Urban land surface models (LSM) are commonly evaluated for short periods (a few weeks to months) because of limited observational data. This makes it difficult to distinguish the impact of initial conditions on model performance or to consider the response of a model to a range of possible atmospheric conditions. Drawing on results from the first urban LSM comparison, these two issues are consi...

Numerous therapeutically relevant small molecules have been identified from the screening of natural products (NPs) produced by environmental bacteria. These discovery efforts have principally focused on culturing bacteria from natural environments rich in biodiversity. We sought to assess the biosynthetic capacity of urban soil environments using a phylogenetic analysis of conserved NP biosynt...

Soil quality is related to soil characteristics such as fertility and contamination. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of land use on these soil characteristics and to confirm the following anthropisation gradient: (i) forest, (ii) grassland, (iii) cultivated, (iv) orchard and vineyard, (v) urban vegetable garden, and (vi) SUITMA (urban, industrial, traffic, mining and military area...

Heavy metals in urban soils continue to attract attention because of their potential long-term effects on human health. During a previous investigation of urban soils in Galway City, Ireland, a pollution hotspot of Pb, Cu, Zn and As was identified in the sports ground of South Park in the Claddagh. The sports ground was formerly a rubbish dumping site for both municipal and industrial wastes. I...

[1] We measured soil nitrogen (N) cycling and fluxes of N2O and NO in three land-use types across the metropolitan area of Phoenix, Arizona. Urbanization increased N2O emissions compared to native landscapes, primarily due to the expansion of fertilized and irrigated lawns. Fluxes of N2O from lawns ranged from 18 to 80 mg N m!2 h!1 and were significantly larger than managed xeric landscapes (2....

The safety of urban farming has been questioned due to the potential for contamination in urban soils. A laboratory incubation, a field trial, and a second laboratory incubation were conducted to test the ability of high-Fe biosolids-based composts to reduce the bioaccessibility of soil Pb and As in situ. Lead and As bioaccessibility were evaluated using an in vitro assay. Changes in Pb, As, an...

Due to the inherent discrete nature of sensing, interpolation is a key activity in sensing. Interpolation in urban computing faces an unprecedented inference issue that was not present in large scale traditional sensing environments. Obstacles such as buildings and walls are prevalent in urban sensing, and it is important to consider them in urban sensing interpolation. This paper introduces an...

Abstract The main components of solid atmospheric aerosol are soil and rock particles raised from the earth’s surface by wind erosion, primary biological particles. In composition aerosol, many pollutants, both mineral organic, appear in areas with intensive human activity. Summer dust (solid fallouts) that fell out atmosphere was collected at two sites Moscow (the territory Leo Tolstoy Museum-...