Urban Air Pollution

MODELLING STUDY FOR CHARACTERIZING AND PREDICTING URBAN AIR POLLUTION Gregorio Andria, Giuseppe Cavone, Anna ML Lanzolla, Alessandro Rubino Department of Electrics and Electronics (DEE) – Politecnico di Bari Viale del Turismo 8, 74100 Taranto ...

Epidemiologic studies indicate that prolonged exposure to high pollution levels is associated with increased risk of cancer, especially lung cancer. However, under conditions of moderate or low air pollution, epidemiologic evidence does not permit reliable conclusions. Biomarker-based population studies may serve as complementary tools providing a better understanding of the relative contribution of ambient atmospheric pollution to the overall genotoxic burden suffered by city dwellers. However, past efforts to apply biomarkers to studies of low levels exposure to urban air pollution have given inconclusive results, partly because of the absence of adequate data on personal exposure, covering a time-window which is appropriate for the biomarkers being examined, as well as a battery of biomarkers reflecting different stages of the carcinogenic process. In the present paper, the potential of biomarker-based population studies to aid the assessment of the genotoxic and carcinogenic eff...

The goal of this research was to investigate the health effects of winter pollution on various occupations in Lahore and its neighboring peri-urban areas. A questionnaire survey, key informants, and focused group discussions were employed to collect data, which included demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related information. Descriptive statistics and the multivariate logistic regression model (MLRM) were used to examine the effects of pollution on exposed occupational groups who experienced symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, and eye discomfort. According to data from interviews, MLRM revealed that individuals working in various occupations with outdoor and indoor environments are equally affected by winter smog, but being middle-aged (odds ratio OR = 5.73), having a history of a respiratory ailment (OR = 4.06), and location (OR = 2.26) all play important roles in determining health. However, less educated people, elders, and people who already live in polluted area...

Several alternative vehicle and fuel options are under consideration to alleviate the triple threats of climate change, urban air pollution and foreign oil dependence caused by motor vehicles. This paper evaluates the primary transportation alternatives and determines ...

The conversion of other types of land to uses concerned chiefly with population growth and increase in economic activities is the main cause of land use land cover changes in human history. Urban expansion has therefore been identified as one of the most evident examples of human modification of the Earth and has therefore become a very important element in world environmental studies. For effective monitoring of environmental changes and proper management of natural resources to be carried out, studies on urban growth patterns needs to be carried out. This makes urban expansion studies extremely important. The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana has been experiencing fast urban growth over the past two decades. Forest and agriculture lands are being converted to uses concerned chiefly with population growth and increased in economic activities. This research sought to assess urban expansion in the metropolis using an integrated remote sensing and GIS approach. Several remote sensing techniques were used to carry out land-use-land-cover change detection using two multitemporal Landsat images of the years 1991 and 2008. This assisted in determining the changes that have taken place over the 17 year period. Urban growth pattern was also analysed using GIS techniques. The results showed that there has been a significant urban growth in the study area. The annual rate of change of land cover within the 17 year period was determined to be 1.77%. The results further showed that urban expansion was uneven in different part of the metropolis and that there is a negative correlation between the density of urban expansion and distance to a major road. The results further showed that the annual rate of change of urban/built-up land is 4.88%. This urban development has therefore altered the land cover of the metropolis significantly.

The concentration of seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) associated with the atmospheric solid phase was measured in the Zaragoza (North-East of Spain) atmosphere using fluorescence spectroscopy in the synchronous mode (FS). The PAH results were reported for four different urban and suburban places, located within the city and during the period October 1999–September 2001. The PAH data obtained indicated the importance of local sources generated from urban/industrial areas. Although the PAH total concentration was quite similar in all the sampling sites, the main differences were due to Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and Coronene (Cor) concentrations, reaching the highest values in the sites associated with heavy traffic (trucks, lorries, etc.). The temporal evolution of atmospheric solid phase PAH concentrations indicated a seasonal trend. Higher PAH concentrations were found during colder seasons for the four sampling sites. The influence of environmental parameters such as temperature, rain, relative humidity, wind speed and direction on the PAH emissions was analyzed observing a positive correlation between the total PAH concentration and the relative humidity and a negative one with the temperature. With regard to the wind direction, higher PAH emissions were detected when wind was coming from an east and north-east direction. Wind from a north-westerly direction showed lower PAH emissions associated with the cierzo wind which provided cleaner air.

Megacities in India (population more than 10 million) have taken actions to control air-pollution emissions. However, the second-level cities (population between one and 10 million) have not drawn an action plan, and people face serious air pollution in these cities. For one such city, Lucknow, a geographic information system (GIS)-based methodology for emission inventory of on-road vehicles has been developed. The pollutants include: sulfur dioxide (SO 2); oxides of nitrogen (NO x); carbon monoxide (CO); particulate matter (PM); 1,3 butadiene; formaldehyde; acetaldehyde; total aldehydes; and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Video recording was done at nine road intersections of varying land-use patterns to assess traffic count and vehicle kilometer travel. Parking lot surveys were carried out for assessing engine type, vehicle age, etc. and to arrive at a suitable net emission factor for each vehicle category. The 2-wheelers (2-Ws) and 4-wheelers (4-Ws) dominate the total traffic with an 83% share and are main sources of NO x (46%) and CO (77%). The heavy duty vehicles (HDVs: buses and trucks), although they account for only 2% of the vehicle fleet, emit disproportionately high emissions (23% of SO 2 , 36% of NO x , and 28% of PM). Spatial cell (2 × 2 km)-wise emission inventory of pollutants indicates that the city center has the highest pollutant emissions resulting from a large number of vehicles, mostly 2-Ws, 3-Ws, and passenger cars. The inventory information can be used for short-term and long-term planning to reduce emissions.

Well-positioned and configured vegetation barriers
(VBs) have been suggested as one of the green infrastructures
that could improve near-road (local) air quality. This is because
of their influence on the underlying mechanisms: dispersion
and mass removal (by deposition). Some studies have
investigated air quality improvement by near-road vegetation
barrier using the dispersion-related method while few studies
have done the same using the deposition-related method.
However, decision making on vegetation barrier’s configuration
and placement for need-based maximum benefit requires
a combined assessment with both methods which are not commonly
found in a single study. In the present study, we
employed a computational fluid dynamics model, ENVI-met,
to evaluate the air quality benefit of near-road vegetation barrier
using an integrated dispersion–deposition approach. A technique
based on distance between source (road) and point of
peak concentration before dwindling concentration downwind
begins referred to as Bdistance to maximum concentration
(DMC)^ has been proposed to determine optimum position
from source and thickness of vegetation barrier for improved
dispersion and deposition-based benefit, respectively.
Generally, a higher volume of vegetation barrier increases the  overall mass removal while it weakens dispersion of pollutant
within the same domain. Hence, the benefit of roadside vegetation
barrier is need-based and can be expressed as either
higher mass deposition or higher mass dispersion. Finally, recommendations
on applications of our findings were presented.

The consumption of fossil fuels spawns environmental considerations in addition to issues of energy demand, national security and resource availability. At global level, scientists warn that the combustion of fossil fuels is significantly changing the world's climate system. Local or regional concerns include smog, acid rain, and health implications of urban air pollution. Due to stringent emission norms and depletion of petroleum resources there has been a continuous effort to use alternative fuels such as hydrogen. It has its own benefits and limitations if it is used in conjunction with conventional fuel in diesel engine. The purpose of this article was to investigate the effect of hydrogen addition on performance and exhaust gas emission of stationary diesel engine. In this study, hydrogen was used as secondary fuel in a single cylinder 406 c.c. diesel engine. The hydrogen was injected through intake manifold and diesel was injected directly inside the combustion chamber. Series of experiments were conducted and it can be seen the effect of hydrogen addition in the increase of peak pressure from 5 bar to a maximum 21 bar, IMEP from 1.0 to 1.7 bar , indicated power from 4%-16%. There were also increases in NO x and CO emissions from 48-197 ppm and 423-758 ppm, respectively. Hydrogen addition causes increase in exhaust gas temperature from 3.1% to 10.2% particularly at 2500 rpm and reduction in O 2 emissions from 3.9% to 7.6% (by volume) throughout all engine speeds. ©2009 IEEE.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielx5/5379689/5398594/05398672.pdf?tp=&arnumber=5398672&isnumber=5398594

From Multi-Axis-(MAX-) DOAS observations information on tropospheric trace gases close to the surface and up to the free troposphere can be obtained. Usually MAX-DOAS observations are performed at fixed locations, which allows to retrieve the di-urnal variation of tropospheric species at that location. Alternatively, MAX-DOAS ob-5 servations can also be made on mobile platforms like cars, ships or aircrafts. Then, in addition to the vertical (and temporal) distribution, also the horizontal variation of tro-pospheric trace gases can be measured. Such information is important for the quantitative comparison with model simulations, study of transport processes, and for the validation of tropospheric trace gas products from satellite observations. However, for 10 MAX-DOAS observations from mobile platforms, the standard analysis techniques for MAX-DOAS observations can usually not be applied, because the probed airmasses can change rapidly between successive measurements. In this study we introduce a new technique which overcomes these problems and allows the exploitation of the full information content of mobile MAX-DOAS observations. Our method can also be 15 applied to MAX-DOAS observations made at fixed locations in order to improve the accuracy especially in cases of strong winds. We apply the new technique to MAX-DOAS observations made during an automobile trip from Brussels to Heidelberg.

The highly rugged mountainous land topography of the Novorossiysk industrial agglomeration (NW Caucasus, Krasnodar Krai, Russia) and arid climate limit the restoration abilities of disturbed mine lands. Abandoned waste-rock dumps of a marl quarry occupy an area of ca. 150,000 m2 next to the cement plant, residential districts, and a commercial seaport. To assess the eco-risk, topsoil horizons of urban and mine-site Technosols and background Rendzinas were sampled and analyzed; measurements of particulate matter fractions PM1, PM2.5, PM4, and PM10 were conducted throughout the agglomeration. Fugitive dust emission from the unreclaimed marl dumps raises the PM2.5 content in the air by a factor of 2.68 on average. The high sorption capacity of the fine eluvium results in the accumulation of urban emissions by the dust and contributes to the subsequent soil pollution; the Cumulative Pollution Index of pedochemical anomalies reaches the high-risk level over the areas of up to 5 km2. Environmental threats caused by the mine dumps can be assessed more reliably by means of land zoning based on accumulated environmental damage indicators and the debris flow and waterspout risk calculation. To abate the technogenic impact caused by the mine spoils, reclamation actions must be taken including soil stabilization on sensitive sites by application of geosynthetic cover, hydroseeding of the mixture of soil improvers and seeds of herbaceous plants on the slopes, and anti-erosion plantation of cades (Juniperus oxycedrus L.) and smoke trees (Cotinus coggygria Scop.) at subhorizontal surfaces.