scholarly journals The impact of traffic on air quality in Ireland: insights from simultaneous kerbside and sub-urban monitoring of submicron aerosols

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunshui Lin ◽  
Darius Ceburnis ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
Eimear Heffernan ◽  
Stig Hellebust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Solid Fuel ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Vehicular Emissions ◽  
Heating Period ◽  
Residential Site ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Fuel Burning ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. To evaluate the impact of traffic on urban air quality, the chemical composition and sources of submicron aerosols (PM1) were simultaneously investigated at a kerbside site in Dublin city centre and a residential site in sub-urban Dublin (~ 5 km apart) from 4 September to 9 November in 2018. Through the detailed comparison of one-week non-heating period in early September and heating period in late October, black carbon (BC) was found to be the most dominant component (38–55 % or 5.6–7.1 μg m−3) of PM1 at the kerbside while organic aerosol (OA) was the most important (46–63 % of PM1 or 1.0–8.7 μg m−3) at the residential site. The daily and weekly cycle of BC at the kerbside during non-heating period pointed to the major source of vehicular emissions, consistent with that for nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, traffic emissions were found to have a minor impact on air quality at the residential site due to its distance from traffic sources, as well as the effects of wind speed and wind direction. As a result of vehicular emissions and the street canyon effect, the kerbside increment (from urban background) ratio of up to 25 : 1 was found for BC during the non-heating period, but reduced to 10 : 1 during the heating period due to the additional sources of solid fuel burning impacting the air quality at both sites simultaneously. OA source analysis shows only 18–27 % (0.9–1.2 μg m−3) of OA at the kerbside associated with vehicular emissions, with higher contributions from cooking (18–36 % or ~ 1.2 μg m−3), solid fuel burning (~ 33 % or ~ 2.1 μg m−3), and oxygenated OA (31–37 % or 1.2–2.0 μg m−3). At the residential site, solid fuel burning contributed to approximately 50 % (2.7 μg m−3) of OA during the heating period, while oxygenated OA accounted for almost 65 % (0.5 μg m−3) of OA during the non-heating period. Based on simultaneous investigation of PM1 at different urban settings (i.e. residential vs kerbside), this study highlights temporal and spatial variability of sources within Dublin city centre and the need for additional aerosol characterisation studies to improve targeted mitigation solutions for greater impact on urban air quality. Moreover, traffic and residential heating may hold different implications for health and climate as indicated by the significant increment of BC at the kerbside and the large geographic impact of OA from residential heating at both the kerbside and residential sites.

scholarly journals The impact of traffic on air quality in Ireland: insights from the simultaneous kerbside and suburban monitoring of submicron aerosols

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (17) ◽  
pp. 10513-10529
Author(s):  
Chunshui Lin ◽  
Darius Ceburnis ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
Eimear Heffernan ◽  
Stig Hellebust ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Solid Fuel ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Vehicular Emissions ◽  
Heating Period ◽  
City Center ◽  
Residential Site ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Fuel Burning ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. To evaluate the impact of traffic on urban air quality, the chemical composition of submicron aerosols (PM1) and sources of organic aerosol (OA) were simultaneously investigated at a kerbside site in the Dublin city center and a residential site in suburban Dublin (∼ 5 km apart) from 4 September to 9 November in 2018. Through the detailed comparison of a 1-week nonheating period from 10 to 17 September and a 1-week heating period from 27 October to 4 November, black carbon (BC) was found to be the most dominant component (38 %–55 % or 5.6–7.1 µg m−3) of PM1 at the kerbside, while OA was the most important (46 %–64 % of PM1 or 1.0–8.1 µg m−3) at the residential site. The daily and weekly cycle of BC at the kerbside during the nonheating period pointed to the major source of vehicular emissions, consistent with that for nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, traffic emissions were found to have a minor impact on air quality at the residential site, due to its distance from traffic sources and the effects of wind speed and wind direction. As a result of vehicular emissions and the street canyon effect, the kerbside increment (from the urban background) ratio of up to 25 : 1 was found for BC during the nonheating period but reduced to 10 : 1 during the heating period due to the additional sources of solid fuel burning impacting the air quality at both sites simultaneously. OA source analysis shows only 16 %–28 % (0.9–1.0 µg m−3; upper limit for traffic due to the additional heating source of hydrocarbon-like OA – HOA) of OA at the kerbside associated with vehicular emissions, with higher contributions from cooking (18 %–36 % or 1.2 µg m−3), solid fuel burning (38 % or 2.4 µg m−3; resolved only during the heating period), and oxygenated OA (29 %–37 % or 1.2–1.9 µg m−3). At the residential site, solid fuel burning contributed to 60 % (4.9 µg m−3) of OA during the heating period, while oxygenated OA (OOA) accounted for almost 65 % (0.6 µg m−3) of OA during the nonheating period. Based on simultaneous investigations of PM1 at different urban settings (i.e., residential versus kerbside), this study highlights the temporal and spatial variability of sources within the Dublin city center and the need for additional aerosol characterization studies to improve targeted mitigation solutions for greater impact on urban air quality. Moreover, traffic and residential heating may hold different implications for health and climate, as indicated by the significant increment of BC at the kerbside and the large geographic impact of OA from residential heating at both the kerbside and residential sites.

Quantifying the Impact of Residential Heating on the Urban Air Quality in a Typical European Coal Combustion Region

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (20) ◽  
pp. 7964-7970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki Junninen ◽  
Jacob Mønster ◽  
Maria Rey ◽  
Jose Cancelinha ◽  
Kevin Douglas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Urban Air Quality ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Combustion Region ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals The Potential Impacts of Electric Vehicles on Urban Air Quality in Shanghai City

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 496
Author(s):  
Xiaojian Hu ◽  
Nuo Chen ◽  
Nan Wu ◽  
Bicheng Yin
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Urban Air Quality ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Vehicular Emissions ◽  
Potential Reduction ◽  
Efficient Measure ◽  
Shanghai City

The Shanghai government has outlined plans for the new vehicles used for the public transportation, rental, sanitation, postal, and intra-city freight to be completely powered by electricity by 2020. This paper analyzed the characteristics of vehicle emissions in Shanghai in the past five years. The potential reduction in road traffic related emissions due to the promotion and application of electric vehicle in Shanghai was evaluated. The potential reduction was quantified by vehicular emissions. The vehicular emissions inventories are calculated by the COPERT IV model under the different scenarios, of which the results indicate that promoting electric vehicles is the efficient measure to control all road traffic related emissions and improve urban air quality. The results also provided basis and support for making policies to promote and manage electric vehicles.

Assessing the impact of the New Athens airport to urban air quality with contemporary air pollution models

1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (10) ◽  
pp. 1497-1511 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Moussiopoulos ◽  
P. Sahm ◽  
K. Karatzas ◽  
S. Papalexiou ◽  
A. Karagiannidis
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Air Quality ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Air Pollution Models

scholarly journals Citizen as Sensors' Commitment in Urban Public Action

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 42-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gwendoline l'Her ◽  
Myriam Servières ◽  
Daniel Siret
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Citizen Science ◽  
Urban Air Quality ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Quality Issue ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
The Impact

Based on a case study in Rennes, the article presents how a group of urban public actors re-uses methods and technology from citizen sciences to raise the urban air quality issue in the public debate. The project gives a group of inhabitants the opportunity to follow air quality training and proceed PM2.5µm measurements. The authors question the impact of the ongoing hybridisation between citizen science and urban public action on participants' commitment. The authors present how the use of PM2.5-sensors during 11 weeks led to a disengagement phenomenon, even if the authors observe a strong participation to workshops. These results come from an interdisciplinary methodology using observations, interviews, and data analyses.

scholarly journals Does Environmental Inspection Led by the Central Government Improve the Air Quality in China? The Moderating Role of Public Engagement

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Xu ◽  
Meng Tian ◽  
Jie Yang ◽  
Guohu Xu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Heating Period ◽  
Air Quality Improvement ◽  
The Impact

The severe air pollution in China has imperiled public health and resulted in substantial economic loss. To tackle the unprecedented pollution challenges, China has launched a campaign-based environmental inspection over all regions to impel local governments’ actual pollution abatement. At the same time, with the public’s awakening awareness about environmental protection, the public has also played a particularly vital role in this inspection. Under this circumstance, the study tries to reveal the impact of Environmental Inspection led by the Central Government (EICG) on air quality improvement, and to examine the role of public engagement in their relationship. Specifically, utilizing daily data covering 249 prefecture-level cities in China from 1 June 2015 to 31 May 2018, this study employed multiple regression models and then found that due to the implementation of EICG, the concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 decline by 2.642 μg/m3, 6.088 μg/m3, 1.357 μg/m3 and 1.443 μg/m3, respectively, and the air quality index decreases by 2.4 in total, which implies that EICG can improve the air quality to a great extent. However, the coefficients for major variables change from negative to positive, suggesting that an attenuation effect of EICG on air quality improvement exists in Chinese institutional background. Meanwhile, public engagement is shown to enhance the positive association between EICG and air quality improvement. Additionally, further analysis demonstrates that EICG promotes the improvement in air quality up to three months after the inspection in cities during the heating period, while the positive effect has existed during one month before the inspection in cities during the non-heating period. Additionally, in contrast to the instant effect in cities not specially monitored, there is a lagged effect of EICG in controlling the air pollution in cities specially monitored.

scholarly journals Multiyear chemical composition of the fine aerosol fraction in Athens, Greece, with emphasis on winter-time residential heating

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Theodosi ◽  
Maria Tsagkaraki ◽  
Pavlos Zarmpas ◽  
Eleni Liakakou ◽  
Georgios Grivas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Elemental Carbon ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Dominant Component ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Winter Time ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. In an attempt to take effective action towards mitigating pollution episodes in the Greater Athens Area (GAA), precise knowledge of PM2.5 composition and their sources is a prerequisite. Thus, a two year chemical composition data set from aerosol samples collected in an urban-background site of central Athens, from December 2013 till March 2016, has been obtained and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was applied in order to identify and apportion fine aerosols to their sources. A total of 850 aerosol samples, were collected on a 12 to 24 h basis and analyzed for major ions, trace elements, organic and elemental carbon, allowing us to further assess the impact of residential heating as a source of air pollution over the GAA. The ionic and carbonaceous components were found to constitute the major fraction of the PM2.5 aerosol mass. The annual contribution of the Ion Mass (IM), Particulate Organic Mass (POM), dust, Elemental Carbon (EC) and Sea Salt (SS) were calculated at 31 %, 34 %, 18 %, 8 % and 3 %, respectively. However, carbonaceous aerosols (POM + EC) and IM exhibited considerable seasonal variation. In winter, IM was estimated down to 23 %, with POM + EC being the dominant component accounting for 48 % of the PM2.5 mass, while in summer IM was the dominant component (42 %), followed by carbonaceous aerosols 37 %. Results from samples collected on a 12 h basis (day and night) during the 3 intensive winter campaigns indicated the impact of heating on the levels of a series of compounds. Indeed PM2.5, EC, POM, NO3−, C2O42−, nssK+ and selected trace metals including Cd and Pb were increased by almost a factor of 4 during night compared to day, highlighting the importance of heating on air quality of the GAA. Furthermore, in order to better characterize winter-time aerosol sources in the city centre of Athens and quantify the input of biomass burning as a source to winter night-time PM2.5 concentrations, source apportionment was performed. Τhe data can be interpreted on the basis of six sources namely biomass burning (32 %), vehicular emissions (19 %), heavy oil combustion (7 %), regional secondary (20 %), marine aerosol (9 %) and dust particles (8 %). With specific emphasis on night to day contrasts their contributions shifted from 19, 19, 8, 30, 11 and 9 % of the PM2.5 mass during day to 39, 19, 6, 14, 7 and 6 % during night, underlining the significance of biomass burning as the main contributor to fine particle levels during night-time.

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