New Directions: The future of European urban air quality monitoring

Kuhlbusch, Thomas A. J.; Quincey, Paul; Fuller, Gary W.; Kelly, Frank J.; Mudway, Ian; Viana, Mar; Querol, Xavier; Alastuey, Andrés; Katsouyanni, Klea; Weijers, E.P.; Annette, Borowiak; Gehrig, Robert; Hueglin, Christoph; Brückmann, Peter; Favez, Olivier; Sciare, Jean; Hoffmann, Barbara; EspenYttri, Karl; Tørseth, Kjetil; Sager, Uta; Asbach, Christof; Quaß, Ulrich

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.01.012

Cited by 19 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Because often only a limited number of fixed-site monitors are available due to financial limitations, regulatory monitoring sites are predominantly focused in "hotspots," where exceedances of pollutant limits are likely to occur (Kulbusch et al, 2014). Biomonitoring represents a suitable approach for screening air quality at higher spatial resolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active moss biomonitoring for extensive screening of urban air pollution: Magnetic and chemical analyses

Vuković

Urošević

Goryainova

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Active moss biomonitoring for extensive screening of urban air pollution: Magnetic and chemical analyses

Vuković

Urošević

Goryainova

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…These considerations are very relevant given the increasing use of mobile air quality monitoring as a solution to measure micro-scale variability at a high spatial and temporal resolution. Kuhlbusch et al (2014), for example, mention mobile monitoring to collect highly spatially and temporally resolved data in their recommendations for future European air quality monitoring.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mobile monitoring for mapping spatial variation in urban air quality: Development and validation of a methodology based on an extensive dataset

Bossche

Peters

Verwaeren

et al. 2015

Atmospheric Environment

195

132

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mobile monitoring is increasingly used as an additional tool to acquire air quality data at a high spatial resolution. However, given the high temporal variability of urban air quality, a limited number of mobile measurements may only represent a snapshot and not be representative. In this study, the impact of this temporal variability on the representativeness is investigated and a methodology to map urban air quality using mobile monitoring is developed and evaluated.A large set of black carbon (BC) measurements was collected in Antwerp, Belgium, using a bicycle equipped with a portable BC monitor (micro-aethalometer). The campaign consisted of 256 and 96 runs along two fixed routes (2 and 5 km long). Large gradients over short distances and differences up to a factor of 10 in mean BC concentrations aggregated at a resolution of 20 m are observed. Mapping at such a high resolution is possible, but a lot of repeated measurements are required. After computing a trimmed mean and applying background normalisation, depending on the location 24 to 94 repeated measurement runs (median of 41) are required to map the BC concentrations at a 50 m resolution with an uncertainty of 25 %. When relaxing the uncertainty to 50 %, these numbers reduce to 5 to 11 (median of 8) runs. We conclude that mobile monitoring is a suitable approach for mapping the urban air quality at a high spatial resolution, and can provide insight into the spatial variability that would not be possible with stationary monitors. A careful set-up is needed with a sufficient number of repetitions in relation to the desired reliability and spatial resolution. Specific data processing methods such as background normalisation and event detection have to be applied.

show abstract

“…This requires improved knowledge of which pollutants cause effects, the effects of individual pollutants, and the effects of multi-pollutant exposure, as well as establishing objective metrics for prioritizing health vs ecosystem effects. Kuhlbusch et al [171] describe an "information network" as part of the future of urban air quality monitoring in Europe which integrates atmospheric composition data from a diverse range of sources (e.g., fixed monitoring sites, remote sensing, mobile monitoring, and urban scale modelling). To achieve closer integration of air quality and climate change mitigation, Schmale et al [172] suggest an "information framework" where air quality and climate impacts are simultaneously evaluated by calculating a suite of metrics in order to identify co-beneficial strategies as well as identifying where trade-offs are needed.…”

Section: Current State Of Monitoring Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights from a Chronology of the Development of Atmospheric Composition Monitoring Networks Since the 1800s

2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Ground-based monitoring networks for evaluating atmospheric composition relevant to impacts on human health and the environment now exist worldwide (according to the United Nations Environment Programme, 48% of countries have an air quality monitoring system). Of course, this has not always been the case. Here, we analyse for the first time the key developments in network coordination and standardisation over the last 150 years that underpin the current implementations of city-scale to global monitoring networks for atmospheric composition. Examples include improvements in respect of site type and site representativeness, measurement methods, quality assurance, and data archiving. From the 1950s, these developments have progressed through two distinct types of network: those designed for the protection of human health, and those designed to increase scientific understanding of atmospheric composition and its interaction with the terrestrial environment. The step changes in network coordination and standardisation have increased confidence in the comparability of measurements made at different sites. Acknowledged limitations in the current state of monitoring networks include a sole focus on compliance monitoring. In the context of the unprecedented volumes of atmospheric composition data now being collected, we suggest the next developments in network standardisation should include more integrated analyses of monitor and other relevant data within "chemical climatology" frameworks that seek to more directly link the impacts, state and drivers of atmospheric composition. These approaches would also enhance the role of monitoring networks in the development and evaluation of air pollution mitigation strategies.

show abstract

New Directions: The future of European urban air quality monitoring

Cited by 19 publications

References 17 publications

Active moss biomonitoring for extensive screening of urban air pollution: Magnetic and chemical analyses

Active moss biomonitoring for extensive screening of urban air pollution: Magnetic and chemical analyses

Mobile monitoring for mapping spatial variation in urban air quality: Development and validation of a methodology based on an extensive dataset

Insights from a Chronology of the Development of Atmospheric Composition Monitoring Networks Since the 1800s

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About