Air pollution abatement performances of green infrastructure in open road and built-up street canyon environments – A review

Abhijith, K.V.; Kumar, Prashant; Gallagher, John; McNabola, Aonghus; Baldauf, Richard; Pilla, Francesco; Broderick, Brian; Sabatino, Silvana Di; Pulvirenti, Beatrice

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.05.014

Cited by 720 publications

(485 citation statements)

References 128 publications

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“…The effect of expanding urban green infrastructure at the airshed scale will likely be much stronger through its effect on urban form, especially total urban area (equation (4), above) [37]. The effects of vegetation on surface roughness and, hence, the mean wind speed, u, and the effects of roughness and local heat balance on the mixing height, h [36,38], will be more influential on urban airshed-average pollution concentrations than the effect of deposition on vegetation (see [39] and similar approaches which focus solely or mainly on the deposition term). However, at the local scale, the effect of green infrastructure on pollutant concentrations is a context-dependent balance of fumigation and deposition effects with potentially large impact [10,38,40,41].…”

Section: Airshed-average Pollutant Concentration Scalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban form strongly mediates the allometric scaling of airshed pollution concentrations

MacKenzie

Whyatt

Barnes

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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We present allometric-scaling relationships between non-point-source emissions of air pollutants and settlement population, using 3030 urban settlements in Great Britain (home to ca. 80% of the population of that region). Sub-linear scalings (slope<1.0; standard error on slope ∼0.01; r 2 >0.6) were found for the oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) and microscopic airborne particles (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ). That is, emissions of these pollutants from larger cities are lower per capita than would be expected when compared to the same population dispersed in smaller settlements. The scalings of traffic-related emissions are disaggregated into a component due to under-use of roads in small settlements and a fraction due to congestion in large settlements. We use these scalings of emissions, along with a scaling related to urban form, to explain quantitatively how and why urban airshed-average air pollutant concentrations also scale with population. Our predicted concentration scaling with population is strongly sub-linear, with a slope about half that of the emissions scaling, consistent with satellite measurements of NO 2 columns over large cities across Europe. We demonstrate that the urban form of a particular settlement can result in the airshed-average air pollution of that settlement being much larger or smaller than expected. We extend our analysis to predict that the likelihood of occurrence of local air pollution hotspots will scale super-linearly with population, a testable hypothesis that awaits suitable data. Our analysis suggests that coordinated management of emissions and urban form would strongly reduce the likelihood of local pollutant hotspots occurring whilst also ameliorating the urban heat island effect under climate change.

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Section: Airshed-average Pollutant Concentration Scalingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban form strongly mediates the allometric scaling of airshed pollution concentrations

MacKenzie

Whyatt

Barnes

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…During dry seasons such as autumn, increasing interaction between greenspace and other elements in urban areas by higher ED and LPI would lead to faster near-ground wind speed and increases in air humidity, and the strong wind may lead to higher PM concentration under higher humidity [54,55]. In addition, the aerodynamic effects of greenspace are stronger than the positive effects of deposition [28,29], and more trees in a street canyon may lead to a reduction of ventilation and an average increase of air pollution [28], and it was reported that high-level vegetation canopies (trees) led to a deterioration in air quality, while low-level green infrastructure (hedges) improved air-quality conditions [27]. The relationship between spatial patterns and PM concentration varied in different seasons and scales, and the landscape metrics of greenspace influenced PM concentration in both positive and negative manners, thus, the usefulness of greenspace in reducing PM concentration hinges on the balance between these pros and cons.…”

Section: Scale-dependent Effects Of Greenspace Pattern On Pm Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Urban Greenspace Patterns on Particulate Matter Pollution in Metropolitan Zhengzhou in Henan, China

Lei

Duan

et al. 2018

Atmosphere

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This case study was conducted to quantify the effects of urban greenspace patterns on particle matter (PM) concentration in Zhengzhou, China by using redundancy and variation partitioning analysis. Nine air-quality monitoring stations (AQMS) were selected as the central points. Six distances of 1 km, 2 km, 3 km, 4 km, 5 km, and 6 km were selected as the side lengths of the squares with each AQMS serving as the central point, respectively. We found:(1) the fine size of PM (PM 2.5 ) and coarse size of PM (PM 10 ) among four seasons showed significant differences; during winter, the concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were both highest, and PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentration in summer were lowest. (2) To effectively reduce the PM 2.5 pollution, the percentage of greenspace, the differences in areas among greenspace patches, and the edge complexity of greenspace patches should be increased at distances of 2 km and 3 km. To effectively reduce PM 10 , the percentage of greenspace at a distance of 4 km, the edge density at distances of 2 km and 4 km, and the average area of greenspace patches at a distance of 1 km should be increased. (3) Greenspace pattern significantly affected PM 2.5 at a distance of 3 km, and PM 10 at a distance of 4 km. From shorter distance to longer distance, the proportion of variance explained by greenspace showed a decline-increase-decline-increase trend for PM 2.5 , and a decline-increase-decline trend for PM 10 . At shorter distances, the composition of greenspace was more effective in reducing the PM pollution, and the configuration of greenspace played a more important role at longer distances. The results should lead to specific guidelines for more cost-effective and environmentally sound greenspace planning.

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“…Parks provide areas away from traffic emissions for people to exercise [73]. The literature related to the air quality benefits of green infrastructure in cities has been reviewed by Abhijith et al [1]. Hedges along roads are recommended as a green solution that allows for the adsorption of pollutants to vegetation and the dispersion of the air.…”

Section: Other Ways To Improve Air Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This review addresses air quality, the impact of air pollution on health, and community actions to improve air quality and associated health equity [1]- [98].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Air Quality, Health and Community Action

Erickson¹,

Griswold²,

Maghirang³

et al. 2017

JEP

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Air quality is impacting health in many cities in most countries because of particulate pollution, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone. Very small particulates from engine emissions and coal fired electric power plants enter the lungs and pollute the blood of urban residents leading to a burden of disease with more than 3 million premature deaths per year attributed to outdoor air pollution. Welfare losses including premature deaths associated with air pollution were about $5 trillion in 2013. A global transition to electric vehicles, and the generation of electricity without combustion emissions would improve air quality significantly and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This transition is in progress in many parts of the world with more than 2 million electric vehicles in service in 2017. Electric bus and electric taxi sales are increasing, and many large cities have multiple programs to improve air quality. When health costs are considered, it is very appropriate for communities to take action to improve air quality and health. This work reviews and reports many positive actions that are in progress in larger cities.

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Air pollution abatement performances of green infrastructure in open road and built-up street canyon environments – A review

Cited by 720 publications

References 128 publications

Urban form strongly mediates the allometric scaling of airshed pollution concentrations

Urban form strongly mediates the allometric scaling of airshed pollution concentrations

Effects of Urban Greenspace Patterns on Particulate Matter Pollution in Metropolitan Zhengzhou in Henan, China

Air Quality, Health and Community Action

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