Dispersion Characteristics of PM10 Particles Identified by Numerical Simulation in the Vicinity of Roads Passing through Various Types of Urban Areas

The dispersion of particulate matter emitted by road transport to the vicinity of roads is predominantly influenced by the character of the air velocity field. The air flow depends on factors such as the speed and direction of the blowing wind, the movement of cars, and the geometries of the buildings around a road. Numerical modeling based on the control volume method was used in this study to describe the relevant processes closely. Detailed air velocity fields were identified in the vicinity of a straight road surrounded by various patterns of built-up urban land. The evaluation of the results was generalized to exponential expressions, affecting the decrease of the mass concentration of fine particles with the increasing distance from the road. The obtained characteristics of the mass concentration fields express the impact of the building geometries and configurations on the dispersion of particulate matter into the environment. These characteristics are presented for two wind speeds, namely, 2 m·s−1 and 4 m·s−1. Furthermore, the characteristics are introduced in relation to three wind directions: perpendicularly, obliquely, and in parallel to the road. The results of the numerical simulations are compared with those obtained via the in-situ measurements, for verification of the validity of the linear emission source calculation.

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Concentrations of Traffic Related Pollutants in the Vicinity of Different Types of Urban Crossroads

Communications - Scientific letters of the University of Zilina ◽

10.26552/com.c.2019.1.49-58 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 49-58

Author(s):

Dusan Jandacka ◽

Daniela Durcanska ◽

Dasa Kovalova

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Nitrogen Oxides ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Road Transport ◽

Pollution Monitoring ◽

Air Pollution Monitoring ◽

The Road ◽

Hazardous Pollutants

Pollution of the air by gases and particulate matter is a problem of everyday life. Particulate matter (PM) is one of the hazardous pollutants causing deterioration of the environment and thus quality of life of the population. Long-term exposure to effects of increased concentrations of gaseous pollutants can also cause deterioration of the environment and human health. Particulate matter and gases production by the road transport is a burning issue, particularly for larger urban areas. Many factors influence the air quality what determines its development and changes. Air pollution monitoring was focused on a possible change in the concentrations of pollutants after the change of the crossroad - three-arm crossroad to the roundabout. The subject of this paper is monitoring particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) and gases (nitrogen oxides NO, NO2, NOx) in the vicinity of crossroads in the urban area and an evaluation of fraction ratios PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 with regard to construction of crossroad, meteorological conditions and traffic volume. The roundabout has specific construction and routing traffic, what can influence on production and dispersion of traffic related emissions. The obtained results indicate a decrease in particulate matter concentrations at the roundabout over a three-arm crossroad and an increase in nitrogen oxides concentrations at the roundabout compared to the three-arm crossroad. According to the data obtained and analyzed, the PM10 particulate matter concentrations at the roundabout could be reduced by up to 50% over the three-arm crossroad.

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The road beyond licensing: the impact of a driver licensing support program on employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-021-12218-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bobby Porykali ◽

Patricia Cullen ◽

Kate Hunter ◽

Kris Rogers ◽

Melissa Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Torres Strait Islander ◽

Geographical Area ◽

Employment Outcomes ◽

Support Program ◽

The Road ◽

Regional Area ◽

Torres Strait ◽

The Impact ◽

Driver Licensing

Abstract Background With increasingly tough graduated driver licensing laws in all Australian States and Territories, driver licensing support programs are recognised as being important to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to obtain a driver licence. Such programs appear to improve licensing attainment rates, but few studies have examined the broader impact that these programs can have. This research aims to 1) examine the impact of a New South Wales (NSW) based driver licensing support program (Driving Change) on client employment outcomes; 2) assess the influence of geographical area of program delivery on driver licence attainment. Methods Driving Change was delivered from February 2013 to August 2016 in 4 urban and 7 regional Aboriginal communities of NSW. Clients were followed-up at 6 months or more following contact with the program as part of routine program operations. Descriptive statistics and regression models were used to analyse data. Results From 933 clients contacted 254 agreed to provide feedback, a response rate of 27%. Those that responded were mostly female (57%), aged 24 years and under (72%), unemployed (85%) with secondary education or less (71%) and from a regional area (74%). Adjusted logistic regression indicated that clients who achieved an independent licence were more likely (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.22–5.24, p = 0.011) of reporting a new job or change in job than those who did not attain a licence. Clients from regional areas were more likely (OR: 1.72, 95% CI: 1.27–2.33, p < 0.001) to gain an independent licence than those from urban areas. There was no difference in employment outcomes (OR: 1.2, 95% CI: 0.53–2.52, p = 0.719) for clients from urban compared to regional areas. Conclusion The Driving Change program appears to be effective in improving employment outcomes for those who gained a licence. Clients from regional areas were more likely to gain a licence compared to those in urban settings, and were predominantly young and unemployed, often a hard to reach cohort. Future licensing programs being delivered in regional areas need integrated pathways into employment opportunities to provide holistic services that address the social and economic challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

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Emission of fine particles (PM2.5) from residential biomass combustion in Croatia and how to reduce it

Environmental engineering ◽

10.37023/ee.7.2.6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 84-94

Author(s):

Mirela Poljanac

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Human Health ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Fine Particles ◽

Biomass Combustion ◽

Rural And Urban Areas ◽

Wood Burning ◽

Rural And Urban ◽

The Impact ◽

Pm2.5 Emissions

Wood burning in residential appliances is very represented in the Republic of Croatia. It is a main or an additional form of heating for many households in rural and urban areas and is therefore an important source of air pollution. The choice of energy and the combustion appliance used in home have a significant impact on PM2.5 emissions. The paper informs the reader about PM2.5 emissions, their main sources and impacts on human health, environment, climate, air quality, and the reason why PM2.5 emissions from residential wood burning are harmful. Paper also gives an overview of spatial PM2.5 emission distribution in Croatia, their five air quality zones and four agglomerations. The paper analyses the sources and their contribution to PM2.5 emissions with the relevance of PM2.5 emissions from residential plants, the use of fuels in residential plants and their contribution to PM2.5 emissions and PM2.5 emissions by fuel combustion technologies in residential sector. Appropriate strategies, policies, and actions to reduce the impact of residential biomass (wood) burning on the environment, air quality and human health are considered.

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Evaluation of the Brake’s Performance Dependence Upon Technical Condition of Car Tires as a Factor of Road Safety Management

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13010009 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Olga Orynycz ◽

Karol Tucki ◽

Andrzej Wasiak ◽

Robert Sobótka ◽

Arkadiusz Gola

Keyword(s):

Road Safety ◽

Safety Management ◽

Road Transport ◽

Technical Condition ◽

The Road ◽

Vehicle Inspection ◽

Braking Process ◽

Inspection Station ◽

The Impact

The social cost, as one of the factors determining sustainability of socio-economic development, is strongly dependent upon a number of casualties and mortality in road accidents. The condition of car tires appears to be one of the important factors determining the occurrence of accidents. The vast majority of vehicles are tested every year at vehicle inspection stations. One of the elements affecting the result of the technical condition test and basically the quality of vehicle braking is the technical condition of the tires. Their technical condition is a very important factor responsible for the quality of acceleration, braking, maintaining, or changing the direction of driving. As a consequence, it has a significant impact on road safety. The aim of the study is to examine the impact of tires on the results of tests performed at a vehicle inspection station. The study presents the results of bench measurements of the impact of selected features of tire condition of two vehicles during routine periodic inspections at a vehicle inspection station (VIS). The focus was on an attempt to assess the impact of inflation pressure, age, and tire tread wear on the braking process. The technical studies performed might be a source for legal steps assuring better management of road safety. It can also be expected that the tire choice and condition may affect fuel consumption, and therefore the amount of energy consumed by the road transport.

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Impact of spatial proxies on the representation of bottom-up emission inventories: A satellite-based analysis

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-17-4131-2017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 4131-4145 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Guannan Geng ◽

Qiang Zhang ◽

Randall V. Martin ◽

Jintai Lin ◽

Hong Huo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Density ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Model Performance ◽

Road Transport ◽

Industrial Sector ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Emission Inventories ◽

Bottom Up ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Spatial proxies used in bottom-up emission inventories to derive the spatial distributions of emissions are usually empirical and involve additional levels of uncertainty. Although uncertainties in current emission inventories have been discussed extensively, uncertainties resulting from improper spatial proxies have rarely been evaluated. In this work, we investigate the impact of spatial proxies on the representation of gridded emissions by comparing six gridded NOx emission datasets over China developed from the same magnitude of emissions and different spatial proxies. GEOS-Chem-modeled tropospheric NO2 vertical columns simulated from different gridded emission inventories are compared with satellite-based columns. The results show that differences between modeled and satellite-based NO2 vertical columns are sensitive to the spatial proxies used in the gridded emission inventories. The total population density is less suitable for allocating NOx emissions than nighttime light data because population density tends to allocate more emissions to rural areas. Determining the exact locations of large emission sources could significantly strengthen the correlation between modeled and observed NO2 vertical columns. Using vehicle population and an updated road network for the on-road transport sector could substantially enhance urban emissions and improve the model performance. When further applying industrial gross domestic product (IGDP) values for the industrial sector, modeled NO2 vertical columns could better capture pollution hotspots in urban areas and exhibit the best performance of the six cases compared to satellite-based NO2 vertical columns (slope = 1.01 and R2 = 0. 85). This analysis provides a framework for information from satellite observations to inform bottom-up inventory development. In the future, more effort should be devoted to the representation of spatial proxies to improve spatial patterns in bottom-up emission inventories.

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Impact on Human Health of Particulate Matter Arising from Atmospheric Pollution

JOURNAL OF BIOENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY APPLIED TO HEALTH ◽

10.34178/jbth.v2i4.92 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 136-140

Author(s):

Clara Rodrigues Pereira ◽

Lílian Lefol Nani Guarieiro

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Human Health ◽

Respiratory System ◽

Fine Particles ◽

Vehicular Emissions ◽

Industrial Activities ◽

Urban Scenario ◽

Combustion Processes ◽

The Impact

Studies show that exposure to particulate matter (PM) from vehicular combustion processes can pose severe risks to human health since the impact degree of PM on the respiratory system will depend on its size and composition. Thus, the objective of this study was to perform a systematic review on this topic, searching information that can highlight causes and solutions that may allow a greater understanding of this problem. We concluded that China is a country that stands out in the number of deaths caused by the emission of PM, given a highly polluted urban scenario. Besides, fine particles (PM2.5) are the most recurrent incidence of respiratory disease, as they are emitted mainly by industrial activities and vehicular emissions.

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Properties of Particulate Matter in the Air of the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Related Health Benefits for Tourists

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph19020826 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 826

Author(s):

Karolina Bralewska ◽

Wioletta Rogula-Kozłowska ◽

Dominika Mucha ◽

Artur Jerzy Badyda ◽

Magdalena Kostrzon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Mass Concentration ◽

Fine Particles ◽

Health Benefits ◽

Coarse Particles ◽

Salt Mine ◽

Health Resort ◽

Atmospheric Air ◽

The Mean ◽

Internal Sources

This study aimed to evaluate the mass concentration of size-resolved (PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10, PM100) particulate matter (PM) in the Wieliczka Salt Mine located in southern Poland, compare them with the concentrations of the same PM fractions in the atmospheric air, and estimate the dose of dry salt aerosol inhaled by the mine visitors. Measurements were conducted for 2 hours a day, simultaneously inside (tourist route, passage to the health resort, health resort) and outside the mine (duty-room), for three days in the summer of 2017 using DustTrak DRX devices (optical method). The highest average PM concentrations were recorded on the tourist route (54–81 µg/m3), while the lowest was in the passage to the health resort (49–62 µg/m3). At the same time, the mean outdoor PM concentrations were 14–20 µg/m3. Fine particles constituting the majority of PM mass (68–80%) in the mine originated from internal sources, while the presence of coarse particles was associated with tourist traffic. High PM deposition factors in the respiratory tract of children and adults estimated for particular mine chambers (0.58–0.70), the predominance of respirable particles in PM mass, and the high content of NaCl in PM composition indicate high health benefits for mine visitors.

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Investigation of the Diachronic Development of CO2 Emission Levels in Relation to Traffic Characteristics Along Major Road Axes During an Era of Recession: the Case of Greece

Global NEST Journal ◽

10.30955/gnj.002396 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 614-640

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Alternative Fuels ◽

Energy Savings ◽

Road Transport ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Transport Sector ◽

The Road ◽

Automotive Market ◽

Traffic Characteristics ◽

Key Factor

The problem of reducing CO2 emissions from transport, a major contributor to the greenhouse effect, has become a growing concern for the scientific community and various international committees monitoring climate change. Energy savings in the transport sector are a key factor towards rational management of oil reserves, while new trends in the automotive market have already been established, supported by research on efficient and environmentally-friendly technologies and alternative fuels to face fossil fuel dependency. The road transport sector is an important part for most developed economies but also a major source of pollutant emissions. In this framework, this paper focuses on transport emissions along the main road axis in Greece, connecting the country’s two largest urban areas, during the years 2008-2014, a period of prolonged recession. Based on traffic data collected at the toll stations along the highway, greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions were calculated using the COPERT4 emission estimation tool. According to the results, a sharp fall in emissions is observed largely due to traffic volume reductions, but also due to a prevailing trend for larger displacement vehicles and technologically improved vehicles with better environmental standards.

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Prioritizing the Chicken or Egg? Electric Vehicle Purchase and Charging Infrastructure Subsidies in Germany

Politics and Governance ◽

10.17645/pag.v8i3.3025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 185-198

Author(s):

Roland Zink ◽

Javier Valdes ◽

Jane Wuth

Keyword(s):

Alternative Fuels ◽

Control Method ◽

Road Transport ◽

Transport Sector ◽

Synthetic Control ◽

Emission Reductions ◽

The Road ◽

Combining Data ◽

Vehicle Purchase ◽

The Impact

To meet current targets for greenhouse gas emissions in Europe, emissions, especially those originating from the road transport sector, need to be reduced. Plans are to achieve this goal by substituting fossil fuel vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs). This article first discusses conceptually the impact of an increasing share of EVs on the electricity grid and suitable locations for charging stations with examples from a Case Study in Lower Bavaria. Secondly, the impact of purchase subsidies on EV purchases in Germany, a high-income country characterized by an important automotive industry and an increasing share of private vehicles is examined. To achieve this, yearly information on EV purchases were analyzed by applying the Synthetic Control Method. Combining data from different sources including the European Alternative Fuels Observatory, Eurostat, and the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, an overall picture was developed. Results indicate a difference between private, semi-public, and public charging infrastructures. Its spatial distribution does not correspond to a specific development strategy. Moreover, EV subsidies have a limited effect in Germany when controlling for market size. Limiting the discussion to a trade-off between subsidizing infrastructures or EV purchases obviates the multidimensionality of the problem as neither of them may be sufficient to accelerate the transition per se. Furthermore, if electricity provided for EVs comes mainly from fossil carriers, the changes in the road transport sector will not yield the expected emission reductions. The transition towards renewables is directly intertwined with the effects of EVs on emission reductions in the road transport sector.

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An Innovative Simulation Agent-Based Model for the Combined Sea-Road Transport as a DSS

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su131910773 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (19) ◽

pp. 10773

Author(s):

Alessandra Renna ◽

Marco Petrelli ◽

Stefano Carrese ◽

Riccardo Bertocci

Keyword(s):

Choice Model ◽

Single Agent ◽

Road Transport ◽

Point Of View ◽

Simulation Tool ◽

Modal Shift ◽

Agent Based ◽

The Road ◽

Italian Context ◽

The Impact

This research proposes an innovative approach to evaluate modal shift from the road-only to the combined sea-road transport in order to implement new policies and introduce a Decision Support System (DSS) for the transportation planner’s decision. The impact of these is carried out by using an innovative simulation tool which has the capability to simulate the real choice process of all stakeholders involved, specifically modelling the freight forwarder’s point of view. The model runs as a single-agent based simulation which uses a multimodal network with detailed zoning. The simulation tool, capable of simulating the assignment of the whole network simultaneously, consists of a path choice model and a mode choice model for each o/d pair considered, establishing o/d pairs suitable and not suitable for modal shift. Three policies have been designed and tested through the simulation tool with an application in the Italian context: (1) internalization of the external costs of heavy vehicles; (2) introduction of a bonus for shipping companies; (3) design of new Ro-Ro services. The most affecting policy concerns an increase of speed of some Ro-Ro services to 22 kn, proposing a good balance between the navigation costs and the potential demand attracted.

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