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Sewer networks play a pivotal role in our everyday lives by transporting the stormwater and urban sewage away from the urban areas. In this regard, Sewer Overflow (SO) has been considered as a detrimental threat to our environment and health, which results from the wastewater discharge into the environment. In order to grapple with such deleterious phenomenon, numerous studies have been conducted; however, there has not been any review paper that provides the researchers undertaking research in this area with the following inclusive picture: (1) detailed-scientometric analysis of the research undertaken hitherto, (2) the types of methodologies used in the previous studies, (3) the aspects of environment impacted by the SO occurrence, and (4) the gaps existing in the relative literature together with the potential future works to be undertaken. Based on the comprehensive review undertaken, it is observed that simulation and artificial intelligence-based methods have been the most popular approaches. In addition, it has come to the attention that the detrimental impacts associated with the SO are fourfold as follows: air, quality of water, soil, and business and structure. Among these, the majority of the studies' focus have been tilted towards the impact of SO on the quality of ground water. The outcomes of this state-of-the-art review provides the researchers and environmental engineers with inclusive hindsight in dealing with such serious issue, which in turn, this culminates in a significant improvement in our environment as well as humans' well-beings., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This study investigated the impact of climate change on flood susceptibility in six South Asian countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bharat (India), Nepal, and Pakistan-under two distinct Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) scenarios: SSP1-2.6 and SSP5-5.8, for 2041-2060 and 2081-2100. To predict flood susceptibility, we employed three artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms: the K-nearest neighbor (KNN), conditional inference random forest (CIRF), and regularized random forest (RRF). Predictions were based on data from 2452 historical flood events, alongside climatic variables measured over monthly, seasonal, and annual timeframes. The innovative aspect of this research is the emphasis on using climatic variables across these progressively condensed timeframes, specifically addressing eight precipitation factors. The performance evaluation, employing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) metric, identified the RRF model as the most accurate, with the highest AUC of 0.94 during the testing phase, followed by the CIRF (AUC = 0.91) and the KNN (AUC = 0.86). An analysis of variable importance highlighted the substantial role of certain climatic factors, namely precipitation in the warmest quarter, annual precipitation, and precipitation during the wettest month, in the modeling of flood susceptibility in South Asia. The resultant flood susceptibility maps demonstrated the influence of climate change scenarios on susceptibility classifications, signalling a dynamic landscape of flood-prone areas over time. The findings revealed variable trends under different climate change scenarios and periods, with marked differences in the percentage of areas classified as having high and very high flood susceptibility. Overall, this study advances our understanding of how climate change affects flood susceptibility in South Asia and offers an essential tool for assessing and managing flood risks in the region., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pyrolysis, a thermochemical conversion approach of transforming plastic waste to energy has tremendous potential to manage the exponentially increasing plastic waste. However, understanding the process kinetics is fundamental to engineering a sustainable process. Conventional analysis techniques do not provide insights into the influence of characteristics of feedstock on the process kinetics. Present study exemplifies the efficacy of using machine learning for predictive modeling of pyrolysis of waste plastics to understand the complexities of the interrelations of predictor variables and their influence on activation energy. The activation energy for pyrolysis of waste plastics was evaluated using machine learning models namely Random Forest, XGBoost, CatBoost, and AdaBoost regression models. Feature selection based on the multicollinearity of data and hyperparameter tuning of the models utilizing RandomizedSearchCV was conducted. Random forest model outperformed the other models with coefficient of determination (R 2 ) value of 0.941, root mean square error (RMSE) value of 14.69 and mean absolute error (MAE) value of 8.66 for the testing dataset. The explainable artificial intelligence-based feature importance plot and the summary plot of the shapely additive explanations projected fixed carbon content, ash content, conversion value, and carbon content as significant parameters of the model in the order; fixed carbon > carbon > ash content > degree of conversion. Present study highlighted the potential of machine learning as a powerful tool to understand the influence of the characteristics of plastic waste and the degree of conversion on the activation energy of a process that is essential for designing the large-scale operations and future scale-up of the process., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) is a major air pollutant primarily emitted from traffic and industrial activities, posing health risks. However, current air pollution models often underestimate exposure risks by neglecting the bimodal pattern of NO 2 levels throughout the day. This study aimed to address this gap by developing ensemble mixed spatial models (EMSM) using geo-artificial intelligence (Geo-AI) to examine the spatial and temporal variations of NO 2 concentrations at a high resolution of 50m. These EMSMs integrated spatial modelling methods, including kriging, land use regression, machine learning, and ensemble learning. The models utilized 26 years of observed NO 2 measurements, meteorological parameters, geospatial layers, and social and season-dependent variables as representative of emission sources. Separate models were developed for daytime and nighttime periods, which achieved high reliability with adjusted R 2 values of 0.92 and 0.93, respectively. The study revealed that mean NO 2 concentrations were significantly higher at nighttime (9.60 ppb) compared to daytime (5.61 ppb). Additionally, winter exhibited the highest NO 2 levels regardless of time period. The developed EMSMs were utilized to generate maps illustrating NO 2 levels pre and during COVID restrictions in Taiwan. These findings could aid epidemiological research on exposure risks and support policy-making and environmental planning initiatives., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 21st century is driving profound societal changes and playing a crucial role in optimizing energy systems to achieve carbon neutrality. Most G20 nations have developed national AI strategies and are advancing AI applications in energy, manufacturing, and agriculture sectors to meet this goal. However, disparities exist among these nations, creating an "AI divide" that needs to be addressed for regulatory consistency and fair distribution of AI benefits. Here, we look at the linear effects of AI and the Paris Agreement (AI), as well as their potential interaction on carbon neutrality. We also investigate whether geopolitical risk (GPR) can hinder or enhance efforts to attain carbon neutrality through energy transition (ET). To measure carbon neutrality of G20 countries, we employed a robust parametric Malmquist index combined with the fixed-effect panel stochastic frontier model to account for heterogeneity. Results indicate that from 1990 to 2022, carbon neutrality has improved primarily due to technological advancements. Developed G20 countries led in technological progress, while developing countries showed modest gains in carbon efficiency. Using the Driscoll-Kraay robust standard error method, we found that AI has a positive but insignificant linear effect on carbon neutrality. However, the interaction between PA and AI was positive and statistically significant, suggesting that PA augments AI's potential in accelerating carbon neutrality. Energy transition accelerates carbon neutrality in both developed and developing G20 countries. However, the role of energy transition in achieving carbon neutrality becomes negative when the interaction term between energy transition and geopolitical risk (ET × GRP) is incorporated. Regarding control variables, green innovation positively impacts carbon neutrality, whereas financial development has an insignificant effect. Industrial structure and foreign direct investment both negatively affect carbon neutrality, thereby supporting the pollution haven hypothesis. It is recommended that strategies to bridge the "AI divide" and uphold geopolitical stability are crucial to achieve carbon neutrality., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study explores the intricate connections among financial technology (FinTech), artificial intelligence (AI), and eco-friendly markets in the US, shedding light on their dynamic interplay and implications for sustainable investment and policy strategies. Specifically, our research delves into the transformative roles of FinTech and AI in broadening financial access, fostering green financing initiatives, and aligning financial practices with environmentally conscious objectives. We also investigate market reactions among the AI, FinTech, non-greenwashing, and eco-friendly markets during exogenous shocks, offering valuable insights into these markets' interconnectedness. An innovative connectedness approach, the R 2 decomposed measures, is employed to capture the contemporaneous and lagged spillover effects using daily data from December 19, 2017, to November 1, 2023. We also focus on constructing a minimum connectedness portfolio using the time-varying parameter vector autoregressive approach. The findings reveal significant volatility connectivity within these intergroups, emphasizing the need for sustainable tech finance policies and real-time monitoring systems to address market fluctuations. Overall, this study contributes to an underexplored area by providing empirical evidence and valuable implications for scholars and policymakers, and can help in guiding sustainable investment and policy strategies aligned with zero-emissions agendas., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Continuous effluent quality prediction in wastewater treatment processes is crucial to proactively reduce the risks to the environment and human health. However, wastewater treatment is an extremely complex process controlled by several uncertain, interdependent, and sometimes poorly characterized physico-chemical-biological process parameters. In addition, there are substantial spatiotemporal variations, uncertainties, and high non-linear interactions among the water quality parameters and process variables involved in the treatment process. Such complexities hinder efficient monitoring, operation, and management of wastewater treatment plants under normal and abnormal conditions. Typical mathematical and statistical tools most often fail to capture such complex interrelationships, and therefore data-driven techniques offer an attractive solution to effectively quantify the performance of wastewater treatment plants. Although several previous studies focused on applying regression-based data-driven models (e.g., artificial neural network) to predict some wastewater treatment effluent parameters, most of these studies employed a limited number of input variables to predict only one or two parameters characterizing the effluent quality (e.g., chemical oxygen demand (COD) and/or suspended solids (SS)). Harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the current study proposes multi-gene genetic programming (MGGP)-based models, using a dataset obtained from an operational wastewater treatment plant, deploying membrane aerated biofilm reactor, to predict the filtrated COD, ammonia (NH 4 ), and SS concentrations along with the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) within the effluent. Input features included a set of process variables characterizing the influent quality (e.g., filtered COD, NH 4 , and SS concentrations), water physics and chemistry parameters (e.g., temperature and pH), and operation conditions (e.g., applied air pressure). The developed MGGP-based models accurately reproduced the observations of the four output variables with correlation coefficient values that ranged between 0.98 and 0.99 during training and between 0.96 and 0.99 during testing, reflecting the power of the developed models in predicting the quality of the effluent from the treatment system. Interpretability analyses were subsequently deployed to confirm the intuitive understanding of input-output interrelations and to identify the governing parameters of the treatment process. The developed MGGP-based models can facilitate the AI-driven monitoring and management of wastewater treatment plants through devising optimal rapid operation and control schemes and assisting the plants' operators in maintaining proper performance of the plants under various normal and disruptive operational conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Corporate energy transition is crucial for long-term sustainable development. The widely discussed Artificial Intelligence (AI), as a disruptive technological innovation, is highly potential for enhancing environment performance. However, the specific impact of AI on the process of corporate energy transition and its underlying mechanisms have not been fully explored. This study focuses on A-share listed corporates in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in China spanning from 2011 to 2021. Based on corporate annual report information and information from over 200,000 patent application texts, we innovatively construct indicators for corporate energy transition and AI technology application. Furthermore, we empirically investigate the impact of AI technology on corporate energy transition and its potential mechanisms through combining information asymmetry theory and institutional theory. The empirical results indicate that: 1) AI can drive corporate energy transition and the promoting effect of AI collaborative innovation on corporate energy transition should not be ignored. 2) AI can help corporates achieve energy transition through pathways such as mitigating information asymmetry, reducing financing constraints, adjusting sustainable development concepts and practices. 3) The driving effect of AI on corporate energy transition varies depending on the characteristics of different types of corporates, industries, and regions. This study provides strategic guidance and decision support for business managers and policymakers, assisting both corporates and governments in better utilizing AI technology during the social energy transition process to achieve a dual optimization of environmental and economic goals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The study investigated the spatiotemporal relationship between surface hydrological variables and groundwater quality/quantity using geostatistical and AI tools. AI models were developed to estimate groundwater quality from ground-based measurements and remote sensing images, reducing reliance on laboratory testing. Different Kriging techniques were employed to map ground-based measurements and fill data gaps. The methodology was applied to analyze the Maragheh aquifer in northwest Iran, revealing declining groundwater quality due to industrial. discharges and over-extraction. Spatiotemporal analysis indicated a relationship between groundwater depth/quality, precipitation, and temperature. The Root Mean Square Scaled Error (RMSSE) values for all variables ranged from 0.8508 to 1.1688, indicating acceptable performance of the semivariogram models in predicting the variables. Three AI models, namely Feed-Forward Neural Networks (FFNNs), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and Adaptive Neural Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), predicted groundwater quality for wet (June) and dry (October) months using input variables such as groundwater depth, temperature, precipitation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and Digital Elevation Model (DEM), with Groundwater Quality Index (GWQI) as the target variable. Ensemble methods were employed to combine the outputs of these models, enhancing performance. Results showed strong predictive capabilities, with coefficient of determination values of 0.88 and 0.84 for wet and dry seasons. Ensemble models improved performance by up to 6% and 12% for wet and dry seasons, respectively, potentially advancing groundwater quality modeling in the future., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Biochar is a carbon-neutral tool for combating climate change. Artificial intelligence applications to estimate the biochar mitigation effect on greenhouse gases (GHGs) can assist scientists in making more informed solutions. However, there is also evidence indicating that biochar promotes, rather than reduces, N 2 O emissions. Thus, the effect of biochar on N 2 O remains uncertain in constructed wetlands (CWs), and there is not a characterization metric for this effect, which increases the difficulty and inaccuracy of biochar-driven alleviation effect projections. Here, we provide new insight by utilizing machine learning-based, tree-structured Parzen Estimator (TPE) optimization assisted by a meta-analysis to estimate the potency of biochar-driven N 2 O mitigation. We first synthesized datasets that contained 80 studies on global biochar-amended CWs. The mitigation effect size was then calculated and further introduced as a new metric. TPE optimization was then applied to automatically tune the hyperparameters of the built extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) and random forest (RF), and the optimum TPE-XGBoost obtained adequately achieved a satisfactory prediction accuracy for N 2 O flux (R 2  = 91.90%, RPD = 3.57) and the effect size (R 2  = 92.61%, RPD = 3.59). Results indicated that a high influent chemical oxygen demand/total nitrogen (COD/TN) ratio and the COD removal efficiency interpreted by the Shapley value significantly enhanced the effect size contribution. COD/TN ratio made the most and the second greatest positive contributions among 22 input variables to N 2 O flux and to the effect size that were up to 18% and 14%, respectively. By combining with a structural equation model analysis, NH 4 + -N removal rate had significant negative direct effects on the N 2 O flux. This study implied that the application of granulated biochar derived from C-rich feedstocks would maximize the net climate benefit of N 2 O mitigation driven by biochar for future biochar-based CWs., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been proved to be an important engine of green economic development, yet how it will affect the internal structure of green economy is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the impact and its mechanism of AI on green total factor productivity (GTFP) from the internal-structure perspective, by using provincial panel data of China from 2009 to 2021 and global Malmquist index. The main research results show that: (1) the development of AI contributes to China's GTFP growth. And this effect is more significant in undeveloped areas; (2) AI promotes China's GTFP growth mainly by improving resource allocation efficiency, while it exerts little impact through the paths of technological progress and scale efficiency; (3) the transmission mechanism of AI on GTFP varies greatly among China's three main regions. In the eastern region, AI improves GTFP mainly by both advancing technological progress and improving resource allocation efficiency, while in central region AI contributes to GTFP growth mainly through technological progress. Compared with the eastern and central regions, AI in the western region plays a stronger impact on GTFP through the channel of improving scale efficiency. This study helps to understand the pathways of artificial intelligence affecting the transformation of green economic growth and formulate differentiated regional policies in light of local conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In the present study, optimization and prediction models for fungal bioleaching for effective metal extraction from waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) of mobile phones were developed employing central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM), and two artificial intelligence (AI) models, i.e., artificial neural network (ANN) and, support vector machine (SVM), respectively. Two continuous process parameters, such as pH (4-9) and pulp density (1-10 g/L), and the bioleaching approaches, viz., one-step and two-step, were experimentally optimized for the extraction of targeted metals, i.e., Cu, Ni, and Zn from WPCBs by mixed cultures of Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus tubingensis. Datasets were then used for predictive modelling using AI tools. Results showed that the highest simultaneous bioleaching of Cu, Ni, and Zn, with an extraction efficacy of about 86%, 51%, and 100%, respectively, achieved at an optimal condition of pH 5.7 and pulp density of 3 g/L following the two-step bioleaching approach. Effective metal extraction in the two-step approach could be attributed to the abundant production of organic acids with a content of about 16.3 g/L, 8.4 g/L, and 0.5 g/L of citric acid, oxalic acid, and malic acid, respectively. Further, the predictive modelling revealed that the ANN model was found to predict the fungal bioleaching responses more accurately as compared to the SVM model with R 2 values exceeding 0.96 for all targeted metals. This research demonstrates the applicability of the optimization and prediction models for efficient metal extraction from WPCBs using mixed Aspergillus spp. following the two-step approach., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bioelectrochemical Systems (BESs) leverage microbial metabolic processes to either produce electricity by degrading organic matter or consume electricity to assist metabolism, and can be used for various applications such as energy production, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation. Given the intricate mechanisms of BESs, the application of artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods have been proposed to enhance the performance of BESs due to their capability to identify patterns and gain insights through data analysis. This review focuses on the analysis and comparison of AI algorithms commonly used in BESs, including artificial neural network (ANN), genetic programming (GP), fuzzy logic (FL), support vector regression (SVR), and adaptive neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). These algorithms have different features, such as ANN's simple network structure, GP's use in the training process, FL's human-like thought process, SVR's high prediction accuracy and robustness, and ANFIS's combination of ANN and FL features. The AI-based methods have been applied in BESs to predict microbial communities, products or substrates, and reactor performance, which can provide valuable information and improve system efficiency. Limitations of AI-based methods for predicting and optimizing BESs and recommendations for future development are also discussed. This review demonstrates the potential of AI-based methods in optimizing BESs and provides valuable information for the future development of this field., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Nowadays, there is an increasing use of digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) such as Machine Learning (ML) models that leverage data to optimize the performances of systems in almost all activity sectors, including ML models for optimizing solutions related to CO2 capture from the atmosphere or CO2 emissions reduction from human activities. However, on the other hand, the use of AI models is leading to an increasing energy consumption that also raises environmental issues (in terms of CO2 emissions) which are less studied in the literature. This then raises the new question of a more realistic estimate of the carbon footprint (CO2 emissions in particular) of AI models in general, and particularly AI models aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. Thus, in this paper, for an AI model in this latter context, we propose a method to quantify both his negative impacts (quantity of CO2 emissions emitted by the training and use of the model) and his positive impacts (quantity of CO2 emissions saved when the model is used). The method is evaluated with three state-of-the-art AI models: (i) an artificial neural network model for managing the energy demand of Brazilian households, (ii) an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for photovoltaic power forecast in Tunisia, (iii) and a Bayesian regression model for the electric vehicle routing problem in Sweden and Luxembourg. Results show that, if only the positive impacts are considered, the reduction of CO2 emitted due to the usage of the models is significant, but depends on each context (34%, 73%, and 9%, respectively). However, when both positive and negative impacts are considered, the negative impacts are sometimes higher than the positive impacts (the first and the third model) for a nominal use (1 user). Nevertheless, the balance becomes highly positive again, when these two projects are scaled up (realistic projections with many users). The second model cannot be scaled up, but the balance remains positive, even if the gains are much smaller. More generally, the CO2 emissions gain metrics provided by our method can be used as new metrics for comparing the efficiency of AI models (for reducing CO2 emissions) beyond predictive capacity-based traditional ML evaluation metrics. Based on the lessons learned from our study, we also provide seven global recommendations that can contribute to the reduction of the carbon footprint of ML models in general., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Paul Delanoe reports financial support was provided by Sami (Climate Plus)., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are pollutants of worldwide concern that seriously threaten public health and ecosystems. Machine learning (ML) prediction models have been applied to predict ARGs in beach waters. However, the existing studies were conducted at a single location and had low prediction performance. Moreover, ML models are "black boxes" that do not reveal their predictions' internal nuances and mechanisms. This lack of transparency and trust can result in serious consequences when using these models in high-stakes decisions. In this study, we developed a gradient boosted regression tree based (GBRT) ML model and then described its behavior using six explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) model-agnostic explanation methods. We used hydro-meteorological and qPCR data from the beaches in South Korea and Pakistan and developed ML prediction models for aac (6'-lb-cr), sul1, and tetX with 10-fold time-blocked cross-validation performances of 4.9, 2.06 and 4.4 root mean squared logarithmic error, respectively. We then analyzed the local and global behavior of the developed ML model using four interpretation methods. The developed ML models showed that water temperature, precipitation and tide are the most important predictors for prediction of ARGs at recreational beaches. We show that the model-agnostic interpretation methods not only explain the behavior of the ML model but also provide insights into the behavior of the ML model under new unseen conditions. Moreover, these post-processing techniques can be a debugging tool for ML-based modeling., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) is used to study inherent uncertainties using the Basic DRASTIC Framework (BDF) for assessing the groundwater vulnerability in a study area related to Lake Urmia. BMA is naturally an Inclusive Multiple Modelling (IMM) strategy at two levels; at Level 1 multiple models are constructed and the paper constructs three AI (Artificial Intelligence) models, which comprise ANN (Artificial Neural Network), GEP (Gene Expression Programming), and SVM (Support Vector Machines) but their outputs are fed to the next level model; at Level 2, BMA combines ANN, GEP and SVM (the Level 1 models) to quantify their inherent uncertainty in terms of within and in-between model errors. The model performance is tested by using the nitrate-N concentrations measured for the aquifer. The results show that in this particular study area, Level 1 models, even BDF, are quite accurate, but the above modelling strategy maximises the extracted information from the local data and BMA reveals that the higher uncertainties occur at areas with higher vulnerability; whereas lower uncertainties are observed at areas with lower vulnerabilities., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The European-wide environmental obstacles of inefficient and unsustainable recycling systems and flows constrain household waste (HW) management, endangering the circular economy. The European 2020 strategy and ongoing environmental disasters indicate the ineffectiveness of the current HW sustainability practices. This paper introduces an artificial intelligence (AI) approach for calculating urban residual waste, based on its generation level. It reforms the current diverse and high discrepancy levels of HW residual for EU-countries and Ukraine. Adopting a k-means clustering method with a multi-criteria taxonomic development level index (TIDL), it produces uniform clusters with higher accuracy and manageability. Findings discover and remedy opaque managerial practices, enabling sustainable and environment-friendly development at national and regional levels for EU-countries. Results reveal an increased number of clusters in crisis, contributing to a methodological reference for environmental planning. In conclusion, this AI approach could have a European-wide impact on sustainable economic value-chain, converging toward an eco-friendly economy., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

With the development of information communication and artificial intelligence, the ICV (intelligent connected vehicle) will inevitably play an important part in future urban transport system. In this paper, we study the car following behaviour under the heterogeneous ICV environment. The time to receive information varies from vehicle to vehicle, since the manual vehicles and autonomous vehicles co-exist on the road. By introducing time-varying lags function, a new car following model is proposed, and the cooperative control strategy of this model is studied. Based on Lyapunov function theory and linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach, the sufficient condition that the existence of the feedback controller is given, which makes the closed-loop system asymptotically stable under mixed traffic flow environment. That is to say, traffic congestion phenomenon under heterogeneous traffic flow can be effectively suppressed, and the feedback controller gain matrix can be obtained via solving linear matrix inequality. Finally, by simulation the method is verified effective in alleviating traffic congestions and reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. It could be a useful reference to Cooperative Vehicle Infrastructure System and Smart City., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this article., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

An investigation is presented to improve on the performances of the Basic DRASTIC Framework (BDF) and its variation by the Fuzzy-Catastrophe Framework (FCF), both of which provide an estimate of intrinsic aquifer vulnerabilities to anthropogenic contamination. BDF prescribes rates and weights for 7 data layers but FCF is an unsupervised learning framework based on a multicriteria decision theory by integrating fuzzy membership function and catastrophe theory. The challenges in the paper include: (i) the study area comprises confined and unconfined aquifers and (ii) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used to run Multiple Framework (AIMF) in order to map specific vulnerability due to a specific contaminant. Predicted results by AIMF are referred to as Specific Vulnerability Indices, as the learned VIs are referenced to site-specific nitrate-N. The results show that correlation coefficient between BDF or FCF with nitrate-N is lower than 0.7 but the AIMF strategy improves it to greater than 0.95. The results are evidence for the proof-of-concept for transforming frameworks to models capable of further learning., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Flood modelling and forecasting can enhance our understanding of flood mechanisms and facilitate effective management of flood risk. Conventional flood hazard and risk assessments usually consider one driver at a time, whether it is ocean, fluvial or pluvial, without considering the compound nature of flood events. In this paper, we developed a novel approach for modelling and forecasting compound coastal-fluvial floods using a two-step framework. In step one, a hydrodynamic model is used to simulate floodwater propagation; while in step two, machine learning (ML) models are used to generate flood forecasts. The architecture of hydrodynamic-ML forecasting system incorporates a hydrodynamic model covering a specific domain, with individual ML models trained for each pixel. In total 7 ML models including: Support Vector Regression (SVR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Radial Basis Function (RBF), Linear Regression (LR), Gaussian Process Regression (GPR), Decision Tree (DT), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) were applied in this study. Forecasting compound floods is achieved using two sets of inputs: timeseries of river discharges in the upstream fluvial section and downstream ocean water levels in the coastal areas. The accuracy of the flood forecasting system is demonstrated for Cork City, Ireland; and modelling performance was evaluated using several statistical tools. Results show that the proposed models can provide reliable estimates of flood inundation and associated water depths. Overall, the RBF model exhibits the best performance. Despite the complexity of compound multi-driver floods, this study shows that the coupled hydrodynamic-ML approach can forecast coastal-fluvial flood with limited hydraulic and hydrological input data. This system overcomes the limitations of traditional hydrodynamic model-based systems where trade-offs between the always competing numerical model accuracy and computational time prohibit the model to be used for short-term flood forecasting. Once trained, the ML component of the coupled system can perform flood forecasting in near real-time, potentially integrating into a flood early warning system. Accurate flood forecasting has a wide range of positive societal impacts, including improved flood preparedness, increased confidence, better resource allocation, reduced flood damage, and potentially even flood prevention. • Novel technique to improve compound coastal-fluvial flood modelling. • Flood modelling technique based on seven Machine Learning methods. • Approach is successfully implemented, and results are evaluated over Cork, Ireland. • The results demonstrate minimal quantitative errors for the proposed models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several cities in the developing world, of which the capital city of India, New Delhi, is an example, often experience air quality in which pollutant levels go way above the levels considered hazardous for human health. To bring down the air quality to within permissible limits quickly, the measures typically taken involve shutting down certain high-polluting activities for some time to enable the air quality to recover temporarily. This paper presents a first-ever model based on artificial neural networks to forecast the extent of reduction in air quality parameters that can be achieved and the time period within which a change can be experienced when the source of the emissions is cut off temporarily. The model is based on the extensive data on the extent of reduction in air quality parameters that occurred during the lockdown that was imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The non-linear autoregressive exogenous network-based model chosen for the purpose employs the hour since stopping of emissions, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and ambient temperature as input parameters to predict the rate of change of PM 2.5 with respect to the concentration at the start of the stopping of the emissions. Air quality data from a key monitoring station in New Delhi was used to develop the model. The model predicted the rate of drop in PM 2.5 with an R and MSE of 0.0044 and 0.9736, respectively, while training and 0.0095 and 0.9583 while testing. The model was then tested with data from 19 other stations in New Delhi, and accuracy of the model was found to be exceptionally accurate, with the correlation between the measured and the predicted PM 2.5 levels ranging from 0.74 to 0.94 and the MSE ranging from 0.0110 to 1.0746. Thus, the model can be employed to determine the number of hours of temporary stoppage of emissions required for the PM 2.5 concentration to reach safe levels. The methodology of development of the model can be extrapolated to construct models tailored for use in other parts of the world as well. • A novel ANN -based model is reported to predict rate of drop of PM 2.5 • Model has been trained on extensive dataset from the covid lockdown in Delhi. • Duration and efficacy of emergency measures to reduce emissions can be estimated. • The model uses easy-to-measure meteorological parameters as inputs. • Model has been validated for 19 stations of various land-use types in Delhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of computing technology, mechanistic models are often employed to simulate processes in coastal environments. However, these predictive tools are inevitably highly specialized, involving certain assumptions and/or limitations, and can be manipulated only by experienced engineers who have a thorough understanding of the underlying theories. This results in significant constraints on their manipulation as well as large gaps in understanding and expectations between the developers and practitioners of a model. The recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are making it possible to integrate machine learning capabilities into numerical modeling systems in order to bridge the gaps and lessen the demands on human experts. The objective of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art in the integration of different AI technologies into coastal modeling. The algorithms and methods studied include knowledge-based systems, genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks, and fuzzy inference systems. More focus is given to knowledge-based systems, which have apparent advantages over the others in allowing more transparent transfers of knowledge in the use of models and in furnishing the intelligent manipulation of calibration parameters. Of course, the other AI methods also have their individual contributions towards accurate and reliable predictions of coastal processes. The integrated model might be very powerful, since the advantages of each technique can be combined.

Abstract An investigation is presented to improve on the performances of the Basic DRASTIC Framework (BDF) and its variation by the Fuzzy-Catastrophe Framework (FCF), both of which provide an estimate of intrinsic aquifer vulnerabilities to anthropogenic contamination. BDF prescribes rates and weights for 7 data layers but FCF is an unsupervised learning framework based on a multicriteria decision theory by integrating fuzzy membership function and catastrophe theory. The challenges in the paper include: (i) the study area comprises confined and unconfined aquifers and (ii) Artificial Intelligence (AI) is used to run Multiple Framework (AIMF) in order to map specific vulnerability due to a specific contaminant. Predicted results by AIMF are referred to as Specific Vulnerability Indices, as the learned VIs are referenced to site-specific nitrate-N. The results show that correlation coefficient between BDF or FCF with nitrate-N is lower than 0.7 but the AIMF strategy improves it to greater than 0.95. The results are evidence for the proof-of-concept for transforming frameworks to models capable of further learning. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • Basic DRASTIC Framework (BDF) is used to represent intrinsic vulnerability. • Fuzzy-Catastrophe Frameworks (FCF) uses decision theory for a variation of BDF. • Correlation of BDF/FCF with specific vulnerability in terms of nitrate-N is poor. • AIMF uses BDF/FCF and nitrate-N to map specific vulnerability. • AIMF improves correlation in multi-aquifers owing to its further learning scope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corresponding to the concept of ‘Think globally, act locally and plan regionally’ of sustainable development, this paper discusses the approach of planning a sustainable community in terms of systems thinking. We apply a systems tool, the sensitivity model (SM), to build a model of the development of the community of Ping-Ding, located adjacent to the Yang-Ming-Shan National Park, Taiwan. The major issue in the development of Ping-Ding is the conflict between environmental conservation and the development of a local tourism industry. With the involvement of local residents, planners, and interest groups, a system model of 26 variables was defined to identify characteristics of Ping-Ding through pattern recognition. Two scenarios concerning the sustainable development of Ping-Ding are simulated with interlinked feedbacks from variables. The results of the analysis indicate that the development of Ping-Ding would be better served by the planning of agriculture and the tourism industry. The advantages and shortfalls of applying SM in the current planning environment of Taiwan are also discussed to conclude this paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Heavy metals (HMs) has become one of the most serious pollutants that are harmful to the environment and ecology. This paper focused on the removal of lead contaminant from wastewater by forward osmosis–membrane distillation (FO–MD) hybrid process using seawater as draw solution. Modeling, optimization, and prediction of FO performance are developed using complementary approach based on response surface methodology (RSM) and an artificial neural network (ANN). FO process optimization using RSM revealed that under initial lead concentration of 60 mg/L, feed velocity of 11.57 cm/s and draw velocity of 7.66 cm/s, FO process achieved highest water flux of 6.75 LMH, lowest reverse salt flux of 2.78 gMH and highest lead removal efficiency of 87.07%. Fitness of all models was evaluated based on determination coefficient (R2) and mean square error (MSE). Results showed highest R2 value up to 0.9906 and lowest RMSE value up to 0.0102. ANN modeling generates the highest prediction accuracy for water flux and reverse salt flux, while RSM produces the highest prediction accuracy for lead removal efficiency. Subsequently, FO optimal conditions are applied on FO–MD hybrid process using seawater as draw solution and evaluate their performance to simultaneously remove lead contaminant and desalination of seawater. Results displays that FO–MD process shows a highly efficient solution to produce fresh water with almost free heavy metals and very low conductivity. [Display omitted] • Effect of operating conditions on the performance of FO process to remove lead contaminant was performed. • Data-driven models using RSM and ANN was used to predict and optimize FO performance. • Statistical evaluation of RSM and ANN models showed good agreement between predicted and experimental results. • FO-MD hybrid process using abundant seawater as draw solution was evaluated. • FO–MD process shown a highly efficient solution to produce fresh water with almost free lead contaminant and low conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deriving knowledge and learning from past experiences is essential for the successful adoption of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) as novel integrative solutions that involve many uncertainties. Past experiences in implementing NBS have been collected in a number of repositories; however, it is a major challenge to derive knowledge from the huge amount of information provided by these repositories. This calls for information systems that can facilitate the knowledge extraction process. This paper introduces the NBS Case-Based System (NBS-CBS), an expert system that uses a hybrid architecture to derive information and recommendations from an NBS experience repository. The NBS-CBS combines a 'black-box' artificial neural networks model with a 'white-box' case-based reasoning model to deliver an intelligent, adaptive, and explainable system. Experts have tested this system to assess its functionality and accuracy. Accordingly, the NBS-CBS appears to provide inspirational recommendations and information for the NBS planning and design process. • Learning from experience is essential for enhancing the uptake of NBS. • A case-based system (NBS-CBS) is developed and tested in a Dutch city. • NBS-CBS integrates an artificial neural network with a case-based reasoning model. • NBS-CBS supports the extraction of knowledge from an NBS repository. • NBS-CBS recommends NBS measures and accordingly finds relevant past experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unplanned groundwater exploitation in coastal aquifers results in water decline and consequently triggers saltwater intrusion (SWI). This study formulates a novel modeling strategy based on GALDIT method using Artificial Intelligence (AI) models for mapping the vulnerability to SWI. This AI-based modeling strategy is a two-level learning process, where vulnerability to SWI at Level 1 can be predicted by such models as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Sugeno Fuzzy Logic (SFL), and Neuro-Fuzzy (NF); and their outputs serve as the input to the model at Level 2, such as Support Vector Machine (SVM). This model is applied to Urmia aquifer, west coast of Lake Urmia, where both are currently declining. The construction of the above four models both at Levels 1 and 2 provide tools for mapping the SWI vulnerability of the study area. Model performances in the paper are studied using RMSE and R 2 metrics, where the models at Level 1 are found to be fit-for-purpose and the SVM at Level 2 is improved particularly with respect to the reduced scale of scatters in the results. Evaluating the result and groundwater samples by Piper diagram confirms the correspondence of SWI status with vulnerability index. Image 10259 • GALDIT maps vulnerability to saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers. • The paper formulates Artificial Intelligence Multiple Model (AIMM) based on GALDIT. • AIMM is a two-level learning process and reduces inherent subjectivity in GALDIT. • At Levels 1 and 2, vulnerability are mapped by ANN/SFL/NF and SFL respectively. • Results gains an insight into manage hotspots in the study area with sparse data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negotiation is an integral part of our daily life and plays an important role in resolving conflicts and facilitating human interactions. Automated negotiation, which aims at capturing the human negotiation process using artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, is well-established in e-commerce, but its application in environmental resource management remains limited. This is due to the inherent uncertainties and complexity of environmental issues, along with the diversity of stakeholders' perspectives when dealing with these issues. The objective of this paper is to describe the main components of automated negotiation, review and compare machine learning techniques in automated negotiation, and provide a guideline for the selection of suitable methods in the particular context of stakeholders' negotiation over environmental resource issues. We advocate that automated negotiation can facilitate the involvement of stakeholders in the exploration of a plurality of solutions in order to reach a mutually satisfying agreement and contribute to informed decisions in environmental management along with the need for further studies to consolidate the potential of this modeling approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognition of construction waste compositions using computer vision (CV) is increasingly explored to enable its subsequent management, e.g., determining chargeable levy at disposal facilities or waste sorting using robot arms. However, the applicability of existing CV-enabled construction waste recognition in real-life scenarios is limited by their relatively low accuracy, characterized by a failure to distinguish boundaries among different waste materials. This paper aims to propose a novel boundary-aware Transformer (BAT) model for fine-grained composition recognition of construction waste mixtures. First, a pre-processing workflow is devised to separate the hard-to-recognize edges from the background. Second, a Transformer structure with a self-designed cascade decoder is developed to segment different waste materials from construction waste mixtures. Finally, a learning-enabled edge refinement scheme is used to fine-tune the ignored boundaries, further boosting the segmentation precision. The performance of the BAT model was evaluated on a benchmark dataset comprising nine types of materials in a cluttered and mixture state. It recorded a 5.48% improvement of MIoU (mean intersection over union) and 3.65% of MAcc (Mean Accuracy) against the baseline. The research contributes to the body of interdisciplinary knowledge by presenting a novel deep learning model for construction waste material semantic segmentation. It can also expedite the applications of CV in construction waste management to achieve a circular economy. • A boundary-aware transformer (BAT) model is proposed for CW composition recognition. • The BAT model innovatively integrates Transformer with a cascade decoder. • An edge refinement network is trained to finetune the ignored boundaries. • BAT outperforms the baseline by 5.48% for mean intersection over union (MIoU). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing methods for spatial quantification of grassland utilization intensity cannot meet the demand for accurate detection of the spatial distribution of grassland utilization intensity in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau with high spatial resolution. In this paper, a method based on remote-sensing observations and simulations of grassland growth dynamics is proposed. The grassland enhanced vegetation index (EVI) time-series curve during the growing season characterizes the growth of grassland in the corresponding pixel; The deviation between the observed and potential EVI curves indicates the disturbance on grassland growth imposed by human activities, and it can characterize the grassland utilization intensity during the growing season. Based on the main idea described above, absolute and relative disturbances are calculated and used as quantitative indicators of grassland utilization intensity defined from different perspectives. Livestock amount at the pixel scale is obtained by pixel-by-pixel calculations based on the function relationship at the township scale between absolute disturbance and livestock density, which is specific quantitative indicator that considers the mode of grassland utilization. In simulating the potential EVI of grassland, the lag and accumulation effects of meteorological factors are investigated at the daily scale using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. Further, the nonlinear functions between multiple environmental factors (e.g., grassland type, topography, soil, meteorology) and the grassland EVI are established using an error back-propagation feedforward artificial neural network (ANN-BP) with parameter optimization. Finally, the potential EVIs of all grassland pixels are simulated on the basis of this model. The method is applied to the Selinco basin on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and validated by examining the spatial consistency of the results with township-scale livestock density and grazing pressure. The final results indicate that the proposed method can accurately detect the spatial distribution of grassland utilization intensity which is appliable in the similar regions. [Display omitted] • Based on MODIS images, the deviation of observed EVI time series curve of grassland from potential EVI time series curve during the growing season was used to characterize the intensity of human use on grassland. • A simulation method of grassland potential EVI based on artificial intelligence algorithm (MOGA, ANN-BP) was proposed. • Livestock amounts at pixel scale were calculated based on the logarithm function relationship (P < 0.01, R2 = 0.65) between absolute disturbance and livestock density at township scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Water and land resources in Thailand are increasingly under pressure from development. In particular, there are many resource conflicts associated with agricultural production in northern Thailand. Communities in these areas are significantly constrained in the land and water management decisions they are able to make. This paper describes the application of a data mining approach to describing and simulating farmers'' decision rules in a catchment in northern Thailand. This approach is being applied to simulate social, economic and biophysical constraints on farmers'' decisions in these areas as part of an integrated water management model. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The continuous growing demand for water, prolonged periods of drought, and climatic uncertainties attributed mainly to climate change mean surface water reservoirs more than ever need to be managed efficiently. Several optimization algorithms have been developed to optimize multi-reservoir systems operation, mostly during severe dry/wet seasons, to mitigate extreme-events consequences. Yet, convergence speed, presence of local optimums, and calculation-cost efficiency are challenging while looking for the global optimum. In this paper, the problem of finding an efficient optimal operation policy in multi-reservoir systems is discussed. The complexity of the long-term operating rules and the reservoirs' upstream and downstream joint-demands projected in recursive constraints make this problem formidable. The original Coral Reefs Optimization (CRO) algorithm, which is a meta-heuristic evolutionary algorithm, and two modified versions have been used to solve this problem. Proposed modifications reduce the calculation cost by narrowing the search space called a constrained-CCRO and adjusting reproduction operators with a reinforcement learning approach, namely the Q-Learning method (i.e., the CCRO-QL algorithm). The modified versions search for the optimum solution in the feasible region instead of the entire problem domain. The models' performance has been evaluated by solving five mathematical benchmark problems and a well-known continuous four-reservoir system (CFr) problem. Obtained results have been compared with those in the literature and the global optimum, which Linear Programming (LP) achieves. The CCRO-QL is shown to be very calculation-cost-effective in locating the global optimum or near-optimal solutions and efficient in terms of convergence, accuracy, and robustness. • The coral reefs optimization algorithm solved mathematical problems. • The proposed hybrid algorithm optimized a benchmark four-reservoir problem. • Adjusting crossover operators using reinforcement learning improved performance. • Recursive-calculation-cost efficiency improved by search in the feasible region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]