Integration of georeferenced informed system and digital image analysis to asses the effect of cars pollution on historical buildings

Abstract

The blackening of buildings in historic cities due to air pollution is common. In historic urban centres, pollution from traffic negatively affects the preservation of monuments and results in the appearance of black crusts and/or deposits. The cleaning procedures for restoring or rehabilitating these building to remove these deposits are expensive and require continuous effort. Thus, it is necessary to monitor and control the effects of traffic on buildings. The objective of this study was to develop a new analytical methodology to assess and evaluate the continued risk of traffic pollution due to the circulation of vehicles near monument facades. This methodology combines geographic information systems (GIS) and digital image analysis (DIA) to evaluate the effect of traffic on the facades of stone buildings, which will enable more informed decisions regarding the reorganisation of traffic and the pedestrianisation of streets near monuments.