نشریه علوم و تکنولوژی محیط زیست
سال بیست و یکم شماره 4 (پیاپی 83، تیر 1398)

Airplanes shuttling in urban context and airport noise are considered as common undesirable environmental effects caused by establishment or development of airports. Airport development has decreased the distance between airport and residential area and this highlights the importance of investigating the effects of the acoustic pollution caused by flights. The purpose of this study is to investigate the amount of acoustic pollution caused by flights in an area around the airport and in the direction of airplanes in Ahvaz. For this purpose, the rate of acoustic balance was measured during a four-month intervals in two day and night turns in 2015. In this study, 70 station were selected, in which sound rate was measured with 3 repetitions. Then the questionnaires a noise annoyance were completed by residents of the study area and the airport staff. According to the results, the average balance of acoustic pressure in day turn and night turn were 68.69 and 65.62 dB respectively. During the measurement, the minimum sound pressure level of 58/81 dB and the maximum sound pressure level of 85/76 dB were recorded in Kooye-Pastorizeh and Aliabad regions. Results show that sound value in all the studied stations is higher than the standard of EPA.

Considering the demands on constructing high energy performance buildings, technical solution is needed to be used for decreasing and improving the energy consumption. One of this solutions is underground energy storage that is considered based on short-term or long-term usage. In this study, a hospital in Tehran city, as a high energy performance building, was investigated. Fluid and heat transfer calculation for heat and cold storage in the building was simulated using MATLAB software for underground pipes. Also heating and cooling loads of the building was calculated by HAP4.5 software and the results were imported to MATLAB software. Then the volume and quality of the 24-hour and seasonal systems and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions were compared. Heating storage system does not reduce the heating and cooling demand of the building, but application of an underground storage can decrease the amount of bought energy and the subsequent environmental damage. The results showed that application of a 24-hour storage system with 15 lines of steel pipes with the length of 600 m and nominal diameter of 3 inches placed in a ground depth of 3 m, yields 67% heating load and 34% cooling load and reduce CO2 emissions by 127 tons per year.  However, application of a 1-year storage system with 45 lines of steel pipes with the same specification placed in a ground depth of 5 m, yields 98% heating load and 39.5% cooling load and reduces CO2 emissions by 169.2 tons per year.

Determining the wastewater quality index of municipal wastewater treatment plant for reuse or disposal purposes has always been an important issue. Therefore, developing a wastewater quality index facilitates the investigation and selection of the best option for wastewater reuse or disposal. Thus, determining the important quality parameters and the level of importance of each parameter in terms of the application of the wastewater are essential. In this study, after determining the important quality parameters by Delphi method, the weight of each factor was calculated using the multi-criteria decision making tools in order to develop the wastewater quality index. Then, the matrix for wastewater quality index was presented by defining the sub-indices for each parameter using the standards for wastewater reuse and disposal and by integration methods. Results indicated that the quality parameters including BOD, COD, TSS, TDS, Fecal Coliform, pH, NH4 PO4 are the most important parameters. Also, developing the wastewater quality index through different methods for reuse and disposal and application of various weights for each parameter was found to be a more accurate and reliable method. This method allows for fast and simple evaluation of wastewater in each treatment plant and comparison of different municipal wastewater treatment plants.

Drought is among the natural disasters which happens in a long period of time and intermittently makes problems for human societies and consequently the economy through negative effects on water resources and agriculture compared to other natural phenomena. Thus, the basic step in drought studies is to select appropriate indicators for each area based on severity, duration and magnitude of drought in the study area. The aim of this study is to select appropriate indicators to classify and determine the degree of severity of the drought and wet and to identify the drought prone regions in South Khorasan province for planning and better management of drought. The values of drought severity were calculated by the desired index for each station using Matlab software. Then, based on the tables for each index, the drought and wet intensities were determined. In this study, the situation of drought in South Khorasan province was evaluated using the drought index, weather percent of normal precipitation (PNPI) and standard methods of index (Z). Since most stations do not cover the long-term (30 years) statistics of precipitation data, the available stations with the precipitation data for period of 24 years (2014- 1990) were used. PNPI index results showed that among the studied stations, Khor Birjand stations with 5 months, Boshrooyeh, Ghain and Ferdous stations with 4 months and Birjand and Nehbandan stations with 3 months has the longest wet period. Drought is in the range of moderate drought to moderate humidity in most stations. The highest Z (wet 1/84) belongs to Nehbandan station in March and most of the stations experience moderate drought in June, July, August, September and October. The two methods show that the drought is in the range of moderate drought to moderate humidity in most of the stations. According to the results of hypothesis evaluation, the drought has been very severe and has led to occurrence of minimum annual precipitation. In this study, PNPI index was found to be a more appropriate index for the region.

Usually uncertainty and risk are the inherent characteristics of implementing large projects. This uncertainty leads to a significant failure of most of the country's projects in achieving their predetermined goals. Most of the previous studies have addressed environmental risk assessment. in this study a problem is proposed in the form of a linear integer programming optimization model to select appropriate risk responses to project risk with an environmental approach. Failure in accurately identifying the risks of construction projects, in addition to increasing the time and cost of final projects, leads to social, environmental and human damages. The aim of this study is to present a mathematical model for selecting the strategies to respond the environmental and occupational health risks according to IS0 14001-OHSAS 18001 standard of construction projects. All environmental risks of the project are detected and a solution process is proposed using a mathematical model and NSGAII metaheuristic algorithm to obtain a more favorable strategy for responding the environmental risks of a building construction project with respect to time, cost and quality. The results showed that the appropriate strategies for responding the risks were chosen optimally and the risk management system in this project was properly implemented by applying the proposed mathematical model to the 10 significant environmental risks in the project identified by the FMEA method and the ISO 31000 standard which is related to 8 important and critical activities of the project based on the failure structure. Selection of appropriate strategies for responding the risks of construction projects is one of the concerns of project stakeholders. For the first time, a metaheuristic algorithm was used to select the strategies for responding the HSE risk of construction projects. In Saba Tower, as a case study, all the risks affecting the environmental and occupational health debate were identified and appropriate risk response strategies were provided for each risk.

Landslides are classified as natural disasters that pose financial losses and deaths in the country annually. Besides, identification of high risk areas can be effective in reducing the damage and improving decisions on land-development policies. Preparation of landslide zoning map makes it possible to identify the vulnerable areas and use them in various environmental programs. In this study, the multi-criteria methods were presented to create the landslide capability map using geographical information system and decision rules. The aim of producing landslide capability map is to reduce the risks of landslides and support land development policies in the watershed scale. In this regards, different factors such as geology, slope, aspect, landuse, distance to road, rivers and fault maps were employed. Additionally, slope and river maps were expressed as restrictions. After weighing the factors and sub-factors, the landslide sensitivity maps were converted to the values ranged as 0-1. Afterward, in terms of sensitivity the final map was classified to three classes of low risk, moderate risk and high risk. The results showed that some factors such as precipitation, geology and slope have the highest impact on landslide occurrence and should be considered with more emphasis in order to be used for planning and policy making in the study area. According to the results, the first group factors including geology, landuse, slope and aspect and the second group factors including land distance from fault, river, road and rainfall are weighed as 0.6 and 0.4, respectively.

Heavy metals can be present at low concentrations in the soil and contaminate it. Since the study area is ophiolite in terms of lithology, it can increase the concentration of heavy metals in soil and water resources. In this study, the concentration of heavy metals has been investigated and the pollution in sediments of Almejogh region (Fariman ophiolite) is evaluation. To study the concentration of heavy metals and sediment pollution in the study area, 9 samples of sediment were taken from depth of 30 to 20 cm. The samples were transferred the environmental laboratories of Islamic Azad University of Mashhad and the amounts of pH and EC in soil were measured. 10 grams of soil (material passing through a 200-mesh sieve) was transferred to the ACME Laboratories of Canada in order to be analyzed for determining the amount of heavy metals by the induction plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-OES) method. Study of the correlation of heavy metals by Pearson coefficient, cluster analysis and principal components analysis showed that there are two different origins for geochemical distribution of heavy metals in sediment of the region. Ophiolite set of distribution of Cobalt, Nickel, Chromium and Pyroclastic and volcanic set as well as distribution of Iron elements, Molybdenum, Vanadium, Copper, Arsenic, Lead, Potassium and Cadmium were controlled. The pH of the soil in the study area fell within the pretty alkaline limit based on the classification of American soil science society. Evaluation of enrichment factor showed that Nickel has a very high enrichment and Arsenic and Chromium were in a high enrichment region. The above enrichment is indicative of anthropogenic origin. The pollution coefficient also showed that Nickel has the highest pollution in the region. The index of accumulation (of earth) also indicates t contamination of the sediment with Nickel in the region.

Development of industry, agriculture and services, requires training of efficient workforce in technical and vocational fields. Knowing that human activity in these three sectors decreases the environmental quality, dealing with environmental degradation can be achieved by implementing long-term sustainable development education policies. The present study is an applied research and aims to choose the best method for sustainable development education. For this purpose, first, the sustainable development competency criteria for technical and vocational graduates were identified by library studies and three different questionnaires were designed based on them. Then, DEMATEL Technique was used to identify the mutual interactions among the criteria. The obtained results were used for designing a network structure on the fuzzy ANP technique to assign weight to each criterion. Finally, the obtained weights were used to rank and select the best method for sustainable development education based on the TOPSIS technique. Since these techniques cannot resolve the ambiguity and uncertainty of verbal evaluations, the fuzzy triangular numbers were used in all the above-mentioned techniques. The results obtained in this study indicate that self-learning skills and proficiency in the environmental knowledge related to a particular technical and vocational field is the most important sub-criteria of sustainable development competence. Furthermore, group discussions were found to be the most appropriate teaching method for sustainable development education. Due to the importance of sustainable development competence criteria in choosing the right method for sustainable development education, it is necessary to consider all aspects of knowledge, skills, attitude, development and growth, in order to strengthen the environmental attitude and behavior.

Charat Watershed Basin is the one of fresh, high potential and beautiful mountainous ranges of Mazandaran province. Although it has various ecotourism, geotourism and environmental phenomena, there are no facilities and background for tourism plans. In this study, SWOT methodology has been applied to investigate the potential and limitation of effective geologic items over ecotourism and finally, the best strategic was present for developing the ecotourism development planning. The present study was performed based on a descriptive-analytic methodology and the data collection was done through fieldwork and documentary investigations. Using the SWOT method, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the internal and external areas of the region were identified. Then, according to the matrix of data and analysis of the matrix elements, the most important internal and external factors affecting the cherat region were identified and prioritized. Finally, the strategies for applying appropriate and applicable management were presented for the study area. The findings indicate that the ecotourism power of Cherat village is important for the development of tourism industry. The advantages of tourism opportunities and internal strengths, such as exciting ecotourism attraction and diversity of natural and virgin landscapes in the region, indicate the extremely favorable conditions for nature tourism tours, various ecotourism activities and development of adventure tourism, sports, medical, scientific, summer and winter activities in the region. The results show that the study area has a high potential for the development of ecotourism and sustainable tourism. The results also show that tourism development requires identifying, introducing and promoting advertising, developing facilities and infrastructure, as well as investing on expanding tourism attraction.

Existence of water and soil salinity resources in arid and semiarid areas is an issue that affects agriculture and poses many problems. The adverse effect of water and soil salinity on growth and function of various crops in arid areas is a serious concern. The main objective of this study was to survey the impact of irrigation with different salinities on the changes in some soil properties in top soil. For this purpose, 10 land transects in farmlands with different quality of irrigation were sampled at intervals of 6 m (15 samples). Parameters of electrical conductivity, field moisture content and saturation water content were measured for each sample, and then the salt concentration factor (SCF) was evaluated. The results showed that there is a significant relationship (R2>90) between ECe and ECw and between saturation water content and field moisture content in the whole lands which underwent transect sampling. The results also indicated that there is a significant relationship (R2>90) between the SCF and saturation water content in the whole lands that underwent transect sampling. In general, the results of this study indicated that soil salinity was mainly influenced by water quality and poor water quality could change the physical properties of soil.

The aim of this study was to evaluate contamination of the soils around Venarch manganese mine in Qom with heavy metals such as manganese, nickel and lead. It is also attempted to compare the Muller’s and Karbassi’s methods for determining the pollution index and the natural and anthropogenic share of the mentioned elements in the study area.  in of Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and (Ipoll), heavy metals of natural and anthropotogenic fase contribution in the region. To perform this study, 3 samples were systematically collected from soil at the depths of 5 - 25 cm and mixed together to make a compound sample which was transferred to the laboratory. The concentrations of manganese, nickel and lead were measured using a spectrophotometer. Then the Muller’s Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and the Karbassi’s Pollution Index (Ipoll) were employed to determine the intensity of pollution in the study area. The results of bulk digestion showed that concentrations of Mn and Ni are lower and concentration of Pb is higher than the maximum average concentrations in the Earth’s crust and shale. Igeo was in the range of 0-1 and Ipoll was in the range of 1-2 for all metals, respectively showing that soil pollution is classified as unpolluted and slightly polluted.
Karbassi’s Ipoll was found to be more efficient than Muller’s Igeo in determining the amount of contamination in the region. The share of heavy metals in anthropogenic phase was determined as the following order: Pb (16%)> Ni (8%)> Mn (5%).

The topic of tourism as a new phenomenon and a source for development can be investigated from different aspects of political, economic, social, cultural and environmental policies. It is one of the main sources of income for countries at present. Unfortunately, due to improper planning as well as weak infrastructure and management of tourism, development of tourism has led to large negative environmental impacts. The aim of this study is to assess the environmental impacts caused by the residences and tourist accommodations in the coastal area of Chaf-Chamkhale using the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix method (RIAM) in operation phase of physical-chemical, ecological-biological, social-cultural and economic- operational environments. Rapid impact assessment matrix method (RIAM) is one of the methods used for assessing the environmental impacts. Using this method, the standard data of important criteria have been assessed in this study. The results show that tourism development has positive effects on economic-operational and social-cultural environments.  The minimum negative effects were seen on health and traffic and the maximum effects were noticed on physical environment. Although tourism development in the study area has seemingly increased economical income and employment, it has posed a much larger destruction and negative views such as degradation of physical environments, land use change and environmental conservation as a result of employing the existing methods.

Predicting the results of the implementation of strategic air pollution control policies is the first and most important challenge for Tehran municipality. The main objective of this study was to define a specific method for assessing the result of urban air pollution controlling strategies in Tehran metropolis using a multi-dimensional decision support system. First, the most appropriate air pollution control strategies were selected based on existing conditions and structures in each zone of the city and then weighed according to selected criteria. Based on the spatial monitoring of air pollution formation patterns in the past and present time, as well as the analysis of their effects, the results of implementing air pollution control strategies were simulated using Geo-Artificial Neural Network models. In the next step, variables of time series and uncertainty variables were simulated for predicting the potential future air pollution patterns and finally, the results of the defined control strategies were evaluated based on spatial thematic layers. Definition of final clusters of air quality control strategies, weighting and ranking of the selected policies based on defined criteria have been the first findings of this research. Also, extraction of time series zoning based on the data collected during a four-year period, as well as simulation of the baseline scenario models and spatial data layers of their output were among the achievements of this study. Finally, the modeling of the predictive variables, design of the air quality control software and the prediction of the results of the the implementation of air pollution control strategies were presented. The results showed that by applying the Geo-Artificial Neural Network models (GANN), the urban managers could effectively predict the results of implementing the air pollution control strategies. The results of this study showed that the spatio-temporal analysis supports the process of evaluation and prediction of the effects of pollution and can be used to determine the best pollution control strategies for the zones affected by air pollution. The final results of GANN models indicate that if the selected strategies are implemented based on the scenarios defined, in the "optimistic scenario", air quality in all areas of Tehran is completely stable and remains healthy, while in the "ordinary scenario" will reduce the level of air pollution up to 70 percent in the autumn and winter season if the selected strategies are implemented compared to the lack of implementation of control plans. The final model of the verification process model also confirmed that the pattern of pollution predicted by the model in each of the urban areas had a proper trend and adaptation compared to the pattern of contamination obtained from the actual results of the field data.

Land use change causes perturbation in the ecosystem and can influence the C stocks and fluxes. In particular, conversion of forests to agricultural ecosystems, grazing lands and recreational places affects various soil properties especially soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration. The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the amount of carbon sequestration and edaphic properties of soil in both grazed and 30-year-old protected forest habitats in Tang Dalab forests in Ilam province. To deactivate the topography variable, soil samples were taken from two areas of grazed and protected sites according to the same topographical conditions of geographical aspect, height and slope. In each area, 30 soil samples were taken from a depth of 0-30 cm using the randomly-systematically method. The results showed no significant difference between the percentage of lime, acidity (pH) and soil texture in the two areas. Moreover, bulk density, particle density, electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), exchangeable potassium (K), organic carbon (OC%), organic matter (OM%) and carbon sequestration (SOC) were found to be significantly different (95%) in the two areas statistically. Comparison of the edaphic properties of soil in grazed and protected sites showed a significant difference among most of the studied factors. Also The amount of soil carbon sequestration is higher in the protected forest area (60.03 ton/ha) than in the grazed forest area (41/17 ton/he). Finally, two authentic regression models with R2=0.995 and R2=0.998 were obtained in the protected and the grazed areas, respectively, for estimating soil carbon sequestration.

Desertification is a global issue with serious implications worldwide on biodiversity, eco-safety, poverty eradication, socio-economic stability, and sustainable development. The most efficient methods for assessing desertification intensity are experimental methods. The aim of this study was to assess desertification hazard in Sabzevar using the GIS and IMDPA model. The IMDPA model was applied to evaluate the desertification intensity in Sabzevar. For this purpose, first the land unit map (geomorphologic facies) was created using slope, geology, vegetation cover, land use, Landsat 5 and Google Earth satellite images in 4 units, and 10 types and 96 facies were identified. Then, in each work unit, all the criteria were valued based on the selected indices which resulted in the qualitative mapping of each criterion based on the geometric mean of the indices. The mapping of each group was done based on the geometric mean of the studied criterion. Then, the desertification intensity map of the region was obtained using a geometric average of all groups. The results showed that water, irrigation, and erosion have the most severe impact on desertification with weighted means of 2.94 and 2.72, respectively. Sabzevar was divided into two classes of moderate (II) and intensive (IV) classes, with the largest area covered by the moderate class (85.07 %) Sabzevar has a diverse variety of geomorphologic terrains from high mountains to Playa, and dividing it into two classes indicates the simplicity of the IMPDA in preparing desertification. The reason for this peculiarity is the diverse features, geometric mean and unbalanced classification. The mentioned hazard map along with key factors in desertification can be used by the related managers for combating desertification and moving towards sustainable development in Sabzevar.

Use of biodiesel instead of fossil fuel has received extensive attention. This fuel is produced from residuals of local restaurants and natural resources. In recent years, biodiesel production has received extensive attention worldwide due to increase of global populations and demand for fuel to supply energy and, on the other hand, because of increase of environmental pollution and global warming, rise of world oil prices and limited resources of fossil fuels. In this study, biodiesel is produced from extracted palm oil in the presence of alkaline catalyst like potassium methoxide by trans-esterification process. The produced biodiesel was mixed with the commercial fossil fuels existing in Iran to produce fuels with ratios of 10, 50 and 100 of biodiesel.The properties of the produced fuels such as pour point, cloud point, flash point, viscosity and density were studied according to the ASTM D 6751 and ASTM D7467 standards. According to the results,the values fordensity, viscosity, cinematic, cloud point, pour point and flash point for biodiesel were 176 C, 15 C, 13 C, 4.7 mm2/s and 879 kg/m2, respectively, showing that density, viscosity and flash point fall within the standard limits. However, the values obtained for cloud point and pour point revealed that the biodiesel fuel cannot be used in cold regions. According to the results, the best ratio of adding the biodiesel produced from palm oil to diesel for reducing the fossil fuel consumption and air pollution was 10% biodisel.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of longitudinal slope, skid trail plan and passes of skidder Tof E655 on forest soil compaction in Bahramnia forestry plan. Initially, skid trails with upward and downward directions were selected and then classified into sections with moderate and severe traffic. Using polar and Nivelmen methods, the plan of route and longitudinal profile of route were drawn, respectively and fed into the AutoCAD software. The skid trails were divided into straight routes and horizontal curves in terms of plan and classified into 5-15, 15-25 and >25% for upward direction and 0-5, 5-15 and >15% for downward direction in terms of longitudinal slope were c. 228 samples was taken using metal cylinder for measuring soil compaction, porosity and moisture in the mentioned classes and control (forest). Findings showed that the soil bulk density increased with the increase of skidder passes and longitudinal slopes. The maximum soil bulk density was recorded for curves, severe traffic classes, and longitudinal slopes >25% (1.27 g cm-3 in upward skidding) and >15 (1.18 g cm-3 in downward skidding). The minimum soil porosity and moisture was also observed in this condition. In this study, the Civil3D 3D display was used for the first time to analyze the technical properties of skid trails and to determine the sampling locations. According to the results, to reduce the damage to the soil of skid trails it is necessary to avoid constructing spiral and steep routes and sever passes through them.

Fluoride is one of the most well-known and useful substances to inhibit tooth decay and bone caries, but high doses of it can cause dental and skeletal fluorosis. Since tea and water contains fluoride, the present study was performed to measure fluoride concentration in drinking water and tea in Tehran in 2014 year. In this descriptive-analysis study, 25 types of Iranian and foreign brands of tea available in Tehran's market and 30 samples of drinking water from Tehran city were studied in 4 replications. The amount of fluoride in the tea and brewed tea samples within 3, 5 and 10 m and water samples after digestion were measured by fluoride ion selective electrode. Finally, the obtained data was analyzed by SPSS Ver. 18 software. The results indicated that the amounts of fluoride in different brands of tea, tea solution and water were 22.2-303.8 mg/kg, 0.2–2.37 mg/L and 0.95-0.012 mg/L, respectively. Also, the results showed that the amount of released fluoride in tea increases with the increase of brewing time. Therefore, after 3, 5 and 10 m, the average percentages of fluoride released in the tea solution were 31.88%, 53.34% and 78.08% respectively. Finally, it was found that daily consumption of five cups of the studied tea by children and adults may not lead to health problem. However, other sources of fluoride ions such as drinking water, etc should be taken into consideration to prevent the occurrence of skeletal and dental diseases.

There is no doubt that protection of environment is considered as the most critical need of human being for achievement of better qualities of life and realization of sustainable development goals in the 21st century. This is involved with numerous challenges, since the contemporary human still lives on the basis of irregular development and preference of personal short-term interests rather than long-term ones. Although several international regulations have been ratified for the protection of environment in the second half of the 20th century and after the establishment of Stockholm Conference, most of the regulations in international environmental law which aimed to prevent environmental pollution and degradation could only address the compensation for the environmental damages. However, the intensity of environmental disasters in today's world is to the extent that the need for performing more decisive actions is seriously felt; actions which could prosecute those who produce environmental pollution and degradations as criminals. This study attempts to investigate the challenges which criminalization is internationally faced and to highlight the effective and mostly positive components in codification of environmental crime indices.

In recent decades, the problem of food security and health issues among the populations worldwide jave been one of the main challenges for human societies. In this regard, the necessity of converting the conventional farming to organic farming was raised. This study was done to investigate the farmers’ knowledge about organic farming in Bavi city, Khuzestan province. The statistical population consisted vegetable growers in Bavi city (N=140) and the statistical sample was determined using the Morgan’s table (n=104). The statistical sample was chosen through simple random sampling technique. The data were collected using a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of Agricultural extension and Education experts. Moreover, its reliability was confirmed using the Cronbachs alpha (α=0/96). Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSSwin16. The results showed that the knowledge of over 62% of the respondents about organic farming is low. There was a significant difference (p=0/01) between farming experience and knowledge about organic farming. Moreover, there was a significant difference (p=0/05) between the size of farmland and the education level and knowledge about organic farming. Results of regression analyses indicates that farming experience and size of farmland were the only variables explaining 24/2% knowledge changes. The results showed that farmers' knowledge regarding organic agriculture is low. Althougf the importance of knowledge in adoption and development of a new technology is obvious, lack of information and knowledge has been raised as a limitation and a great obstacle for the development of organic farming.