Impacts of Built-Up Area Geometry on PM10 Levels: A Case Study in Brno, Czech Republic

Abstract

This paper presents a statistical comparison of parallel hourly measurements of particulatematter smaller than 10 μm (PM10) from two monitoring stations that are located 560m from each other in the northern part of Brno City. One monitoring station is located in a park, the otherin a built-up area. The authors’ aim is to describe the influence of a built-up area geometryand nearby traffic intensity on modeling of PM10 pollution levels in the respective part of Brno.Furthermore, the purpose of this study is also to examine the influence of meteorological factorson the pollution levels; above all, to assess the influence of wind speed and direction, temperature change, and humidity change. In order to evaluate the obtained data, the following methods of mathematical statistics were applied: descriptive statistics, regression analysis, analysis of variance, and robust statistical tests. According to the results of the Passing–Bablok test, it can be stated that the parallel measurements of PM10 are significantly different. A regression model for PM10 pollution prediction was created and tested in terms of applicability; subsequently, it was used in order to compare measurements from both stations. It shows that in addition to the monitored meteorological factors, pollution levels are influenced mainly by traffic intensity and the geometry of the monitored built-up area.

Ambient Air Quality in the Czech Republic

“…The authors pointed out that major parameters influencing the final shape of the PM 10 mass concentration field are wind direction and velocity, and the built-up area's geometry substantially modifies air flow velocity at the ground-level layers of the atmosphere. That the geometry of built-up areas is important for ambient PM 10 levels in cities is also supported by Neubauer et al [9], who studied hourly parallel records from two stations in Brno, one located in a park, the other one in a built-up area. The authors concluded that, apart from meteorology, this factor should definitely be accounted for in assessment of PM 10 pollution in densely populated urban areas with high levels of traffic.…”