scholarly journals The Impact of Local Anti-Smog Resolution in Cracow (Poland) on the Concentrations of PM10 and BaP Based on the Results of Measurements of the State Environmental Monitoring

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Flaga-Maryańczyk ◽  
Katarzyna Baran-Gurgul

As a result of conducted air quality policy, including recent legal regulations (the local anti-smog resolution), the number of individual solid fuel heating devices in Cracow (Poland) gradually decreased. Reports on air quality in the city indicate that the concentration of pollutants in Cracow’s air shows a downward trend. However, a similar tendency in terms of improving air quality is also observed in the entire voivodeship, where, as a result of analogous although less radical measures, the number of individual solid fuel heating devices is also decreasing. The paper discusses the impact of legal regulations in Cracow on the improvement of air quality in the context of changes taking place in nearby cities. Trends in changes in PM10 and BaP (PM10) concentrations are analyzed. The rate of decline of the analyzed pollutants concentrations is estimated with the use of nonparametric linear regression. Analysis showed that the rate of decline in the average annual concentrations of PM10 and BaP (PM10) in Cracow is always higher than for the analyzed cities of the Malopolskie Voivodeship. The difference is more pronounced with regard to the months of the heating season. The rate of changes for the average annual BaP (PM10) concentrations in Cracow, compared to other analyzed cities of the Malopolskie Voivodeship, is more intensive than in the case of PM10 concentrations (1.5 times stronger with regard to the months of the heating season). Since the concentration of BaP (PM10) is a better indicator of the effects of liquidation of high-emission furnaces than the concentration of PM10, it can be concluded that the impact of actions related to the improvement of air quality in Cracow in the context of changes taking place in selected cities of the Malopolskie Voivodeship is more visible.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 804
Author(s):  
Jean Dubé ◽  
Maha AbdelHalim ◽  
Nicolas Devaux

Many applications have relied on the hedonic pricing model (HPM) to measure the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for urban externalities and natural disasters. The classic HPM regresses housing price on a complete list of attributes/characteristics that include spatial or environmental amenities (or disamenities), such as floods, to retrieve the gradients of the market (marginal) WTP for such externalities. The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative methodological framework that extends the causal relations based on a spatial matching difference-in-differences (SM-DID) estimator, and which attempts to calculate the difference between sale price for similar goods within “treated” and “control” groups. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed spatial matching method, the researchers present an empirical investigation based on the case of a flood event recorded in the city of Laval (Québec, Canada) in 1998, using information on transactions occurring between 1995 and 2001. The research results show that the impact of flooding brings a negative premium on the housing price of about 20,000$ Canadian (CAN).


Author(s):  
Ali Al-Ramini ◽  
Mohammad A Takallou ◽  
Daniel P Piatkowski ◽  
Fadi Alsaleem

Most cities in the United States lack comprehensive or connected bicycle infrastructure; therefore, inexpensive and easy-to-implement solutions for connecting existing bicycle infrastructure are increasingly being employed. Signage is one of the promising solutions. However, the necessary data for evaluating its effect on cycling ridership is lacking. To overcome this challenge, this study tests the potential of using readily-available crowdsourced data in concert with machine-learning methods to provide insight into signage intervention effectiveness. We do this by assessing a natural experiment to identify the potential effects of adding or replacing signage within existing bicycle infrastructure in 2019 in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. Specifically, we first visually compare cycling traffic changes in 2019 to those from the previous two years (2017–2018) using data extracted from the Strava fitness app. Then, we use a new three-step machine-learning approach to quantify the impact of signage while controlling for weather, demographics, and street characteristics. The steps are as follows: Step 1 (modeling and validation) build and train a model from the available 2017 crowdsourced data (i.e., Strava, Census, and weather) that accurately predicts the cycling traffic data for any street within the study area in 2018; Step 2 (prediction) use the model from Step 1 to predict bicycle traffic in 2019 while assuming new signage was not added; Step 3 (impact evaluation) use the difference in prediction from actual traffic in 2019 as evidence of the likely impact of signage. While our work does not demonstrate causality, it does demonstrate an inexpensive method, using readily-available data, to identify changing trends in bicycling over the same time that new infrastructure investments are being added.


Author(s):  
Ruslan S. Mukhametov

The purpose of the study is to explain the difference in the proportion of women deputies in the representative bodies of different municipalities. The author assesses the impact of the electoral districts size on the gender composition of municipal legislative bodies (dumas). A review of theoretical and empirical works shows that more women are elected to Parliament under the proportional representation system than under the majority system with single-mandate constituencies. According to the author, the decisive factor is not the type of the electoral system, but the size of the electoral district. Two working hypotheses were formulated. According to the first, representative bodies of municipalities, whose elections are held according to a majority system with multi-member districts, will have a higher representation of women than local dumas which are formed on the basis of a majority system with single-member districts. According to the second hypothesis, higher representation of women in the deputy corps of settlements can be associated with the holding of elections under the majority system with multi-mandate districts. To test the proposed hypotheses in the context of municipalities, empirical material was collected. The study was carried out on the data from the Sverdlovsk region. The database of indicators of municipalities of Rosstat, as well as the official websites of local administrations were used as the source of information. The method of multiple linear regression is used as the main research method. The data was analyzed with the Gretl applied statistical program. Statistical calculations have revealed a positive and statistically significant impact of multi-mandate constituencies-based elections on the proportion of women in the deputy corps, which contributes to the study of gender aspects of politics. It is shown that the size of the electoral district is important for the representation of women in the city councils. The article notes that the transition to holding elections of deputies on the basis of a majority system with multi-mandate districts will help increase the proportion of women in municipal representative bodies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivo Suter ◽  
Lukas Emmenegger ◽  
Dominik Brunner

<p>Reducing air pollution, which is the world's largest single environmental health risk, demands better-informed air quality policies. Consequently, multi-scale air quality models are being developed with the goal to resolve cities. One of the major challenges in such model systems is to accurately represent all large- and regional-scale processes that may critically determine the background concentration levels over a given city. This is particularly true for longer-lived species such as aerosols, for which background levels often dominate the concentration levels, even within the city. Furthermore, the heterogeneous local emissions, and complex dispersion in the city have to be considered carefully.</p><p>In this study, the impact of processes across a wide range of scales on background concentrations over Switzerland and the city of Zurich was modelled by performing one year of nested European and Swiss national COSMO-ART simulations to obtain adequate boundary conditions for gas-phase chemical, aerosol and meteorological conditions for city-resolving simulations. The regional climate chemistry model COSMO-ART (Vogel et al. 2009) was used in a 1-way coupled mode. The outer, European, domain, which was driven by chemical boundary conditions from the global MOZART model, had a 6.6 km horizontal resolution and the inner, Swiss, domain one of 2.2 km. For the city scale, a catalogue of more than 1000 mesoscale flow patterns with 100 m resolution was created with the model GRAMM, based on a discrete set of atmospheric stabilities, wind speeds and directions, accounting for the influence of land-use and topography. Finally, the flow around buildings was solved with the CFD model GRAL forced at the boundaries by GRAMM. Subsequently, Lagrangian dispersion simulations for a set of air pollutants and emission sectors (traffic, industry, ...) based on extremely detailed building and emission data was performed in GRAL. The result of this nested procedure is a library of 3-dimensional air pollution maps representative of hourly situations in Zurich (Berchet et al. 2017). From these pre-computed situations, time-series and concentration maps can be obtained by selecting situations according to observed or modelled meteorological conditions.</p><p>The results were compared to measurements from air quality monitoring network stations. Modelled concentrations of NO<sub>x</sub> and PM compared well to measurements across multiple locations, provided background conditions were considered carefully. The nested multi-scale modelling system COSMO-ART/GRAMM/GRAL can adequately reproduce local air quality and help understanding the relative contributions of local versus distant emissions, as well as fill the space between precise point measurements from monitoring sites. This information is useful for research, policy-making, and epidemiological studies particularly under the assumption that exceedingly high concentrations become more and more localised phenomenon in the future.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 7509-7530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Tang ◽  
Martin O. P. Ramacher ◽  
Jana Moldanová ◽  
Volker Matthias ◽  
Matthias Karl ◽  
...  

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritwik Nigam ◽  
Kanvi Pandya ◽  
Alvarinho J. Luis ◽  
Raja Sengupta ◽  
Mahender Kotha

AbstractOn January 30, 2020, India recorded its first COVID-19 positive case in Kerala, which was followed by a nationwide lockdown extended in four different phases from 25th March to 31st May, 2020, and an unlock period thereafter. The lockdown has led to colossal economic loss to India; however, it has come as a respite to the environment. Utilizing the air quality index (AQI) data recorded during this adverse time, the present study is undertaken to assess the impact of lockdown on the air quality of Ankleshwar and Vapi, Gujarat, India. The AQI data obtained from the Central Pollution Control Board was assessed for four lockdown phases. We compared air quality data for the unlock phase with a coinciding period in 2019 to determine the changes in pollutant concentrations during the lockdown, analyzing daily AQI data for six pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, O3, and SO2). A meta-analysis of continuous data was performed to determine the mean and standard deviation of each lockdown phase, and their differences were computed in percentage in comparison to 2019; along with the linear correlation analysis and linear regression analysis to determine the relationship among the air pollutants and their trend for the lockdown days. The results revealed different patterns of gradual to a rapid reduction in most of the pollutant concentrations (PM10, PM2.5, CO, SO2), and an increment in ozone concentration was observed due to a drastic reduction in NO2 by 80.18%. Later, increases in other pollutants were also observed as the restrictions were eased during phase-4 and unlock 1. The comparison between the two cities found that factors like distance from the Arabian coast and different industrial setups played a vital role in different emission trends.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Di Bernardino ◽  
Anna Maria Iannarelli ◽  
Stefano Casadio ◽  
Gabriele Mevi ◽  
Monica Campanelli ◽  
...  

<p>Mesoscale meteorological phenomena, such as sea-land breeze regime, strongly impact meteorological conditions of coastal areas, affecting wind intensity, moisture, heat and momentum fluxes and polluted air masses dispersion. This effect must be considered in order to correct design urban spaces, predict the possible influence of land use change on air pollution and climate change and, consequently, improve the quality of life and urban comfort.</p><p>In recent years, it has been shown that the breeze regime does not only affect microclimatic conditions but also air quality in coastal areas, because of the mixing of different types of aerosols and condensable gases. Moreover, the advection of marine, colder and more humid air leads to the decrease of the boundary layer height and, consequently, to the increase of the surface concentration of locally emitted pollutants, that are trapped within the boundary layer itself.</p><p>The effect of breeze regime is particularly interesting in coastal cities, where the sea breeze entails large modification of physical, optical, chemical, and hygroscopic properties of the urban aerosol.</p><p>In this work, we developed an approach to determine the breeze effect on aerosol in correspondence of the BAQUNIN [1] Super-site urban location, in the centre of Rome, Italy. The city is about 28 km far from the Tyrrhenian coast and is often exposed to sea-breeze circulation and to extreme aerosol events [2] [3].</p><p>In-situ measurements obtained from different remote sensing instruments are used: (i) vertical profile of horizontal wind velocity and direction by means of SODAR wind profiler; (ii) moisture, air temperature and wind speed from ground-based meteorological station; (iii) aerosol optical depth (AOD), height and evolution of the Boundary Layer from Raman and elastic LIDAR; (iv) precipitable water, AOD, Ångström exponent (AE) and single-scattering albedo (SSA) from sun-photometer CIMEL [4], (v) AOD, AE and SSA from POM 01 L Prede sun-sky radiometer [5][6], (vi) superficial NO<sub>2</sub> and formaldehyde amounts from PANDORA spectrometer [7], (vii) particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5 </sub>and PM<sub>10</sub>) concentrations from ground-based air quality station.</p><p>The investigation is focused on several days, during summer of 2019, characterized by anemological breeze regime conditions.</p><p>In this study, we present preliminary results aimed to the in-depth analysis of the effects of the breeze regime on the optical properties of aerosols in coastal, urban environment and the impact of the aerosol vertical stratification on ground-level PM concentrations.</p><p> </p><p>References:</p><p>[1] BAQUNIN Boundary-layer Air Quality-analysis Using Network of Instruments, www.baqunin.eu</p><p>[2] Petenko I. et al. (2011) “Local circulation diurnal patterns and their relationship with large-scale flows in a coastal area of the Tyrrhenian sea”, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 139:353-366.</p><p>[3] Ciardini V. et al. (2012) “Seasonal variability of tropospheric aerosols in Rome”, Atmospheric Research, 118:205-214.</p><p>[4] AERONET, https://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/index.html</p><p>[5] EUROSKYRAD http://www.euroskyrad.net/</p><p>[6] Campanelli M. et al. (2019) “Aerosol optical characteristics in the urban area of Rome, Italy, and their impact on the UV index”, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussion.</p><p>[7] PGN, https://www.pandonia-global-network.org/</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-86
Author(s):  
Devi Robissalami ◽  
Sumiyati Sumiyati ◽  
Eded Tarmedi

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of supervision and working climate on employee job satisfactionDesign / methodology / approach - This research was conducted in less than 1 year period, the research design is cross-sectional design. The method used is exolanatory survey, and population 67 employees. The analysis technique used is descriptive, the questionnaire is used as a research instrument to collect data from respondents.Findings - based on the results of the study using multiple linear regression analysis, the result that there is a positive influence of supervision and work climate on employee job satisfaction.Originality / value - this study provides a basis for find out the impact of supervision and working climate on employee job satisfaction. The difference of this study with previous research is on the objects, variables, theories and the references.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-261
Author(s):  
Dinda One Mulyaningtyas ◽  
I Ketut Widnyana ◽  
Sang Putu Kaler Surata

Number of vehicles moving in the city of Denpasar is quite dense and has the potential to produce high carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) exhaust gases which can be fatal to human health. The research objective is to analyze the level of air pollution in the city of Denpasar and analyze the factors that cause pollution from motorized vehicles. To calculate the volume of traffic using the application traffic counter on an android phone. The research method uses trend analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The growth of CO pollutants in the city of Denpasar increased with a growth value of 0.88 to 3.25 per year so that in 2021 the level of CO is predicted to be between 32.41% to 81.52%. Likewise, HC levels increase with a growth value of 0.85 - 1.59 per year so that in 2021 HC levels are predicted between 2,670 ppm to 24,383 ppm. The vehicles age and engine combustion system have a strong correlation in producing CO and HC values; while brand, engine capacity and mileage correlate very weak. The conclusion is that newer vehicles and the latest combustion systems produce lower CO and HC levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5400
Author(s):  
Silvie Koval ◽  
Jiri Vytisk ◽  
Jana Ruzickova ◽  
Helena Raclavska ◽  
Hana Skrobankova ◽  
...  

Combustion processes, including the use of solid fuels for residential heating, are a widespread custom for many households. Residential heating is a significant source of ambient air pollution, yet it varies greatly by geography, meteorologic conditions, the prevalence of the type of solid fuel and the technologies used. This study evaluates whether residential heating affects the air quality through modelling three given scenarios of solid fuel boiler exchange at selected locations and comparing the results with measured data. The findings of this study suggest that according to the modelled data, the main air pollution contributor is residential heating since Dolni Lhota (daily average of PM10 = 44.13 μg·m−3) and Kravare (daily average of PM10 = 43.98 μg·m−3) are locations with no industry in contrast to heavily industrial Vratimov (daily average of PM10 = 34.38 μg·m−3), which were modelled for the heating season situation. Nevertheless, actual measurements of PM10 during the same period suggest that the average levels of air pollution were significantly higher than the modelled values for Dolni Lhota by 64% and for Kravare by 51%. Thus, it was assumed that PM long-range or/and transboundary transports were involved.


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