The application of ADMS-Urban model to estimate nitrogen dioxide concentrations in cold and warm seasons in Kaunas city

Abstract

Road traffic is one of the main sources of pollution affecting air quality in urban areas which can have impacts on human health. One of the most common traffic-related pollutants is nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Atmospheric dispersion models, such as ADMSUrban, can be used to examine emissions from many various sources (road transport, industrial, domestic) and to estimate or predict the concentration of pollutants emitted from these sources into the atmosphere. The paper examines the performance of ADMS-Urban dispersion model to predict nitrogen dioxide concentrations from emission sources. Modelled concentrations for cold and warm seasons have been compared with measured nitrogen dioxide concentrations at 41 site in Kaunas city. The purpose of this study was to assess the dispersion of nitrogen dioxide pollution in cold and warm seasons comparing modelled with ADMS-Urban model and measured with passive samplers NO2 concentrations in Kaunas city. Modelled average nitrogen dioxide concentration in cold season was 21.79 μg/m3, while measured with passive samp­lers – 19.82 μg/m3. The air pollution was significantly higher during the cold season. Modelled and measured NO2 concentrations in warm season were 12.28 and 11.62 μg/m3, respectively. Results showed that ADMS-Urban dispersion model tends to overpredict nitrogen dioxide concentrations and this is most evident when smaller values are modelled, while model­led maximum concentrations are underestimated compared with measured NO2 values.