Turbulence-permitting air pollution simulation  for the Stuttgart metropolitan area

Abstract. Air pollution is one of the major challenges in urban areas. It can have a major impact on human health and society and is currently a subject of several litigations in European courts. Information on the level of air pollution is based on near-surface measurements, which are often irregularly distributed along the main traffic roads and provide almost no information about the residential areas and office districts in the cities. To further enhance the process understanding and give scientific support to decision makers, we developed a prototype for an air quality forecasting system (AQFS) within the EU demonstration project “Open Forecast”. For AQFS, the Weather Research and Forecasting model together with its coupled chemistry component (WRF-Chem) is applied for the Stuttgart metropolitan area in Germany. Three model domains from 1.25 km down to a turbulence-permitting resolution of 50 m were used, and a single-layer urban canopy model was active in all domains. As a demonstration case study, 21 January 2019 was selected, which was a heavily polluted day with observed PM10 concentrations exceeding 50 µg m−3. Our results show that the model is able to reasonably simulate the diurnal cycle of surface fluxes and 2 m temperatures as well as evolution of the stable and shallow boundary layer typically occurring in wintertime in Stuttgart. The simulated fields of particulates with a diameter of less than 10 µm (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) allow a clear statement about the most heavily polluted areas apart from the irregularly distributed measurement sites. Together with information about the vertical distribution of PM10 and NO2 from the model, AQFS will serve as a valuable tool for air quality forecasting and has the potential of being applied to other cities around the world.

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Turbulence-permitting air pollution simulation for the Stuttgart metropolitan area

10.5194/acp-2020-968 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Thomas Schwitalla ◽

Hans-Stefan Bauer ◽

Kirsten Warrach-Sagi ◽

Thomas Bönisch ◽

Volker Wulfmeyer

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Single Layer ◽

Urban Canopy ◽

Surface Fluxes ◽

Residential Areas ◽

Near Surface ◽

Air Quality Forecast

Abstract. Air pollution is one of the major challenges in urban areas. It can have a major impact on human health and society and is currently a subject of several litigations at European courts. Information on the level of air pollution is based on near surface measurements, which are often irregularly distributed along the main traffic roads and provide almost no information about the residential areas and office districts in the cities. To further enhance the process understanding and give scientific support to decision makers, we developed a prototype for an air quality forecasting system (AQFS) within the EU demonstration project Open Forecast. For AQFS, the Weather Research and Forecasting model together with its coupled chemistry component (WRF-Chem) is applied for the Stuttgart metropolitan area in Germany. Three model domains from 1.25 km down to a turbulence permitting resolution of 50 m were used and a single layer urban canopy model was active in all domains. As demonstration case study the 21 January 2019 was selected which was a heavy polluted day with observed PM10 concentrations exceeding 50 µg m−3. Our results show that the model is capable to reasonably simulate the diurnal cycle of surface fluxes and 2-m temperatures as well as evolution of the stable and shallow boundary layer typically occurring in wintertime in Stuttgart. The simulated fields of particulates with a diameter of less than 10 µm (PM10) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) allow a clear statement about the most heavily polluted areas apart from the irregularly distributed measurement sites. Together with information about the vertical distribution of PM10 and NO2 from the model, AQFS will serve as a valuable tool for air quality forecast and has the potential of being applied to other cities around the world.

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Healthier breath for all and everywhere – Urban air quality monitoring experience

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz186.259 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

J Gajic ◽

D Dimovski ◽

B Vukajlovic ◽

M Jevtic

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Health Risk ◽

Urban Health ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Danube River ◽

Quality Monitoring ◽

Air Quality Monitoring ◽

Residential Areas

Abstract Issue/problem Increasing attention is being paid to air pollution as one of the greatest threats to public and urban health. The WHO’s Urban Health Initiative points out the importance of collecting data and mapping the present state of air quality in urban areas. For citizens, such engagement is enabled by the appearance of personal air quality measurement devices that use crowd-sourcing to make measurement results publicly accessible in real time. Description of the problem As a way of contributing to air pollution monitoring in their town, three PhD Public health students conducted over 40 measurements between the start of June and end of August 2018 on various locations in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. Measurements were performed using AirBeam personal air quality monitoring devices and their results presented as μg/m3 of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and automatically uploaded to the internet using the Air-casting app. Results Measurements conducted in public transportation vehicles returned the rather high average value of 40 μg/m3, where coffee shops and restaurants scored an even higher value of 48,67 μg/m3. The lowest average air pollution levels were registered near the Danube river bank (5.67) and in the parks (6), while the sites near crossroads or in the street showed average air pollution of 8.33 μg/m3. Residential areas where smoking is present during the day reported 2.5 times higher PM2.5 values than those without smokers (33.8 and 12.78 μg/m3). Lessons Bearing in mind that the air quality is considered as a serious health risk in urban areas, results of this pilot investigation suggest potential health risk for citizens living in urban areas. The negative effects of combustion and smoking on air quality are strongly highlighted, as well as the positive impact of green areas and parks near residential areas. Key messages Air pollution exposure as a serious health risk in urban areas. Crowdsourcing as a way of air quality monitoring has great potential for contributing to public health.

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Experience from Integrated Air Quality Management in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area and Singapore

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos10090512 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 512 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Molina ◽

Velasco ◽

Retama ◽

Zavala

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Quality Management ◽

Mexico City ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Atmospheric Pollutants ◽

Asia Pacific ◽

Air Quality Management

More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities as a result of unprecedented urbanization during the second half of the 20th century. The urban population is projected to increase to 68% by 2050, with most of the increase occurring in Asia and Africa. Population growth and increased energy consumption in urban areas lead to high levels of atmospheric pollutants that harm human health, cause regional haze, damage crops, contribute to climate change, and ultimately threaten the society’s sustainability. This article reviews the air quality and compares the policies implemented in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) and Singapore and offers insights into the complexity of managing air pollution to protect public health and the environment. While the differences in the governance, economics, and culture of the two cities greatly influence the decision-making process, both have made much progress in reducing concentrations of harmful pollutants by implementing comprehensive integrated air quality management programs. The experience and the lessons learned from the MCMA and Singapore can be valuable for other urban centers, especially in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region confronting similar air pollution problems.

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Assessment of heterogenity of air pollution within an urban canopy

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-2822 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Vivien Voss ◽

K. Heinke Schlünzen ◽

David Grawe

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Citizen Science ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Hot Spot ◽

Low Cost ◽

Urban Canopy ◽

Limit Values ◽

Data Standard ◽

The City

Air pollution is an important topic within urban areas.&#160; Limit values as given in the European Guidelines are introduced to reduce negative effects on humans and vegetation.&#160; Exceedances of the limit values are to be assessed using measurements.&#160; In case of found exceedances of the limit values, the local authorities need to act to reduce pollution levels. Highest values are found for several pollutants (NOx, NO2, particles) within densely build-up urban areas with traffic emissions being the major source and dispersion being very much impacted by the urban structures.&#160; The quality assured measuring network used by the authorities is often too coarse to determine the heterogeneity in the concentration field. Low cost sample devices as employed in several citizen science projects might help to overcome the data sparsity. Volunteers measure the air quality at many sites, contribute to the measurement networks and provide the data on the web. However, the questions arising are: a) Are these data of sufficient high quality to provide results comparable to those of the quality assured networks? b) Is the network density sufficient to determine concentration patterns within the urban canopy layer? One-year data from a citizen science network, which measures particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) were compared to measurements provided by the local environmental agency, using two hot-spot areas in the city of Hamburg as an example. To determine how well the measurements agree with each other, a regression analyses was performed dependent on seasonal and diurnal cycles. Additionally, model simulations with the microscale obstacle resolving model MITRAS were performed for two characteristic building structures and different meteorological situations. The model results were used to determine local hot spots as well as areas where measurements might represent the concentration of particles for the urban quarter. The low cost sensor measurements show a general agreement to the city&#8217;s measurements, however, the values per sensor differ. Moreover, the measurements of the low-cost-sensor show an unrealistic dependence on relative humidity, resulting in over- or underestimations in certain cases. The model results clearly show that only a few sites allow measurements to be representative for a city quarter. The measurements of the citizen science project can provide a good overview about the tendencies of the air quality, but are currently not of sufficient quality to provide measurements calling for legal action.The model results were used for the project AtMoDat. AtMoDat is an attempt to create a data standard for obstacle resolving models based on the existing Climate and Forecast (CF) conventions. A web-based survey is developed to get information on the requirements for the data standard. The next step is to extend the collection of model characteristics and eventually to provide a generic scheme.Acknowledgements This work contributes to project &#8220;AtMoDat&#8221; funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the funding number 16QK02C. Responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors.

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The regional impact of urban emissions on air quality in Europe: the role of the urban canopy effects

10.5194/acp-2021-355 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Huszar ◽

Jan Karlický ◽

Jana Marková ◽

Tereza Nováková ◽

Marina Liaskoni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Land Surface ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Urban Canopy ◽

Near Surface ◽

Urban Emissions ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Urban areas are hot-spots of intense emissions and they influence air-quality not only locally but on regional or even global scales. The impact of urban emissions over different scales depends on the dilution and chemical transformation of the urban plumes which are governed by the local and regional scale meteorological conditions. These are influenced by the presence of urbanized land-surface via the so called urban canopy meteorological forcing (UCMF). In this study, we investigate for selected central European cities (Berlin, Budapest, Munich, Prague, Vienna and Warsaw), how the urban emission impact (UEI) is modulated by the UCMF for present day climate conditions (2015–2016) using three regional climate-chemistry models: the regional climate models RegCM and WRF-Chem (its meteorological part), the chemistry transport model CAMx coupled to either RegCM and WRF and the “chemical” component of WRF-Chem. The UCMF was calculated by replacing the urbanized surface by rural one while the UEI was estimated by removing all anthropogenic emissions from the selected cities. We analyzed the urban emissions induced changes of near surface concentrations of NO2, O3 and PM2.5. We found increases of NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations over cities by 4–6 ppbv, and 4–6 μgm−3, respectively meaning that about 40–60 % and 20–40 % of urban concentrations of NO2 and PM2.5 are caused by local emissions and the rest is the result of emissions from surrounding rural areas. We showed that if UCMF is included, the UEI of these pollutants is about 40–60 % smaller, or in other words, the urban emission impact is overestimated if urban canopy effects are not taken into account. In case of ozone, models due to UEI usually predict decreases around −2 to −4 ppbv (about 10–20 %), which is again smaller if UCMF is considered (by about 60 %). We further showed that the impact on extreme (95th percentile) air-pollution is much stronger, as well as the modulation of UEI is larger for such situations. Finally, we evaluated the contribution of the urbanization induced modifications of vertical eddy-diffusion to the modulation of UEI, and found that it alone is able to explain the modelled decrease of the urban emission impact if the effects of UCMF are considered. In summary, our results showed that the meteorological changes resulting from urbanization have to be included in regional model studies if they intend to quantify the regional fingerprint of urban emissions. Ignoring these meteorological changes can lead to strong overestimation of UEI.

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Development of a high temporal–spatial resolution vehicle emission inventory based on NRT traffic data and its impact on air pollution in Beijing – Part 2: Impact of vehicle emission on urban air quality

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-15-19239-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (13) ◽

pp. 19239-19273 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. J. He ◽

L. Wu ◽

H. J. Mao ◽

H. L. Liu ◽

B. Y. Jing ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Spatial Resolution ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Emission Inventory ◽

Model Simulation ◽

Pollutant Emissions ◽

Vehicle Emission ◽

Traffic Data ◽

Near Surface

Abstract. In a companion paper (Jing et al., 2015), a high temporal–spatial resolution vehicle emission inventory (HTSVE) for 2013 in Beijing has been established based on near real time (NRT) traffic data and bottom up methodology. In this study, based on the sensitivity analysis method of switching on/off pollutant emissions in the Chinese air quality forecasting model CUACE, a modeling study was carried out to evaluate the contributions of vehicle emission to the air pollution in Beijing main urban areas in the periods of summer (July) and winter (December) 2013. Generally, CUACE model had good performance of pollutants concentration simulation. The model simulation has been improved by using HTSVE. The vehicle emission contribution (VEC) to ambient pollutant concentrations not only changes with seasons but also changes over moment. The mean VEC, affected by regional pollutant transports significantly, is 55.4 and 48.5 % for NO2, while 5.4 and 10.5 % for PM2.5 in July and December 2013, respectively. Regardless of regional transports, relative vehicle emission contribution (RVEC) to NO2 is 59.2 and 57.8 % in July and December 2013, while 8.7 and 13.9 % for PM2.5. The RVEC to PM2.5 is lower than PM2.5 contribution rate for vehicle emission in total emission, which may be caused by easily dry deposition of PM2.5 from vehicle emission in near-surface layer compared to elevated source emission.

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From Urban Air Quality Forecasting and Information Systems to Integrated Urban Hydrometeorology, Climate and Environment Systems and Services for Smart Cities

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-8837 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Baklanov ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Urban Air Pollution ◽

Urban Air Quality ◽

Urban Air ◽

Climate Services ◽

Urban Weather ◽

Air Quality Forecasting

This presentation is analysing a modern evolution in research and development from specific urban air quality systems to multi-hazard and integrated urban weather, environment and climate systems and services and provides an overview of joint results of large EU FP FUMAPEX, MEGAPOLI, EuMetChem and MarcoPolo projects and international WMO GURME and IUS teams.&#160;Urban air pollution is still one of the key environmental issues for many cities around the world. A number of recent and previous international studies have been initiated to explore these issues. In particular relevant experience from several European projects will be demonstrated. MEGAPOLI studies aimed to assess the impacts of megacities and large air-pollution hotspots on local, regional and global air quality; to quantify feedback mechanisms linking megacity air quality, local and regional climates, and global climate change; and to develop improved tools for predicting air pollution levels in megacities (doi:10.5194/asr-4-115-2010). FUMAPEX developed for the first time an integrated system encompassing emissions, urban meteorology and population exposure for urban air pollution episode forecasting, the assessment of urban air quality and health effects, and for emergency preparedness issues for urban areas (UAQIFS: Urban Air Quality Forecasting and Information System; doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-2005-2006; doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-855-2007).While important advances have been made, new interdisciplinary research studies are needed to increase our understanding of the interactions between emissions, air quality, and regional and global climates. Studies need to address both basic and applied research and bridge the spatial and temporal scales connecting local emissions, air quality and weather with climate and global atmospheric chemistry. WMO has established the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Urban Research Meteorology and Environment (GURME) project which provides an important research contribution to the integrated urban services.Most of the disasters affecting urban areas are of a hydro-meteorological nature and these have increased due to climate change. Cities are also responsible not only for air pollution emissions, but also for generating up to 70% of GHG emissions that drive large scale climate change. Thus, there is a strong feedback between contributions of cities to environmental health, climate change and the impacts of climate change on cities and these phases of the problem should not be considered separately. There is a critical need to consider the problem in a complex manner with interactions of climate change and disaster risk reduction for urban areas (doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.11.059, doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2017.05.004).WMO is promoting safe, healthy and resilient cities through the development of Integrated Urban Weather, Environment and Climate Services (IUS). The aim is to build urban services that meet the special needs of cities through a combination of dense observation networks, high-resolution forecasts, multi-hazard early warning systems, disaster management plans and climate services. This approach gives cities the tools they need to reduce emissions, build thriving and resilient communities and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Guidance on IUS, developed by a WMO inter-programme working group, documents and shares the good practices that will allow countries and cities to improve the resilience of urban areas to a great variety of natural and other hazards (https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=9903).

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A new modeling framework for air pollution forecasting in South America

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-6445 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Angel Vela ◽

Debora Alvim ◽

Eder Vendrasco ◽

Dirceu Herdies ◽

Nilo Figueroa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

South America ◽

Biomass Burning ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Chemical Mechanism ◽

Modeling Framework ◽

Fire Event ◽

New System

Biomass burning episodes are quite common in the central region of South America and represent the dominant aerosol sources during the dry/burning, between August and October. Large amounts of trace gases and aerosols injected into the atmosphere from these fire events can then be efficiently transported to urban areas in southeastern South America, thus affecting air quality over those areas. Observational data have been of fundamental importance to understand the evolution and interaction of biomass burning products with meteorology and chemistry. However, supplementing this information with the use of a comprehensive air quality modeling system in order to anticipate very acute air pollution episodes, and thus avoiding severe impacts on human health, is also required. Considering this, a new regional air pollution modeling framework for South America is being implemented by the Center for Weather Forecasting and Climate Studies (CPTEC), the National Weather Service of Brazil. This new system, based on the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry model (WRF-Chem; Grell et al., 2005), is being run experimentally and its operational implementation is underway. The forecasts were driven by global forecast data from the GFS-FV3 model for meteorology and from the WACCM model for chemistry, both data sets provided every 6 hours. WACCM forecasts are employed to map gas and aerosol background concentrations to the WRF-Chem initial and boundary conditions, according to the MOZCART chemical mechanism. Two experiments of 48-hour real-time forecast simulations were performed, on a daily basis, during August and September of 2018 and 2019. The experiment for 2019 includes the very strong 3-week forest fire event when the Metropolitan Area of S&#227;o Paulo, the largest metropolitan area in South America, plunged into darkness on August 19, with day turning into night. Model results are in good domain-wide agreement with satellite data and also with in situ measurements.&#160;Besides forecasts of meteorological parameters, this new system provides forecasts of regional distributions of primary chemical species (CO, SO2, NOx, particulate matter including black carbon), of secondary species (ozone, secondary organic aerosols) and air pollution related health indices, all parameters with a resolution of 20 km and for the next 72 hours.

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Improving the Protection of Children Against Air Pollution Threats in Romania � The RokidAIR Project Approach and Future Perspectives

Revista de Chimie ◽

10.37358/rc.17.4.5563 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 68 (4) ◽

pp. 841-846

Author(s):

Hai-Ying Liu ◽

Daniel Dunea ◽

Mihaela Oprea ◽

Tom Savu ◽

Stefania Iordache

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Health Effects ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Behavioural Change ◽

Health Assessment ◽

Warning System ◽

Personal Exposure ◽

Mobile Technologies ◽

Quality Maps

This paper presents the approach used to develop the information chain required to reach the objectives of the EEA Grants� RokidAIR project in two Romanian cities i.e., Targoviste and Ploiesti. It describes the PM2.5 monitoring infrastructure and architecture to the web-based GIS platform, the early warning system and the decision support system, and finally, the linking of air pollution to health effects in children. In addition, it shows the analysis performance of the designed system to process the collected time series from various data sources using the benzene concentrations monitored in Ploiesti. Moreover, this paper suggests that biomarkers, mobile technologies, and Citizens� Observatories are potential perspectives to improve data coverage by the provision of near-real-time air quality maps, and provide personal exposure and health assessment results, enabling the citizens� engagement and behavioural change. This paper also addresses new fields in nature-based solutions to improve air quality, and studies on air pollution and its mental health effects in the urban areas of Romania.

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Morpho-Physio-Biochemical Attributes of Roadside Trees as Potential Tools for Biomonitoring of Air Quality and Environmental Health in Urban Areas

Land ◽

10.3390/land10030236 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 236

Author(s):

Ha Na You ◽

Myeong Ja Kwak ◽

Sun Mi Je ◽

Jong Kyu Lee ◽

Yea Ji Lim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Environmental Health ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Biochemical Parameters ◽

Lipid Peroxide ◽

Platanus Occidentalis ◽

Physiological Variables ◽

Sources Of Pollution ◽

Species Specific

Environmental pollution is an important issue in metropolitan areas, and roadside trees are directly affected by various sources of pollution to which they exhibit numerous responses. The aim of the present study was to identify morpho-physio-biochemical attributes of maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba L.) and American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis L.) growing under two different air quality conditions (roadside with high air pollution, RH and roadside with low air pollution, RL) and to assess the possibility of using their physiological and biochemical parameters as biomonitoring tools in urban areas. The results showed that the photosynthetic rate, photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiencies, and photochromic contents were generally low in RH in both G. biloba and P. occidentalis. However, water-use efficiency and leaf temperature showed high values in RH trees. Among biochemical parameters, in G. biloba, the lipid peroxide content was higher in RH than in RL trees, but in P. occidentalis, this content was lower in RH than in RL trees. In both species, physiological activities were low in trees planted in areas with high levels of air pollution, whereas their biochemical and morphological variables showed different responses to air pollution. Thus, we concluded that it is possible to determine species-specific physiological variables affected by regional differences of air pollution in urban areas, and these findings may be helpful for monitoring air quality and environmental health using trees.

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