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# Air Pollution in Cities

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## Abstract

Air quality in cities is the result of a complex interaction between natural and anthropogenic environmental conditions. Air pollution in cities is a serious environmental problem – especially in the developing countries. The air pollution path of the urban atmosphere consists of emission and transmission of air pollutants resulting in the ambient air pollution. Each part of the path is influenced by different factors. Emissions from motor traffic are a very important source group throughout the world. During transmission, air pollutants are dispersed, diluted and subjected to photochemical reactions. Ambient air pollution shows temporal and spatial variability. As an example of the temporal variability of urban air pollutants caused by motor traffic, typical average annual, weekly and diurnal cycles of NO, NO2, O3 and Ox are presented for an official urban air-quality station in Stuttgart, southern Germany. They are supplemented by weekly and diurnal cycles of selected percentile values of NO, NO2, and O3. Time series of these air pollutants give information on their trends. Results are discussed with regard to air pollution conditions in other cities. Possibilities for the assessment of air pollution in cities are shown. In addition, a qualitative overview of the air quality of the world's megacities is given.

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... The path of air pollution in the city involves emission and expansion of air pollutants resulting from various factors. Throughout the path, air pollutants are dispersed via various dispersion pathways (air, water, soil, living organisms) thinning and undergoing chemical reactions [3]. In other words, the phenomenon of air pollution is a series including various events such as generation and dispersion of the pollutants from their source, their conversion, transmission, and emission into the atmosphere, and their impact on humans, materials, and the ecosystem [4]. ...
... Dziubanek et al., 2017 [9] Highway toll and air pollution: evidence from Chinese cities Fu and Gu, 2014 [10] Estimation of spatial patterns of urban air pollution over a 4-week period from repeated 5-min measurements Gillespie et al., 2016 [11] Chemical characteristics of atmospheric PM2.5 loads during air pollution episodes in Giza, Egypt Hassan and Khoder, 2017 [12] Urban air pollution from the open burning of municipal solid waste Okedere et al., 2019 [6] Optimized stochastic methods for sensitivity analysis for large-scale air pollution model Todorov, V. et al., 2021 [13] Advanced stochastic approaches for Sobol' sensitivity indices evaluation Todorov, V. et al., 2021 [14] Hence, it is imperative to constantly monitor the level of pollutants in the air and ensure that air quality meets the standards [15]. Air quality in cities results from a complicated interaction between environmental conditions and human factors [3]. Additionally, different factors result in the unreliability of calculation risks which can lead to changes in weather conditions and fluctuations in emission sources and activities in the long run as well [15]. ...
... recognition of and statement of the problem; (2). selection of the response variable; (3). choice of factors, levels, and ranges; (4). ...
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Air pollution is one of the major issues in urban management. City managers and planners pay a great deal of attention to this problem given its harmful effect on people’s health and the environment. This paper proposes a simulated model of the pollution level of the capital city of Tehran along with its source and outcomes based on system dynamics. First, it provides a comprehensive review of the sources of greenhouse emission along with the impact of natural factors on its growth. The data is collected from 2011 to 2021. Then a dynamic model is applied to simulate Tehran’s air pollution for twenty years (from 2011 to 2031). The statistical method of design of experiments (DoE) is considered to set the sensitive and controllable variables of the city’s pollution. The information is used to set plans to reduce the air pollution considering several scenarios. The results of the research show that the best strategy to reduce air pollution that can resolve other issues as well is to manufacture environmentally friendly cars that can rely on renewable energy resources as their fuels. The other highly important strategy is to preserve forests.
... Especially, cities located in valleys or basins are prone to high air pollutant concentrations (S. F. De Wekker et al., 2018;Fast & Zhong, 1998;Mayer, 1999;Panday & Prinn, 2009;Wanner & Hertig, 1984). This happens when unfavourable atmospheric conditions, such as cold pools, and high emissions, for example, from traffic, industrial activities, and domestic heating, occur simultaneously (Conangla et al., 2018;Whiteman et al., 1999). ...
... A recently launched project, which fosters both field campaigns and the development of the parallelized largeeddy simulation model (PALM-4U, Maronga et al., 2019) to improve the understanding of city climates, is the German project 'Urban Climate Under Change' or [UC] 2 for short (Scherer, Ament, et al., 2019b;Scherer, Florian, et al., 2019a). One of the selected cities for these investigations is Stuttgart, a city well known for its air quality problems for many years (Mayer, 1999). Stuttgart is situated in a basin-shaped valley (Stuttgart basin), which opens into the Neckar valley in the northeast (Figure 1). ...
... The morning peak was higher than the evening peak for all cloudiness and wind categories. This can be attributed to shorter rush hours in the morning (Mayer, 1999) and the quite deep and strong surface inversion still present in the morning in winter. The NO x concentrations for clear sky, middle-high clouds, and LLJ events are higher than for days with low clouds, especially at night-time; for example, at 00:00 UTC, the concentrations for clear skies, middle-high clouds, and LLJ events are about 3 times higher than those for nights with low clouds of LC1 type and 3.5 times higher than of LC2 type. ...
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Abstract Meteorological and air pollutant measurements were conducted in the area of Stuttgart during winter and summer seasons. Stuttgart is situated in moderate mountainous terrain in southwestern Germany. We focus on the connection between atmospheric conditions and air pollutants in the urban nocturnal boundary layer. This is done by relating the bulk Richardson number (Rib), turbulence intensity, cloudiness, and winds, as well as NOx and O3 data. Turbulence intensity is inversely related to Rib, with the lower values occurring at Rib >0.33. The coefficient of determination for the exponential regression is only moderate, which partly can be attributed to sporadic turbulence in the transition from dynamically unstable to stable flows. Dynamically unstable flows (Rib 1.25) are found preferably under clear skies in summer with the build‐up of strong surface inversions, so that buoyant suppression is strong and shear generation of turbulence is weak. The nocturnal NOx concentrations are positively correlated with Rib. The correlation is weak, which is mainly related to the large variability of air pollutant concentrations in a range around Rib = 0.33. In this range, many low‐level jets are present that can cause sporadic turbulent coupling between the atmosphere and the surface. Reduced mixing under dynamically stable flows causes NOx values about 3 times higher than under dynamically unstable flows. The overall lowest NOx concentrations occur during winter when low clouds and strong winds are present.
... With advancements in technology, science, and economic mobilities, pollution has become a global concern, especially emissions from vehicles, various industrial processes and transports, agriculture, and residential activities [1][2][3][4][5][6]. For instance, air pollutions contain many particulate matters and harmful gases directly impacting the environment and human beings [1,2]. ...
... For instance, air pollutions contain many particulate matters and harmful gases directly impacting the environment and human beings [1,2]. The emissions mostly contain NO x , CO, SO 2 , NH 3 , and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) [5], which cause global warming and climate change. Human health is also at risk because these toxic gases enter undetectably (because some gases have colorless and odorless properties) to the body through oral intake, inhalation, and skin contact, causing serious problems that might eventually lead to death [1,2,[7][8][9]. ...
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Molybdenum-based materials have been intensively investigated for high-performance gas sensor applications. Particularly, molybdenum oxides and dichalcogenides nanostructures have been widely examined due to their tunable structural and physicochemical properties that meet sensor requirements. These materials have good durability, are naturally abundant, low cost, and have facile preparation, allowing scalable fabrication to fulfill the growing demand of susceptible sensor devices. Significant advances have been made in recent decades to design and fabricate various molybdenum oxides- and dichalcogenides-based sensing materials, though it is still challenging to achieve high performances. Therefore, many experimental and theoretical investigations have been devoted to exploring suitable approaches which can significantly enhance their gas sensing properties. This review comprehensively examines recent advanced strategies to improve the nanostructured molybdenum-based material performance for detecting harmful pollutants, dangerous gases, or even exhaled breath monitoring. The summary and future challenges to advance their gas sensing performances will also be presented.
... Other than that, factories, depending on the types of products they make, can be a source of numerous novel chemicals, such as dioxins, furans, microplastics, etc. In densely populated urban areas, one cannot overlook vehicular emissions [1]. There is a high amount of smoke and fumes released from personal vehicles used for everyday commuting and from heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks and lorries transporting goods and industrial items [1]. ...
... In densely populated urban areas, one cannot overlook vehicular emissions [1]. There is a high amount of smoke and fumes released from personal vehicles used for everyday commuting and from heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks and lorries transporting goods and industrial items [1]. To obtain a clearer picture, one can simply look at number of produced cars. ...
Article
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This paper aims to present possible areas to plant different vegetation types near traffic jams to reduce air pollution in the capital of Croatia, the city of Zagreb. Based on main traffic road and random forest machine learning using WorldView-2 European cities data, potential areas are established. It is seen that, based on a 10 m buffer, there is a possible planting area of more than 220,000 square meters, and based on 15 m buffer, there is a possible planting area of more than 410,000 square meters. The proposed plants are Viburnum lucidum, Photinia x fraseri, Euonymus japonicus, Tilia cordata, Aesculus hippocastanum, Pinus sp., Taxus baccata, Populus alba, Quercus robur, Betula pendula, which are characteristic for urban areas in Croatia. The planting of proposed trees may result in an increase of 3–5% in the total trees in the city of Zagreb. Although similar research has been published, this paper presents novelty findings from combined machine learning methods for defining green urban areas. Additionally, this paper presents original results for this region.
... Atmospheric pollutants (gaseous and particulate) are divided into primary pollutants, which are directly emitted to the atmosphere; and secondary pollutants, which generate from primary pollutantstransformation through chemical reaction highly dependent on meteorological conditions and/or solar radiation (Sarkar and Agrawal, 2010;Hickey et al. 2014;Sarkar et al. 2015). In urban areas, the major sources of air pollutants are anthropogenic such as; industries, power plants, and vehicles (Mayer, 1999, Holman, 1999Fenger et al. 1999;Cariolet et al. 2018). ...
... The stationary sources include thermal power plants, factories, etc.; but, the mobile sources are the only vehicular source Huang et al. 2014;Abou Rafee et al. 2017;Shen et al. 2019;Shi et al. 2019) which contributes 60 -70 % of the total air pollution load in urban areas (Sisodia and Dutta, 2016). Consequently, it is regarded as a principal contributor to urban air pollution worldwide (Mage et al. 1996;Mayer, 1999;Nabizadeh et al. 2018;Mukherjee et al. 2019;Ibarra-Espinosa et al. 2019;Sun et al. 2020). ...
... And some Western needs distort the economies of agriculturebased economies, because they commandeer resources such as land and water at the expense of the local population's needs. According to Mayer (1999), "The air pollution path of the urban atmosphere consists of emission and transmission of air pollutants resulting in the ambient air pollution. Each part of the path is influenced by different factors. ...
... However, the direct correlation between pollution and diseases is difficult to establish because air quality in cities is the result of a complex interaction between natural and human environmental conditions. For Mayer (1999), "During transmission, air pollutants are dispersed and diluted. Some others are subjected to photochemical reactions. ...
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https://www.hec.edu/en/news-room/major-hec-report-spotlights-smart-city-impact
... Wind is primarily responsible for the direction of pollutant transport. The concentrations of harmful compounds are also affected by factors such as turbulence, atmospheric stability, deposition on the ground surface or physical and chemical reactions depending, among others, on the meteorological conditions [45,46]. A thorough analysis would therefore require consideration of the remaining variables as well as the assumptions of the used dispersion model. ...
... Air pollution, especially in urban areas, is a problem that cannot be ignored [46]. One factor contributing to the deterioration of local air quality is airport activity. ...
Article
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The dynamic development of aviation is associated with many benefits, but also, unfortunately, with negative effects. One of the adverse consequences is the exhaust emissions that have a negative impact on human health. It particularly affects the residents of areas neighboring airports, as airport activity deteriorates local air quality. Using the Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System, the activity of the Nicolaus Copernicus Airport was assessed in terms of the flight operations’ contribution to air contamination in the area adjacent to the airport. Emissions from three sources were compared: aircraft, ground support equipment and auxiliary power units. The concentrations of pollutants in inhabited areas located in three different directions in relation to the airport were also estimated. In addition, the effect of distance from the airport on contaminant concentrations was assessed as a function of wind direction. It was noticed that small values of pollutant concentrations, originating from airport activity, appeared within a few kilometers from the airport, even if the prevailing wind direction on a given day was opposite to the analyzed dispersion direction.
... Air pollution refers to harmful airborne substances that arise from the complex interaction between natural and anthropogenic environmental conditions. 1 It is a serious public health problem, 2,3 caused by various air pollutants that include particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter of <2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) or <10 μm (PM 10 ), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and carbon monoxide (CO). According to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), low-and middle-income countries experience a disproportionately high burden, and the noxious effects of air pollution on health are particularly felt in the Pacific and South-East Asia regions. ...
Article
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Background Air quality is an important determinant of cardiovascular health such as ischemic heart disease and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with substantial mortality and morbidity reported across the globe. However, associations between air quality and AIS in the current literature remain inconsistent, with few studies undertaken in cosmopolitan cities located in the tropics. Objectives We evaluated the associations between individual ambient air pollutants and AIS. Methods We performed a nationwide, population-based, time-stratified case-crossover analysis on all AIS cases reported to the Singapore Stroke Registry from 2009 to 2018. We estimated the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of AIS across different concentrations of each pollutant by quartiles (referencing the 25th percentile), in single-pollutant conditional Poisson models adjusted for time-varying meteorological effects. We stratified our analysis by predetermined subgroups deemed at higher risk. Results A total of 51,675 episodes of AIS were included. Ozone (O 3 ) (IRR 4th quartile : 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01–1.08) and carbon monoxide (CO) (IRR 2nd quartile : 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02–1.08, IRR 3rd quartile : 1.07, 95% CI: 1.04–1.10, IRR 4th quartile : 1.07, 95% CI: 1.04–1.11) were positively associated with AIS incidence. The increased incidence of AIS due to O 3 and CO persisted for 5 days after exposure. Those under 65 years of age were more likely to experience AIS when exposed to CO. Individuals with atrial fibrillation (AF) were more susceptible to exposure from O 3 , CO, and PM 10 . Current/ex-smokers were more vulnerable to the effect of O 3 . Conclusion Air pollution increases the incidence of AIS, especially in those with AF and in those who are current or ex-smokers.
... Industrialization has created a great deal of wealth for people since the Industrial Revolution, and many western economies became industrialized developed countries. However, due to serious pollution, industrial development has had a very negative impact on the environment, especially the atmospheric environment, which has seriously impacted human health (Mayer 1999;Gurjar et al. 2010;Ding et al. 2020). China, as a developing economy, has an enormous pressure on ecological capacity because per person ecological footprint in the country is larger than the average biocapacity per person in the world (Alola et al. 2022). ...
Article
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This paper proposes a simple model to theoretically analyze the impacts of emissions of waste gases on industrial profit and mainly finds that industrial producers yield products to pursue profit but emit waste gases, protecting atmospheric environment demands for decline in waste gases, emissions impact profit when the process of production is altered as result of public regulations, and actively treating emissions ease the distortions of production and maintain profit. As a comparison, industrial profit is not impacted by emissions when producers are allowed to emit freely. After theoretical analysis, this study also empirically tests the relationship between the emissions of waste gases and profit as evidenced in China and finds that emissions do not significantly impact profit, except for sulfur dioxide with significantly negative impact; industrial producers with increased capacity for treating waste gases obtained more profits. As a result, the cost expended on treating pollution was compensated in the Chinese industrial sector. Successfully declining waste gases for atmospheric environmental protection and maintaining industrial profit for economic output and social development in the Chinese local economy has global implications because many other countries and regions primarily pursue green and sustainable development.
... La pollution de l'air en Europe est induite par l'introduction dans l'atmosphère de substances, principalement produites par l'activité humaine (émissions dites anthropiques), ayant des conséquences préjudiciables sur la santé et l'environnement (Arquès, 1998). Ces polluants, sous forme de gaz ou de particules, qu'ils soient émis par des sources fixes ou mobiles, contribuent à une forte dégradation de la qualité de l'air (Mayer, 1999) et sont dispersés dans l'atmosphère sous l'influence de plusieurs facteurs (vent, pluie, température élevée…etc.), touchant ainsi une grande partie de la population et de nombreux secteurs géographiques. ...
Thesis
Les particules émises hors échappement (PHE), provenant de l’usure des freins et du contact pneu-chaussée, contribuent significativement à la dégradation de la qualité de l’air et présentent un risque majeur pour la santé humaine. Ces émissions proviennent de sources multiples et sont actuellement mal décrites. De plus, les méthodes utilisées pour les appréhender sont souvent inadaptées. Pour tenter d’affiner cette problématique, ce travail de thèse s’est attaché à caractériser la physico-chimie des PHE ainsi que leurs dynamiques d’émission. Des expérimentations complémentaires ont été menées au moyen de grands équipements scientifiques et dans différents environnements. Celles réalisées au laboratoire, sur un banc à rouleau, se sont focalisées sur les particules d’usure des freins. Des mesures embarquées, effectuées avec un véhicule instrumenté sur une piste d’essais et sur route, ont permis d’étudier les particules émises par le contact pneu-chaussée. Finalement, des campagnes de mesures ont été effectuées en bord de route afin d’évaluer la contribution des PHE dans l’atmosphère proche des axes routiers.Un des principaux résultats met en lumière que les PHE appartiennent non seulement au mode grossier, prépondérant en masse, mais également aux modes fin et ultrafin prépondérants en nombre. Les émissions des nanoparticules émises par l’usure des freins dépendent de la température de l’interface plaquettes-disque et par conséquent de la force et de la fréquence de freinage. Les émissions des particules du contact pneu-chaussée augmentent avec la vitesse et les variations brutales de celle-ci. À l’image des sources, la composition chimique des PHE est très diverse. Elle est fortement liée à la composition des plaquettes et du disque des freins, des pneus, de la chaussée et de l’ensemble de contaminants déposés sur la route et remis en suspension. Ces PHE sont néanmoins souvent formées par des composés carbonés, avec une teneur importante en métaux et autres minéraux (ex. Fe, Cu, Al, Si, S, Ca…etc.). En fait, il existerait un lien entre émissions de PHE des freins et du contact pneu-chaussée : les premières modifient la dynamique d’émission de secondes via la constitution d’un troisième corps abrasif déposé sur la chaussée. Ceci a été exploré et discuté en relation avec l’influence de la remise en suspension ; étant une source majeure de PHE. Un intérêt de ce travail est, entre autre, d’estimer l'exposition aux PHE fines et ultrafines à proximité des grands axes routiers. Il permet aussi d’évaluer l’influence des principaux paramètres contrôlant les émissions des PHE et, au-delà, d’émettre des recommandations visant à réduire ces émissions et à améliorer la mobilité durable
... Over the past three decades, rapid economic growth has led to severe industrial pollution in the world (Mayer 1999). China, the USA, India, and the European Union accounted for more than 55 percent of global industrial emissions over the past decade, according to the United Nations Environment Program in 2018. 1 Industrial pollution mainly includes air, water, and soil pollution, primarily caused by industrial SO 2 , industrial NO x , soot, wastewater, waste residue, and heavy metals (Abderrahmane et al. 2021;Rohde and Muller 2015). ...
Article
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Severe industrial pollution is puzzling human health in the world. How to reduce industrial pollution is worth to be concerned about. Some studies have verified that high-speed railways (HSRs) can directly reduce environmental pollution via green technology. However, the indirectly environmental reducing effect of the HSRs from the regulation effect perspective is rarely explored. To address this research gap, this study used information asymmetry theory and the promotion tournament theory to examine the relationship between high-speed railways (HSRs) and industrial pollution by focusing on the mediating role of environmental regulations and the moderating role of officials' political promotion incentives. Based on a sample of 113 prefecture-level cities, with balanced panel data in China from 2009 to 2017, using the difference-in-differences model, the results show that HSRs can reduce industrial pollution by 22.68% on average. The mechanism is HSRs that can improve the environmental regulation, which plays the mediating effect to further reduce industrial pollution. Additionally, high officials' political promotion incentives can strengthen this mediating effect. A propensity score matching with the difference-in-differences model and the instrumental variable method is used to solve endogenous problems, and a placebo test and a parallel trend test indicate that these results are robust. This study suggests some policy implications on developing environment-friendly transportation and improving environmental regulations to reduce industrial pollution. Graphical abstract
... Motor vehicles are a significant source of urban air pollution [11][12][13]. Transportation activities and use of vehicle transit were significantly reduced owing to the lockdown imposed as a proper protective measure to control and reduce the spread of COVID-19; this decrease in traffic was expected to significantly affect air pollution and air quality. For instance, the effect of partial lockdowns on the air quality in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was examined by Dantas et al. [5]; concentrations of NO 2 , CO, and PM 2.5 decreased, while that of O 3 increased. ...
Article
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This study investigated the concentrations of air pollutants (NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, CO, O3, PM10, and PM2.5) at three sites with different traffic loads (work, residential, and traffic sites) before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects and associated potential pollution control implications of the lockdown on the quality of ambient air at three selected sites in the urban area of Riyadh City. The average concentrations of NO, NO2, NOx, and CO decreased during the lockdown period by 73%, 44%, 53%, and 32% at the work site; 222%, 85%, 100%, and 60% at the residential site; and 133%, 60%, 101%, and 103% at the traffic site relative to the pre-lockdown period, respectively. The average concentration of O3 increased by 6% at the work site, whereas the concentration of SO2 increased by 27% at the residential site and decreased by 6.5% at the work site. The changes in PM10 and PM2.5 varied and did not exhibit a clear pattern. The air quality index (AQI) results indicated that the contribution to “undesired” air quality by O3 was 35.29% of the lockdown period at the work site while contributions to undesired air quality by PM10 and PM2.5 were 75.6% and 100% at the work site, 94.5% and 100% at the residential site, and 96.7% and 100% at the traffic site, respectively. The findings of this study are useful for devising effective urban pollution abatement policies. Applying control measures comparable to the lockdown measures over one week will result in a decrease of approximately 19% and 15% in CO mean concentration and 25% and 18% in NO2 mean concentration at residential and traffic sites, respectively.
... Air pollution refers to the presence of harmful airborne substances that arises from the complex interaction between natural and anthropogenic environmental conditions (Mayer, 1999). Air pollution is considered a serious public health problem and its important constituents comprises but is not limited to particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter of ≤ 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) and ≤ 10 μm (PM 10 ), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) (Brunekreef and Holgate, 2002;Cheong et al., 2019). ...
Article
Background Haemorrhagic stroke (HS) is a major cause of mortality and disability. Previous studies reported inconsistent associations between ambient air pollutants and HS risk. Objective We evaluated the association between air pollutant exposure and the risk of HS in a cosmopolitan city in the tropics. Methods We performed a nationwide, population-based, time-stratified case-crossover analysis on all HS cases reported to the Singapore Stroke Registry from 2009 to 2018 (n = 12,636). We estimated the risk of HS across tertiles of air pollutant concentrations in conditional Poisson models, adjusting for meteorological confounders. We stratified our analysis by age, atrial fibrillation and smoking status, and investigated the lagged effects of each pollutant on the risk of HS up to 5 days. Results All 12,636 episodes of HS were included. The median (1st-to 3rd-quartile) daily pollutant levels from 22 remote stations deployed across the island were as follows: (PM2.5 = 15.9 (12.7–20.5), PM10 = 27.3 (22.7–33.4), O3 = 22.5 (17.3–29.8), NO2 = 23.3 (18.8–28.4), SO2 = 10.2 (5.6–14.4), CO = 0.5 (0.5–0.6). The median (1st-to 3rd-quartile) temperature (°C) was 27.9 (27.1–28.7), that of relative humidity (%) was 79.4 (75.6–83.2), and that of total rainfall (mm) was 0.0 (0.0–4.2). Higher levels of CO were significantly associated with an increased risk of HS (3rd tertile vs 1st tertile: Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.01–1.12). The increased risk of HS due to CO persisted for at least 5 days after exposure. Individuals under 65 years old and non-smokers had a higher risk of HS when exposed to CO. O3 was associated with increased risk of HS up to 5 days (3rd tertile vs 1st tertile: IRRday 1 = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.02–1.12; IRRday 5 = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.02–1.13). Conclusion Short-term exposure to ambient CO levels was associated with an increased risk of HS. A reduction in CO emissions may reduce the burden of HS in the population.
... Numerous field studies have identified atmospheric stability as the prevailing meteorological factor in determining urban air quality (Mayer, 1999;Sánchez-Ccoyllo and De Fátima Andrade, 2002;Hien et al., 2002;Perrino et al., 2008). Developing the ability to model non-neutral conditions is therefore fundamental to understanding the urban environment and facing the challenges it presents. ...
Thesis
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With continuing urbanisation and business-as-usual emission regulation policies, mortalities due to urban air quality will continue to rise in the period up to 2050. Poor urban air quality has significant impacts across the three capitals of sustainability (environmental, economic and social effects). Our understanding of and ability to model air pollution in urban areas is integral towards the development of both short- and long-term solutions to this problem. This thesis covers the development of the model capabilities required to study urban air pollution at the microclimate scale; with a focus on five key elements: 1) morphology, 2) emissions, 3) chemistry, 4) atmospheric stability and 5) trees. Following the conceptual methodology outlined in this thesis, these elements are systematically investigated within the context of the inherently multi-scale and heterogeneous nature of urban environments.
... Air pollutants have attracted a lot of attention all over the world [1][2][3][4], which may have a negative impact on the ecological environment and cause a series of serious environmental pollution problems, posing a huge threat to human survival and development. As one of the major air pollutants, VOCs have a wide range of sources such as paint drying, vehicle emissions, liquefied petroleum gas, coal combustion, biogenic emissions and so on [5][6][7][8]. ...
Article
Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are one of the major air pollutants. In this work, a novel online detection and source tracing method for VOCs in the air was developed based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and machine learning (ML). Five haloalkanes were taken as examples, and in the plasma emission spectra of them, atomic or ionic lines of halogens were clearly observed. The spectra of different VOCs were analyzed via principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, a classification model was established based on BP neural network and achieved a recognition accuracy of 99.77%, indicating that this method has great potential for identifying air contaminant of VOCs, as well as distinguishing some VOCs molecules.
... In urban areas, air pollution is caused by the interaction between natural and man-made environmental conditions [227]. It is a serious problem, in both under-developed and developing countries. ...
Article
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From the use of a pinhole camera placed under a water tank, which was proposed almost 100 years ago, to the application of modern digital cameras mounted with sophisticated fisheye lenses, acquisition methods for capturing hemispherical photographs undergone vigorous research and development. Over the past few decades, such photographs have been extensively used in evaluating energy and environmental aspects in urban contexts. In this review article, the advantages, limitations, and challenges of the various methods of acquiring photographs are described and compared. This involves both the devices themselves and the software tools. Several methods of direct acquisition of hemispheric photographs involving digital cameras, smartphones, the use of drones for photographs at elevations, and the application of thermal imaging technologies are discussed in detail. Indirect methods for generating hemispheric photographs are also discussed, highlighting the use of images from applications such as Google Street View (GSV). Based on a review of technical literature, several applications in energy and the environment that use information from hemispheric photographs as an analysis tool are presented and discussed. Among others, the following are discussed: the quantification of solar radiation potential; the assessment of indicators of local temperature and level of thermal comfort for pedestrians in urban areas; indoor and outdoor daylighting; and air and light pollution. Finally, several potential future research directions for the use of hemispherical photographs in built environments are discussed. These include advances in image processing, use of thermal imaging, solar potential assessment of solar-powered vehicles, applications of drone-mounted hemispherical photography, and fisheye videos.
... This could be the result of downward transport of O₃ from higher-level containing more O₃. Besides O₃ concentrations are higher in the hottest months of the year due to severe insulation, high pressure, and low ventilation along with stagnation and accumulation of pollutants (Brunelli et al., 2007;Mayer, 1999). ...
Article
Background: Urban air pollution is a dynamic mixture of Land Surface Temperature (LST), gases, particulate matter with daily and seasonal changes due to anthropogenic activities, Land-use Land-cover (LULC) transformations, and climatic conditions. The relationship between urban biophysical and thermal conditions, and LULC is generally known; however, the absence of a dense network of land-based meteorological stations is an obstacle to the comparison of LST to Major Air Pollutants (MAP). Method: This research proposes investigation of the relationships between LST derived by Sentinel-3 SLSTR, MAP derived by Sentinel-5 Precursor, and air pollution monitoring system stations in Tehran province, Iran. The method is designed in a moving average model with the use of a Python application programming interface, geographical information system, and remote sensing. Result: The mean concentration of the Particulate Matter (PM), Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂), and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) are mainly in the Tehran metropolis and the core urban area. A negative correlation was noted between the PM₂.₅, SO₂, NO₂, and altitude. Additionally, increased altitude negatively affects LST, Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Ozone (O₃) values; whereas, CO and O₃ have positive correlations with LST, representing the mutual impacts of LST, CO, and O₃ values in Tehran province.
... Hava kirliliği, artan insan nüfusu ve hızlı kentleşmeye paralel olarak artmakta (Mayer, 1999) ve insan yaşamı ile ekosistemleri olumsuz yönde etkilemektedir (Ashmore, 2005;Chen & Kan, 2008;Ochoa-Hueso et al., 2017). Çeşitli çevresel ve evsel kaynakların neden olduğu hava kirliliği, başta solunum ve kalp-damar fonksiyonları olmak üzere çeşitli yaşam fonksiyonlarını bozarak (Katsouyanni, 2003;Chen et al., 2004;Neidell, 2004) insan yaşamını tehdit eder seviyelere ulaşabilmektedir. ...
... The emergence of excessive pollutant concentrations in the field of pollution control poses a significant risk to people's health and may cause impacts on the world eco-system (Ercelebi and Toros, 2009). Air quality is a serious environmental problem, especially in developing countries, due to the complex interaction between natural and man-made environmental conditions (Mayer 1999). ...
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Air pollution is one of the important environmental problems that affect people directly or indirectly socio-economically. The quality of the air we breathe affects our health, safety, comfort and sustainable life. One of the major air pollutants in city centers is carbon monoxide (CO) emission from vehicles. Inhalation of high concentrations is a health hazard. In this study CO measurement values between the hours of 2016 and 2020 were analyzed in terms of air quality in İstanbul, which is Turkey and Europe's largest in terms of population, while the 15 largest mega city in the world It was taken into consideration that the data of 19 different stations would be appropriate after the data was first passed through quality control in terms of method. Atmospheric CO varies in time and space scales depending on both the amount of emission and meteorological conditions. In order to see the change in time oscillation about city air pollution, the CO air quality data of the last 5 years, as well as human activities in some months of 2020, have changed within the framework of the Covid-19 pandemic measures, so the previous 2016- 2019 values were compared with the data of 2020. As a result of the analyzes obtained, it has been revealed that atmospheric CO values in Istanbul show significant variation in time and space scales.
... Air pollution is one of many important factors that influence the daily life of many people [46]. By definition, an air pollutant is a substance that can have adverse effects on humans, animals or vegetation. ...
Article
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Cities are becoming increasingly complex to manage, as they increase in size and must provide higher living standards for their populations. New technology-based solutions must be developed towards attending this growth and ensuring that it is socially sustainable. This paper puts forward the notion that these solutions must share some properties: they should be anthropocentric, holistic, horizontal, multi-dimensional, multi-modal, and predictive. We propose an architecture in which streaming data sources that characterize the city context are used to feed a real-time graph of the city’s assets and states, as well as to train predictive models that hint into near future states of the city. This allows human decision-makers and automated services to take decisions, both for the present and for the future. To achieve this, multiple data sources about a city were gradually connected to a message broker, that enables increasingly rich decision-support. Results show that it is possible to predict future states of a city, in aspects such as traffic, air pollution, and other ambient variables. The key innovative aspect of this work is that, as opposed to the majority of existing approaches which focus on a real-time view of the city, we also provide insights into the near-future state of the city, thus allowing city services to plan ahead and adapt accordingly. The main goal is to optimize decision-making by anticipating future states of the city and make decisions accordingly.
... In addition to the correlation with PM 2.5 concentrations, ALAN could be positively correlated with other forms of air pollution. For example, urban areas often contain higher levels of ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs; Mayer, 1999). Migratory birds that are attracted to urban sources of ALAN could therefore be exposed to a broad range of different air pollutants. ...
Article
Aim: Two important environmental hazards for nocturnally migrating birds are artificial light at night (ALAN) and air pollution, with ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) considered to be especially harmful. Nocturnally migrating birds are attracted to ALAN during seasonal migration, which could increase exposure to PM 2.5. Here, we examine PM 2.5 concentrations and PM 2.5 trends and the spatial correlation between ALAN and PM 2.5 within the geographical ranges of the world's nocturnally migrating birds. Location: Global. Time period: 1998-2018. Major taxa studied: Nocturnally migrating birds. Methods: We intersected a global database of annual mean PM 2.5 concentrations over a 21-year period (1998-2018) with the geographical ranges (breeding, non-breeding and regions of passage) of 225 nocturnally migrating bird species in three migration flyways (Americas, n = 143; Africa-Europe, n = 36; and East Asia-Australia, n = 46). For each species, we estimated PM 2.5 concentrations and trends and measured the correlation between ALAN and PM 2.5 , which we summarized by season and flyway. Results: Correlations between ALAN and PM 2.5 were significantly positive across all seasons and flyways. The East Asia-Australia flyway had the strongest ALAN-PM 2.5 correlations within regions of passage, the highest PM 2.5 concentrations across all three seasons and the strongest positive PM 2.5 trends on the non-breeding grounds and within regions of passage. The Americas flyway had the strongest negative air pollution trends on the non-breeding grounds and within regions of passage. The breeding grounds had similarly negative air pollution trends within the three flyways. Main conclusions: The combined threats of ALAN and air pollution are greatest and likely to be increasing within the East Asia-Australia flyway and lowest and likely to be decreasing within the Americas and Africa-Europe flyways. Reversing PM 2.5 trends in the East Asia-Australia flyway and maintaining negative PM 2.5 trends in the Americas and Africa-Europe flyways while reducing ALAN levels would likely be beneficial for the nocturnally migrating bird populations in each region.
... Heidari [2], noted that scholars have been on the issue of air pollution for a while now, intending to detect the major cause of air pollution and its effect on humans and the world at large, but without much emphasis on predicting necessary preventive measures or ways to curb air pollution, especially using our built environment. Studies in the past two decades show that existing pollutants in the air pose a great threat to human health, and a majority of these pollutants are being generated as a result of man's activity in the construction sector [3]. The world green building council (WGBC) [4], noted that among the issues faced by man, air pollution is ranked as the highest killer within the environment, having over 8million deaths to its record annually, and its occurrence is mostly within developing countries. ...
Article
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Air pollution and air pollutants effect on humans and the atmosphere in general, is now an issue of great concern to researchers globally. Consequently, efficient mitigating strategies need to be introduced for the sake of the environment and most importantly human health. To this effect, this study aims to investigate possible ways through which architecture can help curb air pollution and air pollutants in the atmosphere through innovative architectural design strategies and controlled construction practices, with specific guidelines on how to achieve these strategies. The study in the quest to achieve the above aim employed the literature review research design, with particular reference to works of literature that dwelt on innovative and sustainable design strategies within the built environment. Evidence in literature reveals that air pollution is one of the major issues faced by man due to high level of industrialization and lots of other human activities, with a majority of the research dwelling on how pollutants are being generated but just a few studies dealt on how architectural and construction practices contribute to air pollution and the possible ways to reduce the effect of air pollution and air pollutant to the atmosphere through innovative design strategies, which is where this study plays a major role in filling that gap. The research finding from this study ascertained that all stages of building development projects from the inception of the project to its deconstruction release pollutants into the atmosphere. It concludes that the most effective way of controlling air pollution within the built environment is through the use of greenery (bio facade) and adopting a sustainable design system. The study will help inform government environmental agencies, architects, urban planners, builders, and all other stakeholders in the built environment on sustainable ways to tackle air pollution in the urban areas, most especially where there is no luxury of land for the planting of trees and vegetation.
... Ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) of aerodynamic diameters smaller than 100 nm can penetrate deep into the lung passageways and enter the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular impact through stroke, heart disease, mutation, and abnormal growth of cells leading to cancer [9][10][11][12]. The highest exposure levels often occur in urban agglomerations due to high local emissions [13], making air pollution policy a major concern in different levels of governance [14] ranging from local administration [15] to international bodies of cooperation [3]. ...
Article
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Air pollution is a major health risk factor worldwide. Regular short- and long-time exposures to ambient particulate matter (PM) promote various diseases and can lead to premature death. Therefore, in Germany, air quality is assessed continuously at approximately 400 measurement sites. However, knowledge about this intermediate distribution is either unknown or lacksa high spatial–temporal resolution to accurately determine exposure since commonly used chemical transport models are resource intensive. In this study, we present a method that can provide information about the ambient PM concentration for all of Germany at high spatial (100 m × 100 m) and hourly resolutions based on freely available data. To do so we adopted and optimised a method that combined land use regression modelling with a geostatistical interpolation technique using ordinary kriging. The land use regression model was set up based on CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) land cover data and the Germany National Emission Inventory. To test the model’s performance under different conditions, four distinct data sets were used. (1) From a total of 8760 (365 × 24) available h, 1500 were randomly selected. From those, the hourly mean concentrations at all stations (ca. 400) were used to run the model (n = 566,326). The leave-one-out cross-validation resulted in a mean absolute error (MAE) of 7.68 μg m−3 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 11.20 μg m−3. (2) For a more detailed analysis of how the model performs when an above-average number of high values are modelled, we selected all hourly means from February 2011 (n = 256,606). In February, measured concentrations were much higher than in any other month, leading to a slightly higher MAE of 9.77 μg m−3 and RMSE of 14.36 μg m−3, respectively. (3) To enable better comparability with other studies, the annual mean concentration (n = 413) was modelled with a MAE of 4.82 μg m−3 and a RMSE of 6.08 μg m−3. (4) To verify the model’s capability of predicting the exceedance of the daily mean limit value, daily means were modelled for all days in February (n = 10,845). The exceedances of the daily mean limit value of 50 μg m−3 were predicted correctly in 88.67% of all cases. We show that modelling ambient PM concentrations can be performed at a high spatial–temporal resolution for large areas based on open data, land use regression modelling, and kriging, with overall convincing results. This approach offers new possibilities in the fields of exposure assessment, city planning, and governance since it allows more accurate views of ambient PM concentrations at the spatial–temporal resolution required for such assessments.
... It is also produced by a photolytic reaction. The levels of NO 2 are primarily dependent on chemical reactions and not on direct emissions (Mayer, 1999). In brick making, nitrogen oxide emissions are mainly caused by the oxidation of nitrogen in the atmosphere through burning, and thus NO x emitted from the brick kilns plays a major role in the formation of ozone. ...
Article
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In recent times, the brick kiln contributes to air pollution is one of the most emerging issues worldwide. In this research work, the Peshawar city, ambient air quality was measured, using a fixed air monitoring station to evaluate the impact of gaseous emission from brick kilns on ground level. In this study, the portable gas analyzer (PG-250) was used to quantify brick-based emitting carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO 2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) from 3 brick kilns in the city of Peshawar. It was noticed that the average concentration of SO 2 and NOx exceeds the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) of Pakistan specifically, in terms of air quality. The brick kilns in District Peshawar have shown negative effects on the environment. It is necessary to take various measures to monitor the brick kiln embosom regularly before it becomes a significant risk for individuals. In conclusion, the impact of air pollution on physical activity and sedentary behavior at a specific time may be different.
... Among metals related to traffic (Cr and Zn) and industrial activities (Mn) are mentioned by many scholars (Kabir et al., 2012;Kumar et al., 2020;Zhou et al., 2014). Brake wear, tire wear, fossil fuel, petrochemical products, engine oil throwing away, and traffic-related have been reported in the literature (Huang et al., 2021;Mayer, 1999;Panko et al., 2019). Several metals can be present in urban environments as airborne particulates, sediments, road dust, soils, etc. Urban plants have been accumulated as nature magnets to help provide information on the local environmental pollution and atmospheric trace deposition (King et al., 2014;Xing & Brimblecombe, 2019). ...
Article
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Urban air pollution in cities, among the world’s most critical problems, has escalated to such an extent that it threatens human health in many urban centers and causes the death of millions every year. Trace metals are significant among the components of air pollution. Trace metals can endure long without undergoing biodegradation and bioaccumulation in living organisms. Moreover, their concentration in the air increases gradually. Therefore, monitoring metal concentration is extremely important for reliable indicators of environmental pollution. Biomonitoring is an effective method for describing metal concentrations in urban areas. Chromium, manganese, and zinc, selected within the present study, have various adverse effects on plants in high concentrations. Their identification is highly critical for monitoring the pollution level in their regions. This study aimed to determine the Cr, Mn, and Zn concentration changes according to organ, and age in Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Platanus orientalis L., Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm, Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle, and Cedrus atlantica (Endl.) Manetti ex Carr is 30 years old. The accumulation of metals in the outer bark can be found as follows Zn > Mn > Cr in all species, although Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle and Platanus orientalis L. can be suitable for biomonitoring tools because concentrations change significantly depending on the airborne metal.
... 3 Air quality depends on the complex interaction between the natural and the anthropogenic gas emitted in the atmosphere. It has become a major concern in the main cities as the air quality is decreasing and the population is growing [22]. According to the Union Nation, 55 % of the world population lives in urban areas. ...
Thesis
... For In the literature on multiple seasonal patterns in air quality processes, the focus of removing one or more components of the underlying time series often is on descriptive data analysis: visualizations at different levels of temporal aggregation are used to detect seasonal patterns and discuss their anthropogenic and meteorological drivers. Mayer (1999) conducts an exploratory analysis of hourly data on four air pollutants (nitrogen monoxide They employ seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models based on hourly data for six pollutants (over one year) and monthly maxima values of three pollutants (over 15 years), respectively. The prediction horizon is one hour to three days ahead and one month to two years ahead, respectively. ...
Thesis
... Air pollution can be defined as the entry of foreign substances into the atmosphere. These materials may include gases, particles, biological materials, or any substances that may harm the health or well-being of living organisms, or cause spoilage or damage to materials [2,3]. Particulate Matter (PM), which is a criteria pollutant [4], is a complex mixture of small particles and liquid droplets, which may include elemental carbon, organic chemicals, metals, acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), and soil and dust particles [5]. ...
Article
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Few air pollution studies have been applied in the State of Palestine and all showed an increase in particulate matter concentrations above WHO guidelines. However, there is no clear methodology for selecting monitoring locations. In this study, a methodology based on GIS and locally calibrated low-cost sensors was tested. A GIS-based weighted overlay summation process for the potential sources of air pollution (factories, quarries, and traffic), taking into account the influence of altitude and climate, was used to obtain an air pollution hazard map for Nablus, Palestine. To test the methodology, eight locally calibrated PM sensors (AirUs) were deployed to measure PM2.5 concentrations for 55 days from 7 January to 2 March 2022. The results of the hazard map showed that 82% of Nablus is exposed to a high and medium risk of PM pollution. Sensors’ readings showed a good match between the hazard intensity and PM concentrations. It also shows an elevated PM2.5 concentrations above WHO guidelines in all areas. In summary, the overall average for PM2.5 in the Nablus was 48 µg/m3. This may indicate the effectiveness of mapping methodology and the use of low-cost, locally calibrated sensors in characterizing air quality status to identify the potential remediation options.
... Air pollution can be defined as the entry of foreign substances into the atmosphere. These materials may include gases, particles, biological materials, or any substances that may harm the health or well-being of living organisms, or cause spoilage or damage to materials [2,3]. Particulate Matter (PM), which is a criteria pollutant [4], is a complex mixture of small particles and liquid droplets, which may include elemental carbon, organic chemicals, metals, acids (such as nitrates and sulfates), and soil and dust particles [5]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Few air pollution studies have been applied in the State of Palestine and all showed an increase in particulate matter concentrations above WHO guidelines. However, there is no clear methodology for selecting monitoring locations. In this study, a methodology based on GIS and locally calibrated low-cost sensors was tested. A GIS-based weighted overlay summation process for the potential sources of air pollution (factories, quarries, and traffic), taking into account the influence of altitude and climate, was used to obtain an air pollution hazard map for Nablus, Palestine. To test the methodology, eight locally calibrated PM sensors (AirUs) were deployed to measure PM2.5 concentrations for 55 days from 7 January to 2 March 2022. The results of the hazard map showed that 82% of Nablus is exposed to a high and medium risk of PM pollution. Sensors’ readings showed a good match between the hazard intensity and PM concentrations. It also shows an elevated PM2.5 concentrations above WHO guidelines in all areas. In summary, the overall average for PM2.5 in the Nablus was 48 µg/m3. This may indicate the effectiveness of mapping methodology and the use of low-cost, locally calibrated sensors in characterizing air quality status to identify the potential remediation options.
... The mandatory air pollution monitoring program includes seven substances: suspended dust particles, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, benzo(a)pyrene and lead [20,21]. Some observation posts may monitor other pollutants. ...
Conference Paper
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Currently, the state system for monitoring atmospheric air pollution in Ukraine is obsolete both in terms of technical and methodological support. In Ukraine, air pollution measurement standards have not been updated for more than 30 years, which led to gradual degradation of the monitoring system. Although relatively new technical means for measuring the concentration of various pollutants are partially used in certain industrial cities, the data they generate do not allow to make a full conclusion about the level of local pollution, the full range of pollutants, the localization of pollution sources, etc. This led to the need to create modern measuring modules of the air pollution monitoring system capable to generate large data sets and solving a number of modern methodological problems of the monitoring system. The hardware complex of the measuring module of the atmospheric air monitoring system based on low-cost sensors has been implemented. It is designed to receive, process, accumulate data, transmit and visualize the necessary information of the air pollution monitoring system. Connection diagrams of various hardware elements of the measuring module of the air pollution monitoring system (STM32F103C8T6 microcontroller, HC-12 module, SIM800C module) are shown. Printed circuit board in Altium Designer CAD, the drawings and the layout of the printed circuit board also are shown. The proposed technical prototype of the measuring modules of the monitoring system can become an addition to an existing monitoring system, or, in the case of creating a large-scale network of such tools, completely replace it.
... Concerning the emission sources, while numerous polluting focuses are found in urban environments (such as transport networks, industrial activities, commercial and residential), vehicular emissions are the main contributors to ambient air pollution in cities (Mayer 1999), which has been contrasted at the global level (Karagulian et al. 2015;Marinello et al. 2020). In the case study (Madrid city), road transport is responsible for 51, 61, 55 and 55% of the NOx, PM 10 , PM 2.5 and CO emissions, respectively (MITECO 2019). ...
Article
This work aims to quantify potential pollution level changes in an urban environment (Madrid city, Spain) located in South Europe due to the lockdown measures for preventing the SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Polluting 11 species commonly monitored in urban zones were attended. Except for O3, a prompt target pollutant levels abatement was reached, intensely when implanted stricter measures and moderately along those measures' relaxing period. In the case of TH and CH4, it is evidenced a progressive diminution over the lockdown period. While the highest decreasing average changes relapsed on NOx (NO2: - 40.0% and NO: - 33.3%) and VOCs (C7H8: - 36.3% and C6H6: - 32.8%), followed by SO2 (- 27.0%), PM10 (- 19.7%), CO (- 16.6%), CH4 (- 14.7%), TH (- 11.6%) and PM2.5 (- 10.1%), the O3 level slightly raised 0.4%. These changes were consistently dependent on the measurement station location, emphasizing urban background zones for SO2, CO, C6H6, C7H8, TH and CH4, suburban zones for PM2.5 and O3, urban traffic sites for NO and PM10, and keeping variations reasonably similar at all the stations in the case of NO2. Those pollution changes were not translated in variations on geospatial pattern, except for NO, O3 and SO2. Although the researched urban atmosphere improvement was not attributable to meteorological conditions' variations, it was in line with the decline in traffic intensity. The evidenced outcomes might offer valuable clues to air quality managers in urban environments regarding decision-making in favor of applying punctual severe measures for quickly and considerably relieving polluting high load occurred in urban environments. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13762-022-04464-6.
... In addition to its beneficial impact on the urban heat island effect, urban agriculture can improve air quality. City air often contains high levels of pollutants -originating from motor vehicles, power plants or space heating -that are harmful to human health (Mayer, 1999). Conventional air pollution management strategies focus on controlling the source of air pollutants and, therefore, are fairly efficient in reducing the emissions of new air pollutants (Schnelle et al., 2002;Yang et al., 2008). ...
Thesis
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Worldwide, the percentage of people living in urban areas will increase from 50% in 2010 to nearly 70% by 2050. While in many parts of the world, human development is expanding rapidly on the urban fringe and at the expense of rural hinterlands, some cities decided to focus on densifying the built environment. Since densification leads to a quantitative reduction of open spaces, the pressure on the remaining ones is significantly increasing. On the one hand, open spaces should meet the requirements of its users, on the other hand, they have to fulfil expectations regarding climate adaptation and operating efficiency. Thus, to satisfy these claims, urban open spaces have to be endowed with multi-functionality. Urban agriculture, in turn, offers indispensable opportunities to solve - or at least deal with - urban challenges regarding sustainability, health, economy, society, urban design and local food supply. Due to its cross-cutting and multi-dimensional nature, it has the potential to meet a good many of requirements on open spaces. Nonetheless, it still inherits a rather low visibility on the agenda of urban planners. This situation could stem from various reasons, whereby a gap in the understanding of urban agriculture’s capability seems to be a major cause. To this day, there exists no comprehensive literature on the subject - neither a holistic view on urban agriculture’s multifaceted benefits nor its impacts on urban open spaces. Thus, the purpose of this study is to tap urban agriculture’s potential and to emphasise its raison d’être in sustainable urban planning.
... In city areas, the concentration of O 3 is usually lower compared to the sub urban areas. This is mainly because of higher titration process between NO and O 3 (Azmi et al., 2010;Mayer, 1999). Meteorological factors are also responsible for the variation of O 3 in the ambient air (Luo et al., 2000;Solomon et al., 2000). ...
Article
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h i g h l i g h t s The monthly mean maximum and minimum O 3 observed in March and August. High (low) water vapor content was present in monsoon (summer). The maximum (minimum) BLH was present during the summer (winter). O 3 concentration closely correlated to the UV flux (r ¼ 0.95). The maximum (minimum) tropospheric O 3 was present in summer (monsoon). Tropospheric ozone positively correlated with AOD (r ¼ 0.60). The model seasonal pattern exactly coincides with the observed seasonal variation. a b s t r a c t The continuous measurements of surface ozone (O 3) and oxides of nitrogen (NO x) present in the ambient air were carried out on a semi-arid rural area in Anantapur [14.62 N, 77.65 E], South India during the period beginning from March 2012 to February 2013. The diurnal variation of surface ozone (O 3) showed a minimum at sun rise and late evenings and maximum at noon time, due to slow titration of O 3 with oxides of nitrogen (NO x). The monthly average minimum/maximum of O 3 observed in August/March was 19.9 AE 0.3/55.8 AE 2.9 ppbv. The monthly average variation of NO x was found to be high (6.67 AE 0.8) in November and noticed low (2.07 AE 0.2) concentrations in May. The monthly mean maximum of O 3 during day time (night time) was observed as 64.9 AE 5.3 (45.3 AE 4.1) ppbv in March, and mean low concentration was about 19.9 AE 1.02 (12.8 AE 0.9) ppbv in August. The monthly mean enhanced concentration of NO x during the day time/night time was about 5.0 AE 0.6/8.7 AE 0.9 in November and the fallen concentration was noticed 1.5 AE 0.2/2.7 AE 0.3 in May. The spatial distribution of O 3 was associated with the air flow pattern, air mass trajectories and boundary layer heights. The water vapor content also played a significant role in the diurnal variation of O 3 in addition to photo chemistry. The diurnal variation of UV radiation with O 3 and NO x has been analyzed and the results are reported. And the diurnal and seasonal variations in boundary layer height have also been discussed. The monthly mean variation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) is similar to that of tropospheric ozone, with a correlation coefficient of r ¼ 0.60. The diurnal and seasonal patterns of ozone were simulated using the chemical box model (NCAR Mater Mechanism) and when compared with the observed ones, the results are found to be in good agreement with the observed ones.
... More specifically, it appears that more pollution entails a higher risk of a respiratory illness, so minimizing exposure to air pollution (e.g., by reducing the time invested in parking) may help to reduce the spread of these diseases. In the case of cities, traffic is one of the main causes of the release of urban pollutants into the atmosphere [39,42,50]. Motivated by this fact, we are interested in providing real-time information and predictions for the next 48 h related to air quality in a city, which involves several activities: (1) the deployment of a low-cost air quality sensor network to collect air quality data about the concentration of several pollutants, such as NO, NO 2 , CO and O 3 ; (2) the modelling of traffic flows throughout the city to have estimations of the amount of traffic per road segment and hour during the day; (3) the estimation of pollution due to these traffic flows; (4) the prediction of how these pollutants are going to disperse in the atmosphere, by considering the weather forecast (mainly the wind's speed and direction) for the next 48-h and the shape of the city (buildings that affect the dispersion of particles in the air); (5) the publication of open data; and (6) the development of mobile applications to exploit the collected data, considering both the available real-time information and the forecast of atmospheric dispersion. ...
Article
Full-text available
Air pollution due to the presence of small particles and gases in the atmosphere is a major cause of health problems. In urban areas, where most of the population is concentrated, traffic is a major source of air pollutants (such as nitrogen oxides or $$\hbox {NO}_x$$ NO x and carbon monoxide or CO). Therefore, for smart cities, carrying out an adequate traffic monitoring is a key issue, since it can help citizens to make better decisions and public administrations to define appropriate policies. Thus, citizens could use these data to make appropriate mobility decisions. In the same way, a city council can exploit the collected data for traffic management and for the establishment of suitable traffic policies throughout the city, such as restricting the traffic flow in certain areas. For this purpose, a suitable modelling approach that provides the estimated/predicted values of pollutants at each location is needed. In this paper, an approach followed to model traffic flow and air pollution dispersion in the city of Zaragoza (Spain) is described. Our goal is to estimate the air quality in different areas of the city, to raise awareness and help citizens to make better decisions; for this purpose, traffic data play an important role. In more detail, the proposal presented includes a traffic modelling approach to estimate and predict the amount of traffic at each road segment and hour, by combining historical measurements of real traffic of vehicles and the use of the SUMO traffic simulator on real city roadmaps, along with the application of a trajectory generation strategy that complements the functionalities of SUMO (for example, SUMO’s calibrators). Furthermore, a pollution modelling approach is also provided, to estimate the impact of traffic flows in terms of pollutants in the atmosphere: an R package called Vehicular Emissions INventories (VEIN) is used to estimate the amount of $$\hbox {NO}_x$$ NO x generated by the traffic flows by taking into account the vehicular fleet composition (i.e., the types of vehicles, their size and the type of fuel they use) of the studied area. Finally, considering this estimation of $$\hbox {NO}_x$$ NO x , a service capable of offering maps with the prediction of the dispersion of these atmospheric pollutants in the air has been established, which uses the Graz Lagrangian Model (GRAL) and takes into account the meteorological conditions and morphology of the city. The results obtained in the experimental evaluation of the proposal indicate a good accuracy in the modelling of traffic flows, whereas the comparison of the prediction of air pollutants with real measurements shows a general underestimation, due to some limitations of the input data considered. In any case, the results indicate that this first approach can be used for forecasting the air pollution within the city.
... The major sources of air pollution in the urban areas include vehicular emission, use of coal, construction works, and small industry works. However, vehicular emission is the predominant contributor to air pollution in most of the megacities (Mayer, 1999;Allen et al., 2009;Habeebullah, 2013). The emerging concerns of vehicular emission have led to the deliberation of various alternatives to the present transport characteristics (Frade et al., 2011). ...
Thesis
Air pollution has emerged as a menace to the society and vehicular emission is one of the cardinal contributors to the air pollution. In India, the increasing number of motorised traffic in the urban areas is enhancing the severity of vehicular emission. Introduction of electric vehicles into the traffic fleet is one of the newest initiatives taken to mitigate this issue. Therefore, the present research aimed to investigate the impact of electric vehicles on emission in a non-lane based mixed traffic environment. A step-by-step guide is presented for the researchers to estimate vehicular emission for a traffic corridor and to evaluate different strategies by replacing existing conventional vehicles with electric vehicles. An integrated platform of traffic micro-simulation model and microscopic emission model was utilized to estimate the vehicular emission for an identified traffic corridor. A comprehensive methodological framework was developed considering the traffic micro-simulation model and the microscopic emission model for Indian heterogeneous traffic condition. As the microscopic emission models estimate vehicular emission in terms of vehicle specific driving characteristics generated by a traffic micro-simulation model, a detailed calibration was carried out for the traffic micro-simulation model based on the microscopic traffic parameters. A detailed methodology was proposed to calibrate the micro-simulation model for Indian mixed traffic condition considering emission estimation as the final objective. Prior to the emission estimation, the microscopic emission model was customized with the class specific vehicle fleet information. The major contributions of the thesis are as follows: (i) an integrated platform of traffic micro-simulation model and microscopic emission model is used for emission estimation in a non-lane based mixed traffic condition, (ii) a detailed methodology is presented for calibration of the traffic micro-simulation model based on vehicle class specific microscopic traffic parameters, (iii) the microscopic emission model is customized as per the local vehicle fleet characteristics, (iv) a validation is carried out by comparing the result obtained from microscopic emission model and the relevant ambient air quality data and (v) the likely effect of emission with the introduction of electric vehicles is estimated using the integrated platform under prevailing traffic condition. These may further help the researchers to investigate various policies related to electric vehicles and emission estimation for a traffic network based on the strategies and the outcomes presented in the thesis.
... Despite having many environmental policies, technical intervention and regulatory act of central and state government, the atmosphere still has existed in its polluted state. In many urban areas, 60-70% of air pollution is contributed by vehicular emission to the surrounding atmosphere (Mayer 1999;Schauer et al. 2002;Olukanni and Adebiyi 2012). The automobile pollutants are deteriorating the local air quality alarmingly because it is not diluted properly into the surrounding environment due to ground level discharge and the presence of high-rise building along the roadside (Verma and Singh 2006;Rucandio et al. 2010). ...
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The present work was undertaken in order to detect some pollution responsive variables such as ascorbic acid, pH, total chlorophyll, relative water content, total soluble sugar, amino acid and protein of four selected plant species, namely Ficus religiosa, Anthocephalus cadamba, Lagerstroemia speciosa and Cassia siamea, at nine different sites of Durgapur, West Bengal, India. The spatial variability analyses of Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) along with Anticipated Performance Index (API) were also examined on each plant species. In this study, the highest APTI was recorded in L. speciosa (183.54 mg/g) during 2015 at site S5 (CCR), whereas the lowest APTI was reported in C. siamea (11.25 mg/g) during 2014 at site S3 (DGC). The API gradation revealed that L. speciosa was categorised as a best performer followed by A. cadamba and F. religiosa; in contrast, C. siamea showed poor performance among all the sites. One-way ANOVA (at p < 0.05, with Dunnett’s post hoc) was conducted for spatial variability analysis both on biochemical parameters and air pollutants (SO2, NOx and SPM) with respect to control site, while two-way ANOVA also operated for the detection of spatio-temporal interaction on concerned biochemical parameters of each tree species. A significant positive correlation was observed both in ascorbic acid and APTI of A. cadamba and L. speciosa with the air pollutants. So it would be said that, for varied environmental situations, different biochemical responses have been reflected by vegetation of the same species. Thus, the present study has tremendous potentiality to screening out tree species on the basis of APTI with pooling their API assessment category and spatial variability detection of biochemical parameters. Biochemical plasticity and adaptability were better revealed on L. speciosa, F. religiosa and A. cadamba which will be suitable for green belt development in air pollution–affected areas.
... The average maximum value of [OX] at weekends was higher than weekdays. This type of temporal variability presented here can also be found in other cities (Mayer, 1999). ...
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This study examines the relationship between high-speed railways (HSRs) and environmental pollution by focusing on the mediating role of environmental regulations and the moderating role of officials’ political promotion incentives. Based on a sample of 113 prefecture-level cities, with balanced panel data in China from 2009 to 2017, using the difference-in-differences (DID) model, the results show that HSRs can reduce environmental pollution via the mediating effect of environmental regulations. Additionally, high officials’ political promotion incentives can strengthen this mediating effect. A propensity score matching with difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) model is used to solve endogenous problems, and a placebo test and a parallel trend test indicate that these results are robust. This study encourages the government to rationally promote the construction of high-speed railways and expand the social advantages of high-speed railways to improve environmental regulations and reduce environmental pollution.
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We investigated recent ambient air quality and pollution in Zhangjiakou, China, from 2016 to 2020 by analyzing the interannual variability in the air quality index (AQI) variations, interannual and monthly tends of six conventional air quality indices, index-ratio characteristics, and correlations. We employed a Gray model for predicting air pollution control, providing insight into measures that may improve air quality during the coming 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing and Zhangjiakou. The results showed that PM2.5 and PM10 (produced by industrial sources, coal consumption, vehicle emissions, and dust) increased in spring and decreased in summer; because the dust levels in Zhangjiakou are highest in spring, the PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were higher in spring than in winter. SO2, NO2, and CO increased in winter and decreased in summer, SO2 and CO are primarily affected by heat, and NO2 is mainly affected by vehicle emissions. Monthly O3 concentrations increased in summer and decreased in winter, owing to meteorological conditions, such as solar radiation and air temperature. Pearson’s correlation analysis suggested that PM10, PM2.5, NO2, CO, and SO2 are positively correlated and have similar emission patterns; while O3 is strongly negatively correlated with NO2, albeit less so in summer. According to backward trajectory and concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT) analysis, the February fine particulate pollution in Zhangjiakou was not only affected by local pollutants but also by pollutants from parts of Inner Mongolia, northern Shanxi, Mongolia, and other regions. We predict that the Zhangjiakou air quality during the 2022 Winter Olympics will be generally acceptable, but fine particulate matter concentrations may increase, presenting a human health risk.
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Anthropogenic activities worldwide causing serious implications on environment and human health. From instable weather patterns that impend food production, to increasing sea levels that increase the risk of disastrous flooding, the effects of climate change are worldwide in scope and huge in scale. Problems like air pollution, water pollution, water scarcity, biodiversity loss are becoming common. Many of these problems require novel techniques and measures to combat.
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This study employs spatial simultaneous equations models with the Generalized Spatial Three-Stage Least Squares (GS3SLS) method to evaluate the interrelationship between economic growth and air pollution under local government competition for China's “2 + 26” cities from 2007 to 2016. The results show an unbalanced spatial agglomeration effect of economic growth and air pollution across the region. Findings indicate that air pollution accompanies economic growth in the “2 + 26” cities, and economic growth has a U-shaped relationship with air pollution. Moreover, tax income and foreign investment competitions increase air pollution. Suggestions for the “2 + 26” cities include organizing a cross-regional agency for integrated management of the economy and air quality, constructing multiple economic-center cities, reforming the political promotion mechanism, and developing the ecological compensation mechanism for air pollution.
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Diesel vehicles for road freight are primary contributors to PM2.5 and NOX emissions in numerous cities. Shenzhen, which is a megacity in China, has made efforts to promote the transition to green transport by implementing license plate restrictions. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether the restrictions have greatly improved urban air quality. An effective framework for accurately estimating and visualising the effect of restriction policy on a large scale is still lacking. Therefore, this study aims to develop a novel method to visualise and evaluate the effect of license plate restriction policy by bridging diesel truck's license plate recognition data to emission inventories. The results reveal that the impact of the peak restriction on air quality was limited if it only affected nonlocal diesel vehicles. While the promotion of eco-friendly vehicles could reduce PM2.5 and NOX emissions. The findings could provide references for other cities or countries to estimate air pollution from diesel vehicles and recognise high emission zones at a large scale and thus create effective policies and initiatives.
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This paper presents new evidence of the causal effect of air pollution on Australian health outcomes, using the Black Saturday bushfires (BSB) in 2009 as a natural experiment. This event was one of the largest bushfires in Australian history and emitted approximately four million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere. We use data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamic Australia (HILDA) panel and compare the health status of individuals who were living in affected and unaffected regions before and after the event. Using a triple differences procedure, we further examine whether a difference in vulnerability to bushfire smoke exists comparing people living in urban or regional areas. We find that ambient air pollution had significant negative effects on health and that the magnitudes were actually larger for individuals residing in urban areas.
Article
We explore the effect of the Joint Prevention and Control System of Regional Air Pollution (JPCSRAP) in China from a composite environmental-economic perspective, based on Chinese urban data, using the PSM-DID method. We find that JPCSRAP can achieve a win-win outcome for the environment and economy, namely by reducing air pollution while achieving economic growth, with these effects increasing over time. However, the implementation effects differ by region. The effects of JPCSRAP are due to the strengthening of collaborative governance between cities, the upgrading of the industrial structure, and the encouragement of technological innovation. Our research provides an important reference for developing countries to achieve effective air pollution control and economic growth.
Thesis
The issue of global warming and increasing air pollution has become a huge challenge around the world. Lack of planning and control may threaten the living environment of humans and all living things. The main purpose of this study is to provide solutions and policies to achieve a low carbon city (LLC) in Tabriz. This research is applied in terms of purpose and nature, and is descriptive-analytical in terms of research method. In this regard, the present study, with documentary studies and experiences of countries, in line with the importance of climate change and global warming, investigated the origin of these changes in cities and studied carbon dioxide as the most important pollutant. Then, in the direction of sustainable development, the approach of low carbon city was proposed, and then, by studying global examples, index, criteria, and variables of low carbon cities were extracted. After the cognition section, through field and documentary studies to realize the low carbon approach in the city of Tabriz, the framework of variables was localized for it and randomly provided to citizens in the form of a questionnaire. After analysis, through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), 5 effective factors in the realization of low carbon city in Tabriz were obtained. The first factor (first factor variables) with a variance of 16.646 was obtained as the most important factor in the realization of low carbon city in Tabriz. In addition, the results showed that the low carbon transport component is the most important effective component in the realization of low carbon city in Tabriz. Based on this, strategies and policies to achieve a low carbon city in the city of Tabriz were presented. The data and information collected in this study are qualitative and quantitative through mathematical models provided by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran and statistical tests including Cronbach, Bartlett, and KMO tests, Skewness, and Kurtosis. Analytical software such as SPSS, ArcGIS, and LandGEM were also used.
Article
Air pollution is prevalent in cities and urban centers in developing countries including sub-Saharan Africa, but ground monitoring data on local pollution remain inadequate, hindering effective mitigation. We employed low-cost sensing and measurement technologies to quantify pollution levels based on particulate matter (PM2.5), NO2, and O3 over a 6 month period for selected urban centers in three of the four macroregions in Uganda. PM2.5 diurnal profiles exhibited consistent patterns across all monitoring locations with higher pollution levels manifesting from 18:00 to 00:00 and from 06:00 to 09:00; while the periods from 00:00 to 05:00 and from 09:00 to 17:00 had the lowest levels. Daily PM2.5 varied widely between 34 and 107 μg/m3 over a 7 day period, well within unhealthy levels (55.5-150.4 μg/m3) for short-term exposure. The inconsistent daily trend are instructive for multiple pollutant assessment to aid specific policy initiatives. The results also show inverse relations between seasonal particulate levels and precipitation, that is, R (correlation coefficient) = -0.93 and -0.62 for Kampala and Wakiso, R = -0.49 and -0.44 for the Eastern region, and R = -0.65 and -0.96 for the Western region. NO2 monthly concentrations replicated PM2.5 spatial levels, whereas O3 exhibited inverse relations probably due to a higher retention time in less-urbanized environments. Both PM2.5 and NO2 correlated positively with the resident population. Our findings show significant spatiotemporal variations and exceedances of health guidelines by about 4-6 times across most study locations (with two exceptions) for longer-term exposure. This paper demonstrably highlights the practicability and potential of low-cost approaches for air quality monitoring, with strong prospects for citizen science. This paper also provides novel information regarding air pollution that is needed to improve control strategies for reducing exposures.
Chapter
Formation of ozone in the boundary layer during photochemical pollution episodes gives rise to an ozone concentration ranging from 100 to, more than 400 ppb, with monthly averages showing a maximum in summer. The frequency of such episodes is controlled by meteorology and varies widely in place and time. There is, however, a general tendency for ozone concentrations to be lower in urban areas than in downwind rural areas, because in urban areas some ozone is removed by reaction with other pollutants, mostly nitric oxide. In polluted atmospheres these reactions constitute a major sink for ozone. Conversion rates of NOx range from about 1% per hour in winter to over 15% per hour during photochemical pollution episodes. Some NO2 is removed from the boundary layer by dry deposition, up to more than 50% of NO2 in Europe may be converted into peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), and the remainder into nitrates and some other peroxy nitrates. In the Netherlands PAN levels have been increasing by more than 10% annually over the last decade. Dry and wet deposition remove HNO3 and PAN. Some PAN decomposes into NO2 and peroxy radicals. This would suggest that the effect of anthropogenic NOx emissions are felt only on a regional scale, i.e. several hundreds of kilometres. However, the decomposition rate of PAN depends on temperature. At lower temperatures it is slow enough for PAN to be transported over very large distances away from its source. We argue that transport of PAN, and therefore of NOx plus anthropogenic carbon monoxide, methane and less reactive hydrocarbons are responsible for the observed ozone increase in the troposphere in the northern hemisphere, and for the observed PAN and ozone maximum in spring (May) in the northern background (free) troposphere and at remote sites away from man-made pollution sources.
Article
Exposure to elevated concentrations of ambient air pollutants causes adverse human health effects. Two modes or methods of study are generally relied on to quantify the relationships between pollutants and specific effects. These are: human clinical experiments and epidemiological (or community exposure) studies. (Animal toxicological studies can be used to indicate the existence of an effect, but not the rate of the effect in humans.) Each method has limitations as a basis for quantifying the level of adverse effects anticipated in a given human population as a result of exposure. Consequently, care must be taken in deciding which studies are appropriate for assessment of health impacts in a population. Some limitations are inherent in the method. Epidemiological studies, for example, depend on adequate community monitoring and the ability to associate a cohort with ambient data. Clinical studies often do not represent the complex mix of pollutants in the atmosphere. Consequently, construction of dose/exposure-response functions is challenging. Another common complication in quantifying expected health impacts of a pollutant mix is lack of adequate ambient monitoring data coupled with little or no knowledge of a population's time and activity profiles. This paper summarizes the difficulties inherent in constructing estimates of health effects in populationsliving in densely populated and polluted areas and suggests approaches to making initial limited estimates. An example of the level of effort required to conduct a sophisticated study, using relatively rich databases, is given based on work done in the Southern California region.
Article
The synoptic climatology of ozone (O3) for S Ontario has shown that, over the 1976–1981 period, average summer O3 concentrations follow a relationship similar to that reported for event analysis during periods of high O3 concentration. Highest average concentrations, 36 parts per billion (ppb), occur with ‘back of the high’ situations while lowest average concentrations (20 ppb) occur with ‘front of the high’ situations.With similar weather events in the winter, the pattern is reversed with highest average O3 concentrations on the ‘front of the high’ (19 ppb) and lowest average concentrations on the ‘back of the high’ (13 ppb). Concentration of O3 in the ‘front of the high’ sector is due in part to the intrusion of O3 in the vicinity of storms from the stratosphere. The seasonal variation of average concentrations in these situations is low, ranging from 14 to 26 ppb.The very low average concentration during the winter and fall for the ‘back of the high’ situation may be the result of scavenging by NOx from the urban/industrial areas around the Great Lakes. During the spring and summer, solar energy and warm temperatures cause the photochemical production of O3 from NOx and HCs precursors. In the fall and winter, photochemical production of O3 is either very low or absent, and the NOx consume O3 rather than produce it. Thus, average O3 concentrations for winter ‘back of the high’ situations are one-third of those in the summer months.The synoptic climatology of events during the months from May to September with maximum O3 concentrations in excess of 80 ppb indicates that 78 % of these events occur under synoptic weather classes generally indicative of back or centre of the high situations.
Article
Photochemical air pollution is still a serious environmental issue in Tokyo and Osaka areas. To clarify the past trend and present status of photochemical air pollution, the annual trends of daily maximum oxidant concentration covering Kanto (Tokyo and surrounding prefectures) and Kansai (Osaka and surrounding prefectures) areas were analyzed. Trends in the photochemical air pollution and NOx and VOC precursors showed identical characteristics both in Tokyo and Osaka areas. Trends in volatile organic hydrocarbons and NOx were analyzed; NOx is incresing and NMHC/NOx ratio is decreasing in the long term over both Kanto and Kansai areas, indicating an increase in ozone forming potential and a decrease in photochemical reactivity, which may be responsible for the air pollution patterns observed in the Tokyo and Osaka areas. The location of the daily maximum oxidant concentration has moved further from the emission areas.
Article
In the frame of the APSIS project simulations of the dispersion of air pollutants over the Attica Peninsula are carried out for May 25, 1990. This day is characterized by clear sky conditions and a general flow from Northwest. Such conditions support the development of a sea breeze around the Peninsula, which is especially pronounced in the basin of Athens and the neighbouring coastal zone. The flow and turbulence fields are simulated with the the non hydrostatic model KAMM (Adrian and Fiedler, 1991). Based on these fields the dispersion of the air pollutants are calculated with the DRAIS model (Nester and Fiedler, 1992). The simpler chemical mechanism RADM1 was selected because only measurements of NO, NO 2, SO 2,CO and O 3 are available, which are well predicted by the RADM1 mechanism.
Article
Hintergrund Benetzungsstörungen zählen zu den häufigsten Erkrankungen des äußeren Auges. Die symptomatische Therapie ist oftmals unzureichend, so dass die Patienten über subjektive Beschwerden und Beeinträchtigung ihrer Befindlichkeit klagen. Die Verträglichkeit des Substitutionsmittels spielt eine wichtige Rolle. Sie kann durch unkonservierte Präparate verbessert werden. Methode In eine offene, multizentrische Prüfung von acht Wochen Dauer wurden 59 Patienten mit den klinischen Symptomen des „trockenen Auges” unterschiedlicher Ätiologie aufgenommen, die unter Therapie mit handelsüblichen Tränenersatzmitteln keine ausreichende Besserung der Symptomatik erzielten. Sie wurden mit einem neuen unkonservierten Polyvidonhaltigen Tränensubstitutionsmittel, dessen Zusammensetzung dem Elektrolytgehalt der natürlichen Tränenflüssigkeit angepaßt war, behandelt. Der therapeutische Effekt wurde durch Auswertung von subjektivem Beschwerdebild. Tränenfilmaufreiß-zeit (BUT), Schirmer-I-Tesl, Visus, Biomikroskopie und ärztliche Beurteilung des Therapieerfolges bewertet. Ergebnisse Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass die symptomatische Therapie mit dem neuen Tränenersatzmittel (Oculotect® fluid sine) die wichtigsten Kriterien Befindlichkeit und BUT im Vergleich zur unbefriedigenden Vorbehandlung signifikant besserte (t-Test, verbundene Stichproben, zweiseitig, Signifikanzniveau p < 0,05). Alle weiteren Befunde bestätigten die Verbesserung ebenfalls. Schlußfolgerungen Bei einer für Augenarztpraxen typischen Patientengruppe mit Benetzungsstörungen und unzureichendem therapeutischen Effekt der Vorbehandlung ließen sich bei 4/5 der Patienten Befunde und Beschwerden durch Behandlung mit dem neuen unkonservierten Präparat deutlich bessern. Die Konservierungsmittelfreiheit trägt zur besseren Verträglichkeit der Tränensubstitution bei. Summary Background Diseases of the ocular surface very frequently seen are related to irregularities of wetting. Patients often have complaints and feeling of ill-health, although under symptomatic therapy. Tolerability of the tear substitutes plays a key role in these cases. It is improved with unpreserved medication. Method 59 patients with ,dry eye condition' of various etiology were enrolled in an open multicentre study and treated 8 weeks with a new preservative-free tear substitute. All patients had a history of previous ineffective treatment with artificial tears. The product was formulated with polyvidone and electrolytes in a composition which resembles natural tears. The therapeutic effect was evaluated by ratings of patients' self assessment of their complaints, tear film break up time (BUT), Schirmer I test, visual acuity, biomicroscopic examination and physicians' assessment. Results Based on the key criteria patients's self assessment and BUT, the new agent (Oculotect® fluid sine) improved symptoms and reduced discomfort significantly compared with the previous treatment (paired t test, two-sided, level of significance p < 0.05). The improved condition was confirmed by the other findings taken. Conclusion In 4/5 of patients, as typically met in ophthalmologists' offices, whose complaints were insufficiently relieved by previously applied tear substitutes, treatment with the new preservative-free product resulted in a distinct improvement of their condition. The lack of preservatives contributed to better tolerability and acceptance of tear substitution.
Book
This book is divided into the following chapters: the atmospheric boundary layer; atmospheric diffusion; pollutants and their properties; and environmental monitoring and impact.
Article
Los Alamos National Laboratory and Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo are completing a joint study of options for improving air quality in Mexico City. We have modified a three-dimensional, prognostic, higher-order turbulence model for atmospheric circulation (HOTMAC) and a Monte Carlo dispersion and transport model (RAPTAD) to treat domains that include an urbanized area. We used the meteorological model to drive models which describe the photochemistry and air transport and dispersion. The photochemistry modeling is described in a separate paper. We tested the model against routine measurements and those of a major field program. During the field program, measurements included: (1) lidar measurements of aerosol transport and dispersion, (2) aircraft measurements of winds, turbulence, and chemical species aloft, (3) aircraft measurements of skin temperatures, and (4) Tethersonde measurements of winds and ozone. We modified the meteorological model to include provisions for time-varying synoptic-scale winds, adjustments for local wind effects, and detailed surface-coverage descriptions. We developed a new method to define mixing-layer heights based on model outputs. The meteorology and dispersion models were able to provide reasonable representations of the measurements and to define the sources of some of the major uncertainties in the model-measurement comparisons.
Article
Observed ozone concentrations are valuable indicators of possible health and environmental impacts. However, they are also used to monitor changes and trends in the sources of ozone and of its precursors, and for this purpose the influence of meteorological variables is a confounding factor. This paper examines ozone concentrations and meteorology in the Chicago area. The data are described using least absolute deviations and local regression. The key relationships observed in these analyses are then used to construct a nonlinear regression model relating ozone to meteorology. The model can be used to estimate that part of the trend in ozone levels that cannot be accounted for by trends in meteorology, and to ‘adjust’ observed ozone concentrations for anomalous weather conditions.
Article
The high concentration of NO2 in the Tokyo Metropolitan area was investigated by means of air quality monitoring station data analysis and two numerical models: a photochemical box model and a photochemical grid model. Based on monitoring data, the typical variation with time of NO, NO2 and O3 for days with high NO2 concentrations is presented. The application of the photochemical box and photochemical grid models successfully reproduced these variations when using typical emission intensities for NOx and NMHC from the Tokyo downtown area. Model results revealed that the high concentrations of NO2 in winter (exceeding the Japan environmental quality standard) mainly result from photochemical oxidation of NO to NO2.
Article
The main objective of this paper is to present analytical models relating maximum pollutant concentrations in urban areas with meteorological and other variables. The analysis is based on measurements from Greater Athens Area and is restricted in only one pollutant of special interest, namely N02. The meteorological variables, used in analytical modeling for forecasting pollution concentrations, cover the most important atmospheric processes favoring pollution episodes. The selection of the variables was based both on extensive correlation analysis and on the existing knowledge from the scientific literature. The evaluation of the developed forecasting models showed that their degree of success is promising. The final model equations derived are simple and they can be used easily for operational forecasts from the air quality management authorities.
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Urban air pollution is a major environmental problem in the developing countries of the world. WHO and UNEP created an air pollution monitoring network as part of the Global Environment Monitoring System. This network now covers over 50 cities in 35 developing and developed countries throughout the world. The analyses of the data reported by the network over the past 15–20 yr indicate that the lessons of the prior experiences in the developed countries (U.S.A., U.K.) have not been learned. A study of air pollution in 20 of the 24 megacities of the world (over 10 million people by year 2000) shows that ambient air pollution concentrations are at levels where serious health effects are reported. The expected rise of population in the next century, mainly in the developing countries with a lack of capital for air pollution control, means that there is a great potential that conditions will worsen in many more cities that will reach megacity status. This paper maps the potential for air pollution that cities will experience in the future unless control strategies are developed and implemented during the next several decades.
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This article deals with the part of urban climatology which is of particular relevance to human beings. Presented first is a summary of all human biometerologically effective complexes, as well as other factors which are relevant to urban planning and which depend on atmospheric conditions in urban structures in a direct or indirect manner. Later, methods for human biometerologically significant assessment of thermal and air pollution components of the urban climate are discussed in detail, because these components can be strongly influenced by urban planning. The application of these methods is illustrated by some results of appropriate investigations in urban areas.
Ozone on an urban and regional scale } with special reference to the situation in the Netherlands Tropospheric Ozone
• R Guicherit
Guicherit, R., 1988. Ozone on an urban and regional scale } with special reference to the situation in the Netherlands. In: Isaksen, I.S.A. (Ed.), Tropospheric Ozone. Reidel Publ.
Principles of Air Pollution Met-eorology Urban air pollution in megacities of the world Atmospheric Environment 30 Human-biometeorologische Probleme des Stadtklimas Air pollution caused by motor-tra$c in urban spaces Analyse der Ozonkonzentrationen an Sonn-und Werktagen • W Kuttler • T J Lyons • W D Scott • D Mage • G Ozolins • P Peterson • A Webster • R Orthofer • V Vandeveerd • M H Gwynne • J H Schmidt • J Schmidt Kuttler, W., 1996. Aspekte der Angewandten Stadtklimatologie. Geowissenschaften 14, 221}228. Lyons, T.J., Scott, W.D., 1990. Principles of Air Pollution Met-eorology. Belhaven Press, London. Mage, D., Ozolins, G., Peterson, P., Webster, A., Orthofer, R., Vandeveerd, V., Gwynne, M., 1996. Urban air pollution in megacities of the world. Atmospheric Environment 30, 681}686. Mayer, H., 1993. Urban bioclimatology. Experientia 49, 957}963. Mayer, H., 1996. Human-biometeorologische Probleme des Stadtklimas. Geowissenschaften 14, 233}239. Mayer, H., Haustein, Ch., 1994. Air pollution caused by motor-tra$c in urban spaces. Meteorol. Zeitschrift, N.F. 3, 138}142. Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1993. Analyse der Ozonkonzentrationen an Sonn-und Werktagen. Res. Rep., Meteorol. Inst. Univ. Freiburg. Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1994a. Trendanalyse von Immissions-zeitreihen in Baden-Wu K rttemberg und Bayern. Meteorol. Zeitschrift, N.F. 3, 116}121. Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1994b. Methoden zur Regionalisierung der NO -Immissionsdaten. Res. Rep., Meteorol. Inst. Univ. Freiburg. Nester, K., 1995. In#uence of sea breeze #ows on air pollution over the Attica peninsula. Atmospheric Environment 29, 3655}3670.
Chemical Principles of Environ-mental Pollution Air quality in the Russian Federation Ac-counting for meteorological e!ects in measuring urban ozone levels and trends
• B J Alloway
• D C Ayres
• P Royle
• J A Steiberg
• L J Yang
Alloway, B.J., Ayres, D.C., 1993. Chemical Principles of Environ-mental Pollution. Blackie Academic & Professional, London. Bezuglaya, E.Y., 1996. Air quality in the Russian Federation. WMO Bulletin 45, 132}135. Bloom"eld, P., Royle, J.A., Steiberg, L.J., Yang, Q., 1996. Ac-counting for meteorological e!ects in measuring urban ozone levels and trends. Atmospheric Environment 30, 3067}3077.
Overview of air pollution in European cities Umweltbun-desamt World Urabanization Prospects. The 1992 Revision City air quality trends } Analysis of the winter-time NO pollution in the Tokyo Metropolitan area
• R Sluyter
Sluyter, R., 1996. Overview of air pollution in European cities. WMO Bulletin 45, 123}128. UBA, 1998. Umweltdaten Deutschland 1998. Umweltbun-desamt. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin. UN, 1993. World Urabanization Prospects. The 1992 Revision. United Nations. UNEP/WHO, 1993. City air quality trends } Vol. 2. WHO PEP/93 26, UNE93 26P GEMS 93.A.2, Genf. Uno, I., Ohara, T., Wakamatsu, S., 1996. Analysis of the winter-time NO pollution in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. At-mospheric Environment 30, 703}713.
• Kuttler
Kuttler, W., 1996. Aspekte der Angewandten Stadtklimatologie. Geowissenschaften 14, 221}228.
Analyse der Ozonkonzentrationen an Sonn-und Werktagen
• H Mayer
• J Schmidt
Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1993. Analyse der Ozonkonzentrationen an Sonn-und Werktagen. Res. Rep., Meteorol. Inst. Univ. Freiburg.
Air quality in the Russian Federation
• Bezuglaya
Bezuglaya, E.Y., 1996. Air quality in the Russian Federation. WMO Bulletin 45, 132}135.
Overview of air pollution in European cities
• Sluyter
Sluyter, R., 1996. Overview of air pollution in European cities. WMO Bulletin 45, 123}128.
World Urabanization Prospects. The 1992 Revision
UN, 1993. World Urabanization Prospects. The 1992 Revision. United Nations.
City air quality trends }
• Unep Who
UNEP/WHO, 1993. City air quality trends } Vol. 2. WHO PEP/93 26, UNE93 26P GEMS 93.A.2, Genf.
Methoden zur Regionalisierung der NO2-Immissionsdaten
• H Mayer
• J Schmidt
Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1994b. Methoden zur Regionalisierung der NO -Immissionsdaten. Res. Rep., Meteorol. Inst. Univ. Freiburg.
Ozone on an urban and regional scale – with special reference to the situation in the Netherlands
• Guicherit