Developing Ontology Systems as a Base of an Environmental Quality Management Model in México

The process of identifying the attributes and relationships considered in an ontology is a complex task because there are many factors involved in the deterioration of environmental quality, the diversity of sources and data dispersion. This work presents an ontology that integrates the data required by an Environmental Quality Synoptic System (EQSS), which to date scatters in different Internet sites and concentrates by different agencies for example INEGI, CONABIO, SEMARNAT, CNA, among others. The methodology process consists of the collection of environmental information in Mexico through the application of computational techniques resulting ontology with environmental knowledge that will be processed by the system EQSS. Among the main advantages is than the selection and structure of information allow the automated generation of results in an environmental statement. The ontology proposal is based on knowledge of EQSS system that is based on the architecture of expert systems and through this important information for decision-making in regard to environmental quality and interaction with Geographic Information System (GIS) is obtained.

Perspectives of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Tampico, Mexico

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has brought negative effects to the environment produced by the materials that compose them. The proper implementation of management plans of WEEE should integrate measures to prevent, mitigate and correct these affectations. As an initial step, it is necessary to make a diagnosis of the current situation of WEEE management which is the objective of this work. The studied zone was composed by the municipalities of Tampico, Ciudad Madero and Altamira located in southeast Tamaulipas, Mexico. The descriptive analysis of technical and regulatory aspects of the current management system in the study area was developed, including generation rates and analysis of waste streams. Among the main results, the generation of WEEE was estimated in 2040.38 tons/year for 2013, distributed in the municipalities of Tampico with 830.93 tons/year, Altamira with 650.18 tons/year, and Ciudad Madero with 559.27 tons/year. This calculation was estimated using Mexico’s WEEE generation indicators. The analysis of waste streams includes five categories of WEEE, Televisions with 61% of the total generation, followed by sound devices with 18%, personal computers with 17%;mobile phones with 2% as well as fixed phones with 1%. In the study area, reports of Tampico’s municipality indicated that 96 tons of WEEE was collected in the city of Tampico in 2013. In México, the national legislation considers WEEE in the category of waste requiring special handling (WRSH), however, it exists an inadequacy in the environmental laws about the specific classification of this kind of debris that makes their effective management more difficult. No companies who provide a management or treatment operations for WEEE are reported in Tampico, or in the near region. In addition, despite an initial interest for the municipality to attend the WEEE problematic, it exists a lack of sensibility of the population in the absence of environmental education programs.

Comparative Analysis of Carbon Monoxide Modeling from Vehicular Sources in Puebla City,Mexico

The results of dispersion modeling of carbon monoxide are reported in this paper. The results of applying the technique of Rapid Assessment of Sources of Environmental Pollution (RASEP) database and the Air Monitoring State System in the City of Puebla, México, were employed. Concentrations of carbon monoxide emitted by cars inferred by RASAP technique with those reported by the environmental monitoring station “Nymphs”, were compared. The date of 21 June 2005-2010 was selected during the peak hour traffic flow. The dispersion of carbon monoxide was modeled by software DISPER and SCRI software, in order to infer the exposure levels of carbon monoxide in the study area. The estimated and monitored concentrations were evaluated with the Mexican regulations for population’s health protection. Regarding the dispersion model, SCRI was discarded for the target validation because it only allows modeling on specific areas. Moreover, the modeling software allowed DISPER simulations with linear sources of car exhaust, so this advantage is considered appropriate to continue using this program. Both estimates obtained by RASEP, as modeled by DISPER and recorded by the monitoring system exceed the maximum permissible limits of NOM-021-SSA1-1993 getting an impermissible for the area of influence of the assessment monitoring station. The DISPER software has potential use for such evaluations, but more work is required on the system for their inferences can be validated by reproducible physical and chemical measurements.