scholarly journals How Can Odors Be Measured? An Overview of Methods and Their Applications

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Bax ◽  
Selena Sironi ◽  
Laura Capelli
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Environmental Issue ◽  
Industrial Activities ◽  
Odor Pollution ◽  
Specific Odor

In recent years, citizens’ attention towards air quality and pollution has increased significantly, and nowadays, odor pollution related to different industrial activities is recognized as a well-known environmental issue. For this reason, odors are subjected to control and regulation in many countries, and specific methods for odor measurement have been developed and standardized over the years. This paper, conceived within the H2020 D-NOSES project, summarizes odor measurement techniques, highlighting their applicability, advantages, and limits, with the aim of providing experienced as well as non-experienced users a useful tool that can be consulted in the management of specific odor problems for evaluating and identifying the most suitable approach. The paper also presents relevant examples of the application of the different methods discussed, thereby mainly referring to scientific articles published over the last 10 years.

scholarly journals COVID-19 national lockdown in Morocco: impacts on air quality and public health

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenza Khomsi ◽  
Houda Najmi ◽  
Hassan Amghar ◽  
Youssef Chelhaoui ◽  
Zineb Souhaili
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Pollution ◽  
Pollution Reduction ◽  
Industrial Activities ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Quality Status

AbstractOn the 20th April 2020, the end date of the first strict lockdown period in Morocco, 2 403 410 cases of the corona Virus were confirmed globally. The number of Morocco confirmed cases attended 2990, while 12 746 were suspected and 143 deaths were recorded. Due to the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 worldwide and in Morocco, almost all avoidable activities in the country were prohibited since the kingdom announced activities reduction on March 16, 2020 and then general lockdown with reduced industrial activities on March 20, 2020.This study aims at comparing the air quality status in Casablanca and Marrakech, two large cities from Morocco, before the pandemic and during the lockdown situation to show whether COVID-19 compelled-anthropogenic activities lockdown may have saved lives by restraining ambient air pollution than by preventing infection.We found that, during the quarantine, NO2 dropped by -12 μg/m3 in Casablanca and -7 μg/m3 in Marrakech. PM2·5 dropped by -18 μg/m3 in Casablanca and -14 μg/m3 in Marrakech. CO dropped by -0.04 mg/m3 in Casablanca and -0.12 mg/m3 in Marrakech. This air pollution reduction had created human health benefits and had reduced mortality and saved lives mainly from cardiovascular diseases.

scholarly journals Atmospheric Pollutant Dispersion over Complex Terrain: Challenges and Needs for Improving Air Quality Measurements and Modeling

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Giovannini ◽  
Enrico Ferrero ◽  
Thomas Karl ◽  
Mathias W. Rotach ◽  
Chantal Staquet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Complex Terrain ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Pollutant Dispersion ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutant ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
Air Quality Measurements

Pollutant dispersion processes over complex terrain are much more complicated than over flat areas, as they are affected by atmospheric interactions with the orography at different spatial scales. This paper reviews recent findings and progress in this field, focusing on both experimental and modeling perspectives. It highlights open questions and challenges to our capability for better understanding and representing atmospheric processes controlling the fate of pollutants over mountainous areas. In particular, attention is focused on new measurement techniques for the retrieval of spatially distributed turbulence information and air quality parameters, and on challenges for meteorological and dispersion models to reproduce fine-scale processes influenced by the orography. Finally, specific needs in this field are discussed, along with possible directions for future research efforts.

scholarly journals Quantifying Carbon Monoxide Emissions on the Scale of Large Wildfires

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Volkamer ◽  
Megan Bela ◽  
Natalie Kille ◽  
Stuart McKeen ◽  
Ravan Ahmadov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Land Use Changes ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Radiative Energy ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Forest Fuels

Abstract Anthropogenic factors, such as ignitions, climate, and land use changes, are the primary reason why the wildfire season today is three times longer than only twenty years ago, with fires now burning year-round in the continental United States1. The quantities of fuel that go up as smoke in the form of trace gases and aerosols affect public health2,3,4 and ecosystems5, but are highly uncertain6,7,8,9 due to a lack of measurement techniques to directly quantify wildfire emissions. Uncertain emissions contribute to errors in air quality models10,11 used to forecast smoke impacts on public health in affected communities, and to inform firefighting efforts. Here we show that destructive fires in northern California during October 2017 emitted 2040 ± 316 tonnes hr-1 carbon monoxide (CO), which is more than ten times larger than the emissions from all other anthropogenic CO pollution sources in the entire state of California combined. An assessment of satellite-based emission inventories reveals that the uncertainty in predicting pyrogenic CO emissions spans a factor of 83. Air quality impacts in the form of ozone and fine particulate matter range from insignificant to very severe (vary by two orders of magnitude), and scale with uncertain emissions caused primarily by the different ecosystem classification among emission inventories. This uncertainty is reduced to a factor of ~2 by our first CO mass flux measurements on the scale of actual wildfires. We derive the conversion factor of satellite fire radiative energy to CO emissions (α = 73 ± 11 to 149 ± 23 g CO MJ-1) for savannah and extratropical forest fuels of these fires, which is higher (+30 to +230%) than tabulated for these fuel types. Our results help to improve future model predictions, and suggest an additional organic soil contribution to emissions from wildfires in northern California.

Towards Remote Sensing Datasets Collection and Processing

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Badreddine Boudriki Semlali ◽  
El Amrani Chaker
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
The Other ◽  
World Health ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Polar Orbit ◽  
Industrial Activities ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization

The world is witnessing important increases in industrial, transport and agriculture activities. This leads to economic growth, but, on the other hand, causes substantial damage in urban air, due to emissions of harmful gases, mainly CO, SO2, NO2 and the Particular Matter (PM). The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that daily exposure to pollutants causes approximately three million deaths. It is therefore necessary to assess continuously the air quality. In this context, a Java-based application was developed to acquire data from EUMETSAT geostationary and Polar Orbit satellites, through the Mediterranean Dialogue Earth Observatory (MDEO) terrestrial station. This application filters, subsets, processes and visualizes products covering Morocco zone. Significant correlations were found between emissions and industrial activities related to power thermal plants, factories, transportation and ports.

Comparison of Three VOC Measurement Techniques for tVOC Monitoring Regulated by Taiwan EPA in Indoor Air Quality

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (1) ◽  
pp. 4569
Author(s):  
Huey-Jen Su ◽  
Chia-Wei Lee ◽  
Chien-Cheng Jung ◽  
Nai-Yun Hsu ◽  
Chih-Hsiang Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Measurement Techniques

scholarly journals The Importance of Checking Indoor Air Quality in Underground Historic Buildings Intended for Tourist Use

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Maestre ◽  
Victor Iribarren
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Important Place ◽  
Gaseous State ◽  
Radon Gas ◽  
Heritage Building ◽  
History Of ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The City

This article demonstrates the importance of quantifying the air quality with radon gas level as indicator in any heritage building, especially those intended for the use of people. The tourist activity or historical guide represents a typology where people spend a certain time, that is to say, in no case do they spend the same amount of hours as in their homes or jobs. Different gases that may be present in the environment must be controlled. The Séneca Square shelter, in Alicante, is a very important place for the history of the city during the Spanish Civil War that has recently been rehabilitated for exposure to people. The source of most radon gas inside a building is the ground. Many countries, including Spain, in which the building regulations, regarding the accumulation of radon gas, do not specify in their technical codes, the maximum dose that a building can sustain so that it is not harmful to people, or, the measures required to correct excessive accumulation. The possible existence of radon is verified in any underground building, regardless of the characteristics of the soil (whether granitic or not), the importance of defining and unifying the regulations that specify the different levels of radon in any architectural constructions is evident. Most of the scientific agencies in the field of medicine and health, consider that radon gas is a very harmful element for people. This element in its gaseous state is radioactive and it is present in almost all soils in which buildings are implanted, with granitic types of soil presenting higher levels of radon gas. Non-granitic soils have traditionally been considered to have very low radon levels. However, this work, providing the results of the research carried out in the underground air raid shelter in Seneca Square in Alicante (Spain), demonstrates the relevant presence of radon in non-granitic soils. This research addresses the constructive typology of the underground building and the radon presence in its interior obtained using rigorous measurement techniques.

scholarly journals LIFE Monza: comparison between ante and post-operam noise and air quality monitoring activities in a Noise Low Emission Zone

Noise Mapping ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-191
Author(s):  
Rosalba Silvaggio ◽  
Salvatore Curcuruto ◽  
Enrico Mazzocchi ◽  
Francesco Borchi ◽  
Chiara Bartalucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Quality Monitoring ◽  
Air Quality Monitoring ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Low Emission ◽  
Monitoring Activities

AbstractLIFE MONZA project (Methodologies fOr Noise low emission Zones introduction And management) aims at defining an easy-replicable method for the identification and management of the Noise Low Emission Zones (Noise LEZ), urban areas subject to traffic restrictions, usually introduced in order to ensure compliance with the air pollutants limit values, prescribed by the European Directive on ambient air quality 2008/50/EC, whose impacts and potential benefits regarding noise issues have been taken into account, tested and analysed in a pilot area of the city of Monza, located in North Italy. Noise LEZ has been established in Libertà district, introducing infrastructural interventions carried out by the municipality (top-down actions) and encouraging an active involvement of the citizens, in the definition of a more sustainable lifestyle (bottom-up actions). The analysis of potential effects on noise reduction due to the Noise LEZ can contribute to the implementation of the EU Directive 2002/49/EC, related to the assessment and management of environmental noise (Environmental Noise Directive – END), which introduces noise action plans, designed to manage noise issues and their effects, suggesting the adoption of urban and mobility planning. Noise and air quality monitoring activities have been carried out in pilot area in ante and post-operam conditions. The monitoring methods, the measurement techniques, the analysis procedures, able to describe the effects due to Noise LEZ establishment, for both the main environmental issues are reported in this paper, as proposals to be applied in other different contexts. Results of monitoring activities highlight a reduction of noise, in term of sound pressure levels, between ante and post-operam, during the day and particularly during the night period, and it is essentially due to the interventions realised. The effect of the Noise LEZ on air pollution seems to be negligible for combustion related pollutant and carbon fractions of PM, due both to the moderate spatial effects of the measures undertaken and confounding factors due to concomitant emission sources and meteorology.

scholarly journals The 2018 fire season in North America as seen by TROPOMI: aerosol layer height intercomparisons and evaluation of model-derived plume heights

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1427-1445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debora Griffin ◽  
Christopher Sioris ◽  
Jack Chen ◽  
Nolan Dickson ◽  
Andrew Kovachik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
North America ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
Fire Season ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Potential Game ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Plume Height ◽  
Layer Height ◽  
Fire Emissions

Abstract. Before the launch of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), only two other satellite instruments were able to observe aerosol plume heights globally, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The TROPOMI aerosol layer height is a potential game changer, since it has daily global coverage, and the aerosol layer height retrieval is available in near real time. The aerosol layer height can be useful for aviation and air quality alerts, as well as for improving air quality forecasting related to wildfires. Here, TROPOMI's aerosol layer height product is evaluated with MISR and CALIOP observations for wildfire plumes in North America for the 2018 fire season (June to August). Further, observing system simulation experiments were performed to interpret the fundamental differences between the different products. The results show that MISR and TROPOMI are, in theory, very close for aerosol profiles with single plumes. For more complex profiles with multiple plumes, however, different plume heights are retrieved; the MISR plume height represents the top layer, and the plume height retrieved with TROPOMI tends to have an average altitude of several plume layers. The comparison between TROPOMI and MISR plume heights shows that, on average, the TROPOMI aerosol layer heights are lower, by approximately 600 m, compared to MISR, which is likely due to the different measurement techniques. From the comparison to CALIOP, our results show that the TROPOMI aerosol layer height is more accurate over dark surfaces, for thicker plumes, and plumes between approximately 1 and 4.5 km. MISR and TROPOMI are further used to evaluate the plume height of Environment and Climate Change Canada's operational forecasting system FireWork with fire plume injection height estimates from the Canadian Forest Fire Emissions Prediction System (CFFEPS). The modelled plume heights are similar compared to the satellite observations but tend to be slightly higher with average differences of 270–580 and 60–320 m compared to TROPOMI and MISR, respectively.

scholarly journals Overview of the French Operational Network for In Situ Observation of PM Chemical Composition and Sources in Urban Environments (CARA Program)

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 207
Author(s):  
Olivier Favez ◽  
Samuël Weber ◽  
Jean-Eudes Petit ◽  
Laurent Y. Alleman ◽  
Alexandre Albinet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
National Level ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Receptor Modeling ◽  
In Situ Observation ◽  
Reference Laboratory ◽  
Monitoring Networks

The CARA program has been running since 2008 by the French reference laboratory for air quality monitoring (LCSQA) and the regional monitoring networks, to gain better knowledge—at a national level—on particulate matter (PM) chemistry and its diverse origins in urban environments. It results in strong collaborations with international-level academic partners for state-of-the-art, straightforward, and robust results and methodologies within operational air quality stakeholders (and subsequently, decision makers). Here, we illustrate some of the main outputs obtained over the last decade, thanks to this program, regarding methodological aspects (both in terms of measurement techniques and data treatment procedures) as well as acquired knowledge on the predominant PM sources. Offline and online methods are used following well-suited quality assurance and quality control procedures, notably including inter-laboratory comparison exercises. Source apportionment studies are conducted using various receptor modeling approaches. Overall, the results presented herewith underline the major influences of residential wood burning (during the cold period) and road transport emissions (exhaust and non-exhaust ones, all throughout the year), as well as substantial contributions of mineral dust and primary biogenic particles (mostly during the warm period). Long-range transport phenomena, e.g., advection of secondary inorganic aerosols from the European continental sector and of Saharan dust into the French West Indies, are also discussed in this paper. Finally, we briefly address the use of stable isotope measurements (δ15N) and of various organic molecular markers for a better understanding of the origins of ammonium and of the different organic aerosol fractions, respectively.

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