Solutions of sulfate have often been used as background electrolytes in the electrochemical degradation of contaminants and have been generally considered inert even when high-oxidation-power anodes such as boron-doped diamond (BDD) were employed. This study examines the role of sulfate by comparing electro-oxidation rates for seven persistent organic contaminants at BDD anodes in sulfate and inert nitrate anolytes. Sulfate yielded electro-oxidation rates 10-15 times higher for all target contaminants compared to the rates of nitrate anolyte. This electrochemical activation of sulfate was also observed at concentrations as low as 1.6 mM, which is relevant for many wastewaters. Electrolysis of diatrizoate in the presence of specific radical quenchers (tert-butanol and methanol) had a similar effect on electro-oxidation rates, illustrating a possible role of the hydroxyl radical ((•)OH) in the anodic formation of sulfate radical (SO4(•-)) species. The addition of 0.55 mM persulfate increased the electro-oxidation rate of diatrizoate in nitrate from 0.94 to 9.97 h(-1), suggesting a nonradical activation of persulfate. Overall findings indicate the formation of strong sulfate-derived oxidant species at BDD anodes when polarized at high potentials. This may have positive implications in the electro-oxidation of wastewaters containing sulfate. For example, the energy required for the 10-fold removal of diatrizoate was decreased from 45.6 to 2.44 kWh m(-3) by switching from nitrate to sulfate anolyte.

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The capability to observe soil moisture frequently and over large regions could significantly enhance our ability to monitor vegetation conditions over time and space. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effects of soil moisture, temperature, and humidity variations on vegetation conditions in the UAE. Visible and near-infrared channels of MODIS instrument on board of aqua satellite were used in this study. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was applied to map the extent of vegetation coverage. It was found in this study that the vegetation areas with NDVI values between 0 and 0.2 have significant correlation with average soil moisture, minimum humidity and maximum temperature and the humidity has the maximum effect on these vegetated areas. However, much lower correlation was found with high NDVI areas.