Household Air Pollution and Respiratory Symptoms a Month Before and During the Stringent COVID-19 Lockdown Levels 5 and 4 in South Africa.

Background: Household air pollution (HAP) is associated with adverse human health impacts. During COVID-19 Lockdown Levels 5 and 4 (the most stringent levels), South Africans remained at home, potentially increasing their exposure to HAP.

Objectives: To investigate changes in fuel use behaviours/patterns of use affecting HAP exposure and associated HAP-related respiratory health outcomes during COVID-19 Lockdown Levels 5 and 4.

Using demand mapping to assess the benefits of urban green and blue space in cities from four continents.

The benefits of urban green and blue infrastructure (UGI) are widely discussed, but rarely take into account local conditions or contexts. Although assessments increasingly consider the demand for the ecosystem services that UGI provides, they tend to only map the spatial pattern of pressures such as heat, or air pollution, and lack a wider understanding of where the beneficiaries are located and who will benefit most. We assess UGI in five cities from four continents with contrasting climate, socio-political context, and size.

Determination of overlap in lidar systems.

The overlap profile, also known as crossover function or geometric form factor, is often a source of uncertainty for lidar measurements. This paper describes a method for measuring the overlap by presenting the lidar with a virtual cloud through the use of an imaging system. Results show good agreement with horizontal hard target lidar measurements and with geometric overlap calculated for the ideal aberration-free case.