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Daytime air pollution transport mechanisms in stable atmospheres of narrow versus wide urban valleys

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Abstract

Transport of air pollutants emitted from urban valleys can be strongly restricted by interactions between static and dynamic factors including topographic forcing, low-level atmospheric stability related to temperature inversions, and urban heat island-induced circulations. Interplay between these processes has a complex and dynamic nature, and is determinant for the evolution of different ventilation mechanisms and the associated impacts on air quality. Here we investigate these transport mechanisms through large eddy simulations using EULAG, an established model for multiscale flows, to simulate an idealized atmospheric environment in narrow versus wide urban valleys during critical conditions for air quality (high atmospheric stability). Our results show how the ventilation of valleys depends on a dynamic (variable during the daytime) balance between interacting and sometimes competing processes related to thermally-driven slope flows, urban heat island-induced flows, and the trapping effect of atmospheric stability; and how valley width affects this balance. Particularly important is that the time-space distribution of pollutants (a passive tracer) varies greatly between both valleys despite having the same urban area and emission rates. These variations lead to pollutants being mostly concentrated in different areas of the narrow and wide valleys. We discuss the mechanisms behind these results and their potential implications for real urban valleys. Further understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for explaining the occurrence of severe air pollution episodes and informing related decision-making processes in urban valleys.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Colombian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, MINCIENCIAS (previously COLCIENCIAS, grant Francisco José de Caldas awarded to AMR), and the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD (Scholarship A/10/77699 awarded to AMR). All computations for this study were performed on the supercomputer Blizzard at the German Climate Computing Center (Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum).

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  1. GIGA, Escuela Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

    Angela M. Rendón & Juan F. Salazar

  2. Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany

    Volkmar Wirth

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  1. Angela M. Rendón
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Correspondence to Angela M. Rendón.

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Rendón, A.M., Salazar, J.F. & Wirth, V. Daytime air pollution transport mechanisms in stable atmospheres of narrow versus wide urban valleys. Environ Fluid Mech 20, 1101–1118 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-020-09743-9

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