孤立与非孤立城市街道峡谷内污染物扩散

通过求解二维不可压N-S方程、k-ε方程及污染物对流扩散方程,模拟了孤立街道峡谷与非孤立街道峡谷内的流场及交通污染物浓度场.计算结果与风洞试验结果总体趋势一致.非孤立街道峡谷内污染物壁面浓度要大于孤立街道峡谷内的壁面浓度.通过计算街道峡谷建筑屋顶高度处的垂直方向污染物通量,说明了湍流扩散是污染物扩散出街道峡谷的主要原因,其污染物通量总为正,而平均流通量可以为负.非孤立街道峡谷由于平均流流动和湍流流动的总扩散通量减少,造成污染物在街道峡谷内集聚,从而理论上解释了非孤立街道峡谷与孤立街道峡谷污染扩散的差别.     

Active moss biomonitoring of small-scale spatial distribution of airborne major and trace elements in the Belgrade urban area

In urban environments, human exposure to air pollutants is expected to be significantly increased, especially near busy traffic streets, street canyons, tunnels, etc. where urban topography and microclimate may additionally cause poor air conditions giving rise to pollution hotspots. As a practical and cost-effective approach, active moss biomonitoring survey of some major and trace element air pollution was performed in the Belgrade street canyons and city tunnel in 2011 with the aim to evaluate possibility of using Sphagnum girgensohnii moss bags for investigation of the small-scale vertical and horizontal distribution patterns of the elements. In five street canyons, the moss bags were hung at heights of about 4, 8 and 16 m, during 10 weeks, and also, for the same time, the moss bags were exposed in the tunnel, in front of and out of it. After the exposure period, the concentrations of Al, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn in the moss were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. According to the results, in all street canyons, the vertical distribution patterns of the moss elements concentration (Al, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn) showed statistically significant decrease from the first to the third heights of bags exposure. In the tunnel experiment, from inner to out of the tunnel, for Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K and Zn, decreasing trend of concentrations was obtained. Significantly higher concentration of the elements was pronounced for the tunnel in comparison with the street canyons. The results indicate that the use of S. girgensohnii moss bags is a simple, sensitive and inexpensive way to monitor the small-scale inner city spatial distribution of airborne major and trace element content.     

A vegetation modeling concept for Building and Environmental Aerodynamics wind tunnel tests and its application in pollutant dispersion studies

A new vegetation modeling concept for Building and Environmental Aerodynamics wind tunnel investigations was developed. The modeling concept is based on fluid dynamical similarity aspects and allows the small-scale modeling of various kinds of vegetation, e.g. field crops, shrubs, hedges, single trees and forest stands. The applicability of the modeling concept was validated in wind tunnel pollutant dispersion studies. Avenue trees in urban street canyons were modeled and their implications on traffic pollutant dispersion were investigated. The dispersion experiments proved the modeling concept to be practicable for wind tunnel studies and suggested to provide reliable concentration results. Unfavorable effects of trees on pollutant dispersion and natural ventilation in street canyons were revealed. Increased traffic pollutant concentrations were found in comparison to the tree-free reference case.     

Impact of building facades and ground heating on wind flow and pollutant transport in street canyons

This paper investigates the impacts of building facades and ground heating on the wind flow and pollutant transport in street canyons using the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique. Street canyons of H/W (H representing the building height and W the street width) varied from 0.1 to 2, which covered the basic flow regimes of skimming flow (H/W=1 or 2), wake interference flow (H/W=0.5), and isolated roughness flow (H/W=0.1), were examined in a series of sensitivity tests. Heating that occurred on different surfaces, including ground surface and building façades, posed considerable effects on the street canyon wind flow and pollutant transport compared with those under isothermal conditions. The CFD results showed that the mechanically induced wind flow and pollutant transport were complicated by the buoyancy under temperature stratification. Individual street canyons of different H/W and surface-heating scenarios exhibited their unique wind flow structure and pollutant transport behaviors. Two counter-rotating vortices were calculated in the street canyons of H/W=1, in which the zone of higher pollutant concentration under isothermal conditions was switched from the leeward side to the windward side. In the street canyon of H/W=2, the recirculating wind pattern was perturbed by surface heating that led to the development of either one primary vortex or three closely coupled vortices. Because of the complicated wind structure, the zones of higher pollutant concentration located either on the leeward or windward ground level were subjected to the surface-heating scenarios. Only two vortices were developed inside the street canyon of H/W=0.5. The large primary vortex, centered inside the street canyon, extended above the roof level of the street canyon. Meanwhile, a small secondary vortex was found at the ground-level windward corner whose size results as a function of surface-heating configurations. Finally, in the street canyon of H/W=0.1, an isolated clockwise-rotating vortex was developed beside the leeward building while the wind in the windward side blew in the prevailing wind direction. As a result, air pollutant emitted at the street centerline was unlikely to be carried into the leeward vortex. Instead, it was dispersed rapidly on the windward side before being removed from the street canyon.     

Assessment of traffic-related air pollution in two street canyons in Paris: implications for exposure studies

The small-scale spatial variability of air pollution observed in urban areas has created concern about the representativeness of measurements used in exposure studies. It is suspected that limit values for traffic-related pollutants may be exceeded near busy streets, although respected at urban background sites. In order to assess spatial concentration gradients and identify weather conditions that might induce air pollution episodes in urban areas, different sampling and modelling techniques were studied.Two intensive monitoring campaigns were carried out in typical street canyons in Paris during winter and summer. Steep cross-road and vertical concentration gradients were observed within the canyons, in addition to large differences between roadside and background levels. Low winds and winds parallel to the street axis were identified as the worst dispersion conditions. The correlation between the measured compounds gave an insight into their sources and fate. An empirical relationship between CO and benzene was established. Two relatively simple mathematical models and an algorithm describing vertical pollutant dispersion were used. The combination of monitoring and modelling techniques proposed in this study can be seen as a reliable and cost-effective method for assessing air quality in urban micro-environments. These findings may have important implications in designing monitoring studies to support investigation on the health effects of traffic-related air pollution.     

A concentration correction scheme for Lagrangian particle model and its application in street canyon air dispersion modelling

Pollutant dispersion in street canyons with various configurations was simulated by discharging a large number of particles into the computation domain after developing a time-dependent wind field. Trajectory of the released particles was predicted using a Lagrangian particle model developed in an earlier study. A concentration correction scheme, based on the concept of “visibility”, was adopted for the Lagrangian particle model to correct the calculated pollutant concentration field in street canyons. The corrected concentrations compared favourably with those from wind tunnel experiments and a linear relationship between the computed concentrations and wind tunnel data were found. The developed model was then applied to four simulations to test for the suitability of the correction scheme and to study pollutant distribution in street canyons with different configurations. For those cases with obstacles presence in the computation domain, the correction scheme gives more reasonable results compared with the one without using it. Different flow regimes are observed in the street canyons, which depend on building configurations. A counter-clockwise rotating vortex may appear in a two-building case with wind flow from left to right, causing lower pollutant concentration at the leeward side of upstream building and higher concentration at the windward side of downstream building. On the other hand, a stable clockwise rotating vortex is formed in the street canyon with multiple identical buildings, resulting in poor natural ventilation in the street canyon. Moreover, particles emitted in the downstream canyon formed by buildings with large height-to-width ratios will be transported to upstream canyons.     

A comprehensive experimental databank for the models verification of urban car emission dispersion

A summary presentation is made of representative samples from a comprehensive experimental databank on car exhaust dispersion in urban street canyons. Physical modelling, under neutral stratification conditions, was used to provide visualisation, pollutant concentration and velocity measurements above and inside test canyons amidst surrounding urban roughness. The study extended to two different canyon aspects ratios, in combination with different roof configurations on the surrounding buildings. To serve as a reliable basis for validation and testing of urban pollution dispersion codes, special emphasis was placed in this work on data quality assurance.     

Dispersion of volatile hydrocarbons in urban street canyons

Volatile hydrocarbons (VHCs) were monitored in two urban street canyons for 16 days. Measurements of 15 selected VHCs were performed simultaneously at three different sampling heights: at street level (2 m), at 8 m, and at the rooftop (25 m above the ground). The aim of the study was to investigate the factors responsible for the horizontal and vertical changes in VHC concentrations. Physical parameters controlling the concentration gradients (wind flow and speed) were enabled. It was concluded that dilution and dispersion decrease the concentrations of HCs emitted at street level by approximately a factor of 6 between rooftop and street levels. Low winds and winds parallel to the street axis were identified as the worst dispersion conditions. The correlation between the measured VHC concentrations gave an insight into their fate. An empirical relationship between CO and benzene was established. These results may have important implications in planning monitoring studies to support research on population exposure in urban areas.     

On the correlation of air and pollutant exchange for street canyons in combined wind-buoyancy-driven flow

The ventilation and pollutant transport in a two-dimensional (2D) street canyon of building-height-to-street-width (aspect) ratio h/b = 1 under different unstable stratifications were examined. To characterize the combined wind-buoyancy-driven flow and pollutant transport at different Richardson number Ri, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with the Renormalization Group (RNG) k ? ε turbulence model was adopted. Unlike the isothermal condition, a secondary recirculation is initiated at the ground-level windward corner of the street canyon once the unstable stratification is switched on (Ri < 0). It traps the ground-level pollutant leading to elevated pollutant concentration there. As Ri further decreases, the enlarging secondary recirculation enables direct pollutant removal from its core to the shear layer that offsets the ground-level pollutant accumulation. The ventilation and pollutant removal performance under different unstable stratifications are compared by the air (ACH) and pollutant (PCH) exchange rates, and pollutant retention time (τ). Both the mean and turbulent components of ACH are found to increase with decreasing Ri, suggesting that unstable stratification promotes ventilation in street canyons. Moreover, the CFD results agree well with our theoretical model that ACH² varies linearly with Ri. Turbulent transport originally dominates the pollutant removal under isothermal condition. However, progressive domination of pollutant removal by mean wind can be observed with decreasing stability (decreasing Ri from 0 to ?10.6). The critical value is estimated to be Ri = ?8, below which mean wind is the major pollutant removal carrier. Reduction in τ is also observed with decreasing Ri. Hence, in unstable stratification, pollutant resides shorter time in the street canyon compared with its isothermal counterpart, and the ventilation and pollutant removal are more favorable.     

Modelling dispersion of traffic pollution in a deep street canyon: Application of CFD and operational models

In this study, numerical modelling of the flow and concentration fields has been undertaken for a deep street canyon in Naples (Italy), having aspect ratio (i.e. ratio of the building height H to the street width W) H/W = 5.7. Two different modelling techniques have been employed: computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and operational dispersion modelling. The CFD simulations have been carried out by using the RNG k–? turbulence model included in the commercial suite FLUENT, while operational modelling has been conducted by means of the WinOSPM model. Concentration fields obtained from model simulations have been compared with experimental data of CO concentrations measured at two vertical locations within the canyon. The CFD results are in good agreement with the experimental data, while poor agreement is observed for the WinOSPM results. This is because WinOSPM was originally developed and tested for street canyons with aspect ratio H/W ≌ 1. Large discrepancies in wind profiles simulated within the canyon are observed between CFD and OSPM models. Therefore, a modification of the wind profile within the canyon is introduced in WinOSPM for extending its applicability to deeper canyons, leading to an improved agreement between modelled and experimental data. Further development of the operational dispersion model is required in order to reproduce the distinct air circulation patterns within deep street canyons.     

Operational air pollution modelling in the UK—Street canyon applications and challenges

Local air quality management requires the use of screening and advanced modelling tools that are able to predict roadside pollution levels under a variety of meteorological and traffic conditions. So far, more than 200 air pollution hotspots have been identified by local authorities in the UK, many of them associated with NO₂ and/or PM₁₀ exceedences in heavily trafficked urban streets that may be classified as street canyons or canyon intersections. This is due to the increased traffic-related emissions and reduced natural ventilation in such streets. Specialised dispersion models and empirical adjustment factors have been commonly used to account for the entrapment of pollutants in street canyons. However, most of the available operational tools have been validated using experimental datasets from relatively deep canyons (H/W⩾1) from continental Europe. The particular characteristics of low-rise street canyons (H/W<1), which are a typical feature of urban/sub-urban areas in the UK, have been rarely taken into account.The main objective of this study is to review current practice and evaluate three widely used regulatory dispersion models, WinOSPM, ADMS-Urban 2.0 and AEOLIUS Full. The model evaluation relied on two comprehensive datasets, which included CO, PM₁₀ and NO_x measurements, traffic information and relevant meteorological data from two busy street canyons in Birmingham and London for a 1-year period. The performance of the selected models was tested for different times of the day/days of the week and varying wind conditions. Furthermore, the ability of the models to reproduce roadside NO₂/NO_x concentration ratios using simplified chemistry schemes was evaluated for one of the sites. Finally, advantages and limitations of the current regulatory street canyon modelling practice in the UK, as well as needs for future research, have been identified and discussed.     

Effects of Strength and Position of Pollutant Source on Pollutant Dispersion Within an Urban Street Canyon

A two-dimensional numerical model for simulating airflow and pollutant dispersion inside an urban street canyon was first developed using the FLUENT code, and then it was validated against a wind tunnel experiment. Then the effects of strength and position of pollutant sources on pollutant dispersion within an urban street canyon were investigated numerically. The numerical results showed that the dimensionless pollutant concentrations within the urban street canyon were independent from the source strength. The results also revealed that the pollutant distributions inside the urban street canyon with a two-lane road were influenced significantly by the positions of the two sources: 1) the closer the two sources were to the street center of the canyon, the lower the pollutant concentrations on the leeward wall and at the human respiration level in the leeward footpath became; 2) the pollutant concentrations on the windward wall and at the human respiration level in the windward footpath were not sensitive to the locations of the two sources as long as the source on the windward lane was situated outside the small recirculation zone at the bottom corner of the canyon windward wall; 3) the pollutant concentrations on the lower parts of the windward and leeward walls as well as in the two footpaths increased greatly when the two sources were moved from outside into the small recirculation zones.     

Street canyon ventilation and atmospheric turbulence

Operational models for pollutant dispersion in urban areas require an estimate of the turbulent transfer between the street canyons and the overlying atmospheric flow. To date, the mechanisms that govern this process remain poorly understood. We have studied the mass exchange between a street canyon and the atmospheric flow above it by means of wind tunnel experiments. Fluid velocities were measured with a Particle Image Velocimetry system and passive scalar concentrations were measured using a Flame Ionisation Detector. The mass-transfer velocity between the canyon and the external flow has been estimated by measuring the cavity wash-out time. A two-box model, used to estimate the transfer velocity for varying dynamical conditions of the external flow, has been used to interpret the experimental data. This study sheds new light on the mechanisms which drive the ventilation of a street canyon and illustrates the influence of the external turbulence on the transfer process.     

Evaluation of traffic-producing turbulence schemes within Operational Street Pollution Models using roadside measurements

Low wind scenarios are associated with the worst air pollution episodes in urban street canyons. Under these conditions, operational dispersion models often over-predict pollutant concentration. Traffic-producing turbulence (TPT) becomes dominant in mixing and diluting traffic-related pollutants under low wind speed conditions. Determining the TPT effect on the flow and dispersion patterns within urban street canyons is crucial for the development of detailed operational dispersion models for assessing urban air quality. Several spatially averaged TPT formulations have been recently proposed in the literature. However, only a few attempts have been made so far to incorporate different TPT schemes into operational dispersion models and evaluate their performance using measurements.In this paper, several TPT schemes presented in literature were evaluated. Two TPT schemes were implemented in the well-validated Windows version of the Danish Operational Street Pollution Model (WinOSPM). Both formulations were evaluated using six independent datasets of roadside CO concentrations collected in European cities. Statistical and sensitivity analyses were undertaken to test the performance of the different formulations. The results showed that the overall model performance was significantly sensitive to the TPT schemes adopted. The model performance improved when a detailed characterisation of the TPT, depending on the density of road traffic, was used.     

Application of a Three-Layer Photochemical Box Model in an Athens Street Canyon

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to show that a photochemical box model could describe the air pollution diurnal profiles within a typical street canyon in the city of Athens. As sophisticated three-dimensional dispersion models are computationally expensive and they cannot serve to simulate pollution levels in the scale of an urban street canyon, a suitably modified three-layer photochemical box model was applied. A street canyon of Athens with heavy traffic was chosen to apply the aforementioned model. The model was used to calculate pollutant concentrations during two days with meteorological conditions favoring pollutant accumulation. Road traffic emissions were calculated based on existing traffic load measurements. Meteorological data, as well as various pollutant concentrations, in order to compare with the model results, were provided by available measurements. The calculated concentrations were found to be in good agreement with measured concentration levels and show that, when traffic load and traffic composition data are available, this model can be used to predict pollution episodes. It is noteworthy that high concentrations persisted, even after additional traffic restriction measures were taken on the second day because of the high pollution levels.     

A field study of factors influencing the concentrations of a traffic-related pollutant in the vicinity of a complex urban junction

The paper describes a field study focused on the dispersion of a traffic-related pollutant within an area close to a busy intersection between two street canyons in Central London. Simultaneous measurements of airflow, traffic flow and carbon monoxide concentrations ([CO]) are used to explore the causes of spatial variability in [CO] over a full range of background wind directions. Depending on the roof-top wind direction, evidence of both flow channelling and recirculation regimes were identified from data collected within the main canyon and the intersection. However, at the intersection, the merging of channelled flows from the canyons increased the flow complexity and turbulence intensity. These features, coupled with the close proximity of nearby queuing traffic in several directions, led to the highest overall time-average measured [CO] occurring at the intersection. Within the main street canyon, the data supported the presence of a helical flow regime for oblique roof-top flows, leading to increased [CO] on the canyon leeward side. Predominant wind directions led to some locations having significantly higher diurnal average [CO] due to being mostly on the canyon leeward side during the study period. For all locations, small changes in the background wind direction could cause large changes in the in-street mean wind angle and local turbulence intensity, implying that dispersion mechanisms would be highly sensitive to small changes in above roof flows. During peak traffic flow periods, concentrations within parallel side streets were approximately four times lower than within the main canyon and intersection which has implications for controlling personal exposure. Overall, the results illustrate that pollutant concentrations can be highly spatially variable over even short distances within complex urban geometries, and that synoptic wind patterns, traffic queue location and building topologies all play a role in determining where pollutant hot spots occur.     

Simulations of the impacts of building height layout on air quality in natural-ventilated rooms around street canyons

Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of building height ratio (i.e., HR, the height ratio of the upstream building to the downstream building) on the air quality in buildings beside street canyons, and both regular and staggered canyons were considered for the simulations. The results show that the building height ratio affects not only the ventilation fluxes of the rooms in the downstream building but also the pollutant concentrations around the building. The parameter, outdoor effective source intensity of a room, is then proposed to calculate the amount of vehicular pollutants that enters into building rooms. Smaller value of this parameter indicates less pollutant enters the room. The numerical results reveal that HRs from 2/7 to 7/2 are the favorable height ratios for the regular canyons, as they obtain smaller values than the other cases. While HR values of 5/7, 7/7, and 7/5 are appropriate for staggered canyons. In addition, in terms of improving indoor air quality by natural ventilation, the staggered canyons with favorable HR are better than those of the regular canyons.     

A Wind Tunnel Study of Gaseous Pollutants in City Street Canyons

Steady state mean concentrations of tracer gas were measured in a 400:1 scale model of an idealized city with variable geometry placed within a wind tunnel at various orientations to the mean flow for a free stream velocity of 6.8 ft/sec. The tracer gas was released from two parallel line sources to simulate lanes of traffic in an effort to quantify the persistence of pollution as well as the mean values realized at street levels. An aerodynamically rough turbulent boundary layer of neutral thermal stratification was employed to simulate the atmosphere. Values of concentration measured in the model city were converted to prototype concentrations in ppm and compared to National Ambient Air Quality Standards. It was shown that single isolated structures may cause favorable mixing of pollution downwind but very high concentrations exist in the immediate leeward vicinity of the building. Two favorable geometries for city blocks tested were found to reduce pedestrian exposure to pollution both near heavy traffic congestion and downwind. It was concluded that the pollutant dilution was controlled by the mean flow rather than by turbulent diffusion and that the lateral spread of the plume was slight as one proceeded downwind of the line source. The combination of favorable geometry and higher dilution velocities may bring pollution levels down to existing Air Quality Standards. The body of information presented in this paper should interest city planners and air quality monitoring personnel, as well as those researchers attempting to study and model flow in city street canyons. It provides order of magnitude estimates on pedestrian and office worker exposure to pollutants under a wide range of conditions.     

Pollutant dispersion in idealized city models with different urban morphologies

The mechanism of pollutant dispersion in idealized city models is investigated numerically by the introduction of a uniformly distributed pollutant source at street pedestrian level. We first study three short city forms with a single main street or two crossing streets, characterized by street length/street height ratios of L/H = 6 or 7 and a street height/street width ratio of H/W = 1, including a sharp-edged round city model, a smooth-edged round city model, and a sharp-edged square city model. For short city models with a single street and a parallel approaching wind, pollutant dilution mainly depends on the horizontal flow rate which decreases along the street. This decreasing rate is smallest for the smooth-edged round city model, which results in the lowest street concentrations. For city models with two crossing streets and the approaching wind parallel to the main street, the differences in overall city form result in different dispersion processes. For a sharp-edged round city model with two crossing streets, an approaching wind slightly non-parallel to the main street generates a lower pollutant concentration in the entire street volume. We also studied a sharp-edged round city model with one narrow street (L/H = 6; H/W = 6.7), finding that the uniformly distributed pollutants are transported from two street entries to the city centre, and are then removed out across the street roof. In contrast to the short city models we studied a single-street sharp-edged long rectangular city model (L/H = 21.7; H/W = 1) in which the horizontal flow rate remained nearly constant in a region far from the two entries. Within this region the turbulence across the street roof contributed more to the pollutant removal than vertical mean flows.     

Flow and dispersion in street intersections

Street intersections play an important role in determining pollutant concentrations in the urban canopy – vehicle emissions often increase in the vicinity of road intersections, and the complex flow patterns that occur within the intersection determine the pollutant fluxes into adjoining streets and into the atmosphere. Operational models for urban air quality therefore need to take account of the particular characteristics of street intersections. We have performed an experimental and numerical investigation of flow and dispersion mechanisms within an urban intersection, and on the basis of our observations and results, we have developed a new operational model for pollutant exchanges in the intersection, which takes account of the non-uniformity of the pollutant fluxes entering and leaving the intersection. The intersection is created by two streets of square cross-section, crossing orthogonally; concentrations were measured by releasing a neutrally buoyant tracer gas from a line source located in one of the streets. As a general result, the numerical simulations agree well with the measurements made in the wind tunnel experiments, except for the case of ground-level concentrations, where the computed concentrations far from the axis of the line source are significantly lower than the measured values. In the first part of the study we investigate the influence of an intersection on the velocity and concentration fields in the adjoining streets; we show that the immediate influence of the intersection extends within the adjoining streets, to a distance of the order of the characteristic size of the streets. A large recirculating vortex is formed at the entrance to the cross-wind streets, and this determines the exchange of pollutants between the streets and the intersection. For some wind directions the average velocity in the street segment between intersections is the same as that which occurs in an infinitely long street with the same wind, but for other angles the average velocity in the finite-length street is significantly lower. The average concentration along a finite-length street is significantly different from that observed in an infinitely long street. In the second part of the study we investigate how the pollutant fluxes in the incoming streets are redistributed amongst the outgoing streets. An analysis of the mean streamlines shows that the flows remain relatively planar, with little variation over the vertical, and we have exploited this result to develop a simple operational model for the redistribution of pollutant fluxes within the intersection. This model has been further adapted to take account of the influence of fluctuations in wind direction over typical averaging periods. The resulting model is used in the street network model SIRANE.