Ulrich Uhrner

• PhD
• Graz University of Technology

T he interdisciplinary „Smart Air Quality Network" (SmartAOnet) project provides an overall system for recording, visualising and predicting the spatial distribution of air pollutant concentrations in urban atmospheres. Within more than three years SmartAOnet aimed to implement an inexpensive measurement network, which is transferable to other citi...

Conducting studies on sharp particulate matter (PM) gradients in Asian residential communities is difficult due to their complex building arrangements and various emission sources, particularly road traffic. In this study, a synthetic methodology, combining numerical simulations and minor field observations, was set up to investigate the dispersion...

The study aims to bring more knowledge about risk assessments of paint aerosol exposure to the human body. Raw manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs), either titanium dioxide or carbon black, were introduced into water-based paint formations. The evaluation of the acute and subacute potential toxicity of these samples in a whole-body (mice) exposure mod...

This paper presents experimental and numerical studies to determine the particle size distributions (PSD) and concentrations in paint overspray. Two kinds of paint materials, solvent borne and water borne paints, both with and without manufactured nanomaterials (pigments), and an industrial spray gun were used. Different aerosol measuring technique...

The project PMinter aims at supporting a sustainable improvement of air quality in the PMinter region and thus at reducing health risks for residents. The PMinter region com-prises southern Styria, northern Slovenia and almost the whole of Carinthia. Although the PM10 annual mean air quality standard is currently being met in the major cities withi...

The challenge is the integration of citizens as “community-based” observation providers, giving the odour perception and discomfort and getting feed-back in real time from a learning monitoring system. The level of annoyance de-pends on how odours are emitted and in what intensity, their dispersion under ambient atmospheric conditions and finally o...

The challenge of OMNISCIENTIS is to develop a community based odour monitoring and information system to mitigate odour annoyance and to foster citizens' participation in environmental governance. The core is an information system collecting various data of odour emissions obtained by electronic noses and other sensors, meteorological conditions an...

Cardiovascular effects of noise rank second in terms of disability-adjusted life year (DALYs) after annoyance. Although research during the past decade has consolidated the available data base, the most recent meta-analysis still shows wide confidence intervals - indicating imprecise information for public health risk assessment. The alpine area of...

A major source of particle number emissions is road traffic. However, scientific knowledge concerning secondary particle formation and growth of ultrafine particles within vehicle exhaust plumes is still very limited. Volatile nanoparticle formation and subsequent growth conditions were analyzed here to gain a better understanding of "real-world" d...

Based on two recent publications using Lagrangian dispersion models to simulate NO–NO2–O3 chemistry for industrial plumes, a similar modified approach was implemented using GRAL-C (Graz Lagrangian Model with Chemistry) and tested on two urban applications. In the hybrid dispersion model GRAL-C, the transport and turbulent diffusion of primary speci...

Concurrent measurements of meteorological parameters, traffic flow and vehicle composition, NOx concentrations and noise levels have been performed during a consecutive 166-hour (approx. one week) episode in the Austrian Inn valley. The study elaborates the meteorologically induced effects on the transport and dispersion of air pollutants (NOx) and...

A new setup has been developed and built to measure number size distributions of exhaust particles and thermodynamic parameters under real traffic conditions. Measurements have been performed using a diesel and a gasoline passenger car driving with different speeds and engine conditions. Significant number of nucleation mode particles was found onl...

INTRODUCTION Traffic noise exposure in the community is generally considered as a weak risk factor for more severe health effects. Reported relative risks associated with noise exposure vary typically in the range of 1.0 to 1.5 (Babisch 2006, 2008) for cardio- vascular effects. As it is known from annoyance research that up to three quarters of...

Vehicle particle emissions are studied extensively because of their health effects, contribution to ambient PM levels and possible impact on climate. The aim of this work was to obtain a better understanding of secondary particle formation and growth in a diluting vehicle exhaust plume using 3-d information of simulations together with measurements...

During the SATURN experiment, which took place from 27 May to 14 June 2002, new particle formation in the continental boundary layer was investigated. Simultaneous ground-based and tethered-balloon-borne measurements were performed, including meteorological parameters, particle number concentrations and size distributions, gaseous precursor concent...

Ambient aerosol size distributions (>3 nm) and OH, H2SO4, and terpene concentrations were measured from April 1998 to August 2000 at a rural continental site in southern Germany. New particle formation (NPF) events were detected on 18% of all days, typically during midday hours under sunny and dry conditions. The number of newly formed particles co...

At Hohenpeissenberg (47° 48' N, 11° 07' E, 988 m asl), a rural site 200--300~m higher than the surrounding terrain, sulphuric acid concentrations, particle size distributions, and other trace gas concentrations were measured over a two and a half year period. Measured particle number concentrations and inferred particle surface area concentrations...

At Hohenpeissenberg (47°48'N, 11°07'E, 988 m asl), a rural site 200-300 m higher than the surrounding terrain, sulphuric acid concentrations, particle size distributions, and other trace gas concentrations were measured over a two and a half year period. Measured particle number concentrations and inferred particle surface area-concentrations were...

Ambient aerosol size distributions (> 3 nm) and OH, H₂SO₄, and terpene concentrations were measured from April 1998 to August 2000 at a rural continental site in southern Germany. New particle formation (NPF) events were detected on 18% of all days, typically during midday hours under sunny and dry conditions. Surprisingly, mo...

A major source of particle number emissions is road traffic. However,

Leipzig, University, Diss., 2004.