The Environmental Science and Design Symposium, formerly the Land and Water Symposium, is a multidisciplinary forum that promotes the exchange of ideas related to the resiliency of natural and built systems. This year’s theme, Complexity of Environmental Legacies, reflects the challenges of developing sustainable systems in landscapes transformed by decades of modification and contamination. Speakers from a wide range of disciplines (fashion, geology, geography, architecture, and ecology) will address topics related to urban, sustainability, restoration, and the integration of design with biological systems.
Browse the Environmental Science and Design Research Initiative 2019 Collections
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A parametric study of impact of Neighborhood Morphology on air pollution dispersion patterns due to unplanned building demolition.03/21/2019
An unplanned demolition of a building can be a result of either natural e.g. earthquake or human-made disaster e.g. terrorist attack and wars. It generates considerable amount of coarse, fine and ultrafine Particulate Matter, which are significantly associated with chronic and acute adverse health effects. Literature study attributed to few studies about the impact of planned demolition on local air quality, while the short-term bursts of pollutants and public exposure to this high pollution levels during an unplanned demolition were widely overlooked. Meanwhile, the existing research has also pointed out that the characteristics of the pollutant dispersion are highly dependent on the urban morphology. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the pattern and characteristics of pollution dispersion due to unplanned building demolition in a compact high-rise/ low rise and open high-rise/ low rise neighborhood. CFD-based microscale air quality model “ENVI-met” was used to simulate the pollution dispersion in the selected morphologies. The pollution concentration was measured at the various horizontal and vertical distance at various times and wind directions (0 and 315 deg). Thirty-six different measurement from horizontal dispersion and forty-eight different measurements from vertical dispersion for PM concentration and wind speed were measured and tabulated. LEONARDO was used to visualize the output in ENVI_met binary files and Microsoft Excel was used to plot the graphs showing a summary of relationship between the tested parameters. The results indicated that the pollution dispersion pattern depended on its neighborhood morphology which is represented by its street canyon and building height, wind flow and vegetations. These findings are followed by the design recommendations based on the observation of pollution dispersion pattern in different morphologies while suggesting a need of air quality standards for short term high pollution levels.
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A tale of two communities; The characterization of an urban neighborhood for community issues and urban forests in East Cleveland from two different stakeholders.03/21/2019
Geospatial narrative was developed as a qualitative GIS approach to extend current GIS data capture capabilities. This method allows the integration of narrative interpretation with GIS to understand ephemeral and physical qualities of a location. This methodology can help assess the quality of a community and identify issues. The issues monitored by stakeholders can include failing infrastructure, vacancy, and crime for the community and disease, poor maintenance, and vandalism for urban forests. With geospatial narrative these issues can be mapped and analyzed. This project will study two geospatial narratives, from urban forestry and community stakeholders, in East Cleveland. A correlation will be determined from the data collected from the two narratives by extracting a set of keywords from each narrative. This data will assess the quality of a neighborhood and the urban forest. The project will determine whether geospatial narratives are reliable alternatives available to use for site analysis. Mapping the data from the narrative will identify a relationship with the quality of a neighborhood and the existing urban forest. This project will consult primary sources that have previously used geospatial narrative to understand methodology and results. This data offers a more considerate analysis for planning and design. Converting the stakeholder’s assessment and input into mapped data, allows for a more holistic and complete analysis of the site, which can increase the overall success of the design.
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An Investigative Deconstruction of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)03/21/2019
In the US and around the globe, over 60% of our electricity is from burning fossil fuels. Fuel cells can be twice as efficient and have the potential to dramatically change the way electricity is generated. When hydrogen and oxygen meet on the electrolyte plate, a catalyst spurs a reaction that creates H2O and electricity, without greenhouse emissions. Emissions can be generated through obtaining hydrogen, but with significantly less greenhouse gases and higher fuel-energy conversion. There is a unique opportunity to study a large commercial fuel cell, a 150 Kilowatt Fuel Cell Module (FCM). This FCM was donated by a company represented by the letter B*, per a Non-Disclosure Agreement. The FCM weighs 720 pounds and works with 9 other units to create one megawatt of power. 1 unit disassembled.
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Analysis of Cold Air Outbreaks Across the Globe03/21/2019
Periods of anomalously cold temperatures impact regions of the globe every winter. Depending on the magnitude and duration of the occurrence, extremely cold periods may be deemed cold air outbreaks (CAOs), which can be detrimental to the agricultural industry and human health. A systematic CAO classification was developed from gridded NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, from 1948 through 2017, based on a set of criteria concerning magnitude, duration, and spatial extent. Statistical analyses of the data were used to determine the overall trends in CAOs for different regions across the globe. This research will be used to further understand the large scale atmospheric mechanisms that precede these CAOs and how the specific mechanisms impact the location of CAOs.
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Bacterial colonization on different microplastics in a local stream in Northeast Ohio03/21/2019
Research was performed to understand bacterial colonization on different types of microplastics in a local stream in Northeast Ohio. Disks were placed in bags constructed mesh fabric with 1000 µm diameter. Sampling was done at various intervals to determine early and late colonizers within bacterial communities on microplastics in freshwater. Microplastics (diameters <5mm) are a global concern in environmental sciences and are readily colonized by bacteria in the environment. The term "plastisphere" has been used to describe bacterial communities residing on microplastics. The composition of the communities inside the plastisphere has been affected by the physicochemical properties of different microplastic types. Plastics have variations in physicochemical properties based on their intended applications. For example, polyethylene (PE) has a net negative charge while polypropylene (PP) has a net neutral charge at the pH of seawater. Subsequently, DNA was extracted from microbes adhering to disks and the plastisphere community composition will be determined from the V6 hypervariable region of 16S rDNA using 16S MiSeq 250 sequencing. Sampled disks will also be analyzed for differences in surface roughness, buoyancy, and weight after bacterial colonization. As the study progressed, microplastic disks broke down and had increased surface roughness.
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Baseline biodiversity measures for vegetative roofs03/21/2019
Vegetative roofs can be designed to extend local habitat or replace, in part, the functionality of regional plant and wildlife communities lost in urban development. In creating living architecture habitat, it is important to understand the characteristics that are transferable from the local ecosystems to a roof environment. Commonly referred to as a ‘habitat template’ approach (Lundholm, 2006), roof systems can be designed as speculative habitat which incorporates local ecological wildlife community insight and biodiversity provisioning. To improve the understanding of speculative roof habitat, we investigate novel ecosystems and system attributes (soils, plants, and insect species) in Northeastern Ohio, USA. Novel ecosystems harbor species compositions and relative abundances that have not previously occurred in a given biome (Hobbs, 2006). New and unique species combinations arise frequently in impacted habitats that possess both historic and uncommon associations which refer to as ‘eco-types’ for this study’s descriptive purpose. We use our observations for informing a design process conducted in partnership with the Cleveland Metro Parks, and highlight the importance of partnerships between institutional and public organizations. Reported here are the locations and primary descriptions of 5 eco-types across 19 sites in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
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Comparative analysis of treatment efficiency of PPCPs in wastewater and drinking water plant in Northeastern Ohio03/21/2019
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are one group of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) that have the potential to impact water quality and human health. Currently, PPCP monitoring and reporting is not mandatory according to state or federal laws, and more often water treatment plants are not directed to remove PPCPs This study monitored and compared treatment efficiencies of separate drinking water and wastewater treatment plants (DWTP and WWTP) in Northeastern Ohio, focusing on their ability to remove PPCPs. This study also examined if environmental variables have a role in altering PPCP concentrations in water treatment plants. Samples were collected from the Sandusky Water Treatment Facility and Kent wastewater reclamation plant in the summer of 2018. PPCPs were determined using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Screening for antibiotic-resistant bacteria from source water was also conducted using LB agar plates. The concentration of nutrients and environmental variables, including soluble reactive phosphate (SRP), nitrate, ammonia, total nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and chlorophyll-a, were measured using standard methods. Chlorophyll-a and nitrate concentrations were comparatively higher at the point of discharge in the Kent WWTP compared to the source water at the DWTP in Sandusky. Future work will involve monitoring PPCP concentrations in water treatment plants with different treatment processes (e.g., UV, biofiltration, ozone) to better understand the efficacy of filtration techniques in successful removal of these contaminants from water systems.
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Comparing Stream Nitrate Concentrations in Baseflow and Stormflow Conditions across Urban Watersheds03/21/2019
Degraded water quality is common in urban streams due to increased impervious surface cover, which can input stormwater runoff directly into the stream. Nitrate, which enters streams from sewage inputs or runoff from fertilizer and atmospheric deposition, is a common contaminant in urban watersheds. Nitrate concentrations can vary throughout a stream network due to land cover and urban infrastructure influences including proximity to sewer lines and stream burial. Three urban watersheds (5-15 km2) in Summit County, Ohio with similar impervious surface cover, but spatially variable land cover metrics to understand urbanization on nitrate concentrations. Biweekly sampling of 26 sites between October 2017 and October 2018 was accompanied by 5-minute conductivity and water level data, as well as storm event sampling in August and September 2018. Baseflow concentrations showed that nitrate has higher concentrations and more variation between sampling locations in the summer (2-9 mg/L), with little variation in the winter (<2 mg>/L). During storm events, nitrate concentrations changed in response to water level, with generally lower concentrations at high water level due to dilution. Nitrate concentrations varied at baseflow and stormflow between watersheds, possibly due to differences in land cover metrics. Understanding water quality response to discharge provides greater insight into the mechanisms affecting urban water quality, allowing managers to better predict impairment and target land use and stormwater actions that will improve water quality.
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Differentiation of Harmful Algal Bloom Signatures in the Indian River Lagoon by Remote Sensing03/21/2019
Located along the east coast of Florida, the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a shallow-marine estuary that extends along 240 km of coastline. Historically, freshwater flowing into the IRL has transported high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from agricultural fertilizers and septic systems. As a result, eutrophic waters have driven the growth of various types of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Previous remote sensing research has focused on monitoring water quality by identifying the spectral characteristics of color producing agents (CPAs) associated with HABs through the use of ocean color chlorophyll-a algorithms. The ability to reliably distinguish CPAs of HABs, color dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and suspended sediment within water bodies through remote sensing techniques has become critically important for monitoring regional water quality. Recent statistical techniques for processing Landsat 8 and Sentinel 3 imagery have expanded retrievals beyond chlorophyll-a and corrected for atmospheric interferences. The Kent State spectral decomposition method, a type of Varimax-rotated Principal Component Analysis (VPCA), is used to process visible reflectance spectra (400-700nm) from multispectral and hyperspectral imaging systems. The VPCA decomposition describes the total percentage of variability of CPAs mixed in the water column and determines the leading spectral components of the satellite image that contribute to the overall signal. We identify these leading spectral components obtained from this analysis with lab measured reflectance spectra, such as brown tide cultures, A. lagunensis, to qualitatively assess areas of the IRL which have relatively high or low proportions of CPAs over time. Results using the VPCA method have identified A. lagunensis constituents within the Banana River region of the IRL and have since been validated with in-situ biovolume and water quality measurements.
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Do different green roof substrates, plant communities, and mycorrhizal fungi impact water runoff quality and quantity?03/21/2019
A major goal of green infrastructure is the reduction of stormwater in the urban and suburban landscape, which is accomplished by the design—particularly the growing substrate and plants within it. Engineered growth substrate is often used because it is a known quantity that can hold specific volumes of water while still being lightweight. Natural growth substrate (soil) is a more unknown quantity but has the benefit of being able to support more plant species and introduce native soil organisms into the system. The interactions between growth substrate, plant, and soil biota have the potential to be able to bring additional benefits to the urban environment besides just stormwater reduction, such as air and water purification, and providing biological habitat. This study aims to examine how different types of substrate, plants, and the addition of soil organisms called mycorrhizal fungi impact the quality and quantity of stormwater. Located at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center, 39 different square meter plots were built on a low height roof. Three different substrate types: a bioretention grade soil, a worm casting compost, and a conventional engineered media (RoofliteTM) were used in combination with two separate plant communities, a native prairie and a designed community. Half of these were inoculated with symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi and the other half were left uninoculated. Water runoff was collected bi-monthly over the course of a year and total N and P content were measured. Preliminary analyses show that substrate type had a very significant effect on the volume of water runoff, while plant communities significantly impacted the amount of nitrogen runoff. All the treatments showed high amounts of phosphorus runoff, which could potentially impact downstream water quality if not addressed. However, further analyses on the plants, substrate, and soil biota are still in progress and the information may help improve green roof health and functioning.
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