Through the Water Framework Directive (WFD) the European countries started producing integrated river basin management plans with the basic objective to achieve “good status” of water bodies by 2015. The main aims of these plans are to identify procedures for combating the deterioration or overexploitation of water resources in the territory of each member state. In the first phase of this init...

There is evidence that damaged peatlands can negatively affect the delivery of water related ecosystem services. There is interest in peatland restoration to meet different regulatory targets, including the Water Framework Directive (WFD). A comprehensive assessment of the economic benefits of restoration is missing. This paper synthesises hydrological and bio-geochemical knowledge on peatland ...

In the early days of Systems Analysis the focus was on providing tools for optimisation, modelling and simulation for use by experts. Now there is a recognition of the need to develop and disseminate tools to assist in making decisions, negotiating compromises and communicating preferences that can easily be used by stakeholders without the need for specialist training. The Water Framework Dire...

Member States of the EU are presently involved in the enforcement of the Directive of the Council and European Parliament 2000/60/CE, the so-called Water Framework Directive (WFD), establishing a frame for the common water policy of the Union. A major objective of the WFD is to reach within 2015 a good ecological status for all relevant surface water bodies of the Union territory. The assessmen...

The European water framework directive (WFD; Directive 2000/60/EC) develops the concept of ecological quality status (EcoQ) for the assessment of the quality of water masses. The EcoQ is based upon the status of biological, hydromorphological and physicochemical quality elements, with biological elements being especially important; and supported by the others. The physico-chemical elements incl...

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) poses an immense challenge to water management in Europe. Aiming at a “good ecological status” of surface waters in 2015, integrated river basin management plans need to be in place by 2009, and broadly supported by stakeholders. Information & Communication Technology (ICT) tools, such as computational models, are very helpful in designing river basin managem...

The Italian approach to determining background values (BGVs) of metals and trace elements in marine sediments according the national legislation transposing water framework directive (WFD) has been illustrated. This study may be helpful for all countries that need establish local BGVs correct assessment contamination areas with wide geological geochemical variability and, particularly, those as...

NASA has conducted an Airframe Structural Integrity Program to develop the methodology to predict the onset of widespread fatigue damage in lap-splice joints of fuselage structures. Several stress analysis codes have been developed or enhanced to analyze the lap-splice-joint configuration. Fatigue lives in lap-splicejoint specimens and fatigue-crack growth in a structural fatigue test article a...

Waterlogged archaeological wood samples may degrade during long-term immersion in microbial-activity environments, which causes its biodegradation. Simultaneous dynamic vapor sorption (SDVS) and two-dimensional correlation infrared (2D COS-IR) spectroscopy reveal the degradation inhomogeneity of waterlogged fir from Shengbeiyu shipwreck. The reference exhibit type II isotherms. equilibrium mois...

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) establishes a framework for the protection and improvement of estuarine and coastal waters, trying to achieve 'good surface water status at the latest 15 years after the date of entry into force of this Directive'. One of the biological elements that should be analysed is the benthos and, as such, the WFD normative definitions describe the aspects of...