Improving local air quality in cities: To tree or not to tree?

Vos, Peter; Maiheu, Bino; Vankerkom, Jean; Janssen, Stijn

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2012.10.021

Cited by 488 publications

(274 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Balczo et al, 2009;Buccolieri et al, 2011Buccolieri et al, , 2009Gromke and Ruck, 2012Gromke, 2011;Gromke et al, 2008;Li et al, 2013;Moonen et al, 2013;Salim et al, 2011;Vos et al, 2013;Wania et al, 2012), qualitative and not only quantitative changes in the flow field were observed at the neighborhood scale. The qualitative changes indicate on the one side the necessity to perform studies at the urban neighborhood rather than at the street canyon scale and on the other side to account for avenue-trees, or more general all types of vegetation typical for built-up environments, in microscale urban air quality studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…flow and pollutant dispersion were investigated within an isolated canyon. Investigations of flow and pollutant dispersion on the scale of two intersecting streets or street canyons were addressed in CFD studies by (Buccolieri et al, 2011;Vos et al, 2013) and (Wania et al, 2012). They also found increases in traffic pollutant concentrations in the presence of avenue-trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Gromke

Blocken

2015

Environmental Pollution

139

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a b s t r a c tFlow and dispersion of traffic-emitted pollutants were studied in a generic urban neighborhood for various avenue-tree layouts by employing 3D steady RANS simulations with the realizable k-ε turbulence model. In comparison to the tree-free situation quantitative and qualitative changes with flow reversal in the wind field were observed. Low to moderate increases (<13.2%) in the neighborhood-averaged pollutant concentration were found at pedestrian level. An approximately 1% increase in the neighborhood-averaged concentration was obtained with each percent of the street canyon volumes being occupied by vegetation for occupation fractions between 4 and 14%. The overall pattern of concentration changes relative to the tree-free situation was similar for all avenue-tree layouts. However, pronounced locally restricted decreases or increases in concentration (À87 to þ1378%) occurred. The results indicate the necessity to account for existing or planned avenue-trees in neighborhood scale dispersion studies. Their consideration is prerequisite for reliable urban air quality assessment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Gromke

Blocken

2015

Environmental Pollution

139

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“…This county-wide modeling focused on broad-scale estimates of pollution removal by trees on air quality. At the local scale, pollution concentrations can be increased if trees: a) trap the pollutants beneath tree canopies near emission sources (e.g., along road ways, Gromke and Ruck, 2009;Wania et al, 2012;Salmond et al, 2013;Vos et al, 2013), b) limit dispersion by reducing wind speeds, and/or c) lower mixing heights by reducing wind speeds (Nowak et al, 2006a). Under stable atmospheric conditions (limited mixing), tree removal could lead to greater reductions in pollution concentrations at the ground level by limiting mixing with air pollutants above the canopy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree and forest effects on air quality and human health in the United States

Nowak

Hirabayashi

Bodine

et al. 2014

Environmental Pollution

747

378

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a b s t r a c tTrees remove air pollution by the interception of particulate matter on plant surfaces and the absorption of gaseous pollutants through the leaf stomata. However, the magnitude and value of the effects of trees and forests on air quality and human health across the United States remains unknown. Computer simulations with local environmental data reveal that trees and forests in the conterminous United States removed 17.4 million tonnes (t) of air pollution in 2010 (range: 9.0e23.2 million t), with human health effects valued at 6.8 billion U.S. dollars (range: $1.5e13.0 billion). This pollution removal equated to an average air quality improvement of less than one percent. Most of the pollution removal occurred in rural areas, while most of the health impacts and values were within urban areas. Health impacts included the avoidance of more than 850 incidences of human mortality and 670,000 incidences of acute respiratory symptoms.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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“…The surface roughness, hairs, morphology, and the wax of leaves all can affect the adsorption of PM (Beckett et al, 1998). For individual trees, however, leaf area index and air flow are generally considered to be more important to particle retention (Vos et al, 2013). Previous studies on particles captured by plants have mostly focused on particle mass and size distribution (Nowak et al, 2014;Tallis et al, 2011;Terzaghi et al, 2013;Weber et al, 2014) to evaluate the PM capture capacities and monetary value of species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the characteristics of particulate matters captured by urban plants using an automatic approach

Yan

Lin

Zhou

et al. 2016

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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It is widely accepted that urban plant leaves can capture airborne particles. Previous studies on the particle capture capacity of plant leaves have mostly focused on particle mass and/or size distribution. Fewer studies, however, have examined the particle density, and the size and shape characteristics of particles, which may have important implications for evaluating the particle capture efficiency of plants, and identifying the particle sources. In addition, the role of different vegetation types is as yet unclear. Here, we chose three species of different vegetation types, and firstly applied an object-based classification approach to automatically identify the particles from scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs. We then quantified the particle capture efficiency, and the major sources of particles were identified. We found (1) Rosa xanthina Lindl (shrub species) had greater retention efficiency than Broussonetia papyrifera (broadleaf species) and Pinus bungeana Zucc.(coniferous species), in terms of particle number and particle area cover. (2) 97.9% of the identified particles had diameter ≤10 μm, and 67.1% of them had diameter ≤2.5 μm. 89.8% of the particles had smooth boundaries, with 23.4% of them being nearly spherical. (3) 32.4%-74.1% of the particles were generated from bare soil and construction activities, and 15.5%-23.0% were mainly from vehicle exhaust and cooking fumes.

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Improving local air quality in cities: To tree or not to tree?

Cited by 488 publications

References 21 publications

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

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

Tree and forest effects on air quality and human health in the United States

Quantifying the characteristics of particulate matters captured by urban plants using an automatic approach

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