Journal of Environmental Studies
Year:2021 | Volume:47 | Issue:2|Papers Count:6

Introduction Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of the most important air pollutants that can threaten human health and cause respiratory problems, headaches, dizziness and previous attacks. SO2 is the predominant sulfur oxide in the atmosphere, which is non-flammable, non-explosive and colorless, and at concentrations above 3 ppm has a pungent odor and can be fatal. Airway narrowing, bronchospasm, severe cough, eye and respiratory tract irritation, decreased respiratory function and shortness of breath, decreased respiratory depth, and ultimately exacerbated cardiovascular and respiratory complications from the health effects attributed to SO2 It counts. This pollutant in combination with hydroxide and reducing the pH of precipitation, falls in the form of acid rain on the ground and acidifies water and soil, with adverse environmental consequences. On the other hand, SO2 plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry, especially air pollution, and is one of the most important Photochemical smoke fog. SO2 can also alter the earth's radiative balance through photochemical interactions by radiation induction. Therefore, it has a great ability to create climate change by disrupting the energy balance of the Earth system and changing the mechanism of cloud formation. It is estimated that more than 15 sensors are continuously active in monitoring air pollution and atmospheric chemistry and provide the necessary data to those interested. Therefore, many studies have been performed using remote sensing techniques to monitor SO2. The GOME-2 sensor, which was placed on the MetOp-A satellite on October 19, 2006 for data collection of several important gases (O3, NO2, CO2, CO, SO2, ), is the basis of research. There was a lot of SO2 monitoring. Good horizontal resolution along with daily time resolution make this sensor suitable for long-term monitoring purposes. SO2 contamination in Iran has been reported by foreign and domestic researchers. However, although SO2 has been studied from several aspects in Iran, but due to the health risks to people living in contaminated areas, there are still many questions about temporal-spatial distribution, trends, hotspots, Its spatial differences and similarities are present in the troposphere of Iran. Therefore, the focus of the present study is to analyze the concentration of SO2 in Iran between 2007 and 2020 using the observations of the GOME-2 sensor of the MetOp-A satellite to answer the questions. Materials and Methods The GOME-2 sensor covers a wide range from 240 to 790 nm, with a spectral resolution of 0. 26 to 0. 51 nm and has an equatorial the time of the passing of 9: 30 local time in the Sun-Orbit. The spatial resolution or size of each pixel of this sensor for the main channels is in the form of 80 × 40 km and scan width of 1920 km and 40 × 40 km with scan width of 960 km, which covers the whole world on a daily basis. The use of GOME-2 sensor SO2 products, due to good spectral resolution and optimal calibration compared to similar instruments, has been the basis of numerous studies in the world in the direction of atmospheric SO2 monitoring. In this study, the tropospheric SO2 observations of the Gome-2 sensor in the period of 2007-2020 were used. The data used is an estimate of the weight of SO2 micrograms per cubic meter of tropospheric air, expressed in micrograms per cubic meter (µ g/m³ ). This data was extracted from the website (http: //www. temis. nl) with monthly and spatial separation of 40×40 km and after applying quality control and necessary processing, it was converted into monthly, seasonal and annual values. Accordingly, the dimensions of the arrays created are 168×1030 for the months and 56×1030 for the seasons, respectively. The data used, which is digital and the value of SO2 is a numerical value per pixels, was converted into network data and data tables by applying geostatistical algorithms in specialized software environment (Arc GIS, ENVI) Necessary was extracted and analyzed as a raster based on the geographical border of Iran. Discussion of Results The mean concentration of SO2 in the troposphere of Iran was 28. 5 µ g/m³ and the maximum and minimum values were estimated to be 200. 9 µ g/m³ and 1. 70 µ g/m³ with a standard deviation of 15. 9 µ g/m³ , respectively. Spatially, Khuzestan province has the highest average SO2 concentration in Iran, followed by Ilam, Bushehr, Tehran, Alborz, Gilan, Mazandaran and southern Kerman. The amount of SO2 over Tehran is also significant. Among the reasons for the high level of tropospheric SO2 over Tehran, we can mention several factors, including geographical and human factors. The location of the city of Tehran in the semi-enclosed environment of the southern slope of the Alborz highlands, causes the Alborz mountains in the north and east to prevent air conditioning as a barrier and provide conditions for the persistence and continuity of tropospheric SO2. The dominance of temperature inversion conditions and the continuous establishment of high-pressure systems are other climatic features of the region that create the conditions for intensifying air pollution in Tehran in some days of the year. In addition to the natural factors mentioned, the establishment of factories and industries in the city (especially in the west and southwest), power plants and refining companies can be added to the amount of tropospheric SO2. The coastal area of northern Iran (Mazandaran and Gilan provinces) has a high population density due to the location of Neka power plant on the one hand and on the other hand due to the favorable weather conditions and relatively favorable infrastructure development. Other areas also experience relatively high concentrations of SO2 during the year due to their industrial nature, dilapidated fleet, and the existence of cement plants and power plants based on diesel or fuel oil (southern Kerman province). These areas are contaminated with tropospheric SO2 according to air quality standards. Analysis of the tropospheric SO2 time series during 168 consecutive months (2020-2007) shows the decreasing trend of SO2 emission in the surface troposphere of Iran. The decrease in tropospheric SO2 concentration in Iran has occurred while Iran joined the Kyoto Protocol in 2005 and has announced cooperation in reducing greenhouse gases. Conclusions The aim of the present study is to estimate the spatio-temporal distribution of tropospheric SO2 in Iran using the observations of the GOME-2 sensor of the MetOp-A satellite during the years 2007-2020. The results showed; The average tropospheric SO2 in Iran is 28. 5 µ g/m³ , among which, the highest/lowest values observed are 200. 9 µ g/m³ and 1. 7 µ g/m³ , respectively, with a standard deviation of 15 µ g/m³ It has been. In terms of spatial distribution, the highest concentration of tropospheric SO2 pollutant over a continuous range from northwest of Kermanshah province to the west of Hormozgan province and the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Gilan, Mazandaran, Isfahan and south of Kerman province. The average of this gas has decreased by 25% from 35 µ g/m³ in 2007 to 26 µ g/m³ in 2020. Analysis of the output related to the seasonal average of SO2 distribution showed that the seasonal maximum of SO2 occurs in autumn and its seasonal minimum occurs in summer. The highest average monthly SO2 emissions were observed in October, November and January and the lowest in June and July respectively. Higher SO2 concentrations in the colder months and seasons of the year, on the one hand due to more active sources of emissions such as higher fuel oil consumption, increased traffic volume, increasing the amount of fossil fuel consumption to provide Heating of residential and service spaces and on the other hand due to the prevailing meteorological conditions in this period of the year (occurrence of the phenomenon of temperature inversion and reduction of the thickness of the atmospheric boundary layer). The study of the spatial distribution of tropospheric SO2 concentration also indicates its significant spatial differences in the geographical area of Iran. The difference is due to the heterogeneous distribution of tropospheric SO2 production and emission centers in Iran.

Introduction Atmospheric pollutants affect the various development and formation of local weather systems. It is not well known how the variation of atmospheric pollutants affects the different stages of weather conditions. Many studies have been conducted to explore the physical relationship between lightning occurrence and air pollution. The influence of atmospheric pollutants on cloud systems includes the direct effect on radiation budget and the indirect effect on the cloud dynamics and microphysical properties. Atmospheric pollutants modify weather and climate. Some research has reported the significant effect of aerosols on cloud microphysics on a global scale. Many studies have been dedicated to the effect of the urban area on the local weather systems with a focus on the effect of the urban heat island circulation and its possible role in air pollution. Lightning clouds in intensely populated areas as large cities can have damaging effects in such urban areas. The main aim of this study is to consider the effect of the increase in the concentration of PM10 on lightning events in the Tehran area. Usually, higher atmospheric aerosol concentration contributes to more Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) formation, reducing the mean cloud droplet size by decreasing the coalescence and droplet collision efficiency. Thus, more supercooled water is likely to exist at greater depths inside the cloud. The abundance of supercooled water may generate large cloud graupels, leading to an enhanced lightning activity over urban regions. Studies show that lightning activity is more vigorous at downwind of an urban area than in suburban areas, and there is a positive relationship between PM10 and SO2 concentration and lightning frequency. This issue verifies the crucial role of aerosols in increasing the liquid water content and ice particles in the phase change zone of clouds. Also, the results of a study over Kolkata show that following the outbreak of Covid-19 disease, the concentration of surface pollutants has decreased by more than 40% compared to the pre-lockdown period in this city. Hence, decreasing the concentration of surface pollutants has a more significant impact on lightning in the pre-monsoon period. Materials and Methods In this study, firstly, thunderstorm reports are collected from the Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO) in the Tehran region from 2009 to 2013. Then the days of thunderstorms with lightning occurrence are obtained by checking the current weather code. The lightning events for the desired days are obtained from the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS). The LIS is a space-based tool which is used to detect the distribution and variability of total lightning including Cloud-to-Ground (CG) and Intra-Cloud (IC) lightning. It measures the amount, rate, and radiant energy of lightning during both day and night. Moreover, to investigate the relationship between lightning and surface aerosol concentrations in the Tehran region, PM10 concentration data (including daily and annual mean) are obtained from Tehran Air Quality Control Center (AQCC) for several pollution stations in the Tehran area, including Fatah, Sharif, Shadabad, and Aqdasiyeh stations. The air pollution stations are selected due to the completeness of the required data during the study period and the proximity to the meteorological stations under investigation (Mehrabad and Shemiran stations). The analysis section is dedicated to investigating the mean annual number of lightning changes with the annual mean of PM10 concentration during the studied years. Moreover, the scatterplots of PM10 concentration and the number of lightning flashes (for the studied stations) during these years are presented and examined. Results and Discussion From 2009 to 2013, Tehran experienced many thunderstorms caused by local convective storms that resulted in many lightning events. The relationship between cloud base (Lifted Condensation Level; LCL) height and the number of lightning flashes taken from LIS data at Mehrabad station in Tehran confirm previous observations. Specifically, this study shows that more supercooled water is expected to be present at higher altitudes in the clouds, leading to higher lightning activity. The trend of PM10 changes is almost similar to the trends of changes in the mean annual number of lightning in the studied years for the Aqdasiyeh and Shadabad stations. The maximization of lightning clearly shows that the increase in PM10 concentration can enhance the lightning activity over the polluted area. This effect may be attributed to enhanced precipitation, which usually co-occurs with and after atmospheric electrical activity. Such an effect is usually related to the general precipitation washing effect of the atmosphere. The distribution of the mean-daily concentration of PM10 versus the number of lightning flashes shows that the daily PM10 concentration has a moderate positive correlation with the number of lightning (based on the correlation coefficient, which ranges from 0. 36 to 0. 85 for the studied pollution monitoring stations). The values of correlation coefficient greater than 0. 7 indicate a strong positive correlation between the two correlated variables, even if their scatterplots are highly scattered. When correlation coefficient is obtained between 0. 3 and 0. 7, it indicates a moderately positive relationship between the two variables. Therefore, the pollution has intensified the storm and the lightning activity in these stations. Also, the seasonal study of overall data from the stations of Shadabad, Sharif and Fatah showed an almost stronger correlation between the daily concentration of PM10 and the number of lightning flashes in the warm period of the studied years compared to the whole years according to the obtained correlation coefficients. Conclusions The Tehran urban area results show the trend of PM10 and mean annual number of lightning changes are almost similar in the studied years for the Aqdasiyeh and Shadabad stations. Moreover, there is a good correlation between daily-mean PM10 concentration and lightning occurrence in this region for the studied pollution monitoring stations during the precipitating storm activity. In other words, near-surface PM10 significantly contributes to the increasing concentration of atmospheric aerosols. It, therefore, can act as cloud CCN which can affect a high frequency of atmospheric lightning activity. The results are also consistent with other parameters, including the correlation of the increase in cloud base height and the number of lightning flashes. Subsequently, the seasonal study of overall data from the stations of Shadabad, Sharif and Fatah showed an almost stronger correlation between the daily PM10 concentration and the number of lightning flashes in the warm period of the studied years than the entire years.

Introduction: One of the important points of establishing industrial state is that more attention can be paid to industrial ecology. Due to the current situation of industrial waste, solutions for the realization of the category of industrial ecology of waste management in the second town of Ahvaz have been presented. The purpose of environmentally friendly industrial estates is to improve the economic performance of existing companies by minimizing the environmental impact of them on the environment. The subject of industrial ecology is a new topic in the world which has considered recently by development countries in their industrial states. In fact, industrial ecology considering saving more raw materials and financial investment by moving from close system which are wasting some raw material toward open system which using wastes as a raw material for other production units. In this study, the current status of waste materials of active industrial units were evaluated through site inspection and carrying out a survey. The collected information from industrial units were imported into the Excel model and the quality and quantity of industrial waste have been analyzed. The current model is classified all waste materials into 4 groups, reusable by the unit, reusable by nearby units in the same state, reusable by far units of other states and special wastes which have different procedures. As a result, by managing of various types of waste materials such as types, storage amounts, reusing amounts and recovery of waste materials have been evaluated by focusing more on the parameters involved in industrial ecology system. Material and methods: This study covers identification of industrial wastes in active Ahvaz industrial state No. 2 in terms of quantity and quality and the establishment of ecological system which is the same design of waste management systems. Special waste products need specific waste management. Industries is looking for minimum risk of pollution for the environment, in addition to preserving natural resources. Investigation and identification of waste products is carried out for active industrial states. All of the necessary information including raw materials entering the production line, production products and production capacity, production waste in the form of industrial waste and normal waste, current methods of waste management by the industrial unit were collected and validated. In some cases, site inspection and face-to-face interviews carried out with professional people. Then, the collected information was entered into an Excel model and all wastes were classified based on the name of the town, type of industrial unit, type of production waste, amount of production waste, , Iranian approved Basel codes and current management methods. Then, quantitative, and qualitative analysis of industrial waste was performed based on the desired methods. According to the information collected in the previous stages, which included waste classification, knowledge of the production process and the activity of industrial units in the industrial state, finally to provide practical solutions to optimize the management of industrial waste in the state, the feasibility of establishing an industrial ecology system carried out in the that industrial state. The desired industry and how to perform the parameters of industrial ecology in these settlements were discussed in each stage. The first type of industrial ecology system which is linear and may damage the environment, because we have only inputs and outputs. The second type, which is a quasi-circular system and is done as a process, and the third type, which is completely circular and does not cause any damage to the environment, ie no waste enters the environment. Production processes in an industrial ecosystem simply convert the amount of material in circulation from one form to another. Of course, this recovery still requires energy and the production of waste and harmful by-products, with the minimum level than current now. Industrial ecology is the transformation of industry from linear systems which all resources are imported into a closed-loop system. in fact, all produced wastes can be feed for new processes and play an effective role in protecting the environment. Discussion of Results: This study’ s model has classified all waste materials into 4 groups, reusable by the unit, reusable by nearby units in the same state, reusable by far units of other states and special wastes which have different procedures. As a result of this study in the industrial state of Ahvaz No. 2, a total of 26 types of industrial waste products have been evaluated which 9 types of them were in the first group, 4 types of them were in the second group and 11 types were in the third group of the industrial ecology system. Also, 12 types of wastes materials in Ahvaz were in two phases of solid and liquid of special wastes. The best and most important way to establish an industrial waste ecology system (minimum pollution) in each unit is to change process variables such as change in feed, using new technology, and upgrading equipment. Changing the production method is one of the common methods of reducing pollutants, which is usually costly, but the recycling and reuse of industrial waste is of particular importance. In many industrial units, reusing and recycling of waste generally has more beneficial for the business owners, and economic efficiency is an important incentive for industrial units to carry out pollution reduction operations. In many cases, by performing simple processes on waste materials, these materials can be reused as feed in other industries. To achieve the mentioned changes with the objective of minimizing of wastes materials, the major role of industries and experts should be considered as executive arms of the industrial ecology system for waste management. Establishing policies and procedures by Industry and mining government organization and monitoring system by Environmental department are necessary for management of waste products in State industries in Iran. monitor the implementation of environmental issues. Conclusions: According to site surveys, a total of 15 types of industrial wastes and 11 types of special wastes are produced in Ahvaz industrial state No. 2. In total 14 type of industrial and 5 types of special wastes can be recycled. Also, 9 type of the industrial wastes and 2 types of special wastes can be reused in the same production unit. The most common types of industrial waste produced in Ahvaz industrial state No. 2 are wood and cellulose waste, followed by reference food waste, metal and concrete waste. Most of the special production wastes in Ahvaz industrial state No. 2 are related to wastes of oil sludge, foam, and glue. In the Ahvaz industrial state, the capital production per waste of the solid phase is more than the liquid phase. Also, the highest capital per waste is related to industrial waste, then special and finally normal, respectively. All waste of the industrial state can be used in the industrial ecology system, a high percentage of which can be reused in the same state, some of them can be sold for recycling in the same state or adjacent state or can be used by the industrial state management.

Introduction: Flood is a natural hazard that causes many deaths each year, and due to the effects of climate change, the number of occurrences is increasing worldwide. Therefore, natural disaster damage assessment, such as floods, provides important information to support decision-making and policy development in the field of natural hazard management and climate change planning. In this regard, in recent years, various methods for classifying remote sensing images have been developed, which always face challenges in differentiating a variety of land uses. Another challenge in flood crisis management is the lack of access to satellite imagery with high temporal resolution while maintaining spatial resolution, which is more pronounced in the presence of cloud cover in the area and occurs during floods. The purpose of this study is to identify flooded areas in Khuzestan province following the flood of 1398, which is based on the integration of optical images of Sentinel 2 and MODIS to produce a time series with relatively good spatial and temporal resolution. In order to classify and prepare maps, a patch-based hierarchical convolutional neural network has been designed, which solves the challenge of extracting deep features due to the relatively weak structure of images with a resolution of more than 10 meters. In addition, the effect of different neighborhood dimensions on the extraction of deep features in all images has been investigated. Finally, the area of damage to urban land cover and various agricultural lands has been estimated consecutively during the flood period. Material and methods: The data used in this research are two series of different satellite images including Sentinel-2 MSI Level-1C images with a spatial resolution of 10 meters and the product of MODIS daily surface reflectance (MOD09GA) with a spatial resolution of 500 meters. The general process of implementing this research can be summarized in 7 phases. In the first phase, the data is first pre-processed. Then, in the second phase, the image fusion algorithm is implemented to predict the daily surface reflectivity of the images, and if the error and accuracy of the predicted images are appropriate, the time series of the flood period is obtained. In the third phase, Ground truth maps are prepared by the researcher using image interpretation. In the fourth phase, training samples are prepared from these data to perform various classifications such as deep learning approaches and machine learning, and the proposed network is implemented in different input dimensions. It should be noted that the number of training and validation samples in deep learning networks has been very limited and less than half a percent of images to automate and reduce user dependence. In the fifth phase, to perform damage assessment in the agricultural and vegetation regions, the relevant maps are prepared with the best approach tested in the previous phase, and finally, in the sixth phase, accuracy assessments are performed by the confusion matrix and related criteria. In the last phase which is the seventh phase, the area of flood-affected land uses is estimated. Discussion: The present study is implemented to improve one of the most important issues in crisis management in the country, namely the assessment of damage caused by the sudden phenomenon of floods. Therefore, presenting a method with appropriate speed compared to existing methods and also increasing the accuracy of final maps due to its challenging has been one of the objectives of this research. First, in order to prepare a suitable time series of optical data with an appropriate spatial and temporal resolution, the ESTARFM fusion algorithm was used. According to the evaluations performed for the two integrated images, this algorithm has high efficiency and accuracy in areas with heterogeneous coverage. Due to the change in environmental conditions between the images, the maximum errors have occurred in water-sensitive bands, but all errors due to their small values in each band indicate the efficiency of the algorithm used. In addition, since the two images are predicted in time series, so the generalizability of the algorithm has been investigated and proven. Furthermore, regarding the classification algorithms for preparing the destruction map, the proposed neural network has a significant difference in accuracy compared to other approaches. In addition, in the study of the extracted classes, in the proposed approach, the built-up areas benefit from a very high identification compared to other algorithms and the appropriateness of other uses, especially the use of water areas, is maintained. According to the studies, the highest rate of flooding in the study area was in the third week of April and after that, the area has been experiencing a decreasing trend. Therefore, the damage was estimated on April 14 and 21. According to the assessments, flooding has decreased from April 14 to April 21 in built-up areas, rainfed and fallow lands, and has increased in wetland and Aquatic cultivation areas. Conclusion: In this research, the ESTARFM image fusion algorithm, which is known to be suitable for combining images in heterogeneous regions, has been used for April 8 and April 14 images, and the evaluations have been done with the help of scatter plots and least-squares error. The results showed the efficiency of the method in integrating relatively high-resolution Sentinel 2 images and low-resolution MODIS images in the field of flood management. In the field of identifying flooded areas and further due to the poor structure of images with a resolution above 10 meters, the possibility of extracting optimal and deep features is difficult. In the present study, a patch-based convolutional neural network has been designed with a minimum of layers and hyper-parameters, which provides the possibility of training from scratch with the least amount of training samples and without overfitting for images with different environmental conditions. Also, in order to find the optimal state, the dimensions of different inputs in all images have been tested to make a comparison of the effect of different neighborhoods. Thus, patches of sizes 3 to 11 were tested, patches 5 and 7 in the pre-flood image, and patches 9 and 11 in the post-flood images were the best. The results were compared with approaches such as object and pixel-based SVM, LCNN, and DCNN neural networks with dimensions of 3 × 3 and 5 × 5 according to the reference research, and had a significant improvement in accuracy. Time evaluations were performed between all approaches and the lowest time was related to the proposed approach with patch dimensions of 3 × 3 and 5 × 5 and the highest time was related to DCNN network with dimensions of 5 × 5. However, due to the importance of time in crisis management and the need to prepare a high-speed map, the proposed approach has provided an appropriate response. If the time and accuracy are proportionally considered in implementing the research, the designed network in 9 × 9 input dimensions is recommended because in this case, both the accuracy and the time superiority are satisfied.

Population growth and, consequently, the increase in demand for housing in recent years have led many countries to adopt prefabrication as a “ clean” construction strategy. The aim of this study was to explore ways to protect the environment by reducing transportation, air pollution, and the energy consumption of prefabricated houses, as well as ways to allow the assemblage without skilled workers. Materials and methods Rhinoceros 3D was used to model the design. Having modular components in the structure, the Grasshopper plug-in was used to make rotations. To ensure minimum space occupation by the structure, the optimal packing angle was calculated through a comparison between the Genetic algorithm and Surrogate model. The walls were made of fiberglass cladding, two-sided polyurethane insulation over an alloy steel interwoven wire mesh, and another fiberglass cladding layer from outside to inside. Discussion of Results Studies suggest that providing temporary housing is one of the challenges of crisis management organizations always confront with after the natural disasters such as earthquakes. To solve this issue, these organizations tend to use prefabricated structures like shipping container housing units. However, one problem with these structures is their transportation; due to their inflexibility, only a few can be packed into a truck for shipment. This immensely increases heavy-vehicle traffic which is a major contributor to air pollution. The emission of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and particles by fossil fuel-based vehicles cause air pollution. Besides, service delivery to large populations slows down which is something crisis management tries to avoid. In general, temporary structures are two types: fragmented and integrated. All the problems mentioned above are inherent to the first type. By allowing more assemblable parts to be packed into each truck, integrated structures reduce transportation difficulties. However, they pose another problem: the need for many skilled workers to assemble the parts. Most prefabricated structures are box-shaped which means that most of their surface becomes shaded in winter and exposed to strong sunlight in summer. It necessitates the need for cooling, heating, and ventilation systems in different seasons. However, these systems pose many issues in a temporary housing setting including heavy use of fossil fuels, the burning of which releases many pollutants into the air. The local environment of a crisis region may not be able to quickly clean the polluted air, causing breathing difficulty in small, densely-populated areas. Some heating systems, e. g. electric heaters, can also cause fires and other incidents. On the other hand, ordinary buildings are extremely difficult, time-consuming, and costly to build in a crisis situation. Such buildings release large amounts of pollutants into the environment annually using masonry materials like cement and bricks. Taking these factors into account, a type of prefabricated structure should be designed to be more optimal than the existing models in terms of pollution, transportation, and reliance on cooling and heating devices. One should keep in mind that because disaster survivors sometimes have to live in temporary housing for a long time before things go back to normal, architectural design values must be maintained in such settings as much as possible to improve their satisfaction. Accordingly, after an extensive study of energy-optimal architectural forms, the quasi-hemispherical form was chosen for our proposed design. The reason behind this decision is that this shape reduces the need for cooling and heating systems becoming half-shadowed in summer and half-sunlit in winter, respectively— more shadow and sunlight than what a box receives in the same seasons. It is worth noting that the sphere has the smallest surface-to-volume ratio among basic three-dimensional shapes. It means that spherical objects have the least contact with cold or warm air and, thus, reduce heat transfer more than any other form. Furthermore, there is lesser need for additional structural preparations in spherical buildings due to their compressive behavior which in turn reduces the used material. As a result, the activity of material producing factories is decreased helping to reduce air pollution. Fragmentation of the structure into the smaller parts is a good solution for the transportation problem because it allows many more parts to be transported in each shipment. However, it also requires skilled workers for assemblage and installation. To solve this issue with our proposed model, a set of rails and a large pin component were designed for the convenient movement and folding/unfolding of the structure, respectively. Each panel of the hemisphere is designed smaller than the preceding panel to allow the structure to both fold perfectly and occupy less space. When the structure is completely unfolded and the rails are locked, a series of gaps appear where the sections meet. They will be covered by plastic sealing tape to prevent rain penetration and energy waste. Adapting to Iran’ s overall hot desert climate and water scarcity, Persian architecture has historically sought to compensate for the harshness of nature., The Abbasi Great Mosque in the Isfahan’ s Naqsh-e Jahan Square is a remarkable masterpiece that has been survived after many years from natural disasters in the harsh climate of the city. It attests to the efficiency of the quasi-hemispherical form in terms of energy conservation, material use reduction, and structural strength. The current design draws on and modernizes the architecture of Persian domes. Choosing the right materials for the walls was a challenging part of this project because the optimal materials are needed to work well as thermal insulators and be structurally strong. Accordingly, the walls were made of fiberglass cladding, two-sided polyurethane insulation over an alloy steel interwoven wire mesh, and another fiberglass cladding layer from outside to inside. To reduce the transportation, structure was divided the into smaller parts. In addition, a collapsible design of the structure was considered to obviate the need for skilled workers for assemblage. Transportation regulations do not allow trucks to carry loads longer than 12 m, wider than 2. 60 m, and higher than 3 m. Therefore, the Genetic and Surrogate optimization algorithms were used to calculate the best packing angle. The Genetic algorithm produced a more optimal answer. Standard shipping container housing units are 6. 1 or 12. 2 m (20/40 ft. ) long and 2. 44 m (8 ft. ) wide. In each shipment, only one large-sized standard container (12. 2 m × 2. 44 m) can be transported which provides a living space of 29. 76 m2. Meanwhile, at least two units of our design accompanied with a “ connector part, ” are transportable in each shipment providing a total of 65. 33 m2 living space. In addition to energy conservation properties, the design is given architectural features that make it more comfortable to live in. Units can be joined using a connector part as a link to create larger spaces for big families. If each family is given one quasi-hemispherical unit, two displaced families will be sheltered by each shipment. Thanks to its well-designed architectural features, the units can conveniently house families of 4 to 6 and could also be used as single-occupancy units to speed up emergency care if necessitated by the size of the affected population. The prefabricated building design discussed in this research, with a significant reduction in energy consumption, transportation and pollution in order to preserve the ideals of the environment. Conclusions Prefabrication is a method used to improve construction quality; however, there is a lack of scientific research on the instances where prefabricated structures were built for environmental protection. However, one of the difficulties these structures pose is their transportation which heavily increases the traffic of heavy vehicles. In general, an impact of inter-and intra-city transportation is the release of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, and particulate matter by fossil fuel-based vehicles. The density and diffusion of these pollutants are depending on the speed, velocity, and on-site operation of vehicles. This study proposed a structure that is panelized to reduce transportation with a collapsible design to allow assemblage without skilled workers.

Introduction as a result of population growth and urbanization, ecosystems are changing from the landscape to the global scales. Human activities cause these changes and threaten many ecological services that are essential to society. Landfill is one of the destructive cases of lands which is widely used for waste disposal, especially municipal solid waste. Land degradation. due to human mismanagement is affecting the environment and ecosystem around the world and has been neglected for decades. The environment and public health are at risk due to exposure to landfill gases. The surface and groundwater can be also contaminated by landfill leachate. Considering the ecology as the basis for sustainable design, we can significantly reduce the environmental impact of everything we build. Ecological design is a method of design that puts man-made in a healthy relationship with the natural environment and biosphere, in a way that causes the least damage and danger to the ecosystem. Ecological design theories support the principles and strategies for creating sustainable landscapes. An increasing number of research and articles are devoted to technologies and environmental design strategies. The main purpose of this study is to provide strategies and solutions for designing and organizing the landfill environment with an ecological approach, so that the proposed design can be accompanied by the natural structure of the environment for minimum intervention, using ecological knowledge, which seeks and establishes maximum similarity with nature. Materials and Methods In this research, landfill site selection, site analysis and design strategies were identified based on ecological design framework. Ecological design is a method based on comprehensive recognition of the shaping layers of the environment and studying their interaction with each other. These are achieved through making decisions in a way to minimize the harmful effects of human activities on the environment by combining development processes with biological processes. In the end, the result of this work is the reduction of least harmful effects on the natural environment by integrating all processes, cycles and living patterns. In this chapter then, the effects of landfills on the natural environment were first investigated and the ecosystem of the area was identified before its getting polluted and prior to its destruction. Then, after reviewing the theoretical literature, the area was recognized, analyzed and evaluated, and the influential factors in the landfill and its effects were discussed. Then, using the Iranian matrix analysis method was used to evaluate the ecological impact, an attempt is made to improve the current situation. Necessary maps, drawings and documents were prepared for deep site analysis. Opportunities and threats were examined in the landfill and its surrounding areas including urban neighborhood and rural settlements. The landfill leachate on the soil and groundwater discharge. Finally, using overlay method, the synthesis of identification and analyses led to the planning and ecological design strategies of Ghaemshahr Talar landfill, which were applied to selected area to prevent pollutions at the macro level and to help grow and improve the ecosystem services and ecological entity of the area. Discussion of Results Considering the environmental impact assessment using the Iranian matrix method as a tool to predict the consequences of landfill on environmental components, the current situation of this landfill is far from the set standards and inconsistent with these rules and criteria. The purpose of the criteria is to minimize the risk to public health in the area and also to reduce the negative effects of the landfill on the surrounding environment and downstream settlements. The current condition of Ghaemshahr landfill, according to the studies, indicates the occurrence of environmental and health hazards for the ecosystem of this region. One of the most important negative effects of this landfill is the pollution of water, soil and air in the physical dimension. The biological factors are also affected by air, water and soil pollution and has a devastating effect on plants and animals and habitat living systems. According to the analyses, as well as the possibilities and limitations of the site, the zoning strategies were developed and applied to achieve the main design goals. Developed Programs related to landfill design must be environmentally friendly. In clearer terms, appropriate use of nature with minimum degradation as well as, reuse of recyclable materials. According to the design strategies and planning, design solutions are implied to reduce pollution and mitigate the environmental hazards caused by the site. These were considered with regard to the previous features of the site. These solutions are in the field of waste management system, vegetation and green space, treatment, water cycles and movement, paths and routes for pedestrian and car traffic, and the most important of them include turning the linear system into a circular process by constructing a compost and MRF plant, biogas collection and treatment by installing gas collection wells, Leachate collection and treatment systems by installing an impermeable wall to prevent leakage from the landfill to the surrounding area; and collect it in leachate collection wells and treat them with phytoremediation of consttructed wetlands. The river water treatment is feasible by using floating islands of phytoremediation, slope stabilization using geocell with seeded soil; and with resistant and aromatic plants, to manage the side front of the landfill, collection of surface water with hydraulic protective layer and pipes for collection and draining surface water. Conclusions Applying the ecological design pattern and its principles in combination with aesthetics can also maintain the ecological function of the site, be responsive to the different needs of the community along with foresight and at the same time create human relation with nature. It provides the health of society, the survival and satisfaction of this environment and its ecological conditions for the future, and to achieve the goals of sustainable urban development. Regenerative design strategies are used to turn Talar landfill site into a living system that provides comprehensive ecological services that include: food and energy production, water treatment and habitat creation that are combined educationally and aesthetically. These will ultimately lead to improve the environmental and ecological conditions of the landfill and this space to become more useful for recreation places for different groups. It is also a place to show green technologies in waste management, and finally, such frameworks and solutions can help restore the landfill to an environment-friendly space and also restore it to its natural structure in this area.