluble and insoluble material varies according to the ice-core depth. The distribution appears to be linked to either meteorological factors, such as temperature or pH of the precipitation (in the case of Ca or S), or the alterability of the mineral assemblages found in the ice (in the case of Fe and K). The fraction of soluble material is therefore linked to the characteristics of source origin (S is predominantly emitted in very soluble forms) and to the dissolution of certain minerals (such as calcium carbonate or Fe-oxides) during transport in the atmosphere. The dynamics of alteration processes is, however, still uncertain, especially for K-containing minerals.

1997 - STUDY OF URBAN AEROSOL BY MEANS OF PIXE AND MICRO-PIXE [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; Lombroso, Luca; Lusvarghi, Luca
abstract

URBAN AEROSOL COMPOSITION IS STUDIED BY MEANS OF PIXE AND MICRO-PIXE

1996 - Coupling PIXE and SEM/EDAX for characterizing atmospheric aerosols in ice-cores [Articolo su rivista]
P., Laj; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; D., Ceccato
abstract

The atmospheric aerosol plays a key role in controlling the Earth's climatic system. This climatic forcing is related to its dimension and chemical composition and therefore, understanding temporal and spatial fluctuations related to changing environmental conditions is a key step in assessing future climatic change. The atmosphere's chemical constituents are deposited onto polar ice sheets, and conserved by accumulation of snow layers. Drillings in Greenland and Antarctica have provided long-term records of atmospheric constituents spanning the last 150 000 years. Within the framework of the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP), we have developed a methodology coupling PIXE to SEM-EDAX analysis for the characterization of the aerosols deposited in polar precipitation. In this paper, we present initial results on soluble/insoluble speciation for both Antarctic and Greenland samples. This study provides new information in the interpretation of ice core paleo-environmental records.

1996 - EMISSIONE X INDOTTA DA PROTONI [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

IL LAVORO DESCRIVE IL PRINCIPIO FISICO, LE POTENZIALITA' E LE APPLICAZIONI DELLA TECNICA PIXE

1996 - GEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN VENICE LAGOON BY PIXE TECHNIQUE: AN OVERVIEW [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; R., Zonta
abstract

The work is a review of the investigation carried on for about ten years on the study of the distribution of pollutant metals in Venice lagoon system by means of PIXE technique for sediment, pore water and surface water sample analysis.

1996 - PALEOCLIMATIC STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS IN ICE CORE [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; P., Laj; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOL COMPOSITION IS DETERMINED FROM PIXE ANALYSIS OF ICE CORE SAMPLES TO SUPPORT PALEOCLIMATIC STUDY

1996 - Procedures of target preparation to improve PIXE efficiency in environmental research [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; P., Laj
abstract

The capability of the PIXE technique to investigate trace elements in the environment (non-living phases) can be improved by suitable target preparation procedures. This work describes the methodologies performed to apply PIXE in the study of a coastal lagoon ecosystem, with fresh and sea water, surface bottom sediment and pore water analysis, and to approach glaciochemical research, with analysis of atmospheric aerosols deposited in firn and ice.

1996 - Toxic levels of selenium in enzymes and selenium uptake in tissues of a marine fish [Articolo su rivista]
L., Tallandini; Cecchi, Rodolfo; S., Deboni; S., Galassini; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Gialanella; N. Q., Liu; R., Moro; M., Turchetto; Y. X., Zhang
abstract

Acute toxicity of selenium as selenite in Zosterisessor ophiocephalus by ip injection was studied. The 50% lethal dose and 50% lethal time were measured to be 0.29 ppm and 96 h, respectively. Se concentrations in liver, gill, skin and muscle, and Cyt. P450 level, Se-GPx, and Total GPx enzyme activities in liver were also assessed at different doses and times after injection. Starting at 0.3 ppm injected dose, enzyme activities and Se concentration in tissues, but not in muscle, showed significant differences from the control group. A threshold behavior was inferred. Normal conditions of enzyme activities and Se concentration in tissues were restored about 1 wk after injection. Biological elimination half-lives were about 2 d for liver and gill, and 5 d for skin.

1995 - DEVELOPMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH OF FISAMB MO PIXE GROUP [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; M., Capotosto; Cecchi, Rodolfo; P., Laj; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

THE DEVELOPMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH ACTIVITY AT LNL OF FISAMB MO PIXE GROUP ARE PRESENTED

1995 - SELECTIVE DISSOLUTION OF OXIDES AND SULFIDES IN SEDIMENT SAMPLES: A CONTROL OF NH2OH.HCI EXTRACTION [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
L., Zaggia; F., Collavini; Ghermandi, Grazia; R., Zonta
abstract

Selective metal extraction from sludge samples from Venice lagoon canals is discussed.

1995 - SOME TYPICAL ASPECTS OF WATER CIRCULATION AND MIXING IN AN ESTUARY OF THE VENICE LAGOON [Abstract in Rivista]
R., Zonta; L., Zaggia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; S., Raccanelli; S., Vazzoler; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

THE WORK DESCRIBES SOME TYPICAL ASPECTS OF WATER CIRCULATION AND MIXING IN AN ESTUARY OF THE VENICE LAGOON

1995 - TRACE METAL DISTRIBUTION IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS AS STUDIED BY PIXE ANALYSIS OF WATER AND SEDIMENT [Abstract in Rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The work describes PIXE application to investigate pollution progress and pollutant distribution in Venice lagoon aquatic system.

1994 - A filtration system for the size separation of fresh water samples [Articolo su rivista]
R., Zonta; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; F., Simionato; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

A system to filter freshwater samples in situ in the field is described, using polycarbonate membranes. It was developed and tested with respect to the conventional filtration method, both for its efficiency and for the effect on for its efficiency and for the effect on heavy metal concentrations in the filtrates. A marked reduction of filtration time is obtained and the possibility to carry out one stage filtrations that otherwise would need the filter to be changed. PIXE analysis generally shows an increase of heavy metal concentrations in the filtrates; this is accompanied by a smaller data spread in sub-samples obtained by repeated filtrations, indicating a higher capability in maintaining the nominal membrane pore size during operations, which produces a better dimensional selection. The system is suitable to perform immediate filtration of numerous fresh water samples to be treated in heavy metal pollution assessments.

1994 - Heavy metals distribution in pore water of the Cona marsh: a preliminary investigation on surface sediment [Articolo su rivista]
C., Zago; F., Costa; L., Zaggia; R., Zonta; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo
abstract

The work describes the results of a preliminary investigation on surface sediment of the Cona marsh (Venice lagoon) ; heavy metal concentration in pore water extracted from sediment samples has been determined by PIXE analysis.

1994 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF PORE WATER TO STUDY TRACE METAL DISTRIBUTION IN BOTTOM SEDIMENT CORES FROM VENICE LAGOON [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

PIXE ANALYSIS OF PORE WATER ARE PERFORMED TO STUDY TRACE METAL DISTRIBUTION IN BOTTOM SEDIMENT CORES AND EXCHANGE WITH SURFACE WATER IN VENICE LAGOON

1994 - TRACE ELEMENTS IN SPRING WATER FROM NORTHERN APENNINES (ITALY) [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Ghermandi, Grazia; A., Colombetti; M., Capotosto
abstract

Chemical/physical parameters and trace element concentration measured in spring water from Northern Apennines (Italy) are presented.

1993 - GEOCHEMICAL STUDY ON THE STRANDLINE GLACIER, TERRA NOVA BAY, ANTARCTICA [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; M., Meneghel; G. P., Sighinolfi
abstract

Ice samples from Strandline glacier (Antarctica) collected during PNRA Campaign have been analyzed by PIXE and a geochemical study of the glacier has been performed.

1993 - TRACE ELEMENTS IN POLAR ICE. INVESTIGATION OF THEIR PAST VARIATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; P., Laj; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

The past variation of trace element concentration in atmosphere is studied by PIXE analysis of polar ice samples.

1993 - Trace metal behaviour during fresh and salt water mixing in the Venice Lagoon [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; D., Campolieti; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; L., Zaggia; R., Zonta
abstract

Preliminary results of an investigation on trace metals behaviour in the estuarine system of the Dese River (Venice Lagoon) are described. Hydrodynamical and water chemical-physical measurements and PIXE concentrations analysis on size-fractionated samples emphasize the complexity of the processes occurring in the area of salt and fresh water mixing. Suspended load variations in the bottom layer of the water column, which may be mostly ascribed to resuspension, regulate the trace metal concentrations and seem to play a fundamental role in the transport of pollutants in shallow water areas of the estuary. The behaviour of dissolved metals is masked by the presence of suspended matter, but some relationships with chemical-physical variables are distinguishable, furnishing information on the processes affecting their concentration in the system.

1992 - GEOCHEMICAL AND CHEMICAL PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A POLLUTED MUD FLAT IN THE VENICE LAGOON [Articolo su rivista]
R., Zonta; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; F., Pini; G., Perin; P., Traverso; S., Vazzoler; E., Argese
abstract

The paper describes the characterization, by means of chemical and chemical/physical methods, of sediment samples collected from a polluted mud flad in the Venice lagoon.

1992 - INDAGINE PRELIMINARE SULLA DISTRIBUZIONE DEI METALLI PESANTI NELL'ACQUA INTERSTIZIALE DEI SEDIMENTI DELLA PALUDE DI CONA (LAGUNA DI VENEZIA) [Abstract in Rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; C., Zago; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; R., Zonta
abstract

IL LAVORO DESCRIVE L'INDAGINE PRELIMINARE SVOLTA CON LA TECNICA PIXE SULLA DISTRIBUZIONE DEI METALLI PESANTI NELL'ACQUA INTERSTIZIALE DEI SEDIMENTI DELLA PALUDE DI CONA (LAGUNA DI VENEZIA)

1992 - INVESTIGATION ON DISSOLVED AND SUSPENDED HEAVY METALS OF THE DESE RIVER (VENICE LAGOON) [Abstract in Rivista]
L., Zaggia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; F., Simionato; R., Zonta
abstract

THE INVESTIGATION ON DISSOLVED AND SUSPENDED HEAVY METALS OF THE DESE RIVER (VENICE LAGOON) DEREMINED BY PIXE IS DESCRIBED

1992 - THE STUDY OF ANTARCTIC ICE BY MEANS OF PIXE TECHNIQUE: AN APPLICATION PERFORMED BY FISAMB-MO GROUP IN 1991 [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; D., Campolieti; Ghermandi, Grazia; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

The work describes the experimental set-up and the target preparation performed for PIXE analysis of ice samples.

1991 - FISAMB-MO ACTIVITY IN 1990: METHODOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND PIXE APPLICATION TO STUDY SEDIMENTATION IN VENICE LAGOON [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; V., Dallari; Ghermandi, Grazia; Lombroso, Luca
abstract

THE WORK DESCRIBES THE METHODOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND THE PIXE APPLICATION OF THE RESEARCH GROUP IN THE STUDY OF SEDIMENTATION PHENOMENA IN VENICE LAGOON

1991 - TRACE AND ULTRATRACE ELEMENTS DETERMINED BY PIXE IN NATURAL WATERS AND SEDIMENTS TO STUDY POLLUTANT DISTRIBUTION AND THEIR TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The work describes systems, devices and methods for environmental research by means of PIXE technique.

1991 - Trace metal distribution in aquatic systems studied by PIXE analysis of water and sediment [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; R., Zonta
abstract

The PIXE technique is used to measure trace metal concentrations in water and sediment samples collected in the Venice Lagoon (northern Italy) to investigate pollution progress and metal distribution mechanisms. The metal enrichment in suspended particulates has been evaluated in a test area of the Lagoon, along the stream of an inflowing river and at its mouth, in order to study the effect of water mixing and retarded hydrodynamics on metal transfer and sedimentation phenomena.

1990 - GEOCHEMICAL AND CHEMICAL-PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A POLLUTED MUD FLAD IN THE VENICE LAGOON [Abstract in Rivista]
E., Argese; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Perin; R., Pini; P., Traverso; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

THE GEOCHEMICAL AND CHEMICAL-PHYSICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF A POLLUTED MUD FLAD IN THE VENICE LAGOON IS DETAILED

1990 - PIXE ANALYSIS TO STUDY METAL DIFFUSION AND SEDIMENTATION PHENOMENA IN VENICE LAGOON [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; R., Zonta
abstract

A chemical procedure to prepare thin targets from surface water, pore water and leached sediment samples for PIXE analysis is performed and applied to Venice lagoon system study.

1990 - PROGRESS IN PIXE ANALYSIS OF AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

THE WORK REFERS THE PROGRESS OF THE PIXE RESEARCH GROUP IN THE ANALYSIS OF AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES

1990 - SELENIUM LEVELS ( AS DETERMINED BY PIXE ) AND METABOLIC EFFECTS AFTER SELENIUM EXPOSURE IN MARINE FISH [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
L., Talladini; M., Turchetto; S., Galassini; Q. X., Liu; H. R., Shao; G. Moschini R., Moro; G., Gialanella; Ghermandi, Grazia; Cecchi, Rodolfo; J., Injuk; V., Valkovic
abstract

The study reports results on Se acute toxicity bioaccumulation and biochemical interactions in marine fish after Na2SeO3 intraperitoneal iniection.

1990 - SPECTRE: A program for ultra trace PIXE analysis of thin targets [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; M. G., Ferrari; Ghermandi, Grazia; M., Rossi
abstract

The SPECTRE program for PIXE data handling is described: it is based mainly on experimental parameters both in spectrum shape modelling and line intensity and transmission effect evaluation.

1989 - APPLICAZIONE DELLA TECNICA PIXE NEL CONTROLLO SISTEMATICO DEL TRASPORTO E DELL'ACCUMULO DI INQUINANTI NELLA LAGUNA DI VENEZIA [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

VIENE DESCRITTA UNA APPLICAZIONE DELLA TECNICA PIXE NEL CONTROLLO SISTEMATICO DEL TRASPORTO E DELL'ACCUMULO DI INQUINANTI NELLA LAGUNA DI VENEZIA

1989 - LE CONDIZIONI AMBIENTALI NELLE ZONE MARGINALI DELLA LAGUNA DI VENEZIA [Abstract in Rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

IL LAVORO DESCRIVE L'APPLICAZIONE DELLA TECNICA PIXE NELLO STUDIO DELLE CONDIZIONI AMBIENTALI NELLE ZONE MARGINALI DELLA LAGUNA DI VENEZIA

1989 - NATURAL WATER AND SEDIMENT PIXE ANALYSIS IN POLLUTANT CIRCULATION CHECKING: TRACE METAL MEASURE AND DATA REDUCTION [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; M. G., Ferrari; Ghermandi, Grazia; M., Rossi
abstract

NATURAL WATER AND SEDIMENT PIXE ANALYSIS SUPPORTS POLLUTANT CIRCULATION STUDY: TRACE METAL MEASUREMENTS AND DATA REDUCTION SYSTEM ARE DISCUSSED

1989 - NATURALLY OCCURRING LEVELS OF ELEMENTS IN FISHES AS DETERMINED BY PIXE AND XRF METHODS [Articolo su rivista]
L., Tallandini; F., Giacobini; M., Turchetto; S., Galassini; Q. X., Liu; H. R., Sharo; G., Moschini; R., Moro; G., Gialanella; J., Injuk; V., Valkovic; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

Naturally occurring levels of elements in fishes are evaluated by PIXE and XRF in order to study element up take by fishes from polluted natural waters.

1989 - NATURALLY OCCURRING LEVELS OF ELEMENTS IN FISHES AS DETERMINED BY PIXE AND XRF METHODS [Articolo su rivista]
L., Tallandini; F., Giacobini; M., Turchetto; S., Galassini; Q. X., Liu; H. R., Sharo; G., Moschini; R., Moro; G., Gialanella; J., Injuk; V., Valkovic; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

THE NATURALLY OCCURRING LEVELS OF ELEMENTS IN FISHES ARE DETERMINED BY PIXE AND XRF METHODS

1989 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF WATERS IN CHECKING POLLUTANT TRANSFER IN SHALLOW WATERS [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; R., Zonta
abstract

Heavy metal concentration, mesured by means of PIXE technique in sea water samples, are used as a "tracer" for a transefr modelling.

1988 - A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF HEAVY METALS IN SURFACE SEDIMENTS OF THE CONA TIDAL MARSH (VENICE LAGOON) [Articolo su rivista]
S., Bernardi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

The paper presents the correlation between heavy metals concentration in surface bottom sediments of Venice lagoon and polluted souce sites.

1988 - HEAVY METALS IN A SHALLOW ESTUARY OF THE VENICE LAGOON [Abstract in Rivista]
E., Argese; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Perin; P., Traverso; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATION IS DETERMINED BY PIXE IN A SHALLOW ESTUARY OF THE VENICE LAGOON

1988 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF WATER AND SEDIMENT SAMPLES TO SUPPORT POLLUTANT TRANSFER MODELLING [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

TRACE ELEMENT CONCENTRATIONS RESULTING FROM PIXE ANALYSIS OF WATER AND SEDIMENT SAMPLES ARE USED TO SUPPORT POLLUTANT TRANSFER MODELLING

1988 - POLLUTION IN ESTUARINE AREAS AT THE LAND-VENICE LAGOON INTERFACE [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
R., Zonta; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Perin; S., Vazzoler
abstract

The metal concentration in surface sediment and in shallow water of an estuarine area in the Venice lagoon are compared.

1987 - I METALLI PESANTI NEI SEDIMENTI SUPERFICIALI DI UN ESTUARIO IN ACQUE BASSE NELLA LAGUNA DI VENEZIA. CONSIDERAZIONI SULL`IMPOSTAZIONE DI UN MODELLO DI SEDIMENTAZIONE E RIMOBILIZZAZIONE [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
S., Bernardi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

Il lavoro esamina la distribuzione di metalli pesanti misurati con tecnica PIXE nel sedimento di fondale di una zona estuarina in laguna di Venezia.

1987 - LAGUNA DI VENEZIA: STUDIO DI PROCESSI DI TRASPORTO, DIFFUSIONE E SEDIMENTAZIONE DI INQUINANTI. CARATTERISTICHE IDROLOGICHE E CHIMICO FISICHE DI UNA ZONA TEST [Abstract in Rivista]
S., Bernardi; F., Costa; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; S., Vazzoler; R., Zonta
abstract

LO STUDIO DI PROCESSI DI TRASPORTO, DIFFUSIONE E SEDIMENTAZIONE DI INQUINANTI IN LAGUNA DI VENEZIA VIENE FOCALIZZATO SULLE CARATTERISTICHE IDROLOGICHE E CHIMICO FISICHE DI UNA ZONA TEST, AVVALENDOSI DELLA TECNICA PIXE.

1987 - ULTRATRACE PIXE ANALYSIS IN WATER WITH LOW SELECTIVE METAL PRECONCENTRATION AT VARIOUS PH [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Calvelli
abstract

A procedure is described for the preparation of trace and ultratrace targets for PIXE analysis from water samples.

1986 - CALIBRATION PIXE MEASUREMENTS OF HEAVY METALS IN SOLUTIONS AT ULTRATRACE CONCENTRATIONS [Articolo su rivista]
E., Bellei; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

PIXE MEASUREMENTS OF HEAVY METALS IN SOLUTIONS AT ULTRATRACE CONCENTRATIONS ARE USED TO CALIBRATE THE EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

1986 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METALS IN WATERS AT SUB-PPB LEVELS [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Calvelli; P., Mittner
abstract

The paper describes a preconcentration technique suitable for PIXE analysis of heavy metals in water samples at sub-ppb levels

1986 - THE USE OF ACCELERATORS IN ENVIROMENTAL STUDY [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

The work dscribes the capability of PESA, PIGE and PIXE techniques when applied in environmental research.

1986 - TRASFERIMENTO DI ACQUA DOLCE E DI INQUINANTI NELLA LAGUNA DI VENEZIA [Articolo su rivista]
S., Bernardi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; Ghermandi, Grazia; S., Vazzoler
abstract

Il lavoro tratta i flussi di massa di acqua dolce ed il trasporto di inquinanti attraverso la laguna di Venezia verso il mare Adriatico.

1985 - LAGOON OF VENICE: FRESH WATER AND POLLUTANT TRANSFER [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
S., Bernardi; F., Costa; S., Vazzoler; Z., Vincenzi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni
abstract

Data from periodical field measurements carried on in the more important rivers and canals which empty into venice lagoon are reported.

1984 - ANALISI PIXE DI ACQUE MARINE PER LA MESSA A PUNTO DI MODELLI DI CIRCOLAZIONE [Abstract in Rivista]
E., Bellei; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

ANALISI PIXE DI ACQUE MARINE VENGONO UTILIZZATE PER LA MESSA A PUNTO DI MODELLI DI CIRCOLAZIONE

1984 - CALIBRATION AND ERRORS IN THE DETECTION OF HEAVY METALS IN FRESH AND SEA WATER BY PIXE IN THE PPB-PPM RANGE [Articolo su rivista]
Aprilesi, Giancarlo; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; Magnoni, Gaetano; Santangelo, Renato
abstract

A methodology for the simultaneous detection of several heavy metals in water samples is described in detail. Targets were chemically prepared by preconcentration of the metals. Characteristics of the proton beam and X-ray detection are summarized. The concentration was obtained by using an internal standard in the range ppb-ppm. The method was tested by calibration with samples of known concentration. The subtraction of background and the data processing are discussed. The error in each concentration is evaluated.

1984 - CALIBRATION AND ERRORS IN THE DETECTION OF HEAVY METALS IN FRESH AND SEA WATERS BY PIXE IN THE ppb-ppm RANGE [Articolo su rivista]
G., Aprilesi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni; Santangelo, Renato
abstract

The paper describes the experimental calibration (with measurement errors) of a PIXE set up, for the determination of HEAVY METALS IN FRESH AND SEA WATER samples in the ppb-ppm concentration RANGE

1984 - POSSIBLE USE OF PIXE IN THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES OF HEAVY ELEMENTS [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; R., Santangelo
abstract

PIXE is suited for determination of abundances of heavy elements in nearly all the phases of the biogeochemical cycles involving water and atmosphere.

1983 - PIXE MULTI-ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN SEDIMENTS [Abstract in Atti di Convegno]
G., Aprilesi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni; S., Pugnaghi; R., Santangelo
abstract

TARGET PREPARATION AND SET-UP FOR PIXE MULTI-ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN SEDIMENT SAMPLES IS DESCRIBED

1983 - TRANSFER OF FRESH WATER AND POLLUTANTS INTO THE LAGOON OF VENICE [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
S., Bernardi; F., Costa; S., Vazzoler; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni
abstract

The paper describes and evaluates the fresh water contribution cpming from the mainland and flowing into the Lagoon.

1983 - TRANSFER OF HEAVY ELEMENTS INTO THE SEA : DETECTION BY PROTON INDUCED X-RAY EMISSION (PIXE) [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; F., Costa; G., Galli; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni
abstract

PIXE technique is applied to detect heavy elements at trace concentration in natural water samples from Venice lagoon.

1982 - HIGH WATER IN VENICE [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
R., Santangelo; A., Tomasin; Ghermandi, Grazia; Pugnaghi, Sergio; P., Canestrelli
abstract

A statistical model capable of forecasting high water and low water in Venice is discussed.

1982 - High water in Venice ( flood forecasting) [Capitolo/Saggio]
Santangelo, R.; Tomasin, A.; Ghermandi, G.; Pugnaghi, S.; Canastrelli, P.
abstract

Statistical and deterministic models capable of forecasting high and low water in Venice, Italy are discussed. Using data on atmospheric pressure, wind fields and sea levels, measured up to 30 hours before, as input to the model, a short term flood warning (about 6 hours in advance) is possible. The city authority is currently using the model to warn the population.-from Authors

1982 - PIXE ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METALS IN WATER SAMPLES [Articolo su rivista]
E., Angeli; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; R., Santangelo
abstract

A TARGET PREPARATION PROCEDURE IS PERFORMED FOR PIXE ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METALS IN WATER SAMPLES

1982 - PROTECTION OF THE CITY OF VENICE AND ITS LAGOON : FLOW OF FRESH WATER AND POLLUTANTS INTO THE LAGOON [Relazione in Atti di Convegno]
S., Bernardi; F., Costa; R., Santangelo; S., Vazzoler; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni
abstract

Environmental Quality control of the Lagoon of Venice is approached by selecting as a key point the budget of matter (water, salt, pollutants) and energy.

1981 - ANALISI ARMONICA SUI VALORI NORMALI DI PARAMETRI METEOROLOGICI [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni; M., Menziani; M. R., Rivasi
abstract

L'ANALISI ARMONICA VIENE EFFETTUATA SUI VALORI NORMALI DI PARAMETRI METEOROLOGICI

1981 - METODOLOGIA DI FILTRAGGIO NUMERICO PER ANALISI DI DATI GEOFISICI CAMPIONATI [Articolo su rivista]
G., Aprilesi; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni; M., Menziani; M. R., Rivasi
abstract

VIENE DESCRITTA UNA METODOLOGIA DI FILTRAGGIO NUMERICO PER ANALISI DI DATI GEOFISICI CAMPIONATI

1981 - MICROELEMENTI NELLE ACQUE NATURALI DELLA PIANURA PADANA CON FLUORESCENZA X INDOTTA DA PROTONI ACCELERATI [Articolo su rivista]
Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; Menziani, Marilena
abstract

Vengono presentati valori di concentrazione detreminati con la tecnica PIXE in acque sotterranee della pianura padana.

1981 - STIMA DELL`ERRORE IN MISURE IDROGEOLOGICHE PIXE DI ELEMENTI METALLICI [Articolo su rivista]
G., Aprilesi; Cecchi, Rodolfo; Ghermandi, Grazia; G., Magnoni
abstract

VIENE EFFETTUATA LA STIMA DELL`ERRORE IN MISURE IDROGEOLOGICHE PIXE DI ELEMENTI METALLICI

1979 - BERSAGLI SOTTILI PER ANALISI MULTIELEMENTALI PIXE SU ACQUE NATURALI [Articolo su rivista]
Ghermandi, Grazia
abstract

VIENE DESCRITTA UNA METODOLOGIA PER PREPARARE BERSAGLI SOTTILI PER ANALISI MULTIELEMENTALI PIXE DA CAMPIONI DI ACQUE NATURALI