Study on Mapping and Identifying Risk Areas for Multiple Particulate Matter Pollution at the Block Scale Based on Local Climate Zones

Abstract

As China’s urbanization process accelerates, the issue of air pollution becomes increasingly prominent and urgently requires improvement, based on the fact that environmental conditions such as meteorology and topography are difficult to change. Therefore, relevant optimization studies from the perspective of architectural patterns are operable to mitigate pollution. This paper takes the Wenhua Road block in Shenyang, China, as the research object; obtains the concentration data of three kinds of particulate matter through fixed and mobile monitoring; and analyzes the spatial distribution characteristics of Local Climate Zones ( LCZ) and particulate matter in the block based on the ArcGIS platform, identifies high-risk areas, and excavates the influence of LCZ on the concentrations of three kinds of particulate matter. The results show that the spatial distribution characteristics of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 under the same pollution level are relatively similar, while the spatial heterogeneity of the distribution of the same particulate matter under different pollution levels is higher. The time-weighted results show that the PM1 pollution level in the block ranges from 44 to 51 μg/m³, PM2.5 ranges from 75 to 86 μg/m³, and PM10 ranges from 87 to 99 μg/m³. The pollution hot spots throughout the year are located in the central, eastern and western parts of the study area. In terms of the relationship between the LCZ and particulate matter, with the increase in the particulate matter diameter, the correlation between the three kinds of particulate matter and LCZ are all enhanced. The built-up LCZ always has a larger average concentration of particulate matter than that of the natural LCZ, and building height and building density are the main factors causing the difference. In the optimal design of the risk area, the proportion of natural vegetation or water surface should be increased and the building height should be properly controlled and the building density should be reduced in the renewal of the urban building form. This study will largely improve the spatial refinement of the optimization of urban architectural patterns oriented to mitigate particulate matter pollution.