Influence of avenue-trees on air quality at the urban neighborhood scale. Part II: Traffic pollutant concentrations at pedestrian level

Gromke, CB Christof; Blocken, Bje Bert

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2014.10.015

Cited by 131 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In addition, the fraction of pollutant removed from air by means of the deposition to the leaves is represented as a mass sink in the transport equation (S d , Equation 4). This approach to model vegetation has been evaluated by Santiago et al [24], Krayenhoff et al [37], and Santiago et al [28], and it is also similar to those employed in other CFD studies [23,25,31]. The mathematical expressions are the following,…”

Section: The Study Area and Modeling Set-upmentioning

confidence: 97%

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The Impact of Planting Trees on NOx Concentrations: The Case of the Plaza de la Cruz Neighborhood in Pamplona (Spain)

et al. 2017

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Abstract:In this paper, the role of trees on airborne pollutant dispersion in a real neighborhood in Pamplona (Spain) is discussed. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model is employed and evaluated against concentrations measured during the last part of winter season at a monitoring station located in the study area. Aerodynamic and deposition effects of trees are jointly considered, which has only been done in few recent studies. Specifically, the impact on NO x concentration of: (a) tree-foliage; and (b) introducing new vegetation in a tree-free street is analyzed considering several deposition velocities and Leaf Area Densities (LAD) to model deciduous and evergreen vegetation. Results show that the higher the LAD, the higher the deposition (concentration reduction) and the blocking aerodynamic effect (concentration increase). Regardless of foliage or deposition rates, results suggest the predominance of aerodynamic effects which induce concentration increases up to a maximum of 7.2%, while deposition induces concentration decreases up to a maximum of 6.9%. The inclusion of new trees in one street modifies the distribution of pollutant, not only in that street, but also in nearby locations with concentration increase or decrease. This finding suggests that planting trees in street with traffic as an air pollution reduction strategy seems to be not appropriate in general, highlighting the necessity of ad hoc studies for each particular case to select the suitable location of new vegetation.

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Section: The Study Area and Modeling Set-upmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This allows us to generalize the results for different deposition conditions as performed in Santiago et al [25] for idealized scenarios. Specifically, the analysis focuses on:…”

Section: Description Of Investigated Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Planting Trees on NOx Concentrations: The Case of the Plaza de la Cruz Neighborhood in Pamplona (Spain)

et al. 2017

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“…Several studies have found the presence of trees to cause an increase in levels of both particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide [45,[59][60][61]. The tree canopy may cause pollutants to become trapped by reducing ventilation [45,59,60]. This indicates that the trees have a greater ability to reduce dispersion rates than filter pollutants therefore causing pollutant levels to increase.…”

Section: Impact Of Roadside Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wind direction and wind speed can be influential on levels of air pollution by increasing or decreasing the rate and area of dispersion [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. Calm conditions are generally associated with higher levels of air pollution [40,41,43,44,46].…”

Section: Meteorological Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are numerous factors which should be considered when assessing their impact including the tree height, width, size of canopy and type of tree [38]. Several studies have found the presence of trees to cause an increase in levels of both particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide [45,[59][60][61]. The tree canopy may cause pollutants to become trapped by reducing ventilation [45,59,60].…”

Section: Impact Of Roadside Vegetationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A meta-analysis of the impact of traffic-related air pollution on health and the factors affecting exposure

Lockhart

Vaganay

Macintyre

et al. 2015

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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Clean air is a basic requirement for health and well-being. One of the main sources of air pollution is traffic. It emits harmful pollutants including nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. There is a large body of existing evidence regarding the public health impact of air pollution. A wide range of health problems including respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses have been found. The evidence in relation to the impact of traffic related air pollution is inconsistent therefore the aim of this paper is to provide clarity on the strength of evidence. In addition, the review will consider the impact of environmental and personal exposure factors. To identify relevant research, the database Science Direct was used along with a search strategy. This review found there is a large body of evidence in relation to air pollution from traffic, health impacts and environmental factors. Due to methodological limitations and the complexity of the interactions the strength of this evidence is mixed. Links to cardiovascular illnesses were considered the most significant. A number of environmental factors such as weather and built environment have significant impacts on traffic related air pollution levels. The review highlights the lack of comprehensive and robust evidence linking environmental factors, traffic related air pollution and health impacts. Future work should use appropriate methodologies to address these gaps.

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The effect of an urban park on the microclimate in its vicinity: a case study for Antwerp, Belgium

Toparlar

Blocken

Maiheu

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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An urban park can exhibit a cooling effect not only in the park itself, but also in its wake with respect to the prevailing wind. This study investigates the cooling potential of an urban park in Antwerp, Belgium focusing on two parameters: (1) intensity of the cooling effect, indicating the maximum reduction in air temperature and (2) range of the cooling effect, indicating the maximum horizontal distance where a minimum of 0.1 ∘ C cooling effect is present. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are performed using the three-dimensional unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. Coupled simulations of wind flow and heat transfer consider all the conductive, convective and radiative heat transfer processes but not the long-wave radiation heat exchange between buildings, trees and ground. The vegetation model used in this study is evaluated with experimental data from an earlier study. Moreover, the simulated air temperatures inside the Antwerp city center are compared with available measurement data. Following the fairly-good predictions from CFD simulations, results from the following cases are compared: (1) base case with the park, (2) a case with an open square instead of the park, and (3) a case with representative buildings instead of the park. The results indicate a maximum daytime intensity and range of the cooling effect of 3.4 ∘ C and 498 m at 1500 LST (UTC + 2, Central European Summer Time). Further analysis shows that the cooling effect is more profound closer to the ground. Apart from the daytime cooling effect, the park investigated has the potential to lower wind velocities, resulting in increased air temperatures during the night-time (at 0000 LST) by 0.9 ∘ C, although this number might be slightly different given the neglect of long-wave radiation heat exchange between buildings, trees and ground.

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Influence of avenue-trees on air quality at the urban neighborhood scale. Part II: Traffic pollutant concentrations at pedestrian level

Cited by 131 publications

References 32 publications

The Impact of Planting Trees on NOx Concentrations: The Case of the Plaza de la Cruz Neighborhood in Pamplona (Spain)

The Impact of Planting Trees on NOx Concentrations: The Case of the Plaza de la Cruz Neighborhood in Pamplona (Spain)

A meta-analysis of the impact of traffic-related air pollution on health and the factors affecting exposure

The effect of an urban park on the microclimate in its vicinity: a case study for Antwerp, Belgium

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