Analysis of the Air Quality in Considering the Impact of the Atmospheric Emission from the Urban Road Traffic

Abstract. Ship emissions in and around ports are of interest for urban air quality management in many harbour cities. We investigated the impact of regional and local ship emissions on urban air quality for 2012 conditions in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, the largest cargo port in Scandinavia. In order to assess the effects of ship emissions, a coupled regional- and local-scale model system has been set up using ship emissions in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea as well as in and around the port of Gothenburg. Ship emissions were calculated with the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM), taking into account individual vessel characteristics and vessel activity data. The calculated contributions from local and regional shipping to local air pollution in Gothenburg were found to be substantial, especially in areas around the city ports. The relative contribution from local shipping to annual mean NO2 concentrations was 14 % as the model domain average, while the relative contribution from regional shipping in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea was 26 %. In an area close to the city terminals, the contribution of NO2 from local shipping (33 %) was higher than that of road traffic (28 %), which indicates the importance of controlling local shipping emissions. Local shipping emissions of NOx led to a decrease in the summer mean O3 levels in the city by 0.5 ppb (∼2 %) on average. Regional shipping led to a slight increase in O3 concentrations; however, the overall effect of regional and the local shipping together was a small decrease in the summer mean O3 concentrations in the city. In addition, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from local shipping compensate up to 4 ppb of the decrease in summer O3 concentrations due to the NO titration effect. For particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 µm (PM2.5), local ship emissions contributed only 3 % to the annual mean in the model domain, while regional shipping under 2012 conditions was a larger contributor, with an annual mean contribution of 11 % of the city domain average. Based on the modelled local and regional shipping contributions, the health effects of PM2.5, NO2 and ozone were assessed using the ALPHA-RiskPoll (ARP) model. An effect of the shipping-associated PM2.5 exposure in the modelled area was a mean decrease in the life expectancy by 0.015 years per person. The relative contribution of local shipping to the impact of total PM2.5 was 2.2 %, which can be compared to the 5.3 % contribution from local road traffic. The relative contribution of the regional shipping was 10.3 %. The mortalities due to the exposure to NO2 associated with shipping were calculated to be 2.6 premature deaths yr−1. The relative contribution of local and regional shipping to the total exposure to NO2 in the reference simulation was 14 % and 21 %, respectively. The shipping-related ozone exposures were due to the NO titration effect leading to a negative number of premature deaths. Our study shows that overall health impacts of regional shipping can be more significant than those of local shipping, emphasizing that abatement policy options on city-scale air pollution require close cooperation across governance levels. Our findings indicate that the strengthened Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) fuel sulphur limit from 1 % to 0.1 % in 2015, leading to a strong decrease in the formation of secondary particulate matter on a regional scale was an important step in improving the air quality in the city.

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The Impact of Laying Mode of Rail Transit on Urban Road Traffic

Proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Conference on Intelligent Medical 2018 & International Conference on Transportation and Traffic Engineering 2018 on - APCIM & ICTTE 2018 ◽

10.1145/3321619.3321641 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Shiyao Peng ◽

Gehui Liu

Keyword(s):

Road Traffic ◽

Rail Transit ◽

Urban Road ◽

The Impact

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Variability of carbonaceous aerosols in remote, rural, urban and industrial environments in Spain: implications for air quality policy

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-13-6971-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 6971-7019

Author(s):

X. Querol ◽

A. Alastuey ◽

M. Viana ◽

T. Moreno ◽

C. Reche ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Mixing Layer ◽

Gaseous Emissions ◽

Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽

Health Related ◽

Remote Sites ◽

Rural Sites ◽

The Impact ◽

Urban Sites

Abstract. We interpret here the variability of levels of carbonaceous aerosols based on a 12-yr database from 78 monitoring stations across Spain especially compiled for this article. Data did not evidence any spatial trends of carbonaceous aerosols across the country. Conversely, results show marked differences in average concentrations from the cleanest, most remote sites (around 1 μg m−3 of non-mineral carbon (nmC), mostly made of organic carbon (OC), with very little elemental carbon (EC) 0.1 μg m−3; OC/EC = 12–15), to the highly polluted major cities (8–10 μg m−3 of nmC; 3–4 μg m−3 of EC; 4–5 μg m−3 of OC; OC/EC = 1–2). Thus, urban (and very specific industrial) pollution was found to markedly increase levels of carbonaceous aerosols in Spain, with much lower impact of biomass burning. Correlations between yearly averaged OC/EC and EC concentrations adjust very well to a potential equation (OC/EC = 3.37 EC−0.67 R2 = 0.94). A similar equation is obtained when including average concentrations obtained at other European sites (y = 3.61x−0.5, R2 = 0.78). A clear seasonal variability in OC and EC concentrations was detected. Both OC and EC concentrations were higher during winter at the traffic and urban sites, but OC increased during the warmer months at the rural sites. Hourly equivalent black carbon (EBC) concentrations at urban sites accurately depict road traffic contributions, varying with distance to road, traffic volume and density, mixing layer height and wind speed. Weekday urban rush-hour EBC peaks are mimicked by concentrations of primary gaseous emissions from road traffic, whereas a single midday peak is characteristic of remote and rural sites. Decreasing annual trends for carbonaceous aerosols were observed between 1999 and 2011 at a large number of stations, probably reflecting the impact of the EURO4 and EURO5 standards in reducing the diesel PM emissions. This has resulted in some cases in an increasing trend of NO2/OC+EC ratios, because these standards have been much less effective for the abatement of NOx exhaust emissions in passenger diesel cars. This study concludes that EC, EBC, and especially nmC and OC+EC are very good candidates for new air quality standards since they cover both emission impact and health related issues.

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The Impact of Road Traffic in Madrid Community by Using a Nested Gaussian-Mesoscale Air Quality Model (GAMA)

Urban Air Quality: Measurement, Modelling and Management ◽

10.1007/978-94-010-0932-4_51 ◽

2000 ◽

pp. 469-476

Author(s):

R. San José ◽

L. D. Pedraza ◽

I. Salas ◽

R. M. González

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Air Quality Model ◽

Quality Model ◽

The Impact ◽

Mesoscale Air Quality

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Contribution of emissions to concentrations: the TAGGING 1.0 submodel based on the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy 2.52)

Geoscientific Model Development ◽

10.5194/gmd-10-2615-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 2615-2633 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Volker Grewe ◽

Eleni Tsati ◽

Mariano Mertens ◽

Christine Frömming ◽

Patrick Jöckel

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Tropospheric Ozone ◽

Radiative Forcing ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Computing Time ◽

Reaction Rates ◽

Traffic Emissions ◽

Time Step ◽

Road Traffic Emissions ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Questions such as what is the contribution of road traffic emissions to climate change? or what is the impact of shipping emissions on local air quality? require a quantification of the contribution of specific emissions sectors to the concentration of radiatively active species and air-quality-related species, respectively. Here, we present a diagnostics package, implemented in the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy), which keeps track of the contribution of source categories (mainly emission sectors) to various concentrations. The diagnostics package is implemented as a submodel (TAGGING) of EMAC (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts – Hamburg (ECHAM)/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry). It determines the contributions of 10 different source categories to the concentration of ozone, nitrogen oxides, peroxyacytyl nitrate, carbon monoxide, non-methane hydrocarbons, hydroxyl, and hydroperoxyl radicals ( = tagged tracers). The source categories are mainly emission sectors and some other sources for completeness. As emission sectors, road traffic, shipping, air traffic, anthropogenic non-traffic, biogenic, biomass burning, and lightning are considered. The submodel obtains information on the chemical reaction rates, online emissions, such as lightning, and wash-out rates. It then solves differential equations for the contribution of a source category to each of the seven tracers. This diagnostics package does not feed back to any other part of the model. For the first time, it takes into account chemically competing effects: for example, the competition between NOx, CO, and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in the production and destruction of ozone. We show that the results are in-line with results from other tagging schemes and provide plausibility checks for concentrations of trace gases, such as OH and HO2, which have not previously been tagged. The budgets of the tagged tracers, i.e. the contribution from individual source categories (mainly emission sectors) to, e.g., ozone, are only marginally sensitive to changes in model resolution, though the level of detail increases. A reduction in road traffic emissions by 5 % shows that road traffic global tropospheric ozone is reduced by 4 % only, because the net ozone productivity increases. This 4 % reduction in road traffic tropospheric ozone corresponds to a reduction in total tropospheric ozone by ≈  0.3 %, which is compensated by an increase in tropospheric ozone from other sources by 0.1 %, resulting in a reduction in total tropospheric ozone of ≈  0.2 %. This compensating effect compares well with previous findings. The computational costs of the TAGGING submodel are low with respect to computing time, but a large number of additional tracers are required. The advantage of the tagging scheme is that in one simulation and at every time step and grid point, information is available on the contribution of different emission sectors to the ozone budget, which then can be further used in upcoming studies to calculate the respective radiative forcing simultaneously.

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Assessing the Impact of Road Traffic Reorganization on Air Quality: A Street Canyon Case Study

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11070695 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 695

Author(s):

Marek Bogacki ◽

Robert Oleniacz ◽

Mateusz Rzeszutek ◽

Paulina Bździuch ◽

Adriana Szulecka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Road Transport ◽

Air Pollutant ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Maximum Speed ◽

Commercial Vehicles ◽

The Road ◽

Management Changes ◽

The Impact

One of the elements of strategy aimed at minimizing the impact of road transport on air quality is the introduction of its reorganization resulting in decreased pollutant emissions to the air. The aim of the study was to determine the optimal strategy of corrective actions in terms of the air pollutant emissions from road transport. The study presents the assessment results of the emission reduction degree of selected pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, and NOx) as well as the impact evaluation of this reduction on their concentrations in the air for adopted scenarios of the road management changes for one of the street canyons in Krakow (Southern Poland). Three scenarios under consideration of the city authorities were assessed: narrowing the cross-section of the street by eliminating one lane in both directions, limiting the maximum speed from 70 km/h to 50 km/h, and allowing only passenger and light commercial vehicles on the streets that meet the Euro 4 standard or higher. The best effects were obtained for the variant assuming banning of vehicles failing to meet the specified Euro standard. It would result in a decrease of the yearly averaged PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations by about 8–9% and for NOx by almost 30%.

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Optimization Monitoring Points of Urban Road Traffic Noise in Binzhou City

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.1073-1076.522 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1073-1076 ◽

pp. 522-525

Author(s):

Fu Guo Zhao

Keyword(s):

Noise Level ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Traffic Noise ◽

Measurement Data ◽

Experimental Results ◽

Road Traffic Noise ◽

Actual Measurement ◽

Urban Road ◽

The Impact

Considering the Impact of the current urban road traffic noise,I optimize the traffic noise monitoring points on the basis of the actual measurement data. The experimental results prove that less monitoring points may reflect the overall traffic noise level in Binzhou City.

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Variability of levels of PM, black carbon and particle number concentration in selected European cities

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-11-8665-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 8665-8717 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

C. Reche ◽

X. Querol ◽

A. Alastuey ◽

M. Viana ◽

J. Pey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Traffic Emissions ◽

Northern Europe ◽

Gaseous Pollutants ◽

Emission Sources ◽

Urban Background ◽

Road Traffic Emissions ◽

The Impact

Abstract. In many large cities of Europe standard air quality limit values of particulate matter (PM) are exceeded. Emissions from road traffic and biomass burning are frequently reported to be the major causes. As a consequence of these exceedances a large number of air quality plans, most of them focusing on traffic emissions reductions, have been implemented in the last decade. In spite of this implementation, a number of cities did not record a decrease of PM levels. Thus, is the efficiency of air quality plans overestimated? Or do we need a more specific metric to evaluate the impact of the above emissions on the levels of urban aerosols? This study shows the results of the interpretation of the 2009 variability of levels of PM, black carbon (BC), aerosol number concentration (N) and a number of gaseous pollutants in seven selected urban areas covering road traffic, urban background, urban-industrial, and urban-shipping environments from southern, central and northern Europe. The results showed that variations of PM and N levels do not always reflect the variation of the impact of road traffic emissions on urban aerosols. However, BC levels vary proportionally with those of traffic related gaseous pollutants, such as CO, NO2 and NO. Due to this high correlation, one may suppose that monitoring the levels of these gaseous pollutants would be enough to extrapolate exposure to traffic-derived BC levels. However, the BC/CO, BC/NO2 and BC/NO ratios vary widely among the cities studied, as a function of distance to traffic emissions, vehicle fleet composition and the influence of other emission sources such as biomass burning. Thus, levels of BC should be measured at air quality monitoring sites. During traffic rush hours, a narrow variation in the N/BC ratio was evidenced, but a wide variation of this ratio was determined for the noon period. Although in central and northern Europe N and BC levels tend to vary simultaneously, not only during the traffic rush hours but also during the whole day, in urban background stations in southern Europe maximum N levels coinciding with minimum BC levels are recorded at midday in all seasons. These N maxima recorded in southern European urban background environments are attributed to midday nucleation episodes occurring when gaseous pollutants are diluted and maximum insolation and O3 levels occur. The occurrence of SO2 peaks may also contribute to the occurrence of midday nucleation bursts in specific industrial or shipping-influenced areas, although at several central European sites similar levels of SO2 are recorded without yielding nucleation episodes. Accordingly, it is clearly evidenced that N variability in different European urban environments is not equally influenced by the same emission sources and atmospheric processes. We conclude that N variability does not always reflect the impact of road traffic on air quality, whereas BC is a more consistent tracer of such an influence. The combination of PM10 and BC monitoring in urban areas potentially constitutes a useful approach to evaluate the impact of road traffic emissions on air quality.

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