Journal articles on the topic 'Air quality in underground metro station'

Building airflow characteristics can affect the indoor air environment, thereby affecting indoor air quality and building energy consumption. In recent years, the sunken square has increasingly designed and applied to underground transportation hub systems, because of their special advantages, such as improving the ventilation and lighting of the underground space, blurring the feeling of the ground and underground and improving the quality of the space. However, at present, there are few systematic and comprehensive researches on the airflow characteristics of the sunken squares to the underground metro station. In this study, the wind tunnel modeling experiment and the particle image velocity (PIV) technology are comprehensively used to study the influence of the sunken square on the airflow characteristics of the underground metro station, the influence of the sunken square on the flow field distribution and air exchange rate of underground metro station are obtained. The dimensionless average wind velocity at the large openings of the sunken square is 0.053-0.18, and the air exchange rate of the underground metro station is changed with the number and the relative positions of sunken squares. Conclusions of this research could provide useful reference to the design of airflow characteristics for underground buildings.

With the increase in subway travelers, the air quality of underground enclosed spaces at subway stations has attracted much more attention. The study of pollutants exposure assessment, especially fine particulate matter, is important in both pollutant control and metro station design. In this paper, combining pedestrian flow analysis (PFA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, a novel surrogate-assisted particulate matter exposure assessment method is proposed, in which PFA is used to analyze the spatial-temporal movement characteristics of pedestrians to simultaneously consider the location and value of the pedestrian particulate generation source and their exposure streamline to particulate matter; the CFD model is used to analyze the airflow field and particulate matter concentration field in detail. To comprehensively consider the differences in the spatial concentration distribution of particulate matter caused by the time-varying characteristics of the airflow organization state in subway stations, surrogate models reflecting the nonlinear relationship between simulated and measured data are trained to perform accurate pedestrian exposure calculations. The actual measurement data proves the validity of the simulation and calculation methods, and the difference between the calculated and experimental values of the exposure is only about 5%.

The metropolitan city of Seoul uses more energy than any other area in South Korea due to its high population density. It also has high emissions of air pollutants. Since an individual usually spends most of his/her working hours indoors, the ambient air quality refers to indoor air quality. In particular, PM10concentration in the underground areas should be monitored to preserve the health of commuters in the subway system. Seoul Metro and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation measure several air pollutants regularly. In this study, the accuracy of an instrument for PM measurement using the light scattering method was improved with the help of a linear regression analysis technique to continuously measure thePM10concentrations in subway stations. In addition, an air quality monitoring system based on environmental sensors was implemented to display and record the data of PM10, CO2, temperature, and humidity. Through experimental studies, we found that ventilation fans could improve air quality and decrease PM10concentrations in the tunnels effectively by increasing the air flow rate.

Environmental quality in public rail transit has recently raised great concern, with more attention paid to underground subway microenvironment. This research aimed to provide guidance for healthy urban subway microenvironments (sub-MEs) according to comprehensive micro-environmental categories, including thermal environment, air quality, lighting environment, and acoustic environment from both practical and regulation perspectives. Field sampling experiments were conducted in Nanjing Metro Line X (NMLX). Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and one-way analysis of variance were used to investigate the status quo of urban sub-MEs. A paired samples t-test was then performed to compare among subway station halls, platforms, and in-cabin trains based on integrated sub-MEs. Results show that relative humidity, air velocity, respirable particulate matter (PM10) concentration, and illuminance dissatisfy the requirements in relevant national standards. Significant difference was observed in lighting environment between station hall and platform. It was detected platforms are warmer and more polluted than train cabins. Additionally, subway trains generate main noise on platform which is much louder when leaving than arriving. Protective strategies for sub-ME improvement as well as principles for updating standards were proposed from a proactive point of view. The findings are beneficial for moving towards healthy urban sub-MEs and more sustainable operation of subway systems.

Air pollution in India particularly in metropolitan cities is a serious issue mainly due to vehicular emission, traffic congestion, burning of coal, fuelwood process. The objective of this project is to provide insightful details about the current situation of air quality across five locations in Chennai city and its impacts using an air quality detector meter. The concentration of pollutants namely Carbon dioxide (CO2), Formaldehyde (HCHO), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) and, meteorological conditions like Temperature and Humidity are measured at five polluted areas in Chennai metropolitan city and Air Quality Index values are calculated. From the above Air Quality Index values, it is found that Marina Beach bus stop, Velachery bus stop, Mount Road government estate metro station, Koyambedu bus station, Alandur metro station are identified as problematic zones and health impacts are Published.

Few studies have investigated the thermal environment of the work area hall in underground metro stations during winter. Two underground stations were chosen within Qingdao Metro Lines 2 and 3 to investigate the thermal environment in the work area hall in northern city metros in China. Air temperatures and wind velocity parameters were identified as key influencing factors and were continuously measured in the work area. The study found that the thermal environment fluctuates frequently in the work area throughout the day. Changes in temperatures and wind speeds were periodically caused by piston wind flowing from the platform level. To improve this heating situation in the work area in winter, the study proposes recycling waste heat from the power equipment rooms, using the air source but through the water cycle heat pump system. Insights from the study may help save energy and improve the thermal environment, and could be applied across metro stations in north China cities in winter. Practical application: The thermal comfort of the working area in the metro station hall is extremely poor as indicated by a study of Qingdao Metro stations. This paper explores the application of a heat pump as a means of heating the working area to improve the cold and damp winter environment for the metro staff using waste heat from the machine rooms.

Air quality in transportation microenvironment has received widespread attention. In this study, the exposure levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matter that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) in Shanghai metro system were measured simultaneously, and their risks to human health under different driving conditions were then assessed. The results showed that VOCs, PM2.5 concentrations and life cancer risk (LCR) of four VOCs (benzene, formaldehyde, ethylbenzene, and acetaldehyde) in the old metro carriages were about 3 times, 3 times and 2 times higher than those in the new metro carriages, respectively. This difference can be ascribed to the fact that air filtration system in the new metro trains is significantly improved. The VOC levels, PM2.5 concentrations and LCR of VOCs on the above-ground track were slightly higher than those on the underground track. This is due to less outdoor polluted air entering into the carriage on the underground track. Number of passengers also had an effect on VOCs and PM2.5 concentrations in metro carriages. Additionally, the LCR of VOCs inside metro trains should not be ignored (7.69 × 10−6~1.47 × 10−5), especially inside old metro trains with the old ventilation system.

Introduction. During construction of underground facilities, architectural, finishing and installation works begin before the completion of the main structures. At that time, there is no permanent heating network connection and therefore temporary heat sources must be used to ensure compliance with the works technology. The lack of specific information about the required capacity of such sources makes it impossible to forecast the financial costs, which is essential for contractors. The purpose of the study is to determine the specific value of heat energy consumption for heating underground stations, construction of which is carried out by open method, depending on different outdoor temperatures, construction completion, depth of station installation, as well as the construction volume of the station. Materials and methods. Heat flows have been calculated by means of mathematical modelling of a stationary thermal regime. Analyses of calculation results and normative data have been performed in accordance with the provisions of probability theory and mathematical statistics. Calculation of coefficients and loads are carried out according to generally accepted equations and laws of heat and mass exchange. Climatic data and material parameters are taken according to current normative documents. Results. The values of specific thermal performance of open-cut metro stations depending on space-planning and design solutions, composition of external envelopes, as well as the stage of construction completion (including the presence or absence of backfill) are calculated. Estimated rate of heat energy consumption for temporary heating of open cut metro station is 3.87 Gcal/(1,000 m 3 · month). Conclusions. Temporary heating norms (amount of heat energy) for open-circuit metro stations have been proposed. Heat costs for ensuring the specified air parameters, referred to a unit volume and required for construction and installation works inside the stations during the heating period, are determined.

Water is a natural resource that is needed for the life of human being, even for all the creatures. Therefore, these water resources must be protected so that humans and other living things can be utilized properly. The macrofauna community defines whether the water quality is good or not. The study of the effect of river water quality on the diversity of macrofauna in the Metro river flow of Lowokwaru Subdistrict, Malang City aims to determine the effect of river water quality and to compare the diversity of macrofauna in several Metro river locations in Lowokwaru District, Malang. The method used is quantitative descriptive by calculating the Shanon Winner diversity index. The results obtained for station I amounted to 1.95 classified as lightly polluted, at station II the results were 1,007 which were classified as moderately polluted, and at station III the results were 0.69 which were classified as heavily polluted. Key Words: water quality, macro fauna, Metro river ABSTRAK Air merupakan sumber daya alam yang diperlukan untuk kebutuhan hidup orang banyak, bahkan oleh semua makhluk hidup. Oleh karena itu, sumber daya air tersebut harus di lindungi agar tetap dapat di manfaatkan dengan baik oleh manusia dan makhluk hidup lainnya. Komunitas makrofauna menentukan kualitas air baik atau tidak. Penelitian tentang pengaruh kualitas air sungai terhadap keragaman makrofauna di aliran sungai Metro Kecamatan Lowokwaru kota Malang bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh kualitas air sungai dan untuk membandingkan keanekaragaman makrofauna di beberapa lokasi aliran sungai Metro Kecamatan Lowokwaru kota Malang. Metode yang di gunakan yaitu deskriptif kuantitatif dengan melakukan perhitungan indeks keanekaragaman Shanon Winner. Indeks keanekaragaman yang di hasilkan pada stasiun I sebesar 1,95 yang tergolong tercemar ringan, pada stasiun II indeks keanekaragaman yang di hasilkan sebesar 1,007 yang tergolong tercemar sedang, dan pada stasiun III di dapat hasil indeks keanekaragaman 0,69 yang tergolong tercemar berat. Kata kunci: Kualitas air, makrofauna, sungai metro.

The unfavorable locations of underground infrastructures and poor ventilation facilities can result in the deterioration of enclosed air quality. Some researchers have studied air quality and ventilation measures in different types of underground buildings. However, few studies have investigated the pollution in pedestrian passageways connecting underground structures. Hence, in this paper, we attempted to investigate the spatial distribution of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in underground passageways. First, measurements were designed and conducted in a pedestrian passageway beneath the Shanghai South Railway Station, Shanghai, China. Second, numerical simulations were performed based on computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technology. Finally, the numerical simulations were extended to examine impacts of the ventilation measures on PM2.5 concentration with different inlet positions and air velocity in underground passageways. The simulation results showed good agreement with the experimental data, and the numerical model was validated to be an effective method to investigate the spatial distribution of PM2.5 in underground passageways. Results suggest that building additional entrances is an advisable method for improving air quality in the underground passageways of the Shanghai South Railway Station, while jet fans are not recommended. Findings of this study offer suggestions for mitigating PM2.5 pollution in underground passageways.

Because of rapid urbanization, traffic problems, and other factors, underground spaces have been used more in the twenty-first century. Large underground spaces are required for underground city, metro, tunnel, mine, industrial and agricultural engineering, and civil air defense engineering. Underground spaces with varying thermal, ventilation, and lighting environments can face problems of comfort, health, and safety. High temperatures, high humidity, difficulty in flue gas emission, harmful microorganisms, radon, and physical and psychological problems are examples of issues. Air quality control technologies for underground spaces, such as ventilation, dehumidification, natural energy utilization, smoke extraction, and ventilation resistance reduction, are discussed. Ventilation for smoke-proofing/evacuation is also extensively addressed.

The past, present, and future provide a framework for this discussion of the fusion of creativity among artists, architects, and engineers represented in the design of urban rail transit stations. The fusion of talent has a highly recognized past. Washington's Union Station, built early in this century, was restored to its original grandeur and is a major tourist attraction in the nation's capital. The power of the state is exploited in the Moscow subway, where stations take on a decorative quality found in the great monuments of Europe during the Gothic and High Renaissance era of architectural history. Transit stations designed in the late 1960s and 1970s in this country have had limited involvement by artists. Washington's Metro has a unique image created by architects and engineers dominating the underground stations. The power of nature in architecture was realized in Atlanta's Peachtree Station, where a rock cavern became an integral part of the station. The most successful fusion of art, architecture, and engineering in the 1970s was realized in the Stockholm Metro's underground stations, where artists were involved in every aspect of the design. The present is represented by five stations in the Seattle Underground completed in 1990—a gallery of art and architecture. Five stations operational on the Los Angeles Metro Red Line and eight more under construction will bring to reality the fusion of creativity. The future may once again see artists, architects, and engineers combining their talents to produce landmarks that will endure through the twenty-first century as Washington's Union Station has done in this century.

In this study, the time-dependent, induced air speeds at critical sections of underground metro stations are assessed using a novel one-dimensional data-driven approach. For this purpose, three artificial neural networks are used, each trained for the most basic configuration of a single train moving in a single tunnel. The first two are trained to provide the maximum and time averaged values of the induced air speeds while the train is moving inside the approach tunnel or the station. The third one is used to simulate the time-dependent air speed variation during train stoppage and departure. Typical structures of a metro system such as staircases and ventilation shafts are introduced into the solution using simple analytical relations based on loss coefficients. The developed approach is tested using two different metro stations that are currently in operation in Turkey. The selected stations are constructed using different tunneling techniques resulting in different air flow characteristics. The results show that the time variation of the air speed predicted by the developed model is, in general, in good agreement with the results of the Subway Environmental Simulation software, although further studies are necessary to model the acceleration and deceleration of trains more realistically.

More and more underground spaces were used in 21st century because of rapid urbanization, traffic problems, etc. Underground city, metro, tunnel, mine, industrial and agriculture engineering, civil air defence engineering need large underground spaces. Underground spaces with different thermal, ventilation and lighting environments may cause comfort, health and safety problems. Concrete problems include excessive humidity, heat transfer specialty, excessive CO caused by blockage in long distance traffic tunnels, difficulty in smoke exhaust and evacuation during fire, harmful microorganism, radioactivity pollutants, psychological problems, and so forth. Air quality control technologies for underground spaces, including ventilation technology, dehumidification technology, natural energy utilization technology, smoke extraction technology and ventilation resistance reduction technology, will be reviewed. Ventilation for smoke-proof/evacuation and ventilation will also be reviewed.

Subway lines are responsible for 20% of the total passenger traffic in Tehran. Particulate matter is one of the most important major pollutants in subway stations and increasing their concentration leads to numerous health consequences for passengers and subway employees. This study aims to investigate the concentration of PM10 and PM2.5 in four underground metro stations and compare them with the concentration of these particles in the open air. Seasonal sampling (April 2018 - April 2019) of particulate matters was conducted in the middle months of all four seasons for one week in the middle months of each season at peak traffic times from 8am to 12am, at three locations (entrance, middle, and exit in each station) and also at outside ambient of each station. The results are then compared with the relevant standards. The main sources of suspended particulate matter in the underground subway stations were due to passenger traffic, train piston pressure, floor cleaning, maintenance operations, wheel-rail wear and braking, and the performance of the ventilation system in the subway station. The results of the monitoring measurements in this study showed that the annual average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in the four underground subway stations were 68 μg/m3 and 47 μg/m3 and in the outdoor ambient around these stations were 42 and 29 μg/m3, respectively. Also, this study showed that in the four underground subway stations, the annual average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were 1.5-1.7 times higher than those in the outdoor ambient, respectively.

Abstract: Industrial safety is one of the main aspects of industry specially coal mine industry. Underground mining hazards include suffocation, gas poisoning and gas explosion. Air quality and hazardous event detection is very important factor in mining industry. This system provides a wireless sensor network for monitoring real time situation of underground mines from base station. It provides real time monitoring of harmful gases like CO, CH4 and also temperature and Humidity. The main reason for death of miners is that, due to any reason miners falls down and loses consciousness also proper treatment is not provided them at that time. To overcome this problem the system provides emergency alert to the supervisor if person fall down by any reason. The system uses IoT technology for transmission of data from underground mine to base station. There is alert switch at mines and base station for emergency purpose.

Abstract. From an environmental perspective, the underground metro system is one of the cleanest forms of public transportation in urban agglomerations. Current studies report contradicting results regarding air quality in the metro systems: whereas some reveal poor air quality, others report PM levels which are lower or of the same order of magnitude than those measured in traffic sites above ground level. The present work assesses summer indoor air quality and passenger exposure in the Barcelona metro, focusing on PM levels and their metal contents. In addition, the impact on indoor air quality of platform screen door systems (automated systems consisting of closed rail track and platforms) is evaluated, to determine whether these systems reduce passenger exposure to PM when compared with conventional systems (open tracks and platforms). In the Barcelona metro, PM levels inside the trains in summer are amongst the lowest reported for worldwide metro systems (11–32 μPM2.5 m−3). This is most probably due to the air conditioning system working in all carriages of the Barcelona metro during the whole year. On the platforms, levels were considerably higher, reaching mean levels of 59 and 88 μgPM2.5 m−3 in the new (L9) and old (L3) lines, respectively. PM10 data are also reported in the present study, but comparison with other metro systems is more difficult due to the scarcity of data compared with PM2.5. Results showed clear PM daily cycles, with a drastic increase from 06:00 to 07:00 a.m., a diurnal maximum from 07:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and marked decreases between 10:00 p.m. and 05:00 a.m. The elements with the highest enrichment are those associated with wheel or brake abrasion products (Ba, Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Sb, As, Mo, Co, Sr, among others). Laminar hematite (Fe2O3) was the dominant particle type, being mainly originated by mechanical abrasion of the rail track and wheels. Regarding passenger exposure to PM inside the metro system, the contribution of commuting by metro was estimated to account for around 10% of the daily exposure. Finally, we conclude that the implementation of platform screen door systems results in reductions of both PM levels and metal concentrations, but in addition an advanced optimized ventilation system gave even a much higher efficiency in reducing PM exposure to metro commuters. Combining these two features PM exposure levels in the platforms may be reduced down by a factor of 7 with respect the old subway lines in Barcelona.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the concentration of air pollutants in the indoor environments, which could be caused by seasonal changes or changes in operating conditions of subway metro stations. In fact, there are many different types of pollution that can cause contamination in subway stations, and changes in operating conditions can also lead to changes in the indoor air quality (IAQ). Therefore, in order to establish a proper management of IAQ, it would be necessary to evaluate the changes in IAQ according to the changes in conditions. To do this, the present study used a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results of testing the hypothesis proved that two groups, divided by the condition of a platform screen door (PSD) system, could differ statistically. Furthermore, those multidimensional differences were caused by installation of a PSD system. When applied to a real-time tele-monitoring system, MANOVA could clearly identify the daily and weekly variations of IAQ in the subway station, as well as the PSD system’s condition. Accordingly, this method could be useful for developing a multivariate system to statistically evaluate the experimental IAQ results in order to optimise operating conditions in a subway metro station to improve IAQ, and to minimise adverse health effects on passengers by exposure to harmful substances.

Abstract. From an environmental perspective, the underground metro system is one of the cleanest forms of public transportation in urban agglomerations. Current studies report contradicting results regarding air quality in the metro systems: whereas some reveal poor air quality, others report PM levels which are lower or of the same order of magnitude than those measured in traffic sites above ground level. The present work assesses summer and winter indoor air quality and passenger exposure in the Barcelona metro, focusing on PM levels and their metal contents. In addition, the impact on indoor air quality of platform screen door systems (automated systems consisting of closed rail track and platforms) is evaluated, to determine whether these systems reduce passenger exposure to PM when compared with conventional systems (open tracks and platforms). In the Barcelona metro PM levels inside the trains in summer are amongst the lowest reported for worldwide metro systems (11–32 μg m−3 PM2.5). This is most likely due to the air conditioning system working in all carriages of the Barcelona metro during the whole year. Levels were considerably higher on the platforms, reaching mean levels of 46 and 125 μg m3 in the new (L9) and old (L3) lines, respectively. PM10 data are also reported in the present study, but comparison with other metro systems is difficult due to the scarcity of data compared with PM2.5. Results showed distinct PM daily cycles, with a drastic increase from 06:00 to 07:00 a.m., a diurnal maximum from 07:00 to 10:00 p.m., and marked decrease between 10:00 p.m. and 05:00 a.m. The elements with the highest enrichment were those associated with wheel or brake abrasion products (Ba, Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Sb, As, Mo, Co, Sr, among others). Laminar hematite (Fe2O3) was the dominant particle type, being mainly originated by mechanical abrasion of the rail track and wheels. Regarding passenger exposure to PM, the contribution of commuting by metro was estimated to account for around 10% of the daily exposure. However, this contribution may be one order of magnitude higher when specific matals are considered. Finally, we conclude that the implementation of platform screen door systems results in reductions of both PM levels and metal concentrations. In addition an advanced optimized ventilation system gave even a much higher efficiency in reducing exposure to PM of metro commuters. Combining these two features PM exposure levels in the platforms may be reduced down by a factor of 7 with respect the old subway lines in Barcelona.

Protecting the infrastructure of the metro from unauthorized actions with the help of ventilation openings of the systems is one of the main security problems of this type of transport. This article discusses the problem of the dynamics of distribution of the mass flow rate of ventilation air in a two-component system “tunnel vertical ventilation shaft”, due to the piston effect of a moving train. The dependence of the mass flow rate of ventilation air passing in both directions in short ventilation shafts (up to 10 m), on the speed, location of the rolling stock and cross-sectional area of the ventilation shaft is investigated. It is shown, that at speeds of 10–20 m / s of rolling stock and sections of the ventilation shaft of more than 4 m2, the mass flow rate of air passing through the ventilation shaft must be taken into account with the mass flow rate of ventilation air in the transport tunnel for assessing the safety of the harmful aerosols. These processes can have a significant impact on the air quality of the underground infrastructure of the metro.

CoVID-19 pandemic forced a countrywide lockdown in the Philippines from March 16, 2020 to May 15, 2020 and extended to May 31, 2020 in Metro Manila and some parts of Central Luzon. Because of these forced restrictions, the air pollution level in Metro Manila drastically slowed down just a few weeks upon the implementation of the lockdown. Therefore, this study aimed to establish a preliminary case review on the implications of the lockdown to the air quality in the country’s capital with the aid of data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Airtoday.ph station. The empirical analysis revealed that when Metro Manila was under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), tropospheric nitrogen oxide (NO2) dropped by approximately 52% compared to the 2019 levels in the same period. The city also registered the lowest PM 2.5 air pollution levels during the first 30 days of the lockdown with an average of 11.59 ug/m3. Moreover, the satellite image from the Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology (IESM), UP Diliman showed a lower Atmospheric Optical Depth (AOD) of 0.01, which means that the air is clean during the lockdown period when compared with the AOD value during the same period in 2018 and 2019. At the Lung Center of the Philippines, a comparison of pre-ECQ and ECQ air quality levels showed that PM2.5 is reduced from 80% to 180%, particularly during evenings and early mornings. A similar trend along EDSA Munoz, where 70-90% reduction of PM 2.5 was observed since the ECQ. Overall, the study revealed that lockdown measures, fortunately, have brought the opportunity to rationalize human impact on the environment. Although we could say those travel restrictions or lockdown is an unconventional measure to air pollution prevention and control, it is possible to improve air quality by reducing nonessential individual movements by highlighting the importance of fuel-free activities or implementing short-term lockdowns (3-5 days).

As a new type of waterproof curtain, several station construction of Qingdao Metro Line 1 successfully used the trench cutting remixing deep wall (TRD). It is difficult to find the factors that affect the wall quality because the method is in situ underground excavating and mixing. This paper has obtained the main factors affecting the TRD quality in Qingdao by studying construction experience and carrying out tests. Geological conditions are fundamental factors. Among them, the parameters of medium-coarse sand layer, the groundwater table, and the humus content are the main factors. The design parameters are the key to high-quality TRD. In the design parameters, the depth inserting into the bedrock, the cement soil ratio, and the mixing time are important factors. And this paper proposes the methods of improving the wall quality, which can provide a theoretical guarantee for the follow-up application of the TRD in the Qingdao area.

Abstract In a city with overcrowded traffic, a component of the common transport is Bucharest transportation of metro (subway passenger transport on the railway network underground and surface) and is the core activity of METROREX S.A. The company aims each year a greater number of passengers according to the charts of the movement of subway trains to ensure adequate transport capacity as required and optimal conditions of comfort and safety. Each year, the company aims to find out the opinion of passengers on the transport conditions and, in this respect, organize a survey with the aim of testing the quality of underground transport in Bucharest in 16 subway stations considered to be representative. In this paper I intend to do an analysis using statistical research methods, of the quality of underground transport in Bucharest, using data from the survey conducted in the year 2014. Data collection in the stations was realized through 32 operators, by 2 in each station (one in each direction of travel) by completing questionnaires (using interview technique or face to face technique), using a sample considered representative of 2,400 travelers with a margin of error of ± 2% on a 95% probability level. Data collection was made during the period when passenger traffic is large enough to provide a good representation of data and cover the entire program running underground. The questionnaire contains eight questions that have allowed those who responded to the survey to fit in the time between trains in circulation. In 2016, the structure of the questionnaire was modified, questions were modified for a more effective assessment of characteristics of observation. The answers to the questions contained in the questionnaire were collected by operators in the 16 subway stations: Piața Unirii 1 and 2, Piața Victoriei 1 and 2, Dristor 2, Nicolae Grigorescu, Universitate, Piața Sudului, Pipera, Eroilor, Gara de Nord 1, Obor, Crângași, Pantelimon, Parc Bazilescu and 1 December 1918, analyzed and processed based on 2400 questionnaires. A new category of polls states in the present and is determined by evolutions in computer networks and communication, are called online surveys conducted on the Web. Also in this paper, I propose the implementation of a solution based on an online survey website that includes the online version of the questionnaire used to collect data from the virtual environment.

Abstract Quantifying the train-induced wind affecting the climate of subway stations can be applied to improve underground networks air quality. In this paper, numerical simulations of train-induced airflow in a subway station are performed, using a CFD model with dynamic meshing techniques. A preliminary study is done in a double-track tunnel with blockage ratios of 0.30, 0.37 and 0.46 with a train running at constant speed in the order of 10 m/s. The tunnel length necessary to obtain a stable flow around the train body is determined, and this upstream tunnel length is included in a subway station model. Two different architectures and three train speeds are simulated, and the effect of these configurations on the station airflow is evaluated through the air velocity and the mass flow rate at a location on the platform. The results evidence an increase in air circulation with blockage ratio and train speed.

Particulate matter (PM) of sizes less than 10 µm () and 2.5 µm () found in the environment is a major health concern. As PM is more prevalent in an enclosed environment, such as a subway station, this can have a negative impact on the health of commuters and staff. Therefore, it is essential to continuously monitor PM on underground subway platforms and control it using a subway ventilation control system. In order to operate the ventilation system in a predictive way, a credible prediction model for indoor air quality (IAQ) is proposed. While the existing deterministic methods require extensive calculations and domain knowledge, deep learning-based approaches showed good performance in recent studies. In this study, we develop an effective hybrid deep learning framework to forecast future and on a subway platform using past air quality data. This hybrid framework is an integration of several deep learning frameworks, namely, convolution neural network (CNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and deep neural network (DNN), and is called hybrid CNN-LSTM-DNN; it has the characteristics to capture temporal patterns and informative characteristics from the indoor and outdoor air quality parameters compared with the standalone deep learning models. The effectiveness of the proposed and forecasting framework is demonstrated using comparisons with the different existing deep learning models.

This paper presents the results of the air quality by the content of CO2, CO, PM2.5, PM10 and the microclimate (temperature and relative humidity) monitoring campaign, in Bucharest underground transport network. The monitoring was performed using both manual and automatic data acquisition systems. All the acquired data were stored in a specific database system used for fast reporting and alarming. GIS software was used to precisely locate the exterior air intakes for selected stations in order to know the quality of the exterior air circulated through them and for finding the best position for new ones. The research was conducted on different station platforms, belonging to the same line, in the Bucharest subway system throughout a year (2015) in order to improve air quality and comfort level of subway stations. The obtained results will serve as basis for improving the air quality and comfort level in the new long subway lines designed and built now in Bucharest.

Urbanization and Industrialization during the last few decades have increased air pollution causing harm to human health. Air pollution in metro cities turns out to be a serious environmental problem, especially in developing countries like India. The major environmental challenge is, to predict accurate air quality from pollutants. Envisaging air quality from pollutants like PM2.5, using the latest deep learning technique (LSTM timer series) has turned out to be a significant research area. The primary goal of this research paper is to forecast near-time pollution using the LSTM time series multivariate regression technique. The air quality data from Central Pollution Control Board over Hyderabad station has been used for the present study. All the processing is done in real-time and the system is found to be functionally very stable and works under all conditions. The Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and R2 have been used as evaluation criteria for this regression technique. Further, the time series regression has been used to find the best fit model in terms of processing time to get the lowest error rate. The statistical model based on machine learning established a relevant prediction of PM2.5 concentrations from meteorological data.

В статье рассмотрены проблемы проектирования систем обеспечения противопожарной защиты метрополитенов. Отмечено, что вопросам обеспечения пожарной безопасности на объектах метрополитенов уделяется особое внимание со стороны как контрольно-надзорных органов, так и специалистов, участвующих в разработке нормативных документов. При недостаточном уровне защиты от пожара нахождение в метрополитене чрезвычайно опасно, поскольку существует удаленность от поверхности и возможность быстрого задымления, что может привести к массовой гибели людей и значительным социально-экономическим последствиям. Предложены пути решения проблем, связанных с обеспечением пожарной безопасности метрополитенов. The article deals with the problematic issues of designing systems for ensuring fire protection of subways. To date, there is no precise definition of the functional fire hazard class for a metro station in regulatory documents. An object with a massive stay of people, primarily in terms of evacuation of people in case of fire, is considered one of the most difficult. Based on this fact alone, when designing a metro line and stations, special technical conditions are necessarily developed. The existing set of rules for subways is not included in the list of regulatory documents that ensure compliance with fire safety requirements. Many questions arise when designing smoke ventilation systems, since the provisions of the existing set of rules, as one of the main regulatory documents for the design of smoke protection systems, cannot be fully applied to underground metro structures. The parameters and modes of air exchange in an extensive metro network depend not only on the selected operating modes of ventilation equipment, but also on the piston effect from the movement of trains in tunnels, on the configuration of buildings and wind load in the area of ventilation shafts on the surface, season, etc. A separate important issue is ensuring the stability of the air flow in case of fire. In practice, the phenomenon of “overturning the jet” is known – a change in direction, a reversal of the movement of the air flow in the mine due to a change in pressure in the area with a fire. According to the set of rules, the stability of the air flow is ensured if the calculated speed of the air flow in the area exceeds the critical speed. The critical speed in this case depends only on the section of the tunnel and the slope. Neither the design power of the fire, nor other significant parameters are taken into account when determining it, which, of course, is not entirely correct from a physical point of view. The ways of solving problematic issues related to ensuring the fire safety of subways are proposed.

The air environment in the subway car has a great impact on the comfort and health of passengers. In order to know the real air quality in the car when the train is running, this paper takes CO2 as an indicator and conducts a field test on Line 11 of Shanghai Metro to study and analyse the dynamic CO2 concentration and the fresh air rate in the subway car. The results show that the CO2 concentration increases from the head car to the tail car, and the fresh air volume decreases from the head car to the tail car is the reason for the large difference of CO2 concentration in different cars. The CO2 concentration in the car is greatly affected by the passenger load, and the maximum value of CO2 concentration in the morning peak can reach 2.3 times that of the normal hours. The background CO2 concentration has a certain influence on the CO2 concentration in the car, and the CO2 concentration in the underground line is higher than that in the elevated line in the same carriage. The CO2 concentration in subway cars of the underground line in the morning peak is significantly higher than 1500 ppm, which indicates that the dilution effects of the ventilation can’t meet the fresh air requirements in the morning peak. The research in this paper can provide a reference for the design of the ventilation system of subway trains and the environmental control in the car.

Recently, metallic particulate pollutants floating underground have been reported to negatively affect the human body. Thus, there is an urgent need for a public health policy pertaining to the air quality in subway stations. In this study, we investigated whether a vegetation biofilter is effective in reducing metal particle contaminants, especially iron oxide. After selecting a subway station, a vegetation biofilter system was installed, and samples were collected three times, at three intake areas and one exhaust area. The average weight ratio of the detected elements was calculated. The iron oxide reduction effect was evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. In the return air, C, O, and Fe were detected at 64.9, 27.3, and 5.2 wt.%, respectively; in the supply air, C, O, and Fe were detected at 67.2, 30.4, and 0.7 wt.%, respectively. The difference in the average Fe weight ratio was statistically significant. Air quality has a considerable effect on human health. We confirmed the possibility of reducing Fe in particulate matter using biofilters. However, we could not confirm whether the air quality was improved enough to not have a negative effect on the human body. This should be elucidated through follow-up studies.

Environmental health in subway stations, a typical type of urban underground space, is becoming increasingly important. Ventilation is the principal measure for optimizing the complex physical environment in a subway station. This paper narratively reviews the environmental and health effects of subway ventilation and discusses the relevant engineering, environmental, and medical aspects in combination. Ventilation exerts a notable dual effect on environmental health in a subway station. On the one hand, ventilation controls temperature, humidity, and indoor air quality to ensure human comfort and health. On the other hand, ventilation also carries the potential risks of spreading air pollutants or fire smoke through the complex wind environment as well as produces continuous noise. Assessment and management of health risks associated with subway ventilation is essential to attain a healthy subway environment. This, however, requires exposure, threshold data, and thereby necessitates more research into long-term effects, and toxicity as well as epidemiological studies. Additionally, more research is needed to further examine the design and maintenance of ventilation systems. An understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and aerodynamic characteristics of various pollutants can help formulate ventilation strategies to reduce pollutant concentrations. Moreover, current comprehensive underground space development affords a possibility for creating flexible spaces that optimize ventilation efficiency, acoustic comfort, and space perception.

In this paper presents the assessment of source profile of nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in the ambient air of Delhi. The samples were collected from five different urban sites using tedlar bags for aliphatic NMHCs and activated adsorption charcoal tubes for aromatic NMHCs during October 2014 to September 2015. Eleven aliphatic NMHCs propane, n-butane i-butene, i-butane, 1,3-butadiene, trans-2-butene, cis-2-pentene, n-pentane, n-hexane, heptane and four aromatic NMHCs benzene, toluene, o-xylene, p/m-xylene were identified in 112 urban ambient air samples. Samples were analysed using gas chromatography which is coupled with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Pearson correlation coefficient (r) found to be = 0.5±0.2, shows significance level to have moderate among the NMHCs, indicates NMHCs in the urban ambient air have many sources profile mentioned in PCA result. Factor analysis(FA) and receptor model, i.e., Principal Component Analysis(PCA)/Absolute Principal Component Score (APCS) was used for identification of source profile distribution. PCA analysis after the varimax rotation have identified six possible source profile and explained about 70 % of the total dataset. The average % contribution of NMHCs emitted from vehicles was found to be 23%, whereas polymer manufacturing industries contributes 19% and from refinery operation/ gas station contribute 14%, and 13%, emitted from flare emissions and 10% from natural gas emissions. The secondary industrial process, including paints, body soaps and metal fabricator and processing was contributing 8%. Out of these remaining 13% was estimated as unidentified sources. These findings may be used by government authorities to formulate policies and strategies for improvement of urban air quality that can improve the health of urban communities.

Underground structures like diaphragm and pile walls are constructed to organize waterproof curtains, protect pit sides, and transfer loads from the structures. Violations of the construction technological process can lead to the formation of defects. To prevent adverse consequences, before excavation, it is necessary to control the integrity of the slurry walls using non-destructive geophysical methods. A review of geophysical slurry wall quality control methods based on the excitation and registration of physical fields through access tubes installed in the reinforcement cage, in wells drilled near the structure or on the surface of the structure, is presented. The main capabilities and limitations of the methods are given. Cross-hole ultrasonic logging was used to study the section of the slurry wall during the construction of the Moscow Metro station. The results of parallel soundings made it possible to identify anomalous zones, interpreted as defects. The geometric dimensions of one of the major defects were refined by ultrasonic tomography. For the first time in Russian testing practice, thermal integrity profiling was applied to study the diaphragm wall at the base of a residential building. The results of temperature monitoring during the concrete hardening are presented. According to the method, a major flaw, excess of the design mark of the wall bottom and bulging of the structure were revealed. The results of thermal integrity profiling were verified by ultrasonic logging. The combined use of thermal and ultrasonic methods can be recommended as a reliable tool for integrity testing of diaphragm and pile walls. To carry out the measurements, the access tubes shall be included in the reinforcement cage of the structure at the design stage.

The air quality monitoring system in industrial cities is one of the systems for responding to risk factors in the public health system. The purpose of the study is, on the basis of a hygienic assessment of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks from exposure to specific pollutants in the cities of Dnipro, Kamenskoye, Kryvyi Rih, to substantiate a program for regional monitoring of atmospheric air quality. Materials and methods. To achieve this goal, the results of air quality studies in the largest industrial cities of the Dnipropetrovsk region – Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Kamenskoe for the period 2005-2019 were analyzed in terms of phenol, formaldehyde, benzene, xylene and toluene, and carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks to public health were calculated in these cities. Results and discussion. According to the results of the study, individual carcinogenic risks in all three cities in terms of formaldehyde are medium, and in terms of benzene are high. The population carcinogenic risk ranges from 200-269 additional cases of cancer from exposure to formaldehyde and 3727-4426 additional cases of cancer from chronic inhalation exposure to benzene. The calculation of non-carcinogenic risks identified the priority specific air pollutants in the cities under study, as well as the main target organs. So the main systems that are influenced by the action of the studied chemicals are the central nervous system, the general development of the body and the blood system. Based on the risk assessment, it was established that it is necessary to include the Kamenskoye metro station for regional monitoring. It is necessary to include all pollutants from List A to the minimum list of investigated chemicals, and for the city of Dnipro and Kamenskoye it is additionally necessary to carry out studies of phenol, formaldehyde and toluene and in the city of Kryvyi Rih – formaldehyde and toluene. The mechanism of data processing and interaction between the subjects of monitoring has been substantiated for the timely identification of risks and the development of necessary preventive measures for risk management. Conclusion. It was found that carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks in industrial cities of the Dnipropetrovsk region are not acceptable. The existing monitoring system does not fully comply with the current requirements. The minimum program of the regional air quality monitoring system in the Dnipropetrovsk region has been scientifically substantiated

Public transport requires constant feedback to improve and satisfy daily users. Twitter offers monitoring of user messages, discussion and emoticons addressed to official transport provider accounts. This information can be particularly useful in delicate situations such as management of transit operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The behaviour of Twitter users in Madrid, London and Prague is analysed with the goal of recognising similar patterns and detecting differences in traffic related topics and temporal cycles. Topics in transit tweets were identified using the bag of words approach and pre-processing in R. COVID-19 is a dominant topic for both London and Madrid but a minor one for Prague, where Twitter serves mainly to deliver messages from politicians and stakeholders. COVID-19 interferes with the meaning of other topics, such as overcrowding or staff. Additionally, specific topics were discovered, such as air quality in Victoria Station, London, or racism in Madrid. For all cities, transit-related tweeting activity declines over weekends. However, London shows much less decline than Prague or Madrid. Weekday daily rhythms show major tweeting activity during the morning in all cities but with different start times. The spatial distribution of tweets for the busiest stations shows that the best-balanced tweeting activity is found in Madrid metro stations.

Purpose West Bay, the Business District of Doha, the capital city of the State of Qatar, is facing an urban regeneration phase due to the construction of the West Bay Central Train Station, a four-storey underground building hosting the intersection of two metro lines – one long-distance train and one people mover. The development of the transit village, or transit-oriented development, is raising concerns related to the need to enhance liveability (as urban quality of life) and sense of place (considering the local cultural identity). The purpose of this paper is to investigate existing urban elements, such as transit stations, as well as their impact on the liveability and identity of the place and to define a comprehensive urban regeneration strategy for the development of the distinctive urban village of West Bay. Design/methodology/approach The analysis and data collection were based on the type of data as tangible aspects which mainly include the physical, and aspects such as diversity, density, connectivity, transportation systems and public realm. Intangible factors are concluded from close and direct site observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews, as a face-to-face type of data collection with key persons in Qatar Rail, the Ministry of the Municipality and public work authorities, where the intangible aspects were briefed by economic aspects, environmental situation, social pattern and human behaviours. After siting the base ground of theoretical knowledge and site condition analysis, the authors identified a group of key factors that respond to the targeted (tangible and intangible) aspects and threats, to propose a design treatment for the site threats and highlighted issues in addition to a group of recommendations and design strategies (Charmaz, 2006; Marshall and Rossman, 2010). Findings From the data analysis of the site and by revisiting the literature review, a group of recommendations are formulated. The authors divided the recommendations into two types according to their method of application. The first is the design approach, where the authors propose integrated design proposals to tackle and solve the highlighted issues from the findings of site analysis (diversity, density, connectivity in addition to economic, social and environmental factors). Meanwhile, the second part represents the systematic recommendations that should be adopted and implemented to enhance the existing situation and form a guideline for further developments. Research limitations/implications This research study could be further expanded to urban planning, urban design, social development and environmental engineering. Urban design and social development chiefly focus on the relationship between built and unbuilt forms with an eye to creating healthy, sustainable communities for current and future generations. Originality/value Because issues of social sustainability and urban design have failed to attract suitable levels of attention from local scholars, gaps have arisen in the research. Accordingly, this research study investigates the relationship between social sustainability and urban design standards in the State of Qatar with an eye to translating theoretical knowledge into applicable principles of urban planning. In doing so, it will help close the gaps in knowledge related to Qatar and GCC countries.

Due to the humid underground environment, underground metro stations often have internal condensation issues, especially during the commissioning and initial operation phases, and these issues will have a negative impact on the equipment operation and building life. This study aims to solve the issue by 1) identifying common areas with condensation risks based on on-site measurements and numerical simulation methods, and 2) proposing effective dehumidification solutions for the moisture control of stations. By on-site investigating the characteristics of the station’s moisture environment and numerical assessing the effects of two different dehumidification strategies, it has been found that 1) for Tianjin, during most times in summer, the air temperature of the station in the commissioning phase was maintained relatively stable, but with significantly changing humidity; 2) the relative humidity on the platforms was higher than 80% for almost 30% of the testing time, and the surface of the upper structure of platform doors having a high risk of condensation; 3) the dehumidification effect of industrial dehumidifiers was found to be better than that of increasing exhaust air volume. The authors hope that the research could aid the decision on dehumidification strategies and provide guidance for further moisture control in underground stations. Practical Application This article analyzed the moisture environment of the underground metro stations in the commissioning phase and conducted a numerical approach to assess the condensation risk. Potential dehumidification solutions including increasing the exhaust air volume and using industrial dehumidifiers have been proposed, and their effects have been investigated and compared. The authors hope that this research can aid the decision on dehumidification strategies for facilities maintenance and provide a guidance to further moisture control in underground stations.

This paper presents the results of the air quality by the content of CO2, CO, PM2.5, PM10 and the microclimate (temperature and relative humidity) monitoring campaign, in Bucharest underground transport network. The monitoring was performed using both manual and automatic data acquisition systems. All the acquired data were stored in a specific database system used for fast reporting and alarming. GIS software was used to precisely locate the exterior air intakes for selected stations in order to know the quality of the exterior air circulated through them and for finding the best position for new ones. The research was conducted on different station platforms, belonging to the same line, in the Bucharest subway system throughout a year (2015) in order to improve air quality and comfort level of subway stations. The obtained results will serve as basis for improving the air quality and comfort level in the new long subway lines designed and built now in Bucharest. Keywords: indoor microclimate, air quality monitoring, data acquisition systems, temperature-humidity index, Geographic Information System

This paper presents methods to obtain analytical solutions to a class of continuous traffic equilibrium problems, where continuously distributed customers from a bounded two-dimensional service region seek service from one of several discretely located facilities via the least congested travel path. We show that under certain conditions, the traffic flux at equilibrium, which is governed by a set of partial differential equations, can be decomposed with respect to each facility and solved analytically. This finding paves the foundation for an efficient solution scheme. Closed-form solution to the equilibrium problem can be obtained readily when the service region has a certain regular shape, or through an additional conformal mapping if the service region has an arbitrary simply connected shape. These results shed light on some interesting properties of traffic equilibrium in a continuous space. This paper also discusses how service facility locations can be easily optimized by incorporating analytical formulas for the total generalized cost of spatially distributed customers under congestion. Examples of application contexts include gates or booths for pedestrian traffic, as well as launching sites for air vehicles. Numerical examples are used to show the superiority of the proposed optimization framework, in terms of both solution quality and computation time, as compared with traditional approaches based on discrete mathematical programming and partial differential equation solution methods. An example with the metro station entrances at the Beijing Railway Station is also presented to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed traffic equilibrium and location design models.

To ensure the safety and stability of adjacent underground structures is a key problem for the subway tunnel blasting construction. In this paper, there is a tunnel group (Sheshan civil air defense engineering) composed of several tunnel units right above a subway tunnel under blasting construction (Wuhan Metro Line 5). The vibration of the tunnel group induced by two blasting excavations of the subway tunnel was monitored. For further research, an effective 3D numerical model established by LS-DYNA, which was verified by field monitoring data, was used to analyze the dynamic response of the tunnel group in the whole process of the subway tunnel blasting. According to the numerical simulation results, the dynamic response characteristics of each tunnel unit were studied, and the most vulnerable area in each tunnel unit was determined. Then, the functional relationships between the maximum vibration velocities and the maximum tensile stresses of the vulnerable areas were established. Based on the maximum tensile stress criterion, the safety vibration velocity threshold of each vulnerable area was calculated using the relationship models. Furthermore, for convenient field monitoring during the subway construction, the safety vibration threshold at the floor of the tunnel group was also calculated. Lastly, to obtain the maximum charge per delay, five cut blasting with different charges were simulated. The maximum charge of the cut blasting in different stages of the subway tunnel blasting excavation was proposed. The research results of this paper have reference value for the blasting vibration safety control of similar tunnel excavation projects in the future.

Ambient fine Particulate Matters have been linked to various adverse health outcomes. Exposure to the high level of such particles would increase the risk of premature death, especially for people with weak immune systems, such as children and elder people. This research derives the relation between particulate matter and AOD from the Regression model on the seasonal (Pre-monsoon season (March 2020) and winter season (December 2019) basis of Kathmandu. Here two models have been developed one linear single-variable regression model and the other multivariable regression model. For the multivariable regression model, meteorological factors like Wind speed, Temperature, and Relative Humidity were adopted from the underground and the Planetary boundary layer height was simulated from WRF. Particulate matter (PM2.5) was adopted from the US Embassy air quality station and MODIS Level 2 AOD having 10 km resolution was analyzed for regression modeling. The linear single variable and linear multivariable regression model were developed seasonally one from December 1st to December 31st, 2019 (winter season) and the other from March 1st to March 31st, 2020 (Pre-monsoon season) using Python. The seasonal correlation coefficient of these two models was obtained. In both seasons, the multivariable linear regression model showed a good correlation between AOD and Particulate Matter R2 (Pre-monsoon) = 0.72657, R2 (winter) = 0.4687) compared to the single variable regression model having R2 (Pre-monsoon) = 0.45, R2 (winter) = 0.133). In both these regression models using the evaluated regression coefficients, two seasonal equations were derived from which Particulate Matter can be estimated.

The purpose of the research. The ecology of human habitation implies the absence of any pollution of the natural environment and special requirements are imposed on the quality of air and water. In this regard, the purpose of the research is to determine the sources of pollution of drinking water, the area of its distribution and the depth of contamination of the fracture space of rocks, as well as to give recommendations on how to more quickly eliminate pollution of the water basin. Methodology. In the course of the research, geophysical studies were carried out using the method of vertical electrical sounding of the coast of the Verkh-Neyvinsky pond, on the territory of which there is a gas station of BNP (Bashkirnefteprodukt). The area of contamination with oil products was outlined, and the depth of penetration of oil products was assessed. The work was performed using the ERA-MAX equipment with a standard set of active electrodes. Sections of electrical resistivity were constructed, which can be associated with the boundaries of the area and deep penetration of oil products along the fracture zones. Results. The results of the 2021 work confirmed the area of contamination previously made by the Gidrospetsgeologiya organization based on water analyzes from surface samples performed in 2017, and made it possible to assess the depth and presence of surface and underground pollution. Conclusions. Comparison of the area of pollution by oil products, in particular gasoline, is a complex environmental problem and requires a long time to eliminate pollution. Most of the existing literature describes cases of oil pollution. The problem of gasoline pollution elimination is more complicated due to significantly different coefficients of kinematic viscosity of oils and gasolines; therefore, the gasoline pollution area has a significantly larger size and depth. Recommendations are given for a more rational way to eliminate pollution.

What creative techniques of resistance are available to a female filmmaker when she is the victim of a violent event and filmed at her most vulnerable? This article uses an autoethnographic lens to discuss my experience of a serious car crash my family and I were inadvertently involved in due to police negligence and a criminal act. Employing Creative Analytical Practice (CAP) ethnography, a reflexive form of research which recognises that the creative process, producer and product are “deeply intertwined” (Richardson, “Writing: A Method” 930), I investigate how the crash’s violent affects crippled my agency, manifested in my creative praxis and catalysed my identification of latent forms of institutionalised violence in film culture, its discourse and pedagogy that also contributed to my inertia. The article maps my process of writing a feature length screenplay during the aftermath of the crash as I set out to articulate my story of survival and resistance. Using this narrative inquiry, in which we can “investigate how we construct the world, ourselves, and others, and how standard objectifying practices...unnecessarily limit us” (Richardson, “Writing: A Method” 924), I outline how I attempted to disrupt the entrenched power structures that exist in dominant narratives of violence in film and challenge my subjugated positioning as a woman within this canon. I describe my engagement with the deconstructionist practices of writing the body and militant feminist cinema, which suggest subversive opportunities for women’s self-determination by encouraging us to embrace our exiled positioning in dominant discourse through creative experimentation, and identify some of the possibilities and limitations of this for female agency. Drawing on CAP ethnography, existentialism, film feminism, and narrative reframing, I assert that these reconstructive practices are more effective for the creative enfranchisement of women by not relegating us to the periphery of social systems and cultural forms. Instead, they enable us to speak back to violent structures in a language that has greater social access, context and impact.My strong desire to tell screen stories lies in my belief that storytelling is a crucial evolutionary mechanism of resilience. Narratives do not simply represent the social world but also have the ability to change it by enabling us to “try to figure out how to live our lives meaningfully” (Ellis 760). This conviction has been directly influenced by my personal story of trauma and survival when myself, my siblings, and our respective life partners became involved in a major car crash. Two police officers attending to a drunken brawl in an inner city park had, in their haste, left the keys in the ignition of their vehicle. We were travelling across a major intersection when the police car, which had subsequently been stolen by a man involved in the brawl – a man who was wanted on parole, had a blood alcohol level three times over the legal limit, and was driving at speeds exceeding 110kms per hour - ran a red light and crossed our path, causing us to crash into his vehicle. From the impact, the small four-wheel drive we were travelling in was catapulted metres into the air, rolling numerous times before smashing head on into oncoming traffic. My heavily pregnant sister was driving our vehicle.The incident attracted national media attention and our story became a sensationalist spectacle. Each news station reported erroneous and conflicting information, one stating that my sister had lost her unborn daughter, another even going so far as to claim my sister had died in the crash. This tabloidised, ‘if it bleeds, it leads’, culture of journalism, along with new digital technologies, encourages and facilitates the normalisation of violent acts, often inflicted on women. Moreover, in their pursuit of high-rating stories, news bodies motivate dehumanising acts of citizen journalism that see witnesses often inspired to film, rather than assist, victims involved in a violent event. Through a connection with someone working for a major news station, we discovered that leading news broadcasters had bought a tape shot by a group of men who call themselves the ‘Paparazzi of Perth’. These men were some of the first on the scene and began filming us from only a few metres away while we were still trapped upside down and unconscious in our vehicle. In the recording, the men are heard laughing and celebrating our tragedy as they realise the lucrative possibilities of the shocking imagery they are capturing as witnesses pull us out of the back of the car, and my pregnant sister incredibly frees herself from the wreckage by kicking out the window.As a female filmmaker, I saw the bitter irony of this event as the camera was now turned on me and my loved ones at our most vulnerable. In her discussion of the male gaze, a culturally sanctioned form of narrational violence against women that is ubiquitous in most mainstream media, Mulvey proposes that women are generally the passive image, trapped by the physical limits of the frame in a permanent state of powerlessness as our identity is reduced to her “to-be-looked-at-ness” (40). For a long period of time, the experience of performing the role of this commodified woman of a weaponised male gaze, along with the threat of annihilation associated with our near-death experience, immobilised my spirit. I felt I belonged “more to the dead than to the living” (Herman 34). When I eventually returned to my creative praxis, I decided to use scriptwriting as both my “mode of reasoning and a mode of representation” (Richardson, Writing Strategies 21), test whether I could work through my feelings of alienation and violation and reclaim my agency. This was a complex and harrowing task because my memories “lack[ed] verbal narrative and context” (Herman 38) and were deeply rooted in my body. Cixous confirms that for women, “writing and voice...are woven together” and “spring from the deepest layers of her psyche” (Moi 112). For many months, I struggled to write. I attempted to block out this violent ordeal and censor my self. I soon learnt, however, that my body could not be silenced and was slow to forget. As I tried to write around this experience, the trauma worked itself deeper inside of me, and my physical symptoms worsened, as did the quality of my writing.In the early version of the screenplay I found myself writing a female-centred film about violence, identity and death, using the fictional narrative to express the numbness I experienced. I wrote the female protagonist with detachment as though she were an object devoid of agency. Sartre claims that we make objects of others and of ourselves in an attempt to control the uncertainty of life and the ever-changing nature of humanity (242). Making something into an object is to deprive it of life (and death); it is our attempt to keep ourselves ‘safe’. While I recognise that the car crash’s reminder of my mortality was no doubt part of the reason why I rendered myself, and the script’s female protagonist, lifeless as agentic beings, I sensed that there were subtler operations of power and control behind my self-objectification and self-censorship, which deeply concerned me. What had influenced this dea(r)th of female agency in my creative imaginings? Why did I write my female character with such a red pen? Why did I seem so compelled to ‘kill’ her? I wanted to investigate my gender construction, the complex relationship between my scriptwriting praxis, and the context within which it is produced to discover whether I could write a different future for myself, and my female characters. Kiesinger supports “contextualizing our stories within the framework of a larger picture” (108), so as to remain open to the possibility that there might not be anything ‘wrong’ with us, per se, “but rather something very wrong with the dynamics that dominate the communicative system” (109) within which we operate: in the case of my creative praxis, the oppressive structures present in the culture of film and its pedagogy.Pulling FocusWomen are supposed to be the view and when the view talks back, it is uncomfortable.— Jane Campion (Filming Desire)It is a terrible thing to see that no one has ever taught us how to develop our vision as women neither in the history of arts nor in film schools.— Marie Mandy (Filming Desire)The democratisation of today’s media landscape through new technologies, the recent rise in female-run production companies (Zemler) in Hollywood, along with the ground-breaking #MeToo and Time’s Up movements has elevated the global consciousness of gender-based violence, and has seen the screen industry seek to redress its history of gender imbalance. While it is too early to assess the impact these developments may have on women’s standing in film, today the ‘celluloid ceiling’ still operates on multiple levels of indoctrination and control through a systemic pattern of exclusion for women that upholds the “nearly seamless dialogue among men in cinema” (Lauzen, Thumbs Down 2). Female filmmakers occupy a tenuous position of influence in the mainstream industry and things are not any better on the other side of the camera (Lauzen, The Celluloid Ceiling). For the most part, Hollywood’s male gaze and penchant for sexualising and (physically or figuratively) killing female characters, which normalises violence against women and is “almost inversely proportional to the liberation of women in society” (Mandy), continues to limit women to performing as the image rather than the agent on screen.Film funding bodies and censorship boards, mostly comprised of men, remain exceptionally averse to independent female filmmakers who go against the odds to tell their stories, which often violate taboos about femininity and radically redefine female agency through the construction of the female gaze: a narrational technique of resistance that enables reel woman to govern the point of view, imagery and action of the film (Smelik 51-52). This generally sees their films unjustly ghettoised through incongruent classification or censorship, and forced into independent or underground distribution (Sexton-Finck 165-182). Not only does censorship propose the idea that female agency is abject and dangerous and needs to be restrained, it prevents access to this important cinema by women that aims to counter the male gaze and “shield us from this type of violence” (Gillain 210). This form of ideological and institutional gatekeeping is not only enforced in the film industry, it is also insidiously (re)constituted in the epistemological construction of film discourse and pedagogy, which in their design, are still largely intrinsically gendered institutions, encoded with phallocentric signification that rejects a woman’s specificity and approach to knowledge. Drawing on my mutually informative roles as a former film student and experienced screen educator, I assert that most screen curricula in Australia still uphold entrenched androcentric norms that assume the male gaze and advocate popular cinema’s didactic three-act structure, which conditions our value systems to favour masculinity and men’s worldview. This restorative storytelling approach is argued to be fatally limiting to reel women (Smith 136; Dancyger and Rush 25) as it propagates the Enlightenment notion of a universal subjectivity, based on free will and reason, which neutralises the power structures of society (and film) and repudiates the influence of social positioning on our opportunity for agency. Moreover, through its omniscient consciousness, which seeks to efface the presence of a specific narrator, the three-act method disavows this policing of female agency and absolves any specific individual of responsibility for its structural violence (Dyer 98).By pulling focus on some of these problematic mechanisms in the hostile climate of the film industry and its spaces of learning for women, I became acutely aware of the more latent forms of violence that had conditioned my scriptwriting praxis, the ambivalence I felt towards my female identity, and my consequent gagging of the female character in the screenplay.Changing Lenses How do the specific circumstances in which we write affect what we write? How does what we write affect who we become?— Laurel Richardson (Fields of Play 1)In the beginning, there is an end. Don’t be afraid: it’s your death that is dying. Then: all the beginnings.— Helene Cixous (Cixous and Jensen 41)The discoveries I made during my process of CAP ethnography saw a strong feeling of dissidence arrive inside me. I vehemently wanted to write my way out of my subjugated state and release some of the anguish that my traumatised body was carrying around. I was drawn to militant feminist cinema and the French poststructuralist approach of ‘writing the body’ (l’ecriture feminine) given these deconstructive practices “create images and ideas that have the power to inspire to revolt against oppression and exploitation” (Moi 120). Feminist cinema’s visual treatise of writing the body through its departure from androcentric codes - its unformulaic approach to structure, plot, character and narration (De Lauretis 106) - revealed to me ways in which I could use the scriptwriting process to validate my debilitating experience of physical and psychic violence, decensor my self and move towards rejoining the living. Cixous affirms that, “by writing her self, woman will return to the body which has been more than confiscated from her, which has been turned into…the ailing or dead figure” (Cixous, The Laugh of the Medusa 880). It became clear to me that the persistent themes of death that manifested in the first draft of the script were not, as I first suspected, me ‘rehearsing to die’, or wanting to kill off the woman inside me. I was in fact “not driven towards death but by death” (Homer 89), the close proximity to my mortality, acting as a limit, was calling for a strengthening of my life force, a rebirth of my agency (Bettelheim 36). Mansfield acknowledges that death “offers us a freedom outside of the repression and logic that dominate our daily practices of keeping ourselves in order, within the lines” (87).I challenged myself to write the uncomfortable, the unfamiliar, the unexplored and to allow myself to go to places in me that I had never before let speak by investigating my agency from a much more layered and critical perspective. This was both incredibly terrifying and liberating and enabled me to discard the agentic ‘corset’ I had previously worn in my creative praxis. Dancyger and Rush confirm that “one of the things that happens when we break out of the restorative three-act form is that the effaced narrator becomes increasingly visible and overt” (38). I experienced an invigorating feeling of empowerment through my appropriation of the female gaze in the screenplay which initially appeased some of the post-crash turmoil and general sense of injustice I was experiencing. However, I soon, found something toxic rising inside of me. Like the acrimonious feminist cinema I was immersed in – Raw (Ducournau), A Girl Walks Home at Night (Amirpour), Romance (Breillat), Trouble Every Day (Denis), Baise-Moi (Despentes and Thi), In My Skin (Van), Anatomy of Hell (Breillat) – the screenplay I had produced involved a female character turning the tables on men and using acts of revenge to satisfy her needs. Not only was I creating a highly dystopian world filled with explicit themes of suffering in the screenplay, I too existed in a displaced state of rage and ‘psychic nausea’ in my daily life (Baldick and Sartre). I became haunted by vivid flashbacks of the car crash as abject images, sounds and sensations played over and over in my mind and body like a horror movie on loop. I struggled to find the necessary clarity and counterbalance of stability required to successfully handle this type of experimentation.I do not wish to undermine the creative potential of deconstructive practices, such as writing the body and militant cinema, for female filmmakers. However, I believe my post-trauma sensitivity to visceral entrapment and spiritual violence magnifies some of the psychological and physiological risks involved. Deconstructive experimentation “happens much more easily in the realm of “texts” than in the world of human interaction” (hooks 22) and presents agentic limitations for women since it offers a “utopian vision of female creativity” (Moi 119) that is “devoid of reality...except in a poetic sense” (Moi 122). In jettisoning the restorative qualities of narrative film, new boundaries for women are inadvertently created through restricting us to “intellectual pleasure but rarely emotional pleasure” (Citron 51). Moreover, by reducing women’s agency to retaliation we are denied the opportunity for catharsis and transformation; something I desperately longed to experience in my injured state. Kaplan acknowledges this problem, arguing that female filmmakers need to move theoretically beyond deconstruction to reconstruction, “to manipulate the recognized, dominating discourses so as to begin to free ourselves through rather than beyond them (for what is there ‘beyond’?)” (Women and Film 141).A potent desire to regain a sense of connectedness and control pushed itself out from deep inside me. I yearned for a tonic to move myself and my female character to an active position, rather than a reactive one that merely repeats the victimising dynamic of mainstream film by appropriating a reversed (female) gaze and now makes women the violent victors (Kaplan, Feminism and Film 130). We have arrived at a point where we must destabilise the dominance-submission structure and “think about ways of transcending a polarity that has only brought us all pain” (Kaplan, Feminism and Film 135). I became determined to write a screen narrative that, while dealing with some of the harsh realities of humanity I had become exposed to, involved an existentialist movement towards catharsis and activity.ReframingWhen our stories break down or no longer serve us well, it is imperative that we examine the quality of the stories we are telling and actively reinvent our accounts in ways that permit us to live more fulfilling lives.— Christine Kiesinger (107)I’m frightened by life’s randomness, so I want to deal with it, make some sense of it by telling a film story. But it’s not without hope. I don’t believe in telling stories without some hope.— Susanne Bier (Thomas)Narrative reframing is underlined by the existentialist belief that our spiritual freedom is an artistic process of self-creation, dependent on our free will to organise the elements of our lives, many determined out of our control, into the subjective frame that is to be our experience of our selves and the world around us (107). As a filmmaker, I recognise the power of selective editing and composition. Narrative reframing’s demand for a rational assessment of “the degree to which we live our stories versus the degree to which our stories live us” (Kiesinger 109), helped me to understand how I could use these filmmaking skills to take a step back from my trauma so as to look at it objectively “as a text for study” (Ellis 108) and to exercise power over the creative-destructive forces it, and the deconstructive writing methods I had employed, produced. Richardson confirms the benefits of this practice, since narrative “is the universal way in which humans accommodate to finitude” (Writing Strategies 65).In the script’s development, I found my resilience lay in my capacity to imagine more positive alternatives for female agency. I focussed on writing a narrative that did not avoid life’s hardships and injustices, or require them to be “attenuated, veiled, sweetened, blunted, and falsified” (Nietzsche and Hollingdale 68), yet still involved a life-affirming sentiment. With this in mind, I reintroduced the three-act structure in the revised script as its affectivity and therapeutic denouement enabled me to experience a sense of agentic catharsis that turned “nauseous thoughts into imaginations with which it is possible to live” (Nietzsche 52). Nevertheless, I remained vigilant not to lapse into didacticism; to allow my female character to be free to transgress social conventions surrounding women’s agency. Indebted to Kaplan’s writing on the cinematic gaze, I chose to take up what she identifies as a ‘mutual gaze’; an ethical framework that enabled me to privilege the female character’s perspective and autonomy with a neutral subject-subject gaze rather than the “subject-object kind that reduces one of the parties to the place of submission” (Feminism and Film 135). I incorporated the filmic technique of the point of view (POV) shot for key narrative moments as it allows an audience to literally view the world through a character’s eyes, as well as direct address, which involves the character looking back down the lens at the viewer (us); establishing the highest level of identification between the spectator and the subject on screen.The most pertinent illustration of these significant scriptwriting changes through my engagement with narrative reframing and feminist film theory, is in the reworking of my family’s car crash which became a pivotal turning point in the final draft. In the scene, I use POV and direct address to turn the weaponised gaze back around onto the ‘paparazzi’ who are filming the spectacle. When the central (pregnant) character frees herself from the wreckage, she notices these men filming her and we see the moment from her point of view as she looks at these men laughing and revelling in the commercial potential of their mediatised act. Switching between POV and direct address, the men soon notice they have been exposed as the woman looks back down the lens at them (us) with disbelief, reproaching them (us) for daring to film her in this traumatic moment. She holds her determined gaze while they glance awkwardly back at her, until their laughter dissipates, they stop recording and appear to recognise the culpability of their actions. With these techniques of mutual gazing, I set out to humanise and empower the female victim and neutralise the power dynamic: the woman is now also a viewing agent, and the men equally perform the role of the viewed. In this creative reframing, I hope to provide an antidote to filmic violence against and/or by women as this female character reclaims her (my) experience of survival without adhering to the culture of female passivity or ressentiment.This article has examined how a serious car crash, being filmed against my will in its aftermath and the attendant damages that prevailed from this experience, catalysed a critical change of direction in my scriptwriting. The victimising event helped me recognise the manifest and latent forms of violence against women that are normalised through everyday ideological and institutional systems in film and prevent us from performing as active agents in our creative praxis. There is a critical need for more inclusive modes of practice – across the film industry, discourse and pedagogy – that are cognisant and respectful of women’s specificity and our difference to the androcentric landscape of mainstream film. We need to continue to exert pressure on changing violent mechanisms that marginalise us and ghettoise our stories. As this article has demonstrated, working outside dominant forms can enable important emancipatory opportunities for women, however, this type or deconstruction also presents risks that generally leave us powerless in everyday spaces. While I advocate that female filmmakers should look to techniques of feminist cinema for an alternative lens, we must also work within popular film to critique and subvert it, and not deny women the pleasures and political advantages of its restorative structure. By enabling female filmmakers to (re)humanise woman though encouraging empathy and compassion, this affective storytelling form has the potential to counter violence against women and mobilise female agency. Equally, CAP ethnography and narrative reframing are critical discourses for the retrieval and actualisation of female filmmakers’ agency as they allow us to contextualise our stories of resistance and survival within the framework of a larger picture of violence to gain perspective on our subjective experiences and render them as significant, informative and useful to the lives of others. This enables us to move from the isolated margins of subcultural film and discourse to reclaim our stories at the centre.ReferencesA Girl Walks Home at Night. Dir. Ana Lily Amirpour. Say Ahh Productions, 2014.Anatomy of Hell. Dir. Catherine Breillat. Tartan Films, 2004. Baise-Moi. Dirs. Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi. FilmFixx, 2000.Baldick, Robert, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Nausea. 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