Urban Air Quality Plans and Integrated Assessment Methodologies

The air quality directive （2008/50/EC （of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008）） requires European Member States to design appropriate AQPs （air quality plans） for zones and agglomerations where the air quality does not comply with the limit values and to assess possible emission reduction measures to decrease concentration levels. The Portuguese agglomeration of Porto Litoral is one of the several European Union urban areas that had to develop and implement AQPs to reduce particulate matter （PM10）. The AQPs were initially designed based on a scenario approach and using an air quality model, which was applied over the study region for the reference situation with the current PM10 emissions, and for a reduction scenario with PM10 emissions re-estimated considering the implementation of abatement measures. Aiming to cost-efficiently optimize Porto Litoral PM10 abatement measures, the assessment procedure was repeated using an optimization approach based on the RIAT ＋ （regional integrated assessment tool ＋）. Porto Litoral urban area＇s technical and non-technical measures were characterized （including associated costs） and, through the application of the air quality model to 20 emissions abatement scenarios, S-R （source-receptor） relationships were created. This paper comparatively describes the air quality plans designed to improve PM10 levels in the Porto Litoral agglomeration based on both the scenario analysis and the optimization approach.

Methodology for credibility assessment of historical global LUCC datasets

Land use-induced land cover change(LUCC)is an important anthropogenic driving force of global change that has influenced,and is still influencing,many aspects of regional and global environments.Accurate historical global land use/cover datasets are essential for a better understanding of the impacts of LUCC on global change.However,there are not only evident inconsistencies in current historical global land use/cover datasets,but inaccuracies in the data in these global dataset revealed by historical record-based reconstructed regional data throughout the world.A focus in historical LUCC and global change research relates to how the accuracy of historical global land cover datasets can be improved.A methodology for assessing the credibility of existing historical global land cover datasets that addresses temporal as well as spatial changes in the amount and distribution of land cover is therefore needed.Theoretically,the credibility of a global land cover dataset could be assessed by comparing similarities or differences in the data according to actual land cover data(the"true value").However,it is extremely difficult to obtain historical evidence for assessing the credibility of historical global land cover datasets,which cannot be verified through field sampling like contemporary global land cover datasets.We proposed a methodological framework for assessing the credibility of global land cover datasets.Considering the types and characteristics of the available evidence used for assessments,we outlined four methodological approaches:(1)accuracy assessment based on regional quantitative reconstructed land cover data,(2)rationality assessment based on regional historical facts,(3)rationality assessment based on expertise,and(4)likelihood assessment based on the consistency of multiple datasets.These methods were illustrated through five case studies of credibility assessments of historical cropland cover data.This framework can also be applied in assessments of other land cover types,such as forest and grassland.

Benchmarking Approach to Compare Web Applications Static Analysis Tools Detecting OWASP Top Ten Security Vulnerabilities

To detect security vulnerabilities in a web application,the security analyst must choose the best performance Security Analysis Static Tool(SAST)in terms of discovering the greatest number of security vulnerabilities as possible.To compare static analysis tools for web applications,an adapted benchmark to the vulnerability categories included in the known standard Open Web Application Security Project(OWASP)Top Ten project is required.The information of the security effectiveness of a commercial static analysis tool is not usually a publicly accessible research and the state of the art on static security tool analyzers shows that the different design and implementation of those tools has different effectiveness rates in terms of security performance.Given the significant cost of commercial tools,this paper studies the performance of seven static tools using a new methodology proposal and a new benchmark designed for vulnerability categories included in the known standard OWASP Top Ten project.Thus,the practitioners will have more precise information to select the best tool using a benchmark adapted to the last versions of OWASP Top Ten project.The results of this work have been obtaining using widely acceptable metrics to classify them according to three different degree of web application criticality.

Ecosystem health towards sustainability

Ecosystems are becoming damaged or degraded as a result of stresses especially associated with human activities.A healthy ecosystem is essential to provide the services that humans and the natural environment require and has tremendous social and economic value.Exploration of the definition of ecosystem health includes what constitutes health and what it means to be healthy.To evaluate ecosystem health,it is necessary to quantify ecosystem conditions using a variety of indicators.In this paper,the main principles and criteria for indicator selection,classification of indicators for different kinds of ecosystems,the most appropriate indicators for measuring ecosystem sustainability,and various methods and models for the assessment of ecosystem health are presented.Drivers,sustainability,and resilience are considered to be critical factors for ecosystem health and its assessment.Effective integration of ecological understanding with socioeconomic,biophysical,biogeochemical,and public-policy dimensions is still the primary challenge in this field,and devising workable strategies to achieve and maintain ecosystem health is a key future challenge.