scholarly journals Mid-IR spectrometer for mobile, real-time urban NO<sub>2</sub> measurements

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 2669-2681 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Morten Hundt ◽  
Michael Müller ◽  
Markus Mangold ◽  
Béla Tuzson ◽  
Philipp Scheidegger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Infrared Laser ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Laser Absorption ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Detailed knowledge about the urban NO2 concentration field is a key element for obtaining accurate pollution maps and individual exposure estimates. These are required for improving the understanding of the impact of ambient NO2 on human health and for related air quality measures. However, city-scale NO2 concentration maps with high spatio-temporal resolution are still lacking, mainly due to the difficulty of accurate measurement of NO2 at the required sub-ppb level precision. We contribute to close this gap through the development of a compact instrument based on mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy. Leveraging recent advances in infrared laser and detection technology and a novel circular absorption cell, we demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of this technique for demanding mobile applications. A fully autonomous quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer (QCLAS) has been successfully deployed on a tram, performing long-term and real-time concentration measurements of NO2 in the city of Zurich (Switzerland). For ambient NO2 concentrations, the instrument demonstrated a precision of 0.23 ppb at one second time resolution and of 0.03 ppb after 200 s averaging. Whilst the combined uncertainty estimated for the retrieved spectroscopic values was less than 5 %, laboratory intercomparison measurements with standard CLD instruments revealed a systematic NO2 wall loss of about 10 % within the laser spectrometer. For the field campaign, the QCLAS has been referenced to a CLD using urban atmospheric air, despite the potential cross sensitivity of CLD to other nitrogen containing compounds. However, this approach allowed a direct comparison and continuous validation of the spectroscopic data to measurements at regulatory air quality monitoring (AQM) stations along the tram-line. The analysis of the recorded high-resolution time series allowed us to gain more detailed insights into the spatio-temporal concentration distribution of NO2 in an urban environment. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that for reliable city-scale concentration maps a larger data set and better spatial coverage is needed, e.g., by deploying more mobile and stationary instruments to account for mainly two shortcomings of the current approach: (i) limited residence time close to sources with large short-term NO2 variations, and (ii) insufficient representativeness of the tram tracks for the complex urban environment.

scholarly journals Spectroscopic real-time monitoring of NO<sub>2</sub> for city scale modelling

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Morten Hundt ◽  
Michael Müller ◽  
Markus Mangold ◽  
Béla Tuzson ◽  
Philipp Scheidegger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Concentration Field ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Quantum Cascade ◽  
Laser Absorption ◽  
Scale Modelling ◽  
Mobile Measurements ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Abstract. Detailed knowledge about the urban NO2 concentration field is a key element for obtaining accurate, individual exposure estimates. These are required for improving the understanding of the impact of ambient NO2 on human health and for related air quality measures. We developed a compact and robust quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer (QCLAS) and deployed it on a tram in the city of Zurich (Switzerland) to perform mobile real-time concentration measurements of NO2. Thorough analysis of the obtained NO2 data, for instance by comparison with data from fixed air quality monitoring (AQM) sites, revealed the instrument to be highly accurate and valuable for collection of data that can be used in statistical models for the calculation of spatio-temporally resolved NO2 concentration maps. The combination of fast mobile measurements with AQM data proved to be very suitable, but the statistical data analysis also showed that a single mobile instrument is not sufficient in the studied urban area, for mainly two reasons: (i) short residence close to sources with large short-term NO2 variations and (ii) limited representativeness of the tram tracks for the entire urban environment.

Global temperature response to regional and sectoral air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne T. Lund ◽  
Borgar Aamaas ◽  
Camilla W. Stjern ◽  
Zbigniew Klimont ◽  
Terje K. Berntsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Global Temperature ◽  
Strong Increase ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Near Term ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;Achieving the ambition of the Paris Agreement and meeting the Sustainable Development Goals require both near-zero levels of long-lived greenhouse gases and deep cuts in emissions of so-called short-lived climate forcers (SLCFs), including methane and black carbon. Here we present a comprehensive dataset of contributions to future global temperature change from emissions of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; and individual SLCFs from 7 economic sectors and 13 source regions, both as they are today and as they are projected to change under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). Such detailed knowledge about the mix of emissions from individual sources and benefits and trade-offs of reductions is essential for designing efficient mitigation strategies at the national and international levels, as well as for informing policy processes on how to best address linkages between climate, sustainable development and air quality.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our results demonstrate that the mitigation potential inherent in the present SLCF emissions is highly inhomogeneous across region and sector, and that co-emissions of all species &amp;#8211; including CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; &amp;#8211; should be considered in any targeted climate policy. We also reinforce the importance of reducing methane emissions, from agriculture, waste management and energy production, for reducing warming in the near-term. In contrast, in many regions, reducing industry emissions brings air quality benefits but may cause a net additional near-term warming. The spatiotemporal heterogeneity is expected to continue under the SSPs. Most scenarios project a particularly strong increase in aerosol and other SLCF emissions in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara, suggesting that technology development and air pollution legislation in these regions is a key step in the transition to a low emission future. Moreover, both rapidly increasing and decreasing emissions of SLCFs will play an important role in shaping the regional climate and air quality.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;By using an analytical climate model, we build a methodological framework that can be used to estimate the impact of any emission scenarios. Our data set hence provide a toolkit for further studies of implications of mitigation pathways and policy responses, and support assessments of environmental impacts.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals First Evidence of Human's Influence on Climate of Prague and Brno

Geografie ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-19
Author(s):  
Jan Munzar
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Urban Climate ◽  
Quality Deterioration ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Impact

The paper brings some new knowledge on air quality deterioration as a part of urban environment in Prague and Brno in the end of the 18th and in the 19th centuries. The impact of man-induced processes on the creation of specific features of urban climate is documented.

scholarly journals Monitoring and characterization of vibration and shock conditions aboard high-performance marine craft

2018 ◽  
Vol 233 (4) ◽  
pp. 1068-1081
Author(s):  
Manudul Pahansen de Alwis ◽  
Karl Garme
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
High Speed ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Severity Index ◽  
Irregular Waves ◽  
Vibration Exposure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Real Time Analysis ◽  
Impact Acceleration ◽  
The Impact

The stochastic environmental conditions together with craft design and operational characteristics make it difficult to predict the vibration environments aboard high-performance marine craft, particularly the risk of impact acceleration events and the shock component of the exposure often being associated with structural failure and human injuries. The different timescales and the magnitudes involved complicate the real-time analysis of vibration and shock conditions aboard these craft. The article introduces a new measure, severity index, indicating the risk of severe impact acceleration, and proposes a method for real-time feedback on the severity of impact exposure together with accumulated vibration exposure. The method analyzes the immediate 60 s of vibration exposure history and computes the severity of impact exposure as for the present state based on severity index. The severity index probes the characteristic of the present acceleration stochastic process, that is, the risk of an upcoming heavy impact, and serves as an alert to the crew. The accumulated vibration exposure, important for mapping and logging the crew exposure, is determined by the ISO 2631:1997 vibration dose value. The severity due to the impact and accumulated vibration exposure is communicated to the crew every second as a color-coded indicator: green, yellow and red, representing low, medium and high, based on defined impact and dose limits. The severity index and feedback method are developed and validated by a data set of 27 three-hour simulations of a planning craft in irregular waves and verified for its feasibility in real-world applications by full-scale acceleration data recorded aboard high-speed planing craft in operation.

Real-time monitoring of seismic moment and radiated energy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Scafidi ◽  
Daniele Spallarossa ◽  
Matteo Picozzi ◽  
Dino Bindi
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Seismic Moment ◽  
P Wave ◽  
Calibration Data ◽  
S Wave ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Local Networks ◽  
Radiated Energy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Large Earthquakes

&lt;p&gt;Understanding the dynamics of faulting is a crucial target in earthquake source physics (Yoo et al., 2010). To study earthquake dynamics it is indeed necessary to look at the source complexity from different perspectives; in this regard, useful information is provided by the seismic moment (M0), which is a static measure of the earthquake size, and the seismic radiated energy (ER), which is connected to the rupture kinematics and dynamics (e.g. Bormann &amp; Di Giacomo 2011a). Studying spatial and temporal evolution of scaling relations between scaled energy (i.e., e = ER/M0) versus the static measure of source dimension (M0) can provide valuable indications for understanding the earthquake generation processes, single out precursors of stress concentrations, foreshocks and the nucleation of large earthquakes (Picozzi et al., 2019). In the last ten years, seismology has undergone a terrific development. Evolution in data telemetry opened the new research field of real-time seismology (Kanamori 2005), which targets are the rapid determination of earthquake location and size, the timely implementation of emergency plans and, under favourable conditions, earthquake early warning. On the other hand, the availability of denser and high quality seismic networks deployed near faults made possible to observe very large numbers of micro-to-small earthquakes, which is pushing the seismological community to look for novel big data analysis strategies. Large earthquakes in Italy have the peculiar characteristic of being followed within seconds to months by large aftershocks of magnitude similar to the initial quake or even larger, demonstrating the complexity of the Apennines&amp;#8217; faults system (Gentili and Giovanbattista, 2017). Picozzi et al. (2017) estimated the radiated seismic energy and seismic moment from P-wave signals for almost forty earthquakes with the largest magnitude of the 2016-2017 Central Italy seismic sequence. Focusing on S-wave signals recorded by local networks, Bindi et al. (2018) analysed more than 1400 earthquakes in the magnitude ranges 2.5 &amp;#8804; Mw &amp;#8804; 6.5 of the same region occurred from 2008 to 2017 and estimated both ER and M0, from which were derived the energy magnitude (Me) and Mw for investigating the impact of different magnitude scales on the aleatory variability associated with ground motion prediction equations. In this work, exploiting first steps made in this direction by Picozzi et al. (2017) and Bindi et al. (2018), we derived a novel approach for the real-time, robust estimation of seismic moment and radiated energy of small to large magnitude earthquakes recorded at local scales. In the first part of the work, we describe the procedure for extracting from the S-wave signals robust estimates of the peak displacement (PDS) and the cumulative squared velocity (IV2S). Then, exploiting a calibration data set of about 6000 earthquakes for which well-constrained M0 and theoretical ER values were available, we describe the calibration of empirical attenuation models. The coefficients and parameters obtained by calibration were then used for determining ER and M0 of a testing dataset&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Measured and modelled air quality trends in Italy over the period 2003–2010

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria D'Elia ◽  
Gino Briganti ◽  
Lina Vitali ◽  
Antonio Piersanti ◽  
Gaia Righini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Average Concentration ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Significant Downward Trend ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Air pollution harms human health and the environment. Several regulatory efforts and different actions have been taken in the last decades by authorities. Air quality trend analysis represents a valid tool in assessing the impact of these actions taken both at national and local levels. This paper presents for the first time the capability of the Italian national chemical transport model, AMS-MINNI, in capturing the observed concentration trends of three air pollutants, NO2, inhalable particles having diameter less than 10 micrometres (PM10) and O3, in Italy over the period 2003–2010. We firstly analyse the model performance finding it in line with the state of the art of regional models applications. The modelled trends result in a general significant downward trend for the three pollutants and, in comparison with observations, the values of the simulated slopes show the same magnitude for NO2 (in the range −3.0 ÷ −0.5 ug m−3 yr−1), while a smaller variability is detected for PM10 (−1.5 ÷ −0.5 ug m−3 yr−1) and O3-maximum daily 8-hour average concentration (−2.0 ÷ −0.5 ug m−3 yr−1). As a general result, we find a good agreement between modelled and observed trends; moreover, the model allowed to extend both the spatial coverage and the statistical significance of pollutants' concentrations trends with respect to observations, in particular for NO2. We also conduct a qualitative attempt to correlate the temporal concentration trends to meteorological and emission variability. Since no clear tendency in yearly meteorological anomalies (temperature, precipitation, geopotential height) was observed for the period investigated, we focus the discussion of concentrations trends on emissions variations. We point out that, due to the complex links between precursors emissions and air pollutants concentrations, emission reductions do not always result in a corresponding decrease in atmospheric concentrations, especially for those pollutants that are formed in the atmosphere such as O3 and the major fraction of PM10. These complex phenomena are still uncertain and their understanding is of the utmost importance in planning future policies for reducing air pollution and its impacts on health and ecosystems.

scholarly journals The First Steps to Develop a Monitoring-Based Method to Support the Sustainable Mosquito Control in an Urban Environment in Hungary

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5013
Author(s):  
Tibor Kiss ◽  
Csaba Leitol ◽  
Gergely Márovics ◽  
Tímea Zentai ◽  
Roland Baczur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Mosquito Control ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Lower Intensity ◽  
Reduced Pressure ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Running Water ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

In Europe, several exotic Aedes species, such as Aedes albopictus, Aedes eagypti, Aedes japonicas and Aedes koreicus, have become established. Mosquito-borne infection has also become a rising public health issue in Europe. This study aims to present the results of the first Hungarian systematic mosquito monitoring (SMM) operating in an urban environment in the city of Pécs. It also explains the implementation of a targeted mosquito control by the development of a mosquito map with the SMM approach, thus contributing to a reduction of the risks of mosquito-borne diseases. The mosquito trapping started in 2015, and the traps were Center for Disease Control (CDC) equipment. Based on the data of the SMM, an urban mosquito data set was developed. It consisted of the data of 441 trappings, and the data were statistically analyzed. The results show that three influencing factors impacted mosquito population: distance from running water, built-up density and average temperature had a causal impact on the average number of mosquitoes of an urban area. Each of these factors showed direct impact, and the impact intensified with the combination of the three factors. On that basis, it was made clear which areas of the city mosquito control activity should be focused. Areas of the city where interventions of lower intensity may be necessary compared to the intensity of the earlier mosquito control measures could also be determined. Compared to the previous practice, in which the entire city was involved in intensive mosquito control, now the intensive larviciding is advised to be applied in 42.1% of the total residential areas of the city. Thus, mosquito control of lower intensity could also be sufficient in the remaining 57.9% of the city area. This resource reallocation based on planning can boost the efficiency of the control and lead to a positive change towards sustainability regarding reduced pressure on the environment and reduced expenses of protection.

Breathe Easy, There's an App for That: Using Information and Communication Technology to Avoid Air Pollution in Bogotá

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen Blackman ◽  
Bridget Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Avoidance Behavior ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Real Time Information ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Time Information

Ambient air pollution is a leading cause of death in developing countries. In theory, using smartphone apps, text messages, and other personal information and communication technologies to disseminate real-time information about such pollution can boost avoidance behavior like wearing face masks and closing windows. Yet evidence on their effectiveness is limited. We conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of training university students in Bogotá, Colombia to use a newly available municipal government smartphone app that displays real-time information on air quality. The training increased participants acquisition of information about air quality, their knowledge about avoidance behavior, and their actual avoidance behavior. It also enhanced their concern about other environmental issues. These effects were moderated by participants characteristics. For example, the training was generally less effective among job holders.

Building spatial-temporal NO2 land use regression models in complex urban environment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Wei ◽  
Yang Xing ◽  
Li Sun ◽  
Zhi Ning
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Environment ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Pollutant Emission ◽  
Land Use Regression ◽  
Pollutant Distribution

&lt;p&gt;Air quality and traffic-related pollutants in urban areas are major concerns especially in meg-cities. Current Air Quality Monitoring Station (AQMS) cannot sufficiently reveal these pollution conditions with limited point measurements and limited information cannot supply adequate insight on personal exposure in a complex urban environment. Land Use Regression (LUR) model provided a feasible solution for estimating outdoor personal exposure by adding multiple data sources. However, fixed-site passive monitoring still lacks enough spatial coverage or spatial flexibility to estimate pollutant distribution at the fine-scale level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;A Mobile Air Sensor Network (MASEN) project was deployed in the Hong Kong area, with electrochemical gas sensors installed on the routine buses to capture on-road NO&lt;sub&gt;x&lt;/sub&gt; pollutant measurement, the data was collected by the integrated sensor system and transfer to the database for real-time visualization. Compared with previous mobile measurements used for LUR model building which limited to 1-2 routes, this measurement covered major roads in the Hong Kong area and get an overview of pollutant distribution at various ambient. Two main variables were introduced to improve the model performance: 1) Sky View Factor (SVF) which represented pollutant dispersion status were obtained from Google street view image, a deep learning model was used for scene parsing to recognized targets in this procedure, 2) a Real-time Traffic Congestion Index (RTCI) which represented traffic pollutants emission was obtained from Google map and merged with road network. A common LUR model will be built based on a distance-decay regression selection strategy for variables selection. Meanwhile, a spatial-temporal LUR model will be built which contained both diurnal variability and day-to-day variability. Finally, a high-resolution pollution map of the urban areas will illustrate NO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; pollutant distribution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this work, we aimed at estimating traffic-related pollutants in a complex city environment and identifying hotspots at both spatial and temporal aspects. Meanwhile, the novel data source which closely associated with traffic-related pollutant emission also gives a better understanding of guidance on urban planning.&lt;/p&gt;

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