Abstract
We present a coupled macroscopic traffic and emission modelling system tailored to the Barcelona metropolitan area that allows estimating hourly road transport emissions at road link level. We use the developed system to perform an emission sensitivity analysis of typically high uncertainty emission features and assess their impact. We also explore the uncertainties of our system compared to a microscopic approach in a representative area of Barcelona. The developed macroscopic system shows a high sensitivity to spatially-resolved vehicle fleet composition inputs, meteorological effects on diesel engines (+19% in NOx) and non-exhaust sources (80% of total PM emissions). The comparison with the microscopic system shows that discrepancies grow as a function of the congestion level, up to +65% in NOx. The resulting coupled system will be used in further steps of the research to evaluate the impact of traffic management strategies upon urban emissions and air quality levels in Barcelona.
Highlights
Air pollution is a public health threat in most urban environments, where road transport is often the main contributor (EEA, 2019)
The contribution of non-exhaust sources to total PM10 emissions was found to be of 80%, which is in line with the results found by other studies, such as Rexeis and Hausberger (2009) and Harrison et al (2012)
This paper presents the first coupled macroscopic traffic and emission modelling system tailored for Barcelona
Summary
Air pollution is a public health threat in most urban environments, where road transport is often the main contributor (EEA, 2019). The European Union (EU) established the 2008/50/EC EU Ambient Air Quality Directive (AQD), which sets maximum concentration limit values for specific air pollutants. Most of the largest European urban conurbations struggle to meet the AQD for NO2 and especially PM (EEA, 2019). In the city of Barcelona (Spain), chronic nitrogen dioxides (NO2) and fine particular matter (PM2.5) concentrations exceed both the AQD limit values and the World Health Organization air quality guidelines (ASPB, 2018). Barcelona and other large urban conurbations have been forced to apply action plans to improve their air quality by reducing traffic activity and emissions
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