Abstract
A current challenge in the environmental sciences field is to assess air quality at larger urban areas with high level of spatial resolution and, at the same time, with feasible computational resources time demand. This study provides a sensitivity analysis, focused on the implications of different grid resolutions on air quality results, followed by a performance assessment of the URBan AIR (URBAIR) model, a second-generation Gaussian model, as a tool for air quality management in urban areas. Estarreja area, a city located near an industrial complex, was used as case study, and the most critical air pollutants were investigated: particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Three different grid resolutions were tested: 0.1 km, 0.2 km and 0.3 km resolutions. Comparative results revealed that all grids provide similar results regarding the spatial distribution of PM10 and NO2 concentrations, with evident differences in the magnitude of those concentrations and in the required computational time. The source apportionment analysis revealed the great contribution of industrial sources and road transport to NO2 and PM10 concentrations, respectively. The URBAIR model is a useful tool to support decision-makers since it considers the specific characteristics of each city, which make it particularly helpful to assess different origins of air pollution, and so, to select the most effective sectorial measures that should be applied to improve local air quality.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Funding
The authors acknowledge the financial support of FEDER through the COMPETE Programme and the national funds from FCT – Science and Technology Portuguese Foundation within the project InFLOWence (POCI-01–0145-FEDER-029679) and the Ph.D grants of S. Coelho (SFRH/BD/137999/2018). Thanks are due for the financial support to CESAM (UIDB/50017/2020 + UIDP/50017/2020), to FCT/MCTES through national funds, and the co-funding by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. Thanks are also due to FCT/MCTES for the contract granted to Sandra Rafael (2020.02543.CEECIND).
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Fernandes, A.P., Rafael, S., Lopes, D. et al. The air pollution modelling system URBAIR: how to use a Gaussian model to accomplish high spatial and temporal resolutions. Air Qual Atmos Health 14, 1969–1988 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-021-01069-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-021-01069-9