Simulation of mixing depths incorporating the urban heat island effect

The main objective of this paper was to establish the effect of anthropogenic heat flux on the formation of mixing depth specially in urban areas. In this study an energy balance mixing depth model was developed for the simulation of mixing depth incorporating the heat island effect. To demonstrate the effect of heat island, mixing depths were simulated under two conditions. Under the first condition, hourly gridded anthropogenic heat flux and variant surface characteristics were considered, while under the second condition anthropogenic heat flux term was ignored and constant surface characteristics were considered throughout the modelling domain. The release of anthropogenic heat flux in the urban environment was found to be responsible for the growth of the unstable layer in the lower atmosphere even during the night. This resulted in higher mixing depth values in urban areas compared to the surrounding countryside. The maximum differential surfaces sensible heat flux between urban and rural areas was estimated as 130 W/m². From the simulation of mixing depth, it was revealed that the maximum increment in mixing depth in urban areas was 300 m due to the heat island effect. This increment in mixing depth in urban areas can provide an extra space for dilution and mixing of pollutants.     

On the horizontal homogeneity of mass-related aerosol properties

We studied the mass-related aerosol properties, simultaneously attwo sites at the urban roof top level in the same city. Nosystematic influence of the wind vector on the difference in theaerosol concentrations between the two locations could be found.These results are compared with results from a second, similarexperiment over a larger distance including one urban and onerural site. Surprisingly, we could not detect a tendency whichwould indicate that sampling air at distance in the order of 1 kmwould be less affected by the heterogeneity than samplingdistanced in the order of 10 km apart. On the contrary, theresults suggest that mass-related properties at two sites in thesame city are not necessarily more similar than at an urban and arural site outside the city. These results stress the limitedhorizontal homogeneity of urban atmospheric aerosol. As aconclusion it is suggested that single-site measurements of mass-related aerosol properties should be considered to berepresentative for an area smaller than 1 km² on size.     

Influence of Building Density and Roof Shape on the Wind and Dispersion Characteristics in an Urban Area: A Numerical Study

The Computational Fluid Dynamics code CFX-TASCflow is used for simulating the wind flow and pollutant concentration patterns in two-dimensional wind-tunnel models of an urban area. Several two-dimensional multiple street canyon configurations are studied corresponding to different areal densities and roof shapes. A line source of a tracer gas is placed at the bottom of one street canyon for modelling street-level traffic emissions. The flow fields resulting from the simulations correspond to the patterns observed in street canyons. In particular and in good agreement with observations, a dual vortex system is predicted for a deep flat-roof street canyon configuration, while an even more complex vortex system is evidenced in the case of slanted-roof square street canyons. In agreement with measurement data, high pollutant concentration levels are predicted either on the leeward or the windward side of the street canyon, depending on the geometrical details of the surrounding buildings.     

北京市城市非点源污染特征的研究

通过监测降雨径流水质,研究了北京市城市非点源污染的特征。结果表明,北京市城市地表径流水排入任何地表水体都会对其造成污染,且城市地表径流水的大部分水质指标已经达到了污水综合排放的三级标准,因此,我们对待城市地表径流水应该如对待污水一样处理。对于TN、TP、CODCr、BOD5浓度,路面径流要高于屋顶径流,而对于SS浓度,屋顶径流高于路面径流。总磷TP颗粒吸附态的污染物对总污染物的贡献最大,对于路面径流高达83.1%,对于屋顶径流为68.6%,其次是CODCr,总氮TN的颗粒吸附态的贡献较低。通过沉积或过滤去除城市地表径流中的悬浮颗粒物,可以提高城市地表径流的水质。所有污染物随降雨过程变化的总体趋势为雨水初期径流污染物浓度很高,随降雨历时的延长,污染物浓度逐渐下降并趋于稳定。初期径流危害较大。     

Effects of roof and rainwater characteristics on copper concentrations in roof runoff

Copper sheeting is a common roofing material used in many parts of the world. However, copper dissolved from roof sheeting represents a source of copper ions to watersheds. Researchers have studied and recently developed a simple and efficient model to predict copper runoff rates. Important input parameters include precipitation amount, rain pH, and roof angle. We hypothesized that the length of a roof also positively correlates with copper concentration (thus, runoff rates) on the basis that runoff concentrations should positively correlate with contact time between acidic rain and the copper sheet. In this study, a novel system was designed to test and model the effects of roof length (length of roof from crown to the drip edge) on runoff copper concentrations relative to rain pH and roof angle. The system consisted of a flat-bottom copper trough mounted on an apparatus that allowed run length and slope to be varied. Water of known chemistry was trickled down the trough at a constant rate and sampled at the bottom. Consistent with other studies, as pH of the synthetic rainwater decreased, runoff copper concentrations increased. At all pH values tested, these results indicated that run length was more important in explaining variability in copper concentrations than was the roof slope. The regression equation with log-transformed data (R ² = 0.873) accounted for slightly more variability than the equation with untransformed data (R ² = 0.834). In log-transformed data, roof angle was not significant in predicting copper concentrations.     

Air-quality Prognosis, for the Implementation of Abatement Strategies over Large Urban Areas

State-of-the-art approaches for urban air-quality characterisation have several drawbacks due to apriori assumptions and/or due to inherent limitations of the concept utilised. For the evaluation of abatement scenarios it is either necessary to embark on extensive monitoring campaigns or to consistently apply numerical models for atmospheric dispersion. The 'ENVISOR' methodology applied here is a mixture of the two approaches. It forecasts pollutant concentrations during real episodes and assesses the impact from the construction of a new highway across a large urban domain of 100×100 km2. Data from an extensive monitoring network are used to identify real modelling periods and for validating the modelling simulations. The selected periods are aiming to the assessment of 'annual mean' or 'episodic' conditions. These periods are short-listed according to the abatement scenario under consideration. This approach yields accurate forecasts for the concentration of pollutants after extensive validation tests extended over the whole domain. It is foreseen that the impact from the highway construction will be minimal for photochemical pollution whereas, higher impact will result for inert pollutants due to additional emissions from the highway.     

北京市城市屋面径流特征研究

对北京市城区不同功能区和不同类型的屋面进行三场降雨径流监测,并分析屋面径流污染过程和水质特征。采用降雨径流污染物平均浓度(EMC)分析评价径流污染程度,结果表明径流水质与屋面材质、降雨强度等因素有关,沥青屋面污染较重,降雨强度越大,径流水质越差;三场降雨中污染物浓度随降雨历时总体上呈先升高后降低的变化趋势,初期径流水质较差,存在明显的初始冲刷现象。     

The Hydrodynamics of an Idealized Estuarine Plume along a Straight Coast: A Numerical Study

The hydrodynamics of an idealized estuarine plume along a straight coast are studied using a three-dimensional hydrodynamical module of the Coupled Hydrodynamical Ecological Model for Regional Shelf Seas. The sensitivity of the solution with respect to river discharge, bottom roughness length, and the presence or absence of tides are studied. Assuming constant water depth and no wind forcing, modeled results for the surface layer are obtained, including: (1) variation in the horizontal shape of the plume; (2) horizontal distribution of the current vector; and (3) horizontal distribution of the salinity field within the plume over one tidal cycle. Effects of three different river discharges, four selected different bottom roughness lengths, and tides on its development are examined. Results suggest: (1) the plume length naturally increases through time under tidal forcing or as well as without tidal forcing, but its width shows approximately periodic variation; (2) both the plume width and length increase with increasing river discharge; (3) both the plume width and length decrease with increasing four selected bottom roughness lengths; and (4) both the bulge and coastal current of the plume are more evident without the presence of tidal effects. The results show their potential implications for contaminant fate and transport and novel methods of pollution prevention and control in estuarine and coastal waters.     

绿色屋顶径流水质监测研究进展

概述了国内外绿色屋顶径流水质监测发展状况,并从绿色屋顶径流收集、降雨场次、监测指标、径流水质和污染物传输的影响因子等方面进行了归纳和总结。基于水量和水质管理,从几何尺寸、土壤类型和厚度、植被和维护等方面阐述了绿色屋顶在城市排水系统中的作用和地位。揭示了绿色屋顶需要开展长期的监测和研究,绿色屋顶径流水质监测逐渐向采样自动化和分析自动化方向发展。     

Measuring reactive nitrogen emissions from point sources using visible spectroscopy from aircraft

Accurate measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a key trace gas in the formation and destruction of tropospheric ozone, are important in studies of urban pollution. Nitrogen dioxide column abundances were measured during the Texas Air Quality Study 2000 using visible absorption spectroscopy from an aircraft. The method allows for quantification of the integrated total number of nitrogen dioxide molecules in the polluted atmosphere and is hence a useful tool for measuring plumes of this key trace gas. Further, we show how such remote-sensing observations can be used to obtain information on the fluxes of nitrogen dioxide into the atmosphere with unique flexibility in terms of aircraft altitude, and the height and extent of mixing of the boundary layer. Observations of nitrogen dioxide plumes downwind of power plants were used to estimate the flux of nitrogen oxide emitted from several power plants in the Houston and Dallas metropolitan areas and in North Carolina. Measurements taken over the city of Houston were also employed to infer the total flux from the city as a whole.     

城市绿地温室气体通量监测与减排研究

采用LGR-密闭式动态通量箱法对城市绿地生态系统温室气体(CO₂、CH₄)通量的日变化、季节变化特征及其影响因子等进行了较为系统的研究。城市绿地花草CO₂通量有明显的日变化和季节变化特征,白天通量值为负,是CO₂的净吸收汇;夜晚为正值,是CO₂的净释放源;7:00左右由源转为汇,17:00左右由汇转为源,不同花卉24 h总通量有正负2种结果。冬季草坪作为源的时间延长,而作为汇的时间缩短。光强和温度是影响CO₂通量日变化和季节变化的主要因素。城市绿地CH₄通量较小,不足以对温室气体总量产生显著影响。从减少温室气体排放的角度对城市绿地花草的选择提出了建议。     

A multi criteria analog model for assessing the vulnerability of rural catchments to road spills of hazardous substances

Road spills of hazardous substances are common in developing countries due to increasing industrialization and traffic accidents, and represent a serious threat to soils and water in catchments. There is abundant literature on equations describing the wash-off of pollutants from roads during a storm event and there are a number of watershed models incorporating those equations in storm water quality algorithms that route runoff and pollution yields through a drainage system towards the catchment outlet. However, methods describing catchment vulnerability to contamination by road spills based solely on biophysical parameters are scarce. These methods could be particularly attractive to managers because they can operate with a limited amount of easily collectable data, while still being able to provide important insights on the areas more prone to contamination within the studied watershed. The purpose of this paper was then to contribute with a new vulnerability model. To accomplish the goal, a selection of medium properties appearing in wash-off equations and routing algorithms were assembled and processed in a parametric framework based on multi criteria analysis to define the watershed vulnerability. However, parameters had to be adapted because wash-off equations and water quality models have been developed to operate primarily in the urban environment while the vulnerability model is meant to run in rural watersheds. The selected parameters were hillside slope, ground roughness (depending on land use), soil permeability (depending on soil type), distance to water courses and stream density. The vulnerability model is a spatially distributed algorithm that was prepared to run under the IDRISI Selva software, a GIS platform capable of handling spatial and alphanumeric data and execute the necessary terrain model, hydrographic and thematic analyses. For illustrative purposes, the vulnerability model was applied to the legally protected Environmental Protection Area (APA), located in the Uberaba region, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. In this region, the risk of accidents causing chemical spills is preoccupying because large quantities of dangerous materials are transported in two important distribution highways while the APA is fundamental for the protection of water resources, the riverine ecosystems and remnants of native vegetation. In some tested scenarios, model results show 60% of vulnerable areas within the studied area. The most sensitive parameter to vulnerability is soil type. To prevent soils from contamination, specific measures were proposed involving minimization of land use conflicts that would presumably raise the soil's organic matter and in the sequel restore the soil's structural functions. Additionally, the present study proposed the preservation and reinforcement of riparian forests as one measure to protect the quality of surface water.     

Study on gas diffusion emitted from different height of point source

The flow and dispersion of stack-gas emitted from different elevated point source around flow obstacles in an urban environment have been investigated, using computational fluid dynamics models (CFD). The results were compared with the experimental results obtained from the diffusion wind tunnel under different conditions of thermal stability (stable, neutral or unstable). The flow and dispersion fields in the boundary layer in an urban environment were examined with different flow obstacles. Gaseous pollutant was discharged in the simulated boundary layer over the flat area. The CFD models used for the simulation were based on the steady-state Reynolds-Average Navier-Stoke equations (RANS) with kappa-epsilon turbulence models; standard kappa-epsilon and RNG kappa-epsilon models. The flow and dispersion data measured in the wind tunnel experiments were compared with the results of the CFD models in order to evaluate the prediction accuracy of the pollutant dispersion. The results of the CFD models showed good agreement with the results of the wind tunnel experiments. The results indicate that the turbulent velocity is reduced by the obstacles models. The maximum dispersion appears around the wake region of the obstacles.     

Distribution of vehicular pollutants in street canyons of Varanasi, India: a different case

In present study horizontal and vertical distribution of traffic-related pollutants (CO and SO(2)) within the street canyons in (CO and SO(2)) Varanasi, India was monitored. The results showed that average horizontal profiles of traffic-related pollutant concentrations within street canyon at leeward side were approximately same as that of windward side. However, the vertical concentration of both the pollutants decreases with height above the ground and study indicated that CO and SO(2) concentrations at different heights below the roof showed clear vertical self-gradient. CO and SO(2) concentration decreased with height and the minimum value occurred at the roof. It was concluded from the observed results that pollutants from vehicular exhaust emissions in the street canyon of Varanasi were evenly distributed. This result may be due to the fact that wind vortices are not formed. Therefore, urban planners can use this type of streets so that there is proper ventilation and dispersal of pollutants.     

Numerical Model Inter-comparison for Wind Flow and Turbulence Around Single-Block Buildings

Wind flow and turbulence within the urban canopy layer can influence the heating and ventilation of buildings, affecting the health and comfort of pedestrians, commuters and building occupants. In addition, the predictive capability of pollutant dispersion models is heavily dependent on wind flow models. For that reason, well-validated microscale models are needed for the simulation of wind fields within built-up urban microenvironments. To address this need, an inter-comparison study of several such models was carried out within the European research network ATREUS. This work was conducted as part of an evaluation study for microscale numerical models, so they could be further implemented to provide reliable wind fields for building energy simulation and pollutant dispersion codes. Four computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models (CHENSI, MIMO, VADIS and FLUENT) were applied to reduced-scale single-block buildings, for which quality-assured and fully documented experimental data were obtained. Simulated wind and turbulence fields around two surface-mounted cubes of different dimensions and wall roughness were compared against experimental data produced in the wind tunnels of the Meteorological Institute of Hamburg University under different inflow and boundary conditions. The models reproduced reasonably well the general flow patterns around the single-block buildings, although over-predictions of the turbulent kinetic energy were observed near stagnation points in the upwind impingement region. Certain discrepancies between the CFD models were also identified and interpreted. Finally, some general recommendations for CFD model evaluation and use in environmental applications are presented.     

A comprehensive method for aeolian particle granulometry and micromorphology analyses

The aim of this study was to use a new approach to investigate aeolian particle granulometry and micromorphology. Taking total aeolian deposition into account, we used parameters such as, particle area, perimeter, shape analysis for particle roughness (area/perimeter) and elongation (long/short axis). These parameters were analyzed on temporal and spatial scales at four study sites in the eastern Negev Desert, Israel. The total collection of particles was sorted into three size groups based on particle area to facilitate comparison. The classic definition of particle size (equating particle length with particle diameter) produced relatively small variations among the three size classes (25-38.6%). Our proposed comprehensive method demonstrated significant variation among the three size classes (13.9-60.8%), e.g. the classic method placed 36.4% of the particles in size class two while the new method placed 60.8% of the particles in this size class; the differences were even more significant regarding size class 3 (38.6% vs. 13.9%, respectively). The classic method did not facilitate investigation of particle roughness and elongation. With this new approach, it was possible to clearly define the particles by size class, based on these characteristics. With roughness, the variation among size classes 2 and 3 was about 27%. With elongation, the variation among size classes two and three was about 21%. Applying similar investigation method to study the aeolian particle granulometry and micromorphology can better facilitate more detailed calculation of particle size distribution, roughness and elongation.     

Micromorphology and chemistry of airborne particles in Brussels during agriculture working periods in surrounding region

The main objective of our research was to compare the airborne particle micromorphology and chemistry in the Brussels environment during agriculture working periods in the surrounding farming region. We used specific methods and instrumentation that are adapted to the climate peculiarities of the Brussels region, the period of investigations (12 months) and the proposed objectives. For the agricultural works we defined the following six periods: before sowing, sowing, after sowing, before harvest, harvest and after harvest. The results indicate a possible temporal correlation between agricultural work periods and airborne particle concentration, micromorphology and chemistry in the Brabant-Brussels region. For wheat and corn plant-growth periods, the average particle size, defined as the area obtained by a planar projection of the particulate, showed important variations in time. For sugar beet and endive, the average area size variations are less important. The roughness and sphericity parameters for the growth periods of the four different plants also showed significant differences. Many of the larger particulates (> 10 microm) are aggregates of even finer particles coated with many still finer ones. The airborne particle chemistry averages (atomic percentage At%), showed that three constituents (Si, S and Fe) dominate all the samples (except for particles 3-10 microm in size, which contain a relatively large percentage of Al). Applying similar investigation methods to study the correlations between airborne particle dynamics in urban zones and the agriculture working periods in their surrounding regions could be of interest to better understand the complexity of the PM problematic.     

Chemical monitoring of river water bodies in an EU outermost region: examples from the Azores archipelago (Portugal)

Chemical monitoring of water quality on a total of 16 rivers in the Azores archipelago (Portugal), since 2003, made it possible to identify the major pressures and spatial geochemical variations along main course of the rivers. River water pollution is to a large extent associated to point sources, namely domestic wastewater discharges, especially in urban areas, and diffuse sources, associated with pasture land, and explain the high values on BOD(5) and nutrients (P and N). Heavy metals and metalloids, as well as hydrocarbons and pesticides, are generally under the detection limits of the analytical methods. Generally, river water reflects pollution loads according to a simple model, derived from land use in the watershed: in the upper part conditions are pristine, in the intermediate portion of the basin pasture land dominates and near the coast urban discharges are increasingly important. Results stress the role that an approach based on the watershed scale, coupled with land use management measures, are crucial to water management procedures and a successful WFD implementation in small river basin districts like the Azores. The paper also shows the need for full compliance regarding EU directives on urban wastewater and nitrate pollution due to agriculture.