فصلنامه محیط شناسی
سال سی و نهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 68، زمستان 1392)

Historic cities and neighbourhoods in Iran couldn’t adjust themselves to quick changes of the recent decades and have lost their quality in many aspects. Regardless of different cultural, economic and social conditions, new neighbourhoods have been formed next to old areas of the cities. Although these new areas welcom ed new functions, they couldn’t provide suitable environments for their residents. This paper intends to promote the environmental quality and people satisfaction of living in neighborhood by recognizing and prioritizing the main environmental quality factors which have effect on satisfaction of living in neighborhood. Ghotb-E-Ravandi neighborhood where is developed in the last few decades was selected for this study. This neighborhood is located adjacent to historical fabric of Kashan City, in center of Iran. The research method is an evaluation of residents. To determine the required samples for the evaluation, Cochran technique was applied. The indicators were measured by questionnaire was distributed among 164 residents or 321 housing units in Ghotb-E-Ravandi Neighbourhood. The actual samples were selected by the systematic sampling method by mapping the housing units. Data obtained through the residents interviews were entered into a microcomputer and then analyzed by using SPSS. Each indicator was measured by at least two questions with five different answer levels (very high, high, moderate, low, and very low). Finally arithmetic mean of each category of questions was obtainded and scores of each indicator was applied in factor analysis technique. The indicators are including physical qualities, social relationships, accessibility, place identity, vitality, safety, security and urban facilities. These indicators, mostly qualitative in nature, were then divided into several subindicators, based on area, city, and social and cultural contexts. To do this, the 32 indicators were selected from other studies and literature reviews. Because of the large number of indicators, multiple linear regression analysis cannot run in one step. Therefore, the 32 indicators were summarized in 6 factors by using factor analysis technique (Table 1). To find the relation between residential environment quality and satisfaction of living in neighborhood, multiple linear regression analyses were used. In this analysis, dependent variable is satisfaction from living in new neighbourhoods and independent variables are the 6 factors which are extracted from factor analysis technique. By using multiple linear regression in SPSS, results of the study is summarized in 6 different models. In the models, the sixth one includes more variable and higher adjusted R square value (75.1%) compared with others. Such figure covers 75.1% of changes of the satisfaction from living in neighbourhood that includes highest percentage among models. Besides, the Std. errors of the estimate are less than other models. Confidence interval in all factors is 100% and DW1 statistical test is 2.3 which are appropriate2 for this model. Correlation of 75.1 percent between dependent and independent variables shows the impact of environmental quality on satisfaction from living in neighbourhood. In the same way 75.1% of changes in dependent variable could be explained through independent environmental qualities variables. Therefore, environmental quality has direct relationship with satisfaction of living in neighbourhood. For prioritization of indicators, Beta quotient which shows the proportion of each factor on the satisfaction was used. Then, by multiplying the Beta quotient by the proportion of each indicator in their factor, the impact of each indicator was recognized in the satisfaction. In the next step, by multiplying this amount by inverted average of indicator grade, the arrangement of priority of indicators for promotion of satisfaction by living in neighbourhood can be achieved. At the end, for promotion of the satisfaction, some solutions was recommended. The main physical indicators that should be considered to promote the satisfaction are including neighbourhood that is well-connected with important parts of the city, aesthetic aspects of the neighbourhood, mixed use, neighbourhood center and sense of central location. The main social indicators are residents’ responsibility, social interaction and participation in public activities, and interaction with city managers.

Mountainous region of Tuchal, with a height about 3962 meters above sea level, is located in north of Tehran, capital of Iran. With regards to population growth, and increasing urbanization, and air pollution issues, it is known as one of the most important recreational area for health recovery and relaxation among people living in Tehran. As these spaces are known as public goods with free access, most of the visitors are not informed from its real utility and values. This usually decline efficient and optimum use of these spaces and causes their degradation. The economic values of natural recreational regions not only increase their conservation by users, but also create more accurate information for decision makers to improve properly other natural regions. It can also be effective in forecasting requirements, omitting deficiencies and developing tourism industry in the recreational areas.

In this study, recreational value of Tuchal region is estimated with contingent valuation method from 227 respondents. The method is used in open-ended way. Two stages method of Hickman has been chosen to recognize factors affecting on decision in willingness to pay in first stage and other factors affecting on deal of willingness to pay in the second stage. Required data was gathered via questionnaires and personal interview with 227 visitors. After deletion of incomplete responses and protest zeros, 47% of respondents were willing to pay entrance fee for recreational use of the region. Table 1 show estimation results of Tobit Model for willingness to pay for recreational use of Tuchal region.

Household size, impressiveness of pollution in work or living places of visitors, kind of houses (apartment or villa) are the next effective variables (meaningful in 5%) on deal for WTP, in order. Although, education level is important factor and it is significant in 20% level. The age and geographic variety of work place affect just decision to WTP in the first stage and not deal of it. With regards to high recreational value estimated per hectare in the region, it is required to pay more attention to conservation of natural recreational regions. This is more important in big cities such as Tehran where habitants suffer from many kinds of pollution and deficiency of green spaces. The average WTP was 9444 Rls per visitor and recreational value of Tuchal area was estimated about 137888240 Rls per hectare, in summer 2012.

With regards to high recreational value estimated per hectare in this region, it is required to pay more attention to conservation of other natural recreational sites with more responsibility. This is more important in big cities such as Tehran with high level of air pollutions and deficiency of green spaces per capita.

Nowadays, environmental pollution is one of the main challenges in the world. Therefore, in addition to the policies and measures within their borders, countries prefer international organizations in the field of environmental issues. Previously it was thought that economic growth causes an increase in income and will lead to improved quality of life. However, the high growth rate of the world economy in the last few decades with reduced environmental quality puts the environmental pollution in the spotlight in the globe. In most studies in the literature on the investigation of economic factors effects on environmental pollution, these factors have been limited to economic growth and energy consumption. This study investigates the impact of macroeconomic variables such as economic growth, energy consumption, environmental pollution and an index of financial development on countries with different level of income (low, medium, high) during the period of 1980-2010. We apply a dynamic panel data approach with Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimate methodology. Recent empirical studies show that the relationship between environmental degradation and per capita income level is similar to the turn-down U (primary Kuznets curve). The message of Kuznets hypothesis is that economic growth is the cause of infection and its treatment. In recent years we have witnessed a backlash economy for changes in financial statement which emphasizes the important role of financial markets. A variety of ways to finance the economy is moving toward the gates. But, there is a dichotomy in this case. Degree of economic and financial development decreases the environmental degradation. The results of some studies show that financial liberalization and the adoption of policies to financial openness and liberalization to attract higher levels of R&D might reduce the environmental degradation. In this study, however, we are interested in checking what the effect of financial development index is on the environmental pollution. Material and In general format EKC hypothesis can be specified as follow: E= f (Y, Y2, Z) (1) Where, E is environmental deterioration emission, Y is income indicator and Z is other variables affecting the environment. Following the empirical literature, the standard log-linear functional specification of long run relationship among per capita carbon emissions, per capita energy consumption, per capita real income, and the square of per capita real income can be expressed as follows: CO= 􀈕1 + 􀈕2 en + 􀈕3 yt + 􀈕4 yt2 + 􀈕5 fd + Ut (2)􀀃 Where, co is the carbon dioxide emission (measured in metric kilo grams per capita), en is the energy consumption (measured in kg of oil equivalent per capita), y is per capita real GDP, y2 is the square of per capital real GDP, fd is the financial development indicator (domestic credit to private sector as a percentage of GDP) and Ut is error term. Empirical results The preliminary step in this analysis begins by investigating the unit root test of the variables using the Im, Pesaran and Shin (IPS) unit root test. Table 1 summarizes the outcome of the IPS unit root tests on the natural logarithms of the levels of the variables. The results for three different income groups of countries show that all signs of the estimated parameters are consistent with the theory. The Sargan and Wald tests results confirm the validity of the interpretation of the results. Energy consumption has positive effects on environmental pollution in all three income groups. Financial development in low-income countries has a significant and positive effect on the level of air pollution, while for the middle-income countries this relationship is not significant. The coefficient of financial development in countries with high income has a negative and significant impact on environmental pollution. Economic growth has decreased environmental pollution in all three income groups. However, environmental Kuznets curve is only confirmed in the high-income countries. This paper has investigated the impact of economic variables on environmental pollution with an emphasis on financial development index. We have used panel data approach with GMM estimate method. Our results have demonstrated that financial development in low-income countries increases environmental pollution. It can be said that these countries represent the facilities granted to the private sector in production, regardless of the environmental impact. In countries with high per capita income, this index has a negative impact on environmental pollution. This shows that, the private sector uses of funds, with investments in environmental protection measures and do their products. Moreover, the results show an inverse U relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution only for the countries with high per capita income. According to these results, we suggest that the civilized world needs to move towards a new approach of theeconomical environment: Take a holistic approach that need strengthening and support through interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction, too much emphasis is placed on natural resources and environmental multidisciplinary professionals and experts in economics and political elites. It is one of the most necessary accessories to ensure the sustainable development.

Ecological vulnerability is a common term that can be used in different hierarchical levels (animate, population, community, ecosystem, and landscape). Ecological vulnerability evaluation has lots of applications in environmental sciences such as EIA, risk assessment and environmental monitoring. This represents the importance of the evaluation. This paper aimed at assessing ecological vulnerability of the protected area of Touran (in East of Iran) using a combination of three methods of overlay, i.e., reciprocal effects matrix, AHP, and EA. So far, a large number of researches have been published about these methods around the world and Iran, as well. Some works in Iran are “Degradation Model” and Jabbarian's work which has innovations in objectifying ecological vulnerability assessment with reciprocal effects matrix approach. We can also point to zonation of environmental vulnerable and sensitive areas in west of Fars Province with method of fuzzy logic approach and AHP. Different methods have been used around the world to assess ecological vulnerability. Some of these methods are FAHP and compound the methods of AHP and GIS and also Multiway Data Analysis (MDA) for detecting relations between indicators, Reciprocal of Fractal Dimension (SPCA) and compounding ecosystem sensitivity and landscape pattern. More diverse indices have been used in the field of ecological vulnerability, so far. Some of these indices are ecological Sensitivity (ES), Natural and Social Pressure (NSP), Ecological Recovery Capacity (ERC) and the others related with landscape such as Reciprocal of Fractal Dimension (FD), Isolation (FI) and Fragmentation (FN). In this paper, indices of Ecological Sensitivity are used because these data are available in Iran. Protected complex of Touran is in southeast of Shahroud City, southwest of Sabzevar City and in the north of great plain of Kavir in Semnan Province (from 55 to 57 E and from 34° 44' to 36° 22' latitude). For calculating ecological vulnerability, first of all the reciprocal effects m atrix must be prepared. In this method, a matrix of ecological factors in which if the points of an ecological factor effects on other factors they are given figure of one and otherwise figure of zero. In the next steps, the summation of rows and columns and the degree of importance of ecological factors is calculate based on following equation. The most effective factor in ecological vulnerability that obtained through reciprocal effects matrix and AHP method (Fig. 1) was erodibility of soil.This factor affects extremely other factors such as soil depth, water erosion and wind erosion. The weight of this factor in AHP was obtained about 0.371. The climatology and elevation factors are lower than the erodibility of soil. They are with preference degrees of 0.161 and 0.137, respectively. In the end of the list both layers of soil depth and vegetation density are affected by other factors, with preferences degree of 0.16. Finally, the map of ecological vulnerability was obtained by weighted overlay of the layers and also by applying scales of classes for each layer. It is remarkable that location of the areas in sensitive geological zones, zones of deep soils, arid and warm climate, and wind erosion zones is determinant in vulnerability degree of those areas. These layers are converted into raster format and then overlaid by their weights; finally the map of ecological vulnerability was obtained as a result raster layer. For better land management, the area was classified by natural breaks method (Fig. 2) into four classes of resistant, subsensitive, sensitive, and vulnerable. According to vulnerability map of the area, western parts are more vulnerable relative to other areas. Furthermore, most of the areas are placed in class of sensitive. Therefore, the protected area must be recognized in different managerial levels for more conservational acts.

The Urban Heat Island is a phenomenon whereby cities become warmer than the surrounding suburbs. In other words, there is a temperature difference between the cities and their surrounding areas. Generally, the UHI effect is a result of excessive and unplanned growth of urbanization. The behavior of artificial urban texture in terms of absorption of short-wave and long-wave radiation, transpiration, releasing of anthropogenic heat, and blocking prevalent wind is significantly different from that of the rudimentary nature. Hence, the Bowen Ratio in the cities alters and the sensible heat increases. Surface geometry, on the other hand, decreases wind speed in urban regions that plays a significant role in formation of UHI. Since the energy balance inside a city is altered, UHI intensity may change. This means UHI intensity is not spatially and temporally similar in different cities. It must also be noticed that UHI formation in a city usually has diurnal or seasonal patterns which are mostly affected by synoptic weather conditions. There are three main synoptic and local climatology parameters that affect UHI formation: Air Pressure Systems, Cloudiness, and Wind Speed. Under stationary high pressure system conditions temperature differences between urban and rural areas become large. UHIintensity is largest in calm air and cloudless sky conditions and tends to disappear in cloudy and windy weather. Generally, synoptic patterns can be divided into three major conditions as stable, unstable, and mediocre. Unstable conditions reduce the heat island intensity by making turbulences which mix the air. Stable conditions, on the other hand, increase the heat island intensity as they are calm and without air movements. Mediocre conditions can play two roles depending on their characteristics and wind properties. The urban heat island can lead to urban temperatures being 2–5􀃛C higher than those in rural surroundings. Studies have shown the difference in temperature between urban and rural regions (UHI Intensity: 􀀧TU􀀐R) is revealed in minimum temperatures rather than maximums. Henceforth, the Maximum UHI intensity should usually occur after sunsets in urban areas. Other impacts of the Urban Heat Island could be intensifying pollutant concentration over urban areas, altering local wind patterns, increasing humidity, forming cloud and fog, and changing the precipitation rate over a city.Material and In this study, the influence of synoptic weather conditions on the intensities of the urban heat island of Tehran was analyzed. Tehran is the largest and the most populated city of Iran, with an approximate area of 750 Km2 and a population of 8 Million during night time. The city lies almost in the middle of the Tehran Province (1882 Km2 of area) in the southern side of the Alburz Mountain and is limited to the highlands in northern and eastern parts. On the southern and western parts, it is connected to the flat plains of Varamin, Shahriar and Karaj. To investigate the effects of synoptic weather conditions on the intensities of the Urban Heat Island over Tehran, after a literature reviews, 24 days were selected from the year 2006; two days of each month of the year, one day with the highest and the other with the lowest air pressure over the urban area. According to the literature reviews, it was expected that during cyclonic condition the intensity of the UHI would be reduced and inverse condition would be happened in anti-cyclonic condition. Figure 2 represents the variation of the heat island intensities in the study days. As it could be seen, the absolute maximum intensity (8.9 Celsius degrees) has occurred in July while the absolute minimum intensity (1.1) has occurred in January. It can also be seen that the difference between the maxima and minima of heat island intensities have seasonal changes. While the difference between maxima and minima is the least in cold period, it is the most in the warm period. In fact, in the summer the maxima intensities raises more than those of the minima making the difference bigger than what it is in the winter. It should also be noticed that the behavior of the minima and maxima is significantly simultaneous. The maxima and minima almost increase and decrease together. Even in the summer in which the difference is bigger, the maxima and minima are closely correlated. In order to investigate the influence of the synoptic weather conditions on the heat island intensity for all fourdays, as mentioned previously, the sea level pressure map,wind field and geo-potential height was calculated January: C and D) time. A and C: sea level pressure (contours) and surface temperature in Celsius (colored spectrum); B and D: wind direction (vectors) and wind speed in m/s (colored spectrum). of 500 Hpa (contours) and sea level pressure (colored spectrum) for the occurrence time of minimum intensity of heat island; B and D: geo-potential height of 500 Hpa (contours) and sea level pressure (colored spectrum) for the occurrence time of maximum intensity of heat island. In this study the influence of synoptic weather conditions on the intensities of the urban heat island of Tehran was investigated. The results indicated that the intensity of summertime heat island is higher than that of the wintertime. Furthermore, the correlation between the minima and maxima of heat island intensities shows the influence of the synoptic weather patterns on heat island intensity. In the combined maps it was revealed that the correlation between the maximum and minimum times of heat island intensity is much more significant in the warm period while there are some inconsistencies in cold period. The reason for this condition could be the different patterns of the atmosphere of Iran. In summer, the edge of Azore's subtropical high pressure is located in the midlevel atmosphere of Iran while there are several thermal low pressure cells near the ground. This causes daytime turbulences due to the high radiation income and calm weather when the radiation effect is lessened. However, the condition is almost the opposite in the cold period. In cold period, while there is a cold high pressure condition near the ground, the midlevel atmosphere experiences a relatively active pattern. Due to the passing of westerlies, many unstable synoptic systems pass through Iran's atmosphere. The instability and variety of passing systems increases the wind speed by which the heat island intensity is reduced or undergone variation. Henceforth, the difference between the low level and midlevel atmosphere is the main cause for the variation of the intensities of the heat island of Tehran.

Today, one of the most prominent health and environmental problems of cities is ascending trend of solid wastes. This must be managed and the institutionalization of phenomena such as recycling, composting, and so on from municipal solid waste must be taken into consideration. In Iran, there is no essential management in collection, disposal and recycling of over 40 thousand tons of the waste per day which approximately 70 percent of them can be recycled into compost with thousands of plastics, papers and cartons. Thus, the waste are buried in the excess trend or scattered around cities. Usually based on the weight and physical composition of municipal solid wastes, we can say that most components of municipal solid wastes after organic solid wastes and an important part of municipal and industrial solid wastes in most parts of the world are paper wastes. While amount of recyclable paper waste generated in Iran is considerable, but only a small part of that is recycled and the remaining is exerted as garbage. While, it is possible to recycle the most part of the paper waste for the production of paper with high quality. In the recent decades, with growing public awareness of the dangers of uncontrolled harvesting of hardwood resources, increasing prices of raw materials for paper production, decreasing the forest area in some major areas of wood production and resistance of organizations and environmentalists against the dameges, there are increasing demands towards the recycling of consumed paper in order to meet the needs for paper. There are various capacities in the converting machines for the paper recovery that provide the possibility for developing paper recovery centers in the regains with medium or large areas. With these qualities, investing in the creation of paper recovery units and consequently selecting appropriate locations for the deployment of these units is a critical step for municipal waste management system. Therefore, it is necessary to institutionalize using of decision support systems, in process of site selection for paper recovery units. The process to determine the suitability of land for locating paper recovery centers requires consideration of multiple criteria. That makes it necessary to use multi-criteria analysis models and techniques as inevitable choice. Thus, using multi-criteria models and techniques that are applied in conjunction with GIS capabilities can be considered as the outstanding aspects of decision support systems (DSS) in the decision process. Using decision rules, we can classify alternatives according to priority in the process of site selection. Accordingly, in this paper, there are intentions to test the operational capabilities of TOPSIS model as one of the leading techniques in multi-criteria decision making. This is applied in the experimental field of site selection for paper recovery centers in Fars Province. The data and tools used in this paper are maps and information that have been collected based on the need for the criteria and the constraints that are applied to determine the desirability of lands in locating paper recovery centers in Fars Province. In this study, softwares have been used to fit the needs in the phases of data entry, data storage, data management, data processing, data analysis, and etc. These softwares are including Excel 2007, Arc GIS 9.3, ARC View 3.3, Kilimanjaro IDRISI, and ILWIS 3.3. The main steps in the process of this study related to the research methodology are: 1. Providing criterion and constraint maps that are used in locating landfills which have led to defining of 10 criteria and 8 constraints. 2. Valuation and standardization of criterion maps: the process of valuation and standardization was performed based on value of membership in fuzzy set. Standardization was performed using the possibilities that exist in the FUZZY function of IDRISI Kilimanjaro software. 3. The method for weighting criterion maps: in this step, we have tried to determine criterion weights and criterion significance coefficient by using CRITIC method. 4. Operational use of multi-criteria decision rules: in this step, there is intention to test the operational capabilities of TOPSIS model as a prominent example of the multi-criteria analysis techniques in the experimental field of the site selection for paper recovery centers in Fars Province In this research, classified maps represent suitability of locations for paper recovery centers.The values are assigned by the accomplishment of operational procedures and guidelines that is obtained the process of using TOPSIS method (Fig. 1). In the obtained map as the scoreof each pixel approaches to 1, this is indicating favorable conditions for that pixel to be selected as a paper recovery center. Taking to consideration the constraints (Fig. 2), these pixels can be used proportionally to show the ability of that area for another landuse. Therefore, obtained maps can be used as guidance by the decision makers in selecting appropriate locations for paper recovery centers. For further documentation of the validity of land use suitability map that has been acquired in the process of using TOPSIS, we have tried to investigate on the characteristic of one sample pixel that is selected as preferable and is located on the area with no constraints, dealt with defined criteria. In this paper by considering Fars Province as a case study, capabilities and operational mechanisms of TOPSIS model has been tested in site selection of paper recovery centers. In this step, there was the goal to test the operational capabilities of TOPSIS model as a prominent example of the multi-criteria analysis techniques in the experimental field of the site selection for paper recovery centers in Fars Province. For further documentation of the validity of land use suitability map acquired in the process TOPSIS application, we have tried to investigate further on the conditions of one sample pixel that is selected as suitable pixel on the area with no constraints. Results of the investigation indicatethat the pixels that are selected as preferable pixels in the output map have the optimal conditions in terms of defined criteria. For example, this pixel that has been selected as a preferable pixel is labeled with scores more than 230 in 9 criteria and is located in the acceptable condition in terms of degree of membership in fuzzy function. Therefore, this model can be used as a Decision Support System (DSS) in the modeling spatial arrangement of paper recovery centers.

Rivers are always important features of the natural world. They perform vital function in agricultural, navigational, cultural, civilized andr ecreational associations. Mankind through his long history has tried to control behavior of the rivers to change its effective elements for a stable situation. The first studies in this field date back to the “Aristotle” and “Archimedes” and the related applied studies refer to the applied matters about water and rivers in Chinese, Iranian, and Egyptian era. Those presented the great engineering services and management methods to the world. In the last centuries “Leonardo da Vinci”, “Guglielnini” and “Frisi” published the first findings about water and rivers. The first classification about rivers based on relative degree of stability was carried out by Davis and after that by miller & wolman, Schumm, Horton, Brierly & Fryirs. There are lots of researches and theories about geomorphology of rivers and their changes in the publications of the scientists. This process has been progressed by the invention of photography in 1826 and airplane by Wright Brothers in 1900. The Existence of important agricultural structure like irrigation and drainage networks and the development of industrial and urban projects make clear the need of the society that are living in the sides of the Karoon river. The damages of geomorphologic changes, alteration of the land uses, wide change of the meander in rout of the river and the role of these factors in natural, economical and societal change are the theories of survival of the intensity, type and amount of changes in Karoon River. This paper is studying the changes of Karoon River using Linear Directional Mean. In Iran, in addition to the classical publications about geom orphologic process and landforms and river changes, there are many studies and researches that used different approaches and methods in the field of morphological changes of rivers. This study has been done by using GIS and RS techniques. Therefore, many papers and studies have been published by Talvary, Khajesahoti & Bajestani, Aleyasin, Barjeste, Alavinejad, Ajdari & Rostami, Morshedi & Alavipanah. Most of these publications are about the “Karoon River” in southwest of Iran. This paper tries to identify and determine some of the effective elements of the Karoon River morphological changes by using GIS and RS. That may help government and managerial authorities of this region of Iran to have a new view to the Karoon River behaviors. Location of the case study: The study area of this research is a lowland part of Karoon River Basin. That is located in south west of Iran where continue from Shoshtar to the Arvandrod River in west of Khoramshahr. The length of this reach is about 364 kilometers, (the UTM projection system in the start and end points are x=298305 y=3553010 and x=227613 y= 3369477, respectively).The Karoon River area is 45231 square kilometer that belongs to the Persian Gulf Watershed. Fluvial geomorphology studies are discussed in different ways and classified in two major groups, empirical and theoretical methods. In the empirical group river changes is detected by using of fields study, historical maps, aerial photos and satellite images at different times and with analysis of the statistic data. But in the theoretical methods, researchers have used wide ranges of models and equations to prove their hypothesis about river morphology changes. In this study by using of the empirical methods, same as field works, air photos interpretation, GPS, compilation of special data sets, satellite images and historical maps, geomorphological changes of Karoon River has been studied. By doing so, aerial photo, topographic map and satellite data of landsat, TM and ETM+ from 1955 to 2007, have been used to extract the center line of Karoon River for a time interval about 52 years. Since fundamental requirement of the Landsat image is that they must be especially georeferenced, a precise geometric correction is done. Then, based on the georefernced images supervised classification through maximum likelihood classification method is runned with null class. For this purpose, training site by field points and GIS vector layers has been used. This approach is just selected for extraction of the river channel and lakes borders. After that, the other geomorphologic features have been vectorized from the aerial photos and by visual interpretation from images and geologic maps. Finally the geomorphologic features are classified by using the average length of channels and the rate of compass angel of channels relative to the north for driving the rate of changes. For having the correct rate of changes, the river pass is divided into thirteen reaches and the center line of each is drawn by the method. Then the mean lengths and direction of them has been obtained by using of arc GIS software. Finally, the changes of river course have been detected by combination of all of the findings from satellite data, GIS layers, and filed studies. In this study, GPS, ArcGIS, Arcview and Geomantic software have been applied for analysis and interpretation of the data. By the way, mean directional linear of channel was drawn. This method is one of the newest approaches to detect longitudinal and transverse changes of rivers. This model is a fast and easy way to get the best results in the studies about river changes. Measuring direction or orientation In the method the trend of a set of line features is measured by calculating the average angle of the lines. The statistic used to calculate the trend is known as the directional mean. While the statistic itself is termed the "directional mean", it is used to measure either direction or orientation. Many linear features point to a direction– they have a beginning point and an end point. Such lines often represent the paths of objects that move, such as hurricanes. Other linear features such as fault lines have no start and end point. These features are said to have an orientation, but no direction. For example, a fault line might have a northwest–southeast orientation. You can calculate the mean direction or mean orientation of a set of lines. In a GIS, every line is assigned a start and end point, and has a direction. The direction is set when the line feature is created by digitizing or by importing a list of coordinates. You can see the direction of each line by displaying it with an arrowhead symbol. When calculating the mean direction, it is necessary to ensure the directions of the lines are correct. When calculating the mean orientation, the direction of the lines can be ignored. The mean direction is calculated for features that move from a starting point to an end point, such as storms, while mean orientation is calculated for stationary features, such as fault lines (Fig. 1). There may be situations that it is needed to calculate the mean orientation of lines that represent movement. A wildlife biologist is interested in where elk start and end during their seasonal migration. In such a case the mean direction of the paths the elk take during each season must be calculated. However, the biologist would calculate the mean orientation if he or she were interested in the characteristics of the migration routes, in itself, to determine what makes a good route, rather than where the elk start and end. The biologist could calculate the mean orientation using the elk paths in both directions (coming and going) and capture more about their movement. It is important to remember that while most lines have many verticies between the starting point and the ending point; this tool uses only the start point and the end point to determine direction. The results of the first method show that Karoon River has general tendency from North Northeast to South- Southwest. From 1955 to 2007, length of river has become longer. This process from 1955 to 1991 has been increased and after that from 1991 to 2007 this trend has been decreased. In general, most of changes have occurred in meandering reaches like reach number 2, and direct reaches show lower rate of changes similar to the total rate of the river. Analysis of data indicated that it is possible to determine the rate of morphological changes in reaches of the study by using of the mean lengths and direction (due to north) of the river course during the times of study. For doing so, it would be necessary to vectorize the center line of the river. On Karoon River the higher range of changes has been occurred from 1955 to 1991 in comparison with other periods. Construction of dams plays an effective role on the rate of morphologic changes by the control it exert upon discharge and sediment load. The results have revealed that the length of the first reach has been increased from 1955 to 2007 in a tendency to have higher level of sinuosity.

Organizations try to have a safe and healthy work environment without any pollution and damages. Health Safety Environment (HSE) system is a tool for improving health, safety, and environmental conditions in all industrial and non-industrial development programs. The system uses all human and financial resources to provide people with a safe environment without any risk (Farshad et al., 2006). Hydrocracker unit in refinement of Oil Company of Bandar Abbas is an important refinement unit. Its activities may cause many environmental and hazardous problems. The purpose of this study is to assess the situation of health, safety, and environment by Environmental Failure Mood and Effect Analysis (EFMEA) to minimize the negative effects and provide a risk management program. Failure Mood Effect Analysis emerged for assessment of safety in systems is used to detect any possible defects in systems and subsystems based on quantitative analyses. This was modified in some ways into EFMEA as a qualitative method. The later is applied for production development with the purpose to characterize and prioritize environmental perspectives (Dahlstrom, 2006). In this study the method is used in a combination of two kinds of domestic and international forms to design the hydrocracker form. The perspectives of the unit activities are identified normal and repairing times. By a literature review on HSE this can be revealed that FMEA played an effective role in specification and measurement of performance indices. The researches indicated that EFMEA, in addition to finding accidental aspects, can reduce harmful environmental impacts (Jozi et al., 2006). After ISO9001 was effectively founded, the EFMEA and also FMEA were introduced as a method to detect possible environmental failures and evaluate the related risks (Jennings, 2008). In this study we have attempted to evaluate the aspects of the failures in normal, abnormal, and emergency situations with combination of two forms provided for Iran and international levels. EFMEA method is conducted by a variety of experts (Tingstrom, et al., 2006) and the entire unit, thus, is as statistical population for this study. The method is carried out in the following stages: identification of processes, potential failures as perspectives, consequences of the potential failures as the effects, severity in two magnitudes of environmental and health risks, situation including three states of normal, abnormal, and emergency, potential causes of failures, occurrence as the repetition of the failure by a cause, detection as precautious measures, ranking of resources consumption, raw material and energy, ranking of intensity of the effects or the amount of resource consumption, ranking of probability of occurrence and detection for resource consumption, determination of Risk Priority Number (RPN), recommended precautious measures based on RPN, and ranking of the perspectives in hydrocracker unit. Designed form of hydrocracker identifies environmental, safety, and health perspectives. For the identification the present situation is first recognized in safety and health perspectives. The analysis has been in two different stages: first the RPN was calculated with degree of hazardous using frequency distribution of data. Second, number of classes was then calculated. For this method the environmental perspectives have been entered in EFMEA form and the RPN calculated based on severity, probability of occurrence, and detection. After the degree ofh azard is obtained, the perspectives are ranked based on the RPN and those more than the hazard value are considered as critical activities. For the first stage the RPNs have been sorted descending. For hazard value has been calculated by frequency distribution that requires number and the length of classes. In the unit 24 activities have been investigated in normal times and 6 activities in repairing times. Recognition and ranking of the perspectives have been based on previous experiences of occurred events as well as objective observations. Up to 291 perspectives have been identified and evaluated in life cycle of production, consumption, and waste removal. From these about 119 perspectives has RPN more than hazard value. The risk value has been determined at 113. Thus, the perspectives more than this value are considered as critical activities. Then, 10 percent of the prioritized RPNs are categorized in three groups of risks as very high, high, and moderate. Some recommended advices have been suggested for these groups. In the EFMEA forms that have been designed in this research for this hydrocracker unit, the perspectives of safety and health risks have been identified and evaluated in addition to environmental perspectives. Therefore, this form improved the quantitative forms of Rezazadeh Niavarani (2004) and that of Lindahl (2000) and made it better for identification and evaluation of the research requirements. From these results it can be concluded that the highest perspective has been the environmental risk in times of substantial repairing with RPN of 343 for consumption. The most quantities of risks are for health and security with 68 risks relative to those of environment with 54. Therefore, the results anddiscussions indicate that this hydrocracker unit has a relatively safe, healthy and environmental control system. But, because of the performance of the system in high pressure and high temperature condition, modification and control conditions seems necessary for promoting the security measures. The innovation of this study is that it improved the previous forms for a more competent application.

BTEX is a group of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene. Benzene is released to the atmosphere by both natural and anthropogenic activities. Benzene is emitted to the atmosphere mainly through the petroleum and petrochemical industries. The chronic exposure to benzene may cause damage to kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, and nerves and also degrade DNA. Benzene is a group (I) carcinogen. Toluene is used in many industries as a solvent. The exposure to low-tomoderate levels of toluene can cause dizziness, drowsiness, nausea and hearing loss. The exposure to high levels of toluene can cause permanent brain and speech damage, unconsciousness and even death. Ethylbenzene is used in the petrochemical industries. It is also used in industries including gas, oil, solvents, pesticides and dyes. Short-term exposure to high level of ethylbenzene can cause symptoms such as respiratory irritation and neurologic effects. The long-term exposure to ethylbenzene affects the blood, liver and kidney. It is classified as a possible human carcinogen (2B) by IARC. Xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon which is usedw ith benzene and toluene as a catalytic reform er in extraction and oil refineries. Xylene is a major component of BTEX and is used as a fuel reformer. The inhalation of xylene affects the nervous system. Active sampling needs an air sampling pump to actively collect the air through a filter. However, passive sampling does not require a pump and the gases in the air are collected by diffusion. Passive diffusive air sampling is simple with high precision method widely used to monitor large-scales air pollution. Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful tool to assess the contribution levels of BTEX sources. Haddad et al. (2005) used passive sampling to measure BTEX around gas stations in Shiraz. Since the industrial area of Zarghan is affected by numerous air pollution sources, the rapid and precise monitoring systems are absolutely essential to detect and quantify polluting sources. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to (i) determine the dispersion level of BTEX using passive diffusive air sampling and GIS techniques and (ii) assess the contribution level of generating sources of BTEX in the urban areas. Zarghan is located 25 Km northeast of Shiraz, nearby Shiraz -Tehran highway. The town is also surrounded by many different air pollution sources. Industrial complexes are located about 10 Km from Zarghan. In addition, the mountain in the east side of the town blocked the air flow through the town. We used a diffusive sampler to adsorb BTEX in the air by a tube consisting of adsorbent material. BTEX entered into the adsorbent tube by molecular diffusion. The adsorbent samplers were installed at the elevation of 3 to 4 meters from the ground for the period of 17 days (March 2012). After the adsorption period, the sampler tubes were sealed and returned to the laboratory for further analysis. After collecti ng the specimens, they were sent to Pasam Company in Switzerland for determination of BTEX. The extraction was done by carbon disulfide (CS2). Ion chromatography was used to analyze BTEX. Since many sources of air pollution are located in the Zarghan residential area, the boundary condition sampling points were selected by mesh. Due to the small size of the study area, 10 points were selected and one sample was collected at each point. An image of the coverage area was obtained by Google Earth software. Geographical coordinates of 4 points of suitable dispersion were determined by the software and used in an Excel file as the ground reference. Using ArcGIS techniqus, the image was processed as the georeferenced map and the result saved in TIFF format with a pixel size of 5 m. The data obtained from sampling of BTEX were interpolated using the passive sampling method with different methods such as Inverse Weighted Distance to the exponent of 2 (IWD)2, natural nearest neighbor. File Format (TIFF) is a raster image format with a pixel size of 5 m for each specimen (with at least 10 sample points). All interpolated layersw ere then extracted by the border of sam ple point’s area to perform interpolation for all layers in the same extent. The geographic coverage area of BTEX concentration has been studied using different methods of Nearest Neighbor (NN), Inverse Distance Weighted (IWD), and Kringing. BTEX pollution maps were prepared using passive sample interpolation. Discussion and The ambient air quality guidelines for the annual concentrations of benzene in 2005 and 2010 are 10 􀈝gm-3 and 3.6 􀈝gm-3, respectively. In most of the sampling stations, benzene concentration was in the standard limit (2.3 􀈝gm-3 to 4.8 􀈝gm-3), but the concentrations in the following four stations were considerably high. 1. Shiraz oil refinery sampling station with benzene concentration of 21.5 􀂗gm-3 2. Central old square with benzene concentration of 7.2 􀂗gm-3 3. Dudej with benzene concentration of 5 􀂗gm-3 Data showed that Shiraz oil refinery sampling station with the maximum toluene concentration of 30 􀂗gm-3 is much lower than the 24-hour EPA standard limit. In the rest of the sampling stations, toluene concentrations were lower. The average concentrations of toluene in residential areas of Canada were ranged from 11.5 to 34.4􀈝gm-3 which is same as the range of concentration observed in Zarghan. The current study showed that the concentration of xylene and ethylbenzene in all of the stations were much lower than the harmful levels. The odor of xylene can be recognized in the air at the concentration of 0.008 ppm. Therefore, during the maximum hourly pollution (inversion condition), the concentration of xylene is twice the average and those who live near the mountain areas are able to detect its odor. The GIS interpolation showed that Shiraz oil refinery is the most important sources of benzene dispersion in the study area. The relatively high concentration of benzene (21.5 􀂗gm-3) is dispersed in an area where is confined in a radius of 1.5 Km from the refinery. Fortunately, Zarghan residential areas are not located within the affected zone, but according to Kringing and IDW interpolation, the concentration of benzene reached to the amount of 7.2 􀂗gm-3 in the old central square which is located in the center of the city. As seen in the Kringing interpolation, Shiraz-Tehran highway is not a major source of benzene pollution, but it is expected to have a high concentration of benzene near the mountain area. The four red stripes represents the high concentration of toluene belong to Shiraz oil refinery, Zarghan, industrial Park and the highway. The nearest neighbor (NN) interpolation method showed the effects of Shiraz-Tehran highway more clearly. The pollution due to ethylbenzene produced by the refinery is extended to a radius of 4.5 Km from the refinery. In addition, this is evident in the red zone of the industrial park and also in the old part of the city near the m ountain. Generally, data show exactly the same dispersion for all 3 isomers of xylenes. Comparing the various interpolation methods used in the study, the IDW method shows the pronounced role of industrial zones while the Nearest Neighbor interpolation method indicates that the role of the highway is of a greater importance in Zarghan xylenes pollution. The highest concentration of air pollutants expected to occur in the area surrounded by the mountain. Therefore, the wind direction influences the general movements of the pollutants. According to the GIS maps, the main source of air pollution produced by Shiraz oil refinery is significantly concentrated in the old central square station near the mountain area. Since there is no other air pollution sources in the area, the reason for increasing air pollution might be due to the trapping of contaminants near the mountain area and blocked the air flow. The analysis of regression demonstrated that there is a linear relationship between the concentration of pollutant at Old Central Square and the concentration in the oil refinery with the regression coefficient of 0.98.

Persian Gulf is a water body at the margin of Indian ocean which makes way to Oman Sea and Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz with the minimum width of 56 km. Specific condition of the Persian Gulf such as high evaporation, high salinity, aqueous species diversity, fisheries value and especially oil sources of the area, which have extra importance in the world, have made it a sensitive and strategic area. Marine environment of the Persian Gulf suffers severely from oil pollution. Oil extraction and transportation together with the effluent dischrges from the coastal cities and oil refinneries are among the major sources of oil pollution in the Gulf. Kharg Island is a coral anticline in the Persian Gulf located within 28 km of the southern coasts of Iran. This island has a length of approximately 8 km and a width of approximately 4 to 5 km. The coastal environment of the Kharg Island is rich with corals. The corals are the host to many types of local fishes of the Persian Gulf. Kharg Island contains the most important and also the biggest crude oil export terminal of Iran. More than 90% of Iranin oil exportation is conducted through the island. In addition, many other oil related activities including storing and filtering of the crude oil are performing in the island. Hosting extensive oil related activites during the past 50 years has subjected the marine and coastal environment of Kharg Island to huge amount of oil discharges from different sources icluding Oil Tanker accidents, leakages at the oil term inals, discharge of oily effluents from crude oil stores and oil refineres. However, surprisingly, there are only a few studies conducted on the oil pollution around the island. In this paper, the oil pollution and its origin in the near shore coastal sediments of the Kharg Island are examined and discussed. This is conducted by using the analysis of the concentration of hydrocarbones in the sediment samples collected early 2012 from 11 points around the island. Near shore sediment samples were collected at 11 points around the Island. The stations were selected in a way that they cover the whole parts of the island's coastline. The samples were also more concentrated near the oil terminals. All of the samples were taken near the coastline at knee deep water points in low tide condition. About 200 to 300 grams of wet sediments were taken from the top 5 centimeter of surface sediment and was poured into boron silicate vial which was washed by washer material, hot water, acetone solution and distilled water and had a lid of polyethylene. The collected samples were packed and protected for transferring to laboratory using the USEPA-sw-846 standard method. The standard method of American Association of Environmental Protection (USEPA-SW 846#3540C) named SOXHLET has been used for preparation of the samples and extraction of petroleum hydrocarbons from them. The samples were passed through a 63 micron sieve (<63) before the lab analysis. A gas chromatography device (GC-FID) Model VARRIAN was used to determine the concentration of Total Petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and aliphatic compositions in the sediment samples. In addition, the concentration of petroleum normal alkanes with different numbers of carbons (n-c 10, n-c 35) was measured. Concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in surface sediments TPH concentrations are represented by a diagram in surface sediment samples collected along the coastlines of the Kharg Island. The concentrations varied from a very low amount of 1 􀂗g/g to very high amount of 5624 􀂗g/g. The highest TPH concentrations were observed at stations 2, 3 and 4, at 5624, 1660 and 4186 􀂗g/g, repectively. These stations were located on the eastern coast of the island near the T shape quay, next to the major crude oil export terminal. The results indicate that the leakage from the loading activities have highly polluted the coastal area around the T shape quay. Stations 9 and 10, where are located near Azarpod Jetty on the west side of the island, have relatively high TPH concentration, 141 and 75 􀂗g/g, respectively. The oil pollution in this area is resulted from the oil leakage in Azarbad oil terminal and also tanker incidents. The lowest amount of TPH concentration was observed in stations 1, 7, 8 and 11 up to <1, <1, 2 and 32 􀂗g/g, respectively. Station 1 was located in the south of the T shape quay and is somehow close to this oil terminal. However, considering the dominant direction of the wind waves on the eastern coast, the sediments in the position of this station were not affected from the oil discharges near the T shape quay. Staions 7 and 8 positioned on the northern part of the island are far from the oil pollution sources near the oil terminals and were not affected from these sources. TPH concentrations at stations 5 and 6 were 78 and 232 􀂗g/g, repectively. The concentrations in these stations are much less in comparison with the station 2, 3 and 4 adjacent to the T shape oil terminal. However, the T shape quay seems to be the source for the oil content of the sediments at these stations as well. Commendatore and Esteves (2007) dividedc oastal areas into three categories from the view point of oil hydrocarbon rate: low concentration (􀂗g/g < 10), low to average (10-100 􀂗g/g) and average to high (100-1000 􀂗g/g). Readman et al, (2002) considered the sediments with concentration above 100 􀂗g/g as polluted. Tolosa et al, (2004) considered the sediments with concentration above 500 􀂗g/g as severe polluted and the ones with concentration less than 10 􀂗g/g as non-polluted. Regarding to the above criteria the sediments on the eastern part of the Kharg Island adjacent to the T shape quay can be considered as highly polluted. The polluted area extends to the north of the T shape quay along the east coast to the positions of stations 5 and 6. On the west coast of the Island the polluted area are limited to the vicinity of the Azarpad Jetty. Apart from the above mentioned areas, the shallow water sediments around the rest of the Kharg Island in most of the west coast and in the north and south of the Island can be considered as not polluted. The origin of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHC) in Kharg Island sediments Hydrocarbons in sediments might be originated from fossil petroleum origin resulted from human activities or originated from biological activities of Algae, Planktons, Bacteria, marine animals and terrestrial vascular plants. In this part, the origin of hydrocarbons in studied region was determined through developing a set of present indices and the position ofo bservance pollutants in each of the stations. In Kharg Islandby regarding to oil activities in this area, crude oil is considered as the first oil pollutant. Relative abundance of normal alkanes with different numbers of carbons or predominance of the specified alkane in sediments can be the index of certain types of oil hydrocarbons presence in sediment samples. Therefore, the presence of 18 carbons normal alkane (n- C18) in sediment samples shows the oil origin of observed hydrocarbons (Clarke and Finely., 1973). Odd carbons normal alkanes with low number of carbon atoms such as 17 carbon normal alkane (n-C17) is identified as the index of phytoplankton hydrocarbons presence (Tolosa et al., 2004). Normal alkanes with odd numbers of carbon 27, 29 and 31 (n-C31, n-C29 and n-C27) are introduced as the index of plant waxes presence with land organic plant origin (Tulloch, 1976). N-C16 index, which is equal to n-alkanes/n-C16, is the number less than 15 for polluted samples by fossil petroleum and the number more than 50 for polluted samples by biological hydrocarbons (Clarke and Finely., 1973). Carbon priority index (CPI) is defined such as equation (1) with Boehm and Requejo in1986: CPI= 2(C27+C29)/ C26 + (2C28) + C30 (1) The CPI index is about 1 for petroleum hydrocarbons, while it varies from 3 to 6 for vascular plants and fornon-polluted sediments by fossil oils (Colombo et al., 1989). The other index is the Odd/Even index, which is the ratio of odd numbers of carbon atoms to even numbers. This ratio varies about 1 for petroleum, while for plant waxes; alkanes with odd chain are 8 to 10 times more than alkanes with even carbon chain. In some diagrams we show normal alkanes concentration profiles with different numbers of carbon atoms in stations of the study area. As these profiles show, in stations numbers 2, 3 and 4, which are eastern dock of island (T shape quay) and in stations 8 and 9, which are on the proximity of western jetty (Azarpod jetty), 18 carbons with normal alkane has the most rate in compositions and this shows the presence of oil hydrocarbons. At stations number 7 and 10, 17 carbons with normal alkane has the most rate and these rates show the presence of phytoplankton hydrocarbons in these stations. At stations 1, 5, 6 and 11 by increasing the distance from oil docks placed on island, the rate of n-C17 concentration is more than n-C18 and this indicates that in these stations present hydrocarbon in the sediment has biological origin. By regarding to insignificant concentration of earth alkanes (n-C27, n-C29 and n-C31) in general profile of normal alkanes, there are no hydrocarbons with land vascular and organic plants in surface sediments of the study area. Because of the plant poverty in Kharg Island, lack of presence of terrestrial plants hydrocarbons is observed. The range of n-C16 index, in sediments of this region is 6.36 to 332.4. This rate in stations 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9 are less than 15 and typical of the polluted sediments of this region from petroleum. However, this rate is more than 50 in other stations (stations 1, 6, 7, 10 and 11), this means the pollution of sediments in these regions is from the type of biological hydrocarbons. The other index is “CPI” which is between 0.75 and 5.7, and from its results in stations 2, 3, 4 and 10, we can find out that in all the point near the oil quays of Kharg Island, there are oil sources in coastal sediments. In other stations, the rates of these indices show that their hydrocarbons have biological origins. Some stations including stations number 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 have not oil pollutions. Evaluation of observing hydrocarbons concentrations based on ratio of alkans with odd carbon numbers to evens shows that this ratio varies in a range from 0.8 to 7.36. These rates are equal to one in stations No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 9.In other stations including 1, 6, 7, 10, 11 this quantity is more and there are high concentrations of old normal alkanes which suggests that there are biological sources with plant waxes for hydrocarbons. Therefore, general position of observed hydrocarbons in sediments of Kharg Island coastline suggests that there are fossil oil origins in the proximity of oil jetties in which high oil activities are performing and there are biological and natural origins in other stations of the island. The pollution of the sediments in the studied area from the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) was investigated by oil hydrocarbons analysis in coastline sediments of Kharg Island and also by comparative analysis of these concentrations with the present guidelines and standards. The results of the studies based on the total petroleum hydrocarbons concentration indicate the high pollution in some stations and very low to average pollution in other stations from oil activities resources. At stations near to the eastern and western docks (particularly near T shape quay), this rate is high and by getting away from oil terminals, this rate is reduceing.In northern and southern regions of island, this rate also reaches to the minimum. Using the relative indices, it has been shown that the observed hydrocarbons in studied sediments have natural phytoplankton origin in farther points from jetties; in addition to havingoil origin in most of the east and west stations and near the oil terminals.

Toxic and dangerous pollution in groundwater is enormous. This assenic pollution is concentrated more than its permissible limits. It can be observed in different countries like India, Nepa l,Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Argentina, Brazil, Chili and Mexico. In some places in Iran like Hashtgerd and Kordestan the arsenic pollution has been observed more than the permissible concentration. As the arsenic pollution is increasing, many studies have been done to find different treatment options. Due to rapid removing of the As (V) and As (III) by using Iron Nano particles, this method have recently been considered useful. In this paper arsenic removal process was investigated by using nanoparticles. Based on batch experiments, the influence of Zero-valent iron nanoparticles concentration, tem perature, pH, time, and arsenic initial concentration were observed in arsenic removal process. The results of this study indicated that the Iron nanoparticles have high performance in arsenic pollution removal. Experimental Method The purpose of the current experimental study was to investigate the arsenic remediation process by using iron nanoparticles in batch experiment. Specific concentration of iron nanoparticles produced by PNF Corporation along with the arsenite sodium salt was used. In the first test, the solution containing 0.5 gr/lit arsenic and 1 gr/lit nanoparticles reacted after 1 hour and the results showed that arsenic concentration reduced to below the allowable concentration by using Fe nanoparticles in this time interval (Fig. 1 and 2). In pH test, alkaline, acidic and natural environments were investigated and the result indicated that the reaction rate increased withdecreasing of pH. The results also indicated that pH increased during the test (Fig4) and this result was one reason for decreasing reaction rate with time. For studying the temperature effect, two similar tests were done in 60􀁱C and 30􀁱C temperatures. In these tests, the reaction rate increased with increasing the temperature. Initial arsenic concentration and injection iron concentration affected the reaction rate significantly. Consequently, the experiments were conducted by considering different concentration of iron nanoparticles and arsenic thawt ere for arsenic concentration 5 and 0.5 ppm and for iron nanoparticles of 2 and o.5 gr/lit (Table 3). After that, the results indicated that the reaction rate increased with increasing the arsenic or iron nanoparticles concentration (Fig. 3) because of the increase in the contact between arsenic pollution and iron nanoparticles as reactive. Finally, the results revealed that iron nanoparticles could effectively been used to eliminate the arsenic pollution. Nowadays, arsenic remediation as a toxic and widespread pollution is important in groundwater studies. One of the methods for the arsenic remediation is using the iron nano particles. This method involves lower costs with high performance and can be used for in-site pollutant remediation in aquifers. The result of this investigation indicated that the reaction between iron nanoparticles and arsenic lasts only about several minutes. Increase in the temperature and decrease in pH reduced the reaction rate. Investigation of arsenic concentration com pared with iron nanoparticles injection concentration revealed that the arsenic removal rate is increased by an increase in the ratio of nanoparticles to arsenic. For removing 500 ppb of arsenic concentration by using 1 gr/lit of iron nanoparticles, an exponential decreasing process was observed so that the arsenic concentration was reached to less than the arsenic permissible concentration during two hours. Finally it can be concluded that the capability of the Zero-valent Fe nanoparticles is a useful tool for removing the arsenic pollution in the groundwater.

Heavy metals are originated from natural or anthropogenic sources. Mining activity, fuel combustion, urban discharge, pesticides, agricultural and industrial activities are considered as the m ain anthropogenic sources of the metals. Generally, more than 90% of the toxic metals load in aquatic systems is bound on solid phase of the aquatic systems such as suspended matter and sediment. Thus, assessment of heavy metals pollution in aquatic sediment is a critical issue that has been studied by many researchers. Anzali International Wetland was registered in Ramsar Convention in 1975 (Ramsar site #40, Wetlands International Site Reference No.: 2IR005). It is located in Guilan Province (between 48°45' and 49°42'E longitude and 36°55' to 37 32'N) and covers 192 Km2 that is considered as the main freshwater coastal wetlands in southern part of the Caspian Sea. Its catchment area with prevalent agricultural activities is about 3610 Km2. Moreover, presence of 41 major factories such as wood and paper mill companies, food industries, metal and related industries, plastics and tires, textile and electrical machines are samples of anthropogenic sources in the study area. In the present study forty one surface sediment samples in January 2011 were collected from Anzali International Wetland to assess metals pollution state and sediment quality zonation. Moreover, metals pollution assessments in the study area were conducted using different existing indices, multivariate analysis approach and GIS tools. The collected samples transferred to the laboratory in sealed plastic bags under 4􀁱C. After digestion using HNO3/HCl/H2O2 according to U.S.EPA 3050B test method, total metal (Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni, Cd) contents were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (Bulck Scientific 21 VGP). Moreover, sediment quality indices such as Modified degree of Contamination (mCd), ecological Risk Index (RI), and Enrichment Factor (EF) were applied to assess metal pollution state. In addition, multivariate statistical analysis was conducted to determine probable sources of metals in the study area and interpret data. The investigation was conducted by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). According to total metals content, the higher mean concentrations of all studied metals (except for Cr) were found compared with those of earth's crust and mean world sediments. Moreover, the minimum content of Zn and Pb are also higher than earth's crust content. Based on zonation maps about metals distribution, the samples with the minimum metals concentration were located in central part and Siahkeshim (Protected area) of the study area where there is no main sources of pollution. Moreover, the higher concentration of Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, and Cd were determined in eastern and northwestern part of the study area. These parts are affected by river discharges that pass through the more populated, industrialized and higher levels of agriculturalactivities areas. However, no distinguished distribution pattern of Fe, Mn, and Ni were detected. Overall, it could be concluded that central and northern parts of the wetland that are less exposed to the sources of pollution demonstrated to have higher concentrations of Fe, Mn and Ni. Moreover, results of applied aggregative indices such as ecological RI and modified degree of contamination (mCd) revealed higher degree of metals pollution in the eastern part. Fig. 1 depicts metals pollution state based on RI and mCd. In addition, the Cluster Analysis (CA) was applied to heavy metals concentrations in Anzali Wetland to verify probable metals relationship. The CA of variables based on Pearson Coefficient identified five clusters: 1. Cu-Zn; 2. Cr-Pb; 3. Cd; 4. Fe-Ni 5. Mn. The first cluster named A including metals (Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, and Cd) that exhibited higher degree of enrichment may indicate that they were originated fromanthropogenic sources. However, it seems that Cd might be derived from different anthropogenic sources. The second cluster named B was made by Fe and Ni. It may be concluded that Ni and Fe are originated from same sources, while Mn in cluster C has separate sources. Results of multivariate statistical analysis demonstrated three main principal components with their eigenvalues greater than 0.8. The cumulative variance of the components was about 81% of total variance. The high positive loadings for Cu, Zn, Cr, and Pb, and moderate positive loadings of Fe, Ni, and Cd were extracted in the first component with 46% of total variance. The loadings level of these two groups was not the same, so it could beconcluded that Fe, Ni, and Cd may be originated from the different sources. In general, high loading values of Cu, Zn, Cr, and Pb in the first component may imply the anthropogenic sources of these metals. The positive loadings of Fe, Ni, and Mn were found in second component with 24% of total variance. This fact may indicate natural sources of theses metals. Cd is dominant element in the third component with 11% of total variance. Results of PCA are depicted in Fig. 2. According to the results of PCA, it can be concluded that the first and the third factors are originated from anthropogenic source like agricultural and industrial activities, and discharge of urban wastewater and leaching from prevalent dumping waste in open space that is considered as the main waste disposal methods in the north of Iran. In the present study, metals concentrations in surface sediments of Anzali Wetland were determined. Many prevalent and useful indices such as mCd, ecological RI, and EF were applied to assess metals pollution state in the collected samples. Moreover, based on the results of applied indices and total metals content, sediment quality zoning were performed using GIS software. Overall, it could be concluded that aggregative indices such as mCd and RI could assess metals pollution state in surface sediments of the study area in an acceptable manner. According to the obtained results, eastern parts of the Anzali Wetland were more polluted than the other parts of the area. Moreover, concentration of all studied metals except Cr was higher than those in the earth crust.Application of multivariate statistical analysis also revealed that Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, and Cd may be originated from anthropogenic sources and metals like Fe, Mn, and Ni might be derived from natural sources in the study area.

Due to shortage of fresh water resources, the quality of impounded water behind the dams become more important than how it was previously as a source of fresh water resource. Thermal regime and dissolved oxygen concentration are factors that affect the quality of water reservoirs. Many lakes show vertical stratification of their water masses, at least for some extended time periods. The atmosphere imposes a temperature signal on the lake surface. As a result, thermal stratification can be established during the warm season as a lake is sufficiently deep. On the contrary, during the cold period, surface coolingfo rces vertical circulation of water masses and removal of gradients in water properties. However, the gradients of dissolved substances like dissolved oxygen may be sustained for periods much longer than one annual cycle. In order to understand the annual cycle of temperature and dissolved oxygen in Shahid Rajaee Reservoir, Ce-Qual-W2 model was used. Study area Shahid Rajaee Reservoir Dam located over the Tajan River almost 40 km south of Sari, Mazandaran, Iran. Construction purposes of this dam is including water supply and regulation of for agricultural activities in Tajan lowland, potable water supply for the population within the plan area, industrial water supply, power generation, flood control, and prevention of the damage by flooding. The dam type is double curvature concrete arch dam and its height is about 133.5 m. reservoir volume is about 165 MCM and was constructed from 1987 until 1997. Shahid Rajaee reservoir dam is simulated using a two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic and water-quality model, CE-QUAL-W2. Hydrodynamics, temperature, and dissolved oxygen are simulated and then calibrated with observed data to verify accuracy. The input data used in this model are the best available and are assumed to be accurate representations of meteorology, flow, and water quality parameters. Meteorological data for the model include air and dew point temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and cloud cover observations and daily mean flow rates. These data are collected for a period from 2001 to 2011. Data for water quality parameters are taken from Mazandaran Water Company for the years from 2010 to 2011. When data are not available, statistical relationships was applied to supplement the water quality data. The hydrodynamic model built and calibrated for the years from 2001 to 2011. Then the model was used to simulate the thermal regime and dissolved oxygen concentrations for the period with two assumptions. The first assumption is continuation of current situation and the second is a 50% increase in water requirements. The bathymetric grid was generated using topographic maps in scale 1:100000. The water body was divided into 95 segments, and 45 layers. The segments have 50 meters length and all layers are 2 meters thick. The accuracy of the bathymetry data was checked using storage-capacity curves. The curves show reservoir storage at different reservoir elevations. The com parison of the model volume to the actual storage capacity is made to verify the accuracy of the model grid. Calibration data include temperature and DO concentrations measured at several monitoring sites taken at depth intervals of 1 to 15 meters from the water surface to the reservoir bottom. The results indicate the thermal stratification in summer and vertical mixing in winter. This regime is predicted for the years from 2010 to 2014 in Fig. 1. Based on These results Shahid Rajaee Reservoir is in branch of warm Monomictic lake. Warm Monomictic lakes are lakes that never freeze, and are thermally stratified throughout much of the year. The density difference between the warm surface water (the epilimnion) and the colder bottom water (the hypolimnion) prevents these lakes from mixing in summer. During winter the surface water cool to a temperature equal to the bottom water. Lacking significant thermal stratification, these lakes mix thoroughly each winter from top to bottom. Dissolved oxygen modelling results showed that its concentration at reservoir bottom is zero when thermal stratification dominates. Dissolved oxygen concentration will be homogeneous at winter when thermal vertical mixing dominates. Winter Anaerobic conditions in the bottom of the reservoir are fading and the reservoir is homogeneous in the vertical direction. Change in dissolved oxygen concentration is also predicted for the years from 2010 to 2014 in Fig. 2. The 50% increase in water requirement caused a decrease in water levels and water retention time in the reservoir. Besides this issue, 50% increase in duration of water requirement occurred in summer and the presence of anaerobic conditions decreased in the bottom of the reservoir.

Annually, heavy metal pollution is increasing in the environment and this eventually causes serious hazards for health of human, animal and plant populations. Heavy metals with their harmful effects are the major pollutants in big cities. Tehran is a big city and faced with this problem. Heavy metals such as arsenic, iron, zinc, lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese and nickel exist in the air of Tehran. These polluteants are inhaled by inhabitants and cause serious problems for human body. Among streets, roads and highways of the city, Enqelab Street is one of the busiest and particularly from Enqelab Square to Imam Hossein Square. In this study, the results of measuring heavy metals including arsenic, iron, zinc, lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese and nickel in the air of the streetare presented with the health risk assessment from permanent and temporary residents in thearea. Moreover, the risk of developing cancer and non-cancer diseases caused by inhaling the polluted air with heavy metals was also estimated. Selecting Sampling Points The Enqelab Street connects Enqelab square to Imam Hossein Square. Considering that risk assessment is a method based on resident's health, the main crossroads and squares are selected as the sampling points. Therefore, sampling was performed in 5 stations: Enqelab square, Valiasr Crossroads, Ferdowsi Square, Piche Shemiran, and Imam Hossein Square. Sampling Method and Chemical Analysis In this phase, in order to determine the concentration of heavy metals (including arsenic, iron, lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, manganese and nickel), air samples were collected and analyzed in two different seasons (on February 7th 2013 and May 22nd 2013) during 8 hours from 5 stations. The entire process was performed according to OSHA-125G standard method. Quality Control of the Analysis In order to determine the quality of analysis methods, precision and accuracy were tested. The precision is from 3 to 17 percent and average percent recovery isv aried between 83 and 97 percent.This is placed within the acceptable range of US Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. Overview of Risk Assessment In this study, the average value of the air inhaled by one inhabitant in Tehran is measured so that by calculating the air pollutant concentrations, the amounts of heavy metals which are entered into his body are obtained. For this purpose, three groups of people are defined in terms of the type and the amount of exposure to pollutants (heavy metals): permanent residents (from Enqelab Square to Imam Hossein Square), shopkeepers, vendors and employees and also students. Calculating the Risk of Developing Cancer and Non-Cancer Diseases In this phase, after providing all the required information, the risk of developing cancer and non-cancer diseases is calculated using following equations. The results of analyzing heavy metals in Enqelab Street’s air are presented and discussed. In figure 1, variations of the mean concentrations of the mentioned metals are provided in the form of a chart. Risk Assessment Results In Enqelab Street, hazard index for chronic and acute exposure is below 1 which shows no adverse effects on non-cancer disease (figure 2, 3). In addition, the total number of the residents at high risk of developing cancer (types of cancer) by inhaling the heavy metals in their lifetime was estimated to be lower than 24 out of 1 million people. This statistic shows that the conditions have not yet been dangerous. Therefore, through multiplying the rate of carcinogenesis by the number of each group, the total number of heavy metal induced cancers is obtained. In this study, the total number of cancers is three, thus the overall risk is allocated to pollutants including arsenic, cadmium, nickel and lead (figure 4). According to the presented results, the level of heavy metals in the air of Enqelab Street is not hazardous to the health of the residents. Therefore, there is no need to spend enormous expenses in this area. Nevertheless, the health of permanent and temporary residents is threatened by chromium and arsenic due to their high rate of carcinogenesis. The outcome of these investigations indicates that despite recording few different values in some places, the air pollution levels are equal in whole the area, from Enqelab Square to Imam Hossein Square. However, the air pollution level of ValiasCr rossroads is relatively considerable. This difference only has resulted from high volume of traffic in the crossroads. Unfortunately, traffic of students in this area is so heavy that solving Valiasr Crossroads traffic issues are considered as an important priority.

Due to increase of urbanization and population growth, which cause noticeable changes in the ecological structure of cities, creation of green spaces such as urban forest parks is essential as modulators of urban environment. Urban forest parks are natural or manmade parks that are located within or adjacent to cities and play an important role in ensuring stability of biodiversity. These parks can also provide environmental, conservational and educational functions as well as being used for leisure times. In the recent years, physical development of urban areas of Zahedan and the vital need of citizens for recreational spaces caused this forest park to be a popular and suitable place for leisure time. In this research, Zahedan Mellat forest park was selected top rovide reasonable suggestions and strategies by using quality sort method and visual evaluation approach. This is to develop anedx tend visual qualities for thesite and also identify landscapes with unique characters. Method Descriptive – analytical method and site survey was used for this study. First, the required information was collected through reviewing library resources, articles and internet and then to better understands the case study and makes site zonation. The site survey was fulfilled by using maps and aerial photos. Parts with more similarity in usage, space and activities are considered in one zone. By this, the area is divided into 2 zones as recreational (zone 1) and auxiliary (zone 2). The quality sort method (Q-method) is used in this research. Q method is a way of extracting and describingsubjective viewpoints. It assumes that subjectivity is structured and it combines qualitative and quantitative analyses to provide a systematic and rigorous means for objectively describing human subjectivity. This method allows respondents to model their viewpoints in response to a sample set of stimuli, which can be statements or images. The objective of Q method is to systematically describe and compare viewpoints among persons, not to determine the distribution of viewpoints within a population. Q-method has been appliedin many disciplines such as political sciences, marketing, psychology, sociology, public policy, marketing, landscape and health care. The potential role of Q method in landscape research was recognized early, but has not received only much attention subsequently. Q method use photographs as a technique to assess scenic values. Subsequent studies have extended the investigation to assess user's perceptions and classifications of landscape character and also make cross cultural comparisons on the perceptions of scenic and heritage landscapes.Through this method, 75 photographs were taken in each of the defined zone. All photos were taken from the study site in May 2011 using a digital camera with 50mm wide angle lens. After omitting photos without preferable visual quality or similarity in ways, finally 16 images (8 photos of each zone) were selected for evaluation. Interviewing users were fulfilled on the busiest day of the week (Friday) between 4 until 8 pm. Photos were numbered from 1 to 16 and 100 users were asked to sort them into 5 separate groups labeled very beautiful, beautiful, normal, ugly and very ugly. Afterwards, the number of each photo was selected by different users and their opinions were written down. Selection of users was random. Discussion and After site survey and interviewing 100 users, collected data was analyzed. Among 100 users, 40 percents were male and 60 percents were female which 6% were less than 18 years old, 78% between 18 to 34, 14% between 34 to 59, and 2% were older than 59 years old. In total, 12 criteria (6 criteria expresses beauty while the other 6 reflects non-beauty) were driven from users opinions in order to determine the desirability of landscape with the greatest influence on visual quality evaluation. Results show that criteria such as presence of mountains and hills, vegetation density and open views to the surrounding landscape were considered as the top 3 most important criteria effective in landscape visual quality increase. While, criteria such as the presence of built human elements, visual disturbance in space and lack of diversity in plant species were extracted as the most effective criteria in landscape visual quality abatement. Also, photo number 4 taken in the first zone with the highest average point and criteria such as vegetation density was selected as the most beautiful photo while photo number 16 belonging to the second zone with the lowest average point and criteria such as vast presence of human built elements was selected by the users as the least beautiful photo among other photos. The first zone in comparison with the second one earned the highest average point and is qualified as the best zone with the highest visual quality. Overall in this study, the visual quality sort method was used in order to evaluate the landscape characteristics of Mellat Forest Park. Having considered all the achieved data, these results were extracted: 1. Criteria such as the presence of natural elements like mountains and hills (30 %), dense vegetation and shading (21%) and open view to the surroundings (18%) are considered as the main factors enhancing the visual quality of Mellat Forest Park landscape andc riteria such as the presence of m an-made elements (27%), visual disturbance (20%), lack of diversity in plants specieasn d lack of vegetation (19%) are the m ajor factors in landscape visual quality abatement selected by users. 2. The results of this study indicate that recreational zone with total average score of 0/1212 is the finest zone and auxiliary zone with total average scoreo f 0/0575 is rated as the other zone with the highest visual quality values.3. In general, a desirable landscape from user's viewpoint is formed of dense vegetation, natural elements, bright, dark and shadowy spaces and appropriate color combinations, which can provide a good memory or a good sense of place. At the end, in order to promote and improve the research, these further researches are suggested:1. Necessity of providing a comprehensive plan for Zahedan City and considering its impact on Park's development prospects2. Study and research to assign the appropriate use to the natural - cultural fields of this Park3. Quality promotion and improvement based on users needs, environmental standards and aesthetic factors. 4. Considering planting design principals and selection of suitable vegetation compatible to the regions climate.