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Industrial enterprises are one of the main causes of air pollution in eastern China. How to monitor them efficiently is directly related to the result of air pollution control in China. However, the monitoring of enterprises now mainly relies on the ground online monitoring technology, and only for some large enterprises, some small and medium-sized enterprises will be missed which also contribute a lot to the air pollution. Based on the satellite remote sensing technology, this paper explores an operational method of monitoring the whole coverage of pollution enterprises from macro to micro, focusing on monitoring the regional pollution status results of the pollution enterprises and identifying the key monitoring objects including the small and medium-sized ones. Based on the air pollutants retrieval results of satellite remote sensing, a remote sensing high-occurrence index model of air pollution is built. By using the pollution focused grid extract method and high-resolution satellite image identification technology, the key monitoring objects of pollution enterprises can be extracted. The result of the application cases in eastern China and the typical districts show that the remote sensing high-occurrence index model can clearly reflect the comprehensive pollution status by the pollution enterprises; validation of the identification rate of the small and middle-sized enterprises can reach over 77%, which has made a great progress compared with the inspection only relying on the supervision personnel in the absence of specific objects. The method proposed in this paper can greatly improve the scientific and accurate supervision level of environmental management.

Industrial Digitalization and Automation (DA), promoted through new production paradigms such as Industry 4.0 currently dominates the strategy agendas of industrial companies. However, practitioners report various problems while implementing DA into their organizations work-routines. We find underlying problems in missing operational monitoring systems to assess and control the DA-implementation status. We therefore propose a holistic monitoring system using 143 developed DA-implementation key performance indicators in nine dimensions. Moreover, we integrate the monitoring system into a continuous improvement approach following the PDCA-circle. First applications show increased objectivity during initial KPI-status assessments, higher acceptance of defined KPI-target-states and increased alignment during definition of future DA-projects.

Pipe conveyors are currently widely employed in continuous transport of raw materials. Contact forces on idler rolls of an idler housing represent an important parameter to be monitored in the process of online operational monitoring. Operational tension force cannot be reached during the experimental research performed on laboratory conditions with regard to construction of the testing equipment. It is impossible for the current experimental rig. The main objective of the manuscript is to monitor dependences of contact forces on tension forces in individual idler rolls of a pipe conveyor idler housing. The manuscript output is in form of contact forces’ prediction for respective idler rolls for two more rates of tension forces and two cases of measurements: with and without material load.

Intermittent drinking water supply affects the health of over 300 million people globally. In Mozambique, it is largely practiced in cities and small towns. This results in frequent microbial contamination of the supplied drinking water posing a health risk to consumers. In Moamba, a small town in Southern Mozambique with 2,500 water connections, the impact of changes in operational strategies, namely increased chlorine dosage, increased supply duration and first-flush, on the microbial water quality was studied to determine best practices. To that aim, water quality monitoring was enhanced to provide sufficient data on the microbial contamination from 452 samples under the different strategies. The water at the outlet of the water treatment plant during all strategies was free of E. coli complying to the national standards. However, E. coli could be detected at household level. By increasing the chlorine dosage, the number of samples that showed E. coli absence increased at the two sampling locations in the distribution network: in Cimento from 72% to 83% and in Matadouro from 52% to 86%. Modifying the number and duration of supply cycles showed a different impact on the water quality at both locations in the distribution network. A positive effect was shown in Cimento, where the mean concentrations decreased slightly from 0.54 to 0.23 CFU/100 mL and 16.7 to 7.3 CFU/100 mL for E. coli and total coliforms respectively. The percentage of samples positive for bacteria was, however, similar. In contrast, a negative effect was shown in Matadouro where the percentage of positive samples increased and the mean bacterial concentrations increased slightly: E. coli from 0.9 to 1.5 CFU/100 mL and total coliforms 17.6 to 23.0 CFU/100 mL. Enhanced water quality monitoring improved operational strategies safeguarding the microbial water quality. The E. coli contamination of the drinking water at household level could point at recontamination in the distribution or unsafe hygienic practices at household level. Presence of faecal contamination at household level indicates potential presence of pathogens posing a health risk to consumers. Increasing chlorine dosage ensured good microbiological drinking water quality but changing the number of supply cycles had no such effect.

Improving the technological process should be aimed at fulfillment of the requirements posed by all of the interested parties. The new standards ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and project of the standard ISO 45001 introduce to the integrated scope the term of operational control, which application should limit the risk of not fulfilling the requirements. Therefore, the aim of the study was to prepare the operational monitoring model within the occupational safety. The proposed methodology poses the guidance for the risk assessment of the process as well as for the identification of the key technological features and parameters, which as the operational parameters of the process, should undergo supervision.

The growing importance of oil spill detection as part of a rapid response system to oil pollution requires the ongoing development of algorithms. The aim of this study was to create a methodology for improving manual classification at the scale of entire water bodies, focusing on its repeatability. This paper took an object-oriented approach to radar image analysis and put particular emphasis on adaptation to the specificity of seas like the Baltic. Pre-processing using optimised filters enhanced the capability of a multilevel hierarchical segmentation, in order to detect spills of different sizes, forms and homogeneity, which occur as a result of shipping activities. Confirmed spills detected in ENVISAT/ASAR images were used to create a decision-tree procedure that classifies every distinct dark object visible in SAR images into one out of four categories, which reflect growing probability of the oil spill presence: look-alikes, dubious spots, blurred spots and potential oil spills. Our objective was to properly mark known spills on ASAR scenes and to reduce the number of false-positives by eliminating (classifying as background or look-alike) as many objects as possible from the vast initial number of objects appearing on full-scale images. A number of aspects were taken into account in the classification process. The method’s performance was tested on a group of 26 oil spills recorded by HELCOM: 96.15% of them were successfully identified. The final target group was narrowed down to about 4% of dark objects extracted from ASAR images. Although a specialist is still needed to supervise the whole process of oil spill detection, this method gives an initial view, substantial for further evaluation of the scenes and risk estimation. It may significantly accelerate the pace of manual image analysis and enhance the objectivity of assessments, which are key aspects in operational monitoring systems.

In this work, a wave run-up monitoring system and a model for forecasting the wave run-up height on a seawall were developed. Electrical conductivity sensors were installed on the seaward slopes of seawalls to measure the wave run-up heights. The general packet radio service protocol was used to transmit the measured data in real time to the desired remote location. The Princeton Ocean Model and WAVEWATCH III were used to predict the water levels and ocean waves, respectively, by using the available wind fields. The empirical formulas recommended in the Coastal Engineering Manual (2011) and EurOtop (2018) were adopted to estimate the run-up height. The wave run-up heights were forecasted 72 h in advance and were renewed at 6-h intervals as new wind fields became available. The developed monitoring system and forecasting model were combined for operational monitoring and forecasting of wave run-up on seawalls. The wave run-up monitoring system was set up at three seawalls along the southwestern coast of Taiwan from 2013 to 2016. Consistency between the forecasted and measured wave run-up heights during typhoon periods demonstrated the feasibility of using the proposed method for monitoring and forecasting wave run-up heights. Furthermore, the multi-model ensemble approach was adopted to improve the unsatisfactory run-up forecasting performance during typhoon periods, and the forecasted run-up heights were eventually presented as a band with upper and lower limits as opposed to single values. The forecast results can be used to provide advance warning of possible wave overtopping and associated coastal flooding during typhoon periods.

The safety of mining and tunneling operations considerably depends on availability of the most reliable and timely information on the stress-strain behavior of the “tunnel lining – containing rock massif” system and ground surface. Such information may be received by means of geotechnical monitoring using automated systems. The tasks to be solved as a part of the geotechnical monitoring are related to the assessment of the state of structural units to be built, containing rock massif, ground surface and buildings that fall within the construction-affected area. The need for preserving the buildings and facilities on ground surface gives the priority for the use of automated systems when determining the deformation of soil body starting from the outline of underground facilities and up to the ground surface. The obtained monitoring results allow, in the process of construction, making adjustments to the technological parameters of the mining and tunneling operations, to the parameters of the support setting and the tunnel lining construction technology, developing recommendations how to mitigate adverse effect on the environment. An example of the successful integration of the operational monitoring in an automated process control system is the tunnels of the Adler – Alpica Service section. There are 3 motor-road tunnels and 6 railroad tunnels in this section. During the construction, the lining of all tunnels was provided with control and measurement instrumentation to determine the stress-strain behavior of the “tunnel lining – containing rock massif” system and the seismic monitoring. The primary processing of the controlled parameters is done directly in the tunnels, then they are sent via a fiber-optic network to the geotechnical monitoring server located in the Operations Control Center. After the final processing, the data bank is updated. When the controlled parameters exceed the acceptable levels, an operator has the possibility to see, in the on-line mode, a specific location on the route, from where a signal is generated.

Comparing today's control rooms or cockpits to those of about 30 years ago clearly shows huge differences in hard- and software, making changes in psychological requirements more than reasonable. To identify changes in ability requirements for operators in future aviation is of some concern when learning about solutions envisaged with large scale programs like NextGen or SESAR. However, as systems evolve step by step and sometimes without much notice, it might be that in retrospect requirement changes are assessed as being only of minor magnitude, whereas prospective ratings tend to over-interpret changes as they might be perceived as endangering one's competence and routines. In this study, it is reported what more than 300 air traffic controllers and pilots described as perceived changes in ability requirements when comparing today's aircraft or system with the one they have been trained for initially. Results were showing different pictures for the professions compared; however operational monitoring, information ordering, selective attention, time sharing and vigilance were always among the requirements with the highest perceived changes since initial training. Results will help to increase the understanding of past changes in ability requirements as perceived by job incumbents.

Spanish Abstract: Tal como lo establece la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud OMS, la forma mas eficaz de garantizar sistematicamente la seguridad de un sistema de abastecimiento de agua de consumo es aplicando un planteamiento integral de evaluacion de los riesgos y gestion de los riesgos que abarque todas las etapas del sistema de abastecimiento, desde la cuenca de captacion hasta su distribucion al consumidor. Los objetivos principales de un Plan de Seguridad del Agua (PSA) son: la minimizacion de la contaminacion de las fuentes de agua, la reduccion o eliminacion de la contaminacion a traves de procesos de tratamiento adecuados, y la prevencion de la contaminacion durante el procesamiento, distribucion y almacenamiento. En este sentido, se presenta el diseno del Plan de Seguridad del Agua (PSA) para el sistema de abastecimiento de agua potable del municipio de Tocaima, ubicado en el departamento de Cundinamarca. El PSA para la empresa INGEAGUA S.A.S. E.S.P., se evalua con criterios puntuales basados en el Manual para el Desarrollo de Planes de Seguridad del Agua de la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud; despues de dicho estudio se presentan las medidas de control a tomar ante los riesgos y peligros encontrados y posteriormente se define como podria reaccionar al implementar tales medidas. En el analisis efectuado se identificaron riesgos significativos hacia la calidad, cantidad y continuidad en el servicio. En primer lugar, la fuente de abastecimiento esta afectada por actividad agricola y vertimientos de aguas residuales. La captacion esta ubicada en una zona de facil acceso a turistas y la rejilla no cumple con su funcion, pues en las epocas mas secas, el caudal es minimo y la captacion se hace por debajo del minimo necesario. En cuanto a tratamiento la planta esta disenada para trabajar con tres floculadores mecanicos de paleta pero solo uno de ellos funciona correctamente; otro esta fuera de servicio y el tercero fue retirado. La desinfeccion no se realiza correctamente pues el cloro ingresa directamente al tanque sin pasar por un proceso de mezcla que garantice que el porcentaje de cloro residual es el indicado. La metodologia empleada es la propuesta por la Organizacion Mundial de la Salud (OMS), la cual entrega una serie de parametros a seguir a la hora de elaborar y ejecutar un plan de seguridad del agua (PSA). Esta compuesto de 5 fases de preparacion, evaluacion del sistema, monitoreo operativo, gestion y comunicacion, retroalimentacion y mejora del sistema, que a su vez, estan divididos en 11 modulos. Aun se cuenta con escasa aplicacion de la metodologia en el pais. English Abstract: As established by the World Health Organization WHO, the most effective way to systematically ensure the safety of a drinking water supply system is to apply a comprehensive approach to risk assessment and risk management covering all stages of the supply system, from catchment basin to distribution to the consumer. The main objectives of a Water Safety Plan (PSA) are: minimizing contamination of water sources, reducing or eliminating pollution through appropriate treatment processes, and preventing pollution during processing, distribution and storage. In this sense, the design of the Water Safety Plan (WSP) for the water supply system of the town of Tocaima, located in the department of Cundinamarca, is presented. The WSP for the company INGEAGUA S.A.S. E.S.P., is assessed on the basis of specific criteria based on the World Health Organization's Manual for the Development of Water Safety Plans; after that study the control measures to be taken in the presence of the risks and dangers encountered are presented and subsequently defined how they could react when implementing such measures. The analysis identified significant risks to the quality, quantity and continuity of service. First, the source of supply is affected by agricultural activity and sewage discharges. The catchment is located in an area with easy access to tourists and the grid does not fulfill its function, because in the driest times, the flow is minimal and the catch is made below the minimum necessary. In terms of treatment the plant is designed to work with three mechanical flocculator palletisers but only one of them works correctly; another is out of service and the third is retired. The disinfection is not carried out correctly because the chlorine enters directly into the tank without undergoing a mixing process that guarantees that the percentage of residual chlorine is the indicated one. The methodology used is the one proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which provides a series of parameters to follow when developing and executing a water safety plan (PSA). It is composed of 5 phases of preparation, evaluation of the system, operational monitoring, management and communication, feedback and improvement of the system, which in turn, are divided into 11 modules. There is still little application of the methodology in the country.

We describe the state of the art of scientific research on the earthquake cycle based on the analysis of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data acquired from satellite platforms. We examine the achievements and the main limitations of present SAR systems for the measurement and analysis of crustal deformation, and envision the foreseeable advances that the Sentinel-1 data will generate in the fields of geophysics and tectonics. We also review the technological and scientific issues which have limited so far the operational use of satellite data in seismic hazard assessment and crisis management, and show the improvements expected from Sentinel-1 data.

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires monitoring programmes, to establish a coherent and comprehensive overview of ecological and chemical water status. Recently and within this context, the use of biomarkers has been proposed for incorporation into WFD monitoring programmes. In the present study, cages have been used to transplant (ranging between 14 and 75 days) adults of the dogwhelk Nassarius reticulatus in relation to a gradient of tributyltin (TBT) pollution; this is in order to evaluate its usefulness within the WFD monitoring programmes. Only the most polluted site (close to a shipyard) shows evidence of TBT contamination effects. As such, it may be concluded that the use of caged transplants with N. reticulatus (adults) is useful only for areas of high TBT pollution. Thus, within the European WFD context, this approach is generally not useful for surveillance and operational monitoring, but has some potential in investigative monitoring.

An operational forecast system for harmful algal blooms (HABs) in southwest Florida is analyzed for forecasting skill. The HABs, caused by the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, lead to shellfish toxicity and to respiratory irritation. In addition to predicting new blooms and their extent, HAB forecasts are made twice weekly during a bloom event, using a combination of satellite derived image products, wind predictions, and a rule-based model derived from previous observations and research. These forecasts include: identification, intensification, transport, extent, and impact; the latter being the most significant to the public. Identification involves identifying new blooms as HABs and is validated against an operational monitoring program involving water sampling. Intensification forecasts, which are much less frequently made, can only be evaluated with satellite data on mono-specific blooms. Extent and transport forecasts of HABs are also evaluated against the water samples. Due to the resolution of the forecasts and available validation data, skill cannot be resolved at scales finer than 30 km. Initially, respiratory irritation forecasts were analyzed using anecdotal information, the only available data, which had a bias toward major respiratory events leading to a forecast accuracy exceeding 90%. When a systematic program of twice-daily observations from lifeguards was implemented, the forecast could be meaningfully assessed. The results show that the forecasts identify the occurrence of respiratory events at all lifeguard beaches 70% of the time. However, a high rate (80%) of false positive forecasts occurred at any given beach. As the forecasts were made at half to whole county level, the resolution of the validation data was reduced to county level, reducing false positives to 22% (accuracy of 78%). The study indicates the importance of systematic sampling, even when using qualitative descriptors, the use of validation resolution to evaluate forecast capabilities, and the need to match forecast and validation resolutions.

Cost estimates for CO2 capture and storage (CCS) systems typically focus on details of the CO2 capture process and make simplistic assumptions about the cost per ton of CO2 for the transport and storage components of the system. These ad hoc assumptions ignore the large variability in the storage cost from site-to-site caused by variation in storage reservoir characteristics. Moreover, the typical costs of storage that are widely applied in CCS cost estimates do not fully consider the cost of site characterization and operational monitoring. To address this problem, we have recently developed an engineeringeconomic model for geological storage in deep saline formations. In this paper we briefly describe the newly-developed performance and cost models for CO2 storage in deep saline formations, and use these models to develop a range of cost for CO2 storage. The range of cost is explored using four cases, representing different types of potential storage reservoirs. Results from the four case studies show considerably different capital costs and, consequently, levelized costs of CO2 stored. In addition, the sensitivity of CO2 storage cost to variability and uncertainty in model input parameters for one of the case studies is examined. These results show clearly that the cost of CO2 storage in saline formations is most sensitive to factors affecting site characterization costs, which have been significantly underestimated in most past studies, and are highly dependent on future regulation of geological storage projects. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Development of end-user products in the context of operational oceanography requires the combined use of multi-parametric real-time measurements and numerical models with forecasting capabilities. The implementation of such systems in the Aegean Sea has established a pre-operational monitoring and forecasting capacity able to support oil-drift prediction applications and ongoing developments in ecological modeling. The monitoring basis of the system is an operational network of oceanographic buoys complemented by experimental or pre-operational components such as Ferry-Box systems, multi-parametric deep sea buoys and XBT observations from a VOS program. The hydrodynamic modeling system follows a downscaling approach and is able to reproduce general circulation and mesoscale dynamics while its forecasting skill is increased at open sea sites. Coupling to global forecasting systems, assimilation of data from the extended observing system, as well as further downscaling to coastal areas are ongoing efforts to improve the overall system performance. The oil-spill forecasting model developed for the POSEIDON system is being used to demonstrate the need of reliable oceanic forecast, especially in cases of low wind conditions when the general and mesoscale circulation is the predominant forcing factor.

MODIS images of remote sensing reflectance of 250 m resolution at band 1 (620–670 nm) and high resolution (125 × 125 m) hydrodynamic model based on nonlinear shallow-water equations linked with particle transport model were used for monitoring the transport of suspended matter during the dredging works in Paldiski South Harbour, Pakri Bay, the southern part of Gulf of Finland from 15 April to 22 May 2003. Three MODIS images of remote sensing reflectance on cloudless days during dredging period and one image about 1 week after the dredging was completed were obtained. For laboratory analysis, water samples from sea surface were collected twice when MODIS images were available. In total, 48 data pairs of remote sensing reflectance and suspended matter concentration were used for calibration of MODIS images. Established linear regression model gave acceptable results on converting reflectance values into suspended matter concentrations. Suspended matter distributions from numerical model and remote sensing images compared reasonably well, so that numerical modelling of suspended matter transport and distributions can be used during cloudy period. In this case study, the analyses of remote sensing images and numerical model results indicated that the suspended matter concentrations and distribution patterns depended on dredging amounts and wind-forced currents.

Post-mining drainage chemistry depends strongly on geochemical and hydrologic processes that occur during the operational years. Where routine operational monitoring data are abundant, the dominant processes can often be evaluated with no additional, special studies. Thus, post-mining drainage chemistry can be predicted with confidence based on the operational data. This is referred to here as ‘empirical drainage-chemistry modelling’ (EDCM). This paper presents examples of EDCM using routine monitoring databases from several minesites, each containing thousands of analyses and spanning up to 30 years of mine operation and closure. Simple statistical interpretations in the EDCM can reveal annual cycles and trends that aqueous concentrations display during operation and into closure. A new compilation of 12 EDCM equations for copper versus pH is presented to illustrate similar trends with pH among the sites. However, this compilation also shows that average-annual copper concentrations at a particular pH can vary by three orders of magnitude, reflecting site-specific factors. Also, a new case study comparing actual closure concentrations to those predicted with EDCM in 1991 demonstrates that predictive accuracy is within a factor of two.

In an experimental study of requirements for the operational monitoring of nuclear tests, seismological data collected by a small but globally distributed network of array stations are transmitted to Blacknest Data Analysis Centre. Important features of the experiment have been the improvement of data communications links with the cooperating agencies which operate the overseas arrays and with other national data centres, together with the creation of a data-base on computer files linked to the ARPANETWORK and accessible to collaborating organisations. A brief summary is given of some results of event analyses using data mainly from single recording points at the array stations. These are preliminary results from the network, preceding an eventual improvement in detection capability of the array stations which will ensue when the installation of on-line processing systems is completed.

The paper describes failure analysis and remedies which were elaborated after the occurance of several failure cases in shafts of main coolant pumps. The improved design of replacement shafts as well as procedures for operational monitoring and in-service inspections are shown.

This paper summarizes the international operational monitoring and coordination of the field phase of the First GARP Global Experiment. Some preliminary assessments of the operational experience for each component of the composite observing system and data management programme are given.