Air quality vs. green services in an urban ecosystem - example from an urban area in the center of Tirana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEKO MIHO ◽  
MELITJAN NEZAJ ◽  
MARJOL MEÇO ◽  
RODION GJOKA
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Ecosystem

scholarly journals Development of the city-scale chemistry transport model CityChem-EPISODE and its application to the city of Hamburg

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Karl
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Temporal Correlation ◽  
Urban Atmosphere ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Urban Background ◽  
New Model ◽  
The City

Abstract. This paper describes the City-scale Chemistry (CityChem) extension of the urban dispersion model EPISODE with the aim to enable chemistry/transport simulations of multiple reactive pollutants on urban scales. The new model is called CityChem-EPISODE. The primary focus is on the simulation of urban ozone concentrations. Ozone is produced in photochemical reaction cycles involving nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted by various anthropogenic activities in the urban area. The performance of the new model was evaluated with a series of synthetic tests and with a first application to the air quality situation in the city of Hamburg, Germany. The model performs fairly well for ozone in terms of temporal correlation and bias at the air quality monitoring stations in Hamburg. In summer afternoons, when photochemical activity is highest, modelled median ozone at an inner-city urban background station was about 30 % lower than the observed median ozone. Inaccuracy of the computed photolysis frequency of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is the most probable explanation for this. CityChem-EPISODE reproduces the spatial variation of annual mean NO2 concentrations between urban background, traffic and industrial stations. However, the temporal correlation between modelled and observed hourly NO2 concentrations is weak for some of the stations. For daily mean PM10, the performance of CityChem-EPISODE is moderate due to low temporal correlation. The low correlation is linked to uncertainties in the seasonal cycle of the anthropogenic particulate matter (PM) emissions within the urban area. Missing emissions from domestic heating might be an explanation for the too low modelled PM10 in winter months. Four areas of need for improvement have been identified: (1) dry and wet deposition fluxes; (2) treatment of photochemistry in the urban atmosphere; (3) formation of secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA); and (4) formation of biogenic and anthropogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The inclusion of secondary aerosol formation will allow for a better sectorial attribution of observed PM levels. Envisaged applications of the CityChem-EPISODE model are urban air quality studies, environmental impact assessment, sensitivity analysis of sector-specific emission and the assessment of local and regional emission abatement policy options.

scholarly journals Analysis of Air Quality Index obtained via Remote Sensing for Lagos State Urban Area, Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47
Author(s):  
L.A. Akinyemi ◽  
A.A. Periola ◽  
O.O. Shoewu ◽  
A.A. Alonge ◽  
K.A. Ogudo
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Air Quality Index ◽  
Lagos State

scholarly journals Assessment of Air Quality in an Urban Area of Belgrade, Serbia

10.5772/5307 ◽  
2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjana Tasic ◽  
Slavica Rajsic ◽  
Milica Tomasevic ◽  
Zoran Mijic ◽  
Mira Anicic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area

scholarly journals Influences of boundary layer phenomena and meteorology on ambient air quality status of an urban area in eastern India

Atmósfera ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharadia Dey ◽  
◽  
Srimanta Gupta ◽  
Arun Chakraborty ◽  
Precious Sibanda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Eastern India ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Quality Status

Impact of energy efficiency policies on the air quality of a North African urban area: emission scenarios by the horizon 2030

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalila Belhout ◽  
Helder Relvas ◽  
Brahim Haddad ◽  
Rabah Kerbachi ◽  
Ana Isabel Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Emission Scenarios ◽  
North African ◽  
Energy Efficiency Policies

scholarly journals The Air Quality Perception of Residents in the Metropolitan Zone of Acapulco Who Live Around Intersections with Intense Traffic

Environments ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Alfredo Ricardo Zárate Valencia ◽  
Maximino Reyes Umaña ◽  
Hilda Janet Arellano Wences ◽  
Antonio Alfonso Rodríguez Rosales ◽  
Columba Rodríguez Alviso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Pollutant Concentration ◽  
Degree Of Contamination ◽  
Quality Perception ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Grouping Method ◽  
Metropolitan Zone

Air pollution is a global environmental problem that affects the population. This work demonstrates the perception of air quality by the population of the urban area of the municipality of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. To meet the objective, a survey of 36 questions was applied to a sample of 382 people living in the main crossing points of vehicles, where there is more traffic and more severe pollutant concentration problems. We decided to apply the grouping method within a radius of 500 m around the selected intersections, where 95% of the respondents are aware that the air they breathe has a certain degree of contamination.

scholarly journals Strategies of method selection for fine-scale PM<sub>2.5</sub> mapping in an intra-urban area using crowdsourced monitoring

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2933-2948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Xu ◽  
Bin Zou ◽  
Yan Lin ◽  
Xiuge Zhao ◽  
Shenxin Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Method Selection ◽  
Sampling Campaign ◽  
Selection For ◽  
Monitoring Stations

Abstract. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is of great concern to the public due to its significant risk to human health. Numerous methods have been developed to estimate spatial PM2.5 concentrations in unobserved locations due to the sparse number of fixed monitoring stations. Due to an increase in low-cost sensing for air pollution monitoring, crowdsourced monitoring of exposure control has been gradually introduced into cities. However, the optimal mapping method for conventional sparse fixed measurements may not be suitable for this new high-density monitoring approach. This study presents a crowdsourced sampling campaign and strategies of method selection for 100 m scale PM2.5 mapping in an intra-urban area of China. During this process, PM2.5 concentrations were measured by laser air quality monitors through a group of volunteers during two 5 h periods. Three extensively employed modelling methods (ordinary kriging, OK; land use regression, LUR; and regression kriging, RK) were adopted to evaluate the performance. An interesting finding is that PM2.5 concentrations in micro-environments varied in the intra-urban area. These local PM2.5 variations can be easily identified by crowdsourced sampling rather than national air quality monitoring stations. The selection of models for fine-scale PM2.5 concentration mapping should be adjusted according to the changing sampling and pollution circumstances. During this project, OK interpolation performs best in conditions with non-peak traffic situations during a lightly polluted period (holdout validation R2: 0.47–0.82), while the RK modelling can perform better during the heavily polluted period (0.32–0.68) and in conditions with peak traffic and relatively few sampling sites (fewer than ∼100) during the lightly polluted period (0.40–0.69). Additionally, the LUR model demonstrates limited ability in estimating PM2.5 concentrations on very fine spatial and temporal scales in this study (0.04–0.55), which challenges the traditional point about the good performance of the LUR model for air pollution mapping. This method selection strategy provides empirical evidence for the best method selection for PM2.5 mapping using crowdsourced monitoring, and this provides a promising way to reduce the exposure risks for individuals in their daily life.

scholarly journals Impacts of urban land-surface forcing on ozone air quality in the Seoul metropolitan area

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2177-2194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y.-H. Ryu ◽  
J.-J. Baik ◽  
K.-H. Kwak ◽  
S. Kim ◽  
N. Moon
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Urban Boundary Layer ◽  
Breeze Circulation ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Elevated O3 ◽  
Seoul Metropolitan Area

Abstract. Modified local meteorology owing to heterogeneities in the urban–rural surface can affect urban air quality. In this study, the impacts of urban land-surface forcing on ozone air quality during a high ozone (O3) episode in the Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea, are investigated using a high-resolution chemical transport model (CMAQ). Under fair weather conditions, the temperature excess (urban heat island) significantly modifies boundary layer characteristics/structures and local circulations. The modified boundary layer and local circulations result in an increase in O3 levels in the urban area of 16 ppb in the nighttime and 13 ppb in the daytime. Enhanced turbulence in the deep urban boundary layer dilutes pollutants such as NOx, and this contributes to the elevated O3 levels through the reduced O3 destruction by NO in the NOx-rich environment. The advection of O3 precursors over the mountains near Seoul by the prevailing valley-breeze circulation in the mid- to late morning results in the build-up of O3 over the mountains in conjunction with biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions there. As the prevailing local circulation in the afternoon changes to urban-breeze circulation, the O3-rich air masses over the mountains are advected over the urban area. The urban-breeze circulation exerts significant influences on not only the advection of O3 but also the chemical production of O3 under the circumstances in which both anthropogenic and biogenic (natural) emissions play important roles in O3 formation. As the air masses that are characterized by low NOx and high BVOC levels and long OH chain length are advected over the urban area from the surroundings, the ozone production efficiency increases in the urban area. The relatively strong vertical mixing in the urban boundary layer embedded in the sea-breeze inflow layer reduces NOx levels, thus contributing to the elevated O3 levels in the urban area.

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