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Wildfires are a threat to human life and property, yet they are an unavoidable part of nature and in some instances they are necessary for the natural maintenance and evolution of forests. Investigators have attempted to describe the behavior (speed, direction, modes of spread) of wildfires for over fifty years. Current models for numerical description are mainly algebraic and based on statistical or empirical ideas. The authors describe, in contrast, a transport model called FIRETEC, which is a self-determining fire behavior model. The use of transport formulations connects the propagation rates to the full conservation equations for energy, momentum, species concentrations, mass, and turbulence. In this text, highlights of the model formulation and results are described. The goal of the FIRETEC model is to describe average behavior of the gases and fuels. It represents the essence of the combination of many small-scale processes without resolving each process in complete detail. The FIRETEC model is implemented into a computer code that examines line-fire propagation in a vertical spatial cut parallel to the direction of advancement. With this code the authors are able to examine wind effects, slope effects, and the effects of nonhomogeneous fuel distribution.

Abstract Bacterial community succession was investigated in a field-scale subsurface reactor formed by a series of wells that received weekly ethanol additions to re-circulating groundwater. Ethanol additions stimulated denitrification, metal reduction, sulfate reduction and U(VI) reduction to sparingly soluble U(IV). Clone libraries of SSU rRNA gene sequences from groundwater samples enabled tracking of spatial and temporal changes over a 1.5-year period. Analyses showed that the communities changed in a manner consistent with geochemical variations that occurred along temporal and spatial scales. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that the levels of nitrate, uranium, sulfide, sulfate and ethanol were strongly correlated with particular bacterial populations. As sulfate and U(VI) levels declined, sequences representative of sulfate reducers and metal reducers were detected at high levels. Ultimately, sequences associated with sulfate-reducing populations predominated, and sulfate levels declined as U(VI) remained at low levels. When engineering controls were compared with the population variation through canonical ordination, changes could be related to dissolved oxygen control and ethanol addition. The data also indicated that the indigenous populations responded differently to stimulation for bioreduction; however, the two biostimulated communities became more similar after different transitions in an idiosyncratic manner. The strong associations between particular environmental variables and certain populations provide insight into the establishment of practical and successful remediation strategies in radionuclide-contaminated environments with respect to engineering controls and microbial ecology.

Reclaimed phosphate mined land in central Florida has been identified as an area with potential for growing biomass crops. Approximately 73,000 acres of land could be available for production. Additional research is needed to define the possibilities.

This report is comprised of two studies. The first study focuses on plant canopies in pinyon-juniper woodland, ponderosa pine woodland, and waste sites at Los Alamos National Laboratory which involved five basic areas of research: (1) application of hemispherical photography and other gap fraction techniques to study solar radiation regimes and canopy architecture, coupled with application of time-domain reflectometry to study soil moisture; (2) detailed characterization of canopy architecture using stand mapping and allometry; (3) development of an integrated geographical information system (GIS) database for relating canopy architecture with ecological, hydrological, and system modeling approaches; (4) development of geometric models that simulate complex sky obstruction, incoming solar radiation for complex topographic surfaces, and the coupling of incoming solar radiation with energy and water balance, with simulations of incoming solar radiation for selected native vegetation and experimental waste cover design sites; and (5) evaluation of the strengths and limitations of the various field sampling techniques. The second study describes an approach to develop software that takes advantage of new generation computers to model insolation on complex topographic surfaces. SOLARFLUX is a GIS-based (ARC/INFO, GRID) computer program that models incoming solar radiation based on surface orientation (slope and aspect), solar angle (azimuth and zenith) as it shifts over time, shadows caused by topographic features, and atmospheric conditions. This manual serves as the comprehensive guide to SOLARFLUX. Included are discussions on modelling insolation on complex surfaces, the theoretical approach, program setup and operation, and a set of applications illustrating characteristics of topographic insolation modelling.

The purpose of this report is to meet three of the primary objectives of the Savannah River Site (SRS) environmental monitoring program. These objectives are to assess actual or potential exposures to populations form the presence of radioactive and nonradioactive materials from normal operations or nonroutine occurrences; to demonstrate compliance with applicable authorized limits and legal requirements; and to communicate results of the monitoring program to the public. This 1989 report contains descriptions of radiological and nonradiological monitoring programs, it provides data obtained from these programs, and it describes various environmental research activities ongoing at the site. Also included are summaries of environmental management and compliance activities, a summary of National Environmental Policy Act activities, and a listing of environmental permits issued by regulatory agencies.

Photosynthetic assimilation of atmospheric carbon dioxide by land plants offers the underpinnings for terrestrial carbon (C) sequestration. A proportion of the C captured in plant biomass is partitioned to roots, where it enters the pools of soil organic C and soil inorganic C and can be sequestered for millennia. Bioenergy crops serve the dual role of providing biofuel that offsets fossil-fuel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sequestering C in the soil through extensive root systems. Carbon captured in plant biomass can also contribute to C sequestration through the deliberate addition of biochar to soil, wood burial, or the use of durable plant products. Increasing our understanding of plant, microbial, and soil biology, and harnessing the benefits of traditional genetics and genetic engineering, will help us fully realize the GHG mitigation potential of phytosequestration.

At the end of the driest year on record, California faces water shortages whose impacts will be felt with progressive severity through the summer and fall of 1977. Electric power is not entirely exempt from these impacts and could, if severly affected, compound the direct distresses of the drought. Each of the major California electric utility companies has forecasted the short-term effects on electricity supply and demand in its service area. The study reported here undertook an independent analysis to provide a statewide assessment of impacts and remedial actions and to develop additional analytical tools and data for these purposes. The study examined various aspects of the drought as it relates to electricity supply and demand, reliability of supply to meet summer peak loads, the efficacy of conservation measures, and probable increases in power plant emissions and cost of generating electricity. The results of the study, based in part on the 1977 electricity supply and demand projections submitted by the four utilities to the California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (CERCDC), support the utilities' conclusions that the three southern California utilities have sufficient reserve capacity and fuel to meet their own needs and to assist PG and E inmore » meeting its load demand with little loss of reliability. However, to achieve this the utilities in their submissions have had to assume: 1) full coordination among the utilities; and 2) no air pollution limitations on electricity generation in the South Coast Air Basin. 32 references.« less

The aim of this study was to develop and demonstrate low energy climate control and production techniques for greenhouse grown citrus and ornamental crops. Emphasis was placed on design, fuel efficiency and plant response to warm water soil heating systems using solar energy and LP gas. An energy requirement of 28Btus output per hour per square foot of bed space will provide soil temperature of 70/sup 0/F minimum when air temperatures are maintained at 60/sup 0/F. Soil heating to 70/sup 0/ increased rooting and growth of 8 foliage plant varieties by 25 to 45% compared to plants grown under 60/sup 0/F air temperature conditions. Providing soil heating, however, increased fuel consumption in the central Florida test facilities by 30% in the winters of 1980-81 and 1981-82. Solar tie-in to soil heating systems has the potential of reducing fuel usage. Solar heated water provided 4 hours of soil heating following a good collection day. Decreased in-bed pipe spacing and increased storage capacity should increase the solar percentage to 6 hours.