A source apportionment and air quality planning methodology for NO2 pollution from traffic and other sources

Abstract

In view of upcoming more stringent air quality limits and the ambition to align with the WHO guidelines, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution from traffic and other sources will remain a problem in the EU. To assess the impact of traffic measures and emission reductions in other sectors on NO2-concentrations, an EU-wide high-resolution NO2 source apportionment web-application was developed. The application allows users to define scenarios in a user-friendly way and quickly visualize the NO2-concentrations at measurement stations and in cities. The user can configure a new Euro 7/VII emission standard and additionally define urban access regulations scenarios in cities. To capture the spatial scales of NO2 pollution, the SHERPA source-receptor model was used in combination with the QUARK kernel dispersion model. The first model considers long-distance impacts, the latter considers the strong concentration gradients close to roads. This paper focuses on the methodology, a follow-up paper describes the web-application.