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Predictions of our future climate vary greatly, with detailed forecasts still subject to debate. One key uncertainty is caused by the lack of our present knowledge of transport processes in the air-water interface, which poses the main transfer resistance between the oceans and atmosphere. Modeling and predictions of our global climate can only be improved by gaining a more complete understanding of the mechanisms involved in transporting energy, mass and momentum across the phase boundary.

This monograph contains selected, peer-reviewed post-conference contributions of the International Workshop on Transport at the Air-Sea Interface, which took place at Heidelberg University from September 6-8, 2006. The workshop brought together leading scientists from around the world, bridged the gap between modeling and measurements, and sparked new ideas for novel simulation and experimental efforts. The focus of the monograph is on small scale processes directly at the interface and includes the topics:

- Small-scale transport processes at the air-sea interface: surface divergence, microscale and largescale wave breaking, intermittency and rain-induced gas exchange

- Novel measurement techniques including eddy correlation measurements, active and passive thermography, visualization of concentration fields by fluorescent dyes, profile measurements and visualization of flow fields by particle imaging velocimetry (PIV)

- Modeling of the transport across the air-water interface and simulation of flow fields as well as concentration fields in the boundary layer

- Parameterizations of the transfer process for global modeling

This book includes a CD-ROM containing image sequences demonstrating results of numerical simulations of transport processes as well as imaging measurements and products thereof.

These sequences give insights into the processes involved and the state of the art of visualization of air sea interactions. The complete hyperlinked text of the book is also available on the accompanying CD-ROM.

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Natural resources conservation consists of reducing soil erosion, enhancing water supplies, improving water quality, increasing wildlife habitat, and reducing damages caused by floods and other natural disasters. Public benefits include enhanced natural resources that help sustain agricultural productivity and environmental quality while supporting continued economic development, recreation, and scenic beauty. This book examines dynamic issues from around the globe in this important and growing field which is beginning to capture the public's interest. ... Read more

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Increasingly over the next few decades, the oil and gas industry faces the complex task of decommissioning its offshore platforms, pipelines and sub-sea equipment as they reach the end of their operational capabilities. Decommissioning involves and integrates many distinct aspects: engineering, environmental, economic, legal, political and safety considerations. A practical strategy for removing and disposing these structures needs to be developed which best meets the demands of all of these different aspects. Specialists in these various fields have been brought together for this volume to contribute their assessments of the situation. The result is an important step toward the development of a co-ordinated approach to the subject. It is essential reading for all those who are involved with major decommissioning projects, their possible environmental impact and their implications in politics and law. ... Read more

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Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations. In the most common usage, it refers to the municipal wastewater that contains a broad spectrum of contaminants resulting from the mixing of wastewaters from different sources. With the dwindling available water resources in the world coupled with high population growth, pressure is being exerted on water and wastewater plant managers the world over to find cost-effective methods to treat a wide range of wastewater pollutants in a diverse range of situations. This new and important book gathers the latest research from around the globe on fluid waste disposal with a focus on such topics as: wastewaters from the olive industry, application of sulphate-reducing bacteria in biological treatment wastewaters, electrocoagulation treatment method, usability of boron doped diamond electrodes in wastewater treatment and others. ... Read more

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The Mekong River is an attractive river basin because of many natural environmental and development projects. Also, the river basin is located in six different countries and the basin countries are composed of different situations of economic, culture, history, policies of planning of the river basin, etc. There is considerable world interest in the large Mekong river. The authors propose a new approach to planning river basin management of this river basin to be sustainable for the future. 'The Hydro GIS' is the unique method of flood simulation and appropriate methods to clarify flood status on low relief floodplains such as the Mekong delta. ... Read more

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There are few more sensitive or important policy areas in the world today, and that means this book is a hugely relevant and timely one. Written by practice-oriented political scientists from various universities in Europe and the rest of the world, this book is a testimony to both policy and the evolution of policy analyses over the last 25 years. On the basis of empirical observations all contributions have attempted to develop new conceptual perspectives for environmental policy analyses which furthermore can be generalized and applied to other policy fields.

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The book illustrates the role of large-scale experiments in groundwater and subsurface remediation research. The optimization of existing techniques and the development of new approaches for in-situ remediation of contaminated aquifers and soils resulting from accidental spills, old waste deposits or abandoned industrial sites is a challenging multidisciplinary task. The book covers the spectrum from basic process research to technology experiments and numerical systems simulation as well as various aspects of processes for extraction, decomposition and immobilization of contaminants. The authors are internationally leading scientists from key institutions in subsurface remediation research in the USA, Canada, France, The Netherlands and Germany. ... Read more

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Forests cover approximately 30 percent of total land area and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators, and soil conservers, constituting one of the most important aspects of the Earth's biosphere. The canopy is one of the uppermost levels of a forest, below the emergent layer, formed by the tree crowns. The canopy is home to unique flora and fauna not found in other layers of a forest. Trees in the canopy are able to photosynthesise very rapidly thanks to the large amount of light, so it supports the widest diversity of plant as well as animal life in most rainforests. This book presents a wide variety of topics on the ecosystem in forest canopies. Included is a study on light distribution patterns and how it effects the daily photosynthesis of herbaceous vegetation. Recent progress, concerns, and future directions in simulations of vegetation processes are presented as well, in the terrestrial biosphere model that is coupled to a climate system model. ... Read more

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This is a well illustrated and fully-referenced introduction to the main contemporary agricultural pollution issues in the UK. It provides a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the environmental pollution caused by agriculture and offers a clear scientific and technical understanding of the most important sources of agricultural pollution. ... Read more

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There are few more sensitive or important policy areas in the world today, and that means this book is a hugely relevant and timely one. Written by practice-oriented political scientists from various universities in Europe and the rest of the world, this book is a testimony to both policy and the evolution of policy analyses over the last 25 years. On the basis of empirical observations all contributions have attempted to develop new conceptual perspectives for environmental policy analyses which furthermore can be generalized and applied to other policy fields.

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Syngas is the name given to a gas mixture that contains varying amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Examples of production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen, the gasification of coal and in some types of waste-to-energy gasification facilities. Syngas is also used as an intermediate in producing synthetic petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and previously the Mobil methanol to gasoline process. Syngas consists primarily of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and very often some carbon dioxide, and has less than half the energy density of natural gas. It is combustible and often used as a fuel source or as an intermediate for the production of other chemicals. This new book gathers the latest research from around the globe in this dynamic field covering topics such as syngas production from biomass generated gases, recent developments of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts, syngas cleaning technologies, and new syngas utilisations at different stages of deployment. ... Read more

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Current loss of biodiversity places a premium on the task of recognising and formulating proposals on potential areas for biological conservation based on scientific criteria; among these tasks, identification of hotspots has a relevant role on conservation of biodiversity. In this book, the authors discuss the application of different biogeographic methods to identify plant biodiversity hotspots. The areas recognised as such have a relevant role in plant biodiversity and are important in conservation due to their climatic conditions, the historical factors that have been involved in their evolution, and the restricted distribution of some plant taxa that inhabit them. Furthermore, the consequences of deforestation on biodiversity are substantial and widely recognised. This book predicts future land-use change, generates ecological niches of large mammals and assesses wildlife concentrations and their hotspots in different areas of the world. The evolution of the forest fragmentation in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, the present situation of its remnants, and the main strategies, conflicts and potentials for conservation are evaluated as well. ... Read more

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This book incorporates twenty contributions on diverse aspects of the environmental geochemistry in tropical and sub-tropical environments, drawing together extensive original research not readily available elsewhere. Coverage includes intercontinental comparisons drawn on paleoclimatology, environmental impacts of mining and geochemistry of continetal shelf sediments.

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Provides valuable insights into the actual international state of sediment quality assessment and discusses various chemical and biological approaches to sediment toxicity. ... Read more

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This book discusses recent developments in the study of chemical processes and equilibria in the marine environment and in the air/water and water/sediment interfaces. The chemical cycle of carbon as well as the effect of organic substances on the speciation and distribution of inorganic and organometallic substances are extensively discussed. Much of the recent progress in the area is the direct result of advanced analytical technologies and chemometric applications which are highlighted in the book. ... Read more

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Severe wildfires have been burning more area and more houses in recent years. Some assert that climate change is at least partly to blame; others claim that the increasing number of homes in and near the forest is a major cause. However, most observers agree that wildfire suppression and historic land management practices have led to unnaturally high accumulations of biomass in many forests, primarily in the intermountain West. While high-intensity conflagrations (wildfires that burn the forest canopy) occur naturally in some ecosystems (called crown-fire or stand-replacement fire ecosystems), abnormally high biomass levels can lead to conflagrations in ecosystems when such crown fires were rare. This book explores wildland fires, fuels and non-native invasive plants in our forest ecosystems. ... Read more

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Current research revolves around trends to bring technology into harmony with the natural environment and in order to protect the ecosystem. Bioremediation involves processes which reduce the overall treatment costs by using agricultural residues. Regeneration of the biosorbent further increases the cost effectiveness of the process, thus warranting its future success in solving water quality problems. Special emphasis is paid to chemical modifications resulting in tailored novel biomaterials which improve its sorption efficiency and environmental stability. In this way it can be used commercially as a simple, fast, economical, ecofriendly green technology, for the removal of toxic metals from waste water particularly in rural and remote areas of the country.