Quality In Urban Areas Research Articles

Assessment of geothermal impacts on urban aquifers using a polar coordinates-based approach

The growing interest in shallow geothermal resources is compromising geothermal energy availability and groundwater quality in urban areas. This makes it necessary to search for new methodologies that facilitate urban geothermal resources management. In this work, a novel methodology based on polar coordinates to assess the geothermal impacts caused by shallow geothermal installations on urban aquifers is proposed and applied to a real case study. This methodology facilitated the definition of three key parameters (Tmax, Tmin and ANTI -Annual Net Thermal Impact-) for geothermal impact assessment and allowed classification of geothermal impacts on urban aquifers into five patterns (seasonally balanced, cooling/heating dominated impact, single cooling/heating impact, unrecovered cooling/heating impact and upward/downward linear impact).It was possible to establish the most frequent impact patterns in temperate to hot climates, where the use of the geothermal installations for cooling dominates, by applying this methodology to the Zaragoza city aquifer (Spain). The holistic view of the urban aquifer showed an average delay of four to five months between the production peak of the geothermal installations and the peak of the triggered thermal impact on the aquifer. The results showed that the increasing use of shallow geothermal energy is leading to an increase in temperature of aquifers which, in the case of the Zaragoza aquifer, was quantified at 0.20 °C/yr in the past five years. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology to assess thermal impacts on urban aquifers and facilitate thermal management in cities.

Real-Time Charging Scheduling and Optimization of Electric Buses in a Depot

To improve the air quality in urban areas, diesel buses are getting replaced by battery electric buses (BEBs). This conversion introduces several challenges, such as the proper control of the charging process and a reduction in the operational costs, which can be addressed by introducing smart charging concepts for BEB fleets. Therefore, this paper proposes a real-time scheduling and optimization (RTSO) algorithm for the charging of multiple BEBs in a depot. The algorithm assigns a variable charging current to the different time slots the charging process of each BEB is divided to provide an optimal charging schedule that minimizes the charging cost, while satisfying the power limitations of the distribution network and maintaining the operation schedule of the BEBs. A genetic algorithm is used to solve the formulated cost function in real time. Several charging scenarios are tested in simulation, which show that a reduction in the charging cost up to 10% can be obtained under a dynamic electricity price scheme. Furthermore, the RTSO is implemented in a high-level charging management system, a new feature required to enable smart charging in practice, to test the developed algorithm with existing charging infrastructure. The experimental validation of the RTSO algorithm has proven the proper operation of the entire system.

Sistem Monitoring dan Pendukung Keputusan Kualitas Udara di Kota Semarang Menggunakan IoT

Air is one of the most important elements of life for living things in the world. For humans, the air is an element that is very concerned because it is related to health. In Jakarta, the Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) is ranked second as the capital city of a country with poor air quality. Air quality in Jakarta is monitored by an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 160 with parameters in the form of very small pollutant particles with a diameter of fewer than 2.8 micrometres (PM 2.8). The Indonesian government has made efforts to reduce the air pollution index, such as reducing the number of vehicles with odd-even systems, users of environmentally friendly transportation modes such as MRT, LRT, Trans and clearing green lands in the city centre.The purpose of this research is how we make a tool that can determine the quality of the air around us and can be carried (portable) anywhere easily. By the 4.0 industrial revolution that everything has been integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT) technology where the public can find out the air condition in real-time. In this research, later using the prototype method as a test. The main components are sensors consisting of MQ-6 (CO2 and smoke), MQ-7 (CO, LPG, CH4), MQ135 (Butane, AirQuality), and DHT-11 (Humidity, temperature)From the research that has been done where the air quality in urban areas has a low air quality index by measuring it using a prototype consisting of a gas sensor and Arduino microcontroller which has been made to produce an average CO2 of 25 ppm, CO 2330 which has exceeded the threshold, while NH3 1.23 and C4H10 1120 are still below the threshold. These values are influenced by pollutants generated by transportation such as motorbikes, cars, and land transportation

Analyzing trend and factors affecting air quality in urban areas: a case study in Isfahan- metropolis, Iran

سابقه و هدف: گسترش سریع و بدون کنترل سطح شهرها، افزایش ترافیک، بنگاه‌های صنعتی و سوخت‌های کم کیفیت و همچنین پارامترهای مورفولوژی شهری و شرایط اقلیمی از جمله عامل ­های مؤثر بر آلودگی هوا در منطقه­ های شهری محسوب می‌شوند. در ایران، کلان شهر اصفهان که سومین منطقه بزرگ شهری در سطح کشور است، با توسعه گسترده بنگاه ­های صنعتی، افزایش جمعیت و رشد سطح شهرها، آلودگی هوا افزایش یافته است. بنابراین به ­منظور یافتن عامل ­های تأثیرگذار بر روند تغییرات کیفیت هوا، تحلیل روند و ارزیابی رابطه بین پارامترهای کاربری زمین­ ها، توسعه صنعتی و وضعیت ترافیک با سنجه‌های آلودگی هوا مورد بررسی قرار گرفت.مواد و روش‌ها: به­ منظور ارزیابی روند با استفاده از داده‌های اندازه‌گیری شده دوره‌ای و روش‌های همبستگی و رگرسیون ساده غلظت هفت آلاینده هوا شامل PM2.5 ، PM10 ، CO ، SO2، NO ، NO2 وNOx به ­عنوان متغیرهای وابسته و پارامترهای هواشناسی، نوع کاربری زمین­ ها، توسعه صنایع و وسایل نقلیه به ­عنوان متغیرهای مستقل مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. همچنین در روش محاسباتی از نرم‌افزار SPSS برای آزمایش توزیع نرمال مجموعه داده‌ها شامل غلظت آلاینده‌های هوا و هواشناسی از سال 1387 تا 1394، در 10 ایستگاه سنجش آلودگی هوا و 3 ایستگاه هواشناسی در کلان شهر اصفهان استفاده شد.نتایج و بحث: نتایج مطالعه نشان می‌دهد که میانگین سالانه غلظتPM (PM10 / PM2.5) ،NO و CO کاهش و میانگین سالانه غلظت SO2،NO2 و NOX افزایش می‌یابد. افزون بر این، میانگین سالانه بارش، دما و سرعت باد افزایش یافته در حالی که روند رطوبت نسبی در منطقه مورد مطالعه به­ طور قابل توجهی تغییر نمی‌کند. همچنین مشخص شد که روند وسعت مرکزهای اقامتی، آموزشی، تجاری، خدمات عمومی، کاربری حمل و نقلی و تعداد واحدهای صنعتی و وسایل نقلیه به ­طور قابل توجهی افزایش یافته است. اما میزان زمین­ های کشاورزی، فضای سبز و منطقه ­های صنعتی به ­طور قابل توجهی در منطقه مورد مطالعه کاهش یافته است. نتایج تحلیل رگرسیون گام به گام نشان می ­دهد که تغییر کاربری زمین­ های کشاورزی به منطقه ­های مسکونی و افزایش سرعت باد می‌تواند به­ عنوان دلایل روند کاهشیNO ، CO و ذرات معلق در منطقه مورد مطالعه باشد. افزون بر این، روند افزایش میزان حمل‌و‌‌نقل، می‌تواند مهمترین دلیل افزایش غلظت NO2 باشد. از طرف دیگر، با توجه به روند افزایشی انتشار گازهای NOX و همبستگی منفی معنی‌دار با وسعت فضای سبز و همبستگی مثبت با وسعت حمل و نقل و مناطق صنعتی و نتیجه مدل رگرسیون گام به گام می‌توان به این نتیجه رسید که کاهش سطح فضای سبز و افزایش وسعت 99.5 درصدی مناطق با کاربری حمل و نقل سبب افزایش غلظت NOX در منطقه مورد مطالعه می‌شود. افزون بر این، وسعت مرکزهای خدمات شهری موجب افزایش غلظت SO2 می‌شود و بین غلظت PM2.5 و SO2 نیز رابطه منفی وجود دارد (با افزایش غلظت SO2، غلظت PM2.5 افزایش می‌یابد).نتیجه‌گیری: نکته قابل توجه این است که ارتباط بین سنجه‌های کیفیت هوا به ­عنوان متغیرهای وابسته با متغیرهای مستقل مورد بررسی در منطقه ­های شهری پیچیده است و مشخص نیست که کدام عامل یا پارامتر خاص مهمترین سناریوی آلودگی هوا در یک بافت شهری است. بنابراین هنور نیاز به انجام پژوهش‌های دقیق‌تری وجود دارد.

Coupling outdoor air quality with thermal comfort in the presence of street trees: a pilot investigation in Shenyang, Northeast China

Together, the heat island effect and air pollution pose a threat to human health and well-being in urban settings. Nature-based solutions such as planting trees are a mitigation strategy to improve outdoor temperatures (thermal comfort) and enhance air quality in urban areas. In this study, outdoor thermal comfort, and particulate matter levels were compared between treeless and treed areas to provide a better understanding of how street trees improve thermal comfort and air quality. Street trees decreased the physiological equivalent temperature from 46.3 to 44.2 °C in summer but increased it from 36.4 to 37.5 °C in autumn. Air temperature and relative humidity contributed more in summer while wind speed contributed more in autumn. Particulate matter concentrations were negatively correlated with physiological equivalent temperature in summer but not in autumn. The presence of trees decreased concentrations of fine particulate matter in hot summer conditions but increased in hot autumn conditions. The presence of trees increased coarse particulate matter in very hot summer conditions in summer and in hot autumn conditions. Overall, the layout of trees in urban street canyons should consider the trade-off between outdoor thermal comfort and air quality improvement.

Do urban parking restrictions and Low Emission Zones encourage a greener mobility?

Decreasing air pollution produced by road traffic represents one of the main actions of both national and local governments to improve air quality in urban areas. This research explores to what extent measures restricting the use of the private vehicle, such as on-street parking regulations and the implementation of Low Emission Zones encourage the use of environmentally-friendly vehicles and promote a shift towards more sustainable transport modes in the city of Madrid. By calibrating multinomial and ordered regression models, we study how the implemented measures impact individuals' choices. The results indicate that these measures encouraged citizens to switch to more sustainable modes. However, citizens with cleaner vehicles are reluctant to shift to public transport or active modes due to the benefits stemming from the ownership of those vehicles, such as the possibility of enjoying free parking.

The role of urban green space design to support bird community in the urban ecosystem

Abstract. Prihandi DR, Nurvianto S. 2022. The role of urban green space design to support bird community in the urban ecosystem. Biodiversitas 23: 2137-2145. The increase in human population due to urbanization causes the expansion of urban areas that threatens forest lands to be lost and makes a serious threat to its biodiversity. Along with changes in the landscape due to urbanization, open green space is an alternative solution to maintaining biological diversity in urban areas. However, various types of open green spaces were developed following certain objectives of landscape management that potentially have different effects on biodiversity. This research aimed to identify the role of various open green spaces designs on bird biodiversity. Birds can be a good indicator of environmental quality because birds are a type of animal that can move in different habitat types and habitat areas and are often used as an indicator of habitat quality in urban areas. Bird observation was conducted using the point count method, while the environmental conditions were recorded using the nested and protocol sampling method. Those data were collected in five different open green spaces of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Province. Species diversity shows the diversity of species in a bird community in a certain area using the Shanon-Wiener index. Bird communities were also analyzed using rarefaction analysis. This analysis was used to standardize the species abundance in each type of green open space to estimate the ideal species richness of open green space from the different number of samples. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare the value of diversity, richness, and relative abundance of bird species among five different types of open green space. We used Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) to visualize the bird's response toward environmental gradients. Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was employed to determine the effect of the environmental factors on the diversity of bird species. The result showed that different types of urban green spaces have different richness and relative abundance of bird species. We found 5925 individual birds from 40 species in five different types of open green spaces. The garden was the type of open green space with the highest bird species diversity. Of the many variables taken, the slope and the number of vehicles per minute affected the diversity of species. Those two variables were also negatively correlated with the diversity of bird species in the five types of open green spaces. The number of vehicles causes noise and pollution, which causes a decrease in bird populations. Flat slopes can also help birds get food, such as seeds on a flat surface. Creating more gardens for public and private spaces becomes an alternative solution to enhance bird diversity in the urban area.

Planning for Citizens’ Health: Towards an Integrated Approach to Air and Noise Pollution in the EU

Abstract The outbreak of covid-19 Pandemic has unfolded the close relationship between good environmental quality in urban areas and public health. The abrupt closure of economic activities through lockdown measures have shown how the concentration of air pollutants and noise from different sources are long-standing, major environmental and health issues in the European Union, especially in highly populated urban areas. Scientific evidence underscores that simultaneous exposure to air pollutants and noise constitutes a mutually reinforcing threat to human health. However, the current regulatory approaches in the European legislation still fall short in addressing the issues of air and noise pollution in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. The lack of harmonized and effective planning regime for air and noise pollution runs against the objectives pursued by the European Green Deal, whereas an effective and integrated response to environmental issues should underpin EU policies in the post Covid-19 recovery. This contribution thus analyzes two key EU legal regimes addressing air and noise pollution, namely Directive 2008/50/ec and Directive 2002/49/ec, respectively, to appraise their mutual pitfalls against the said need to adopt an integrated response to air and noise pollution. Moreover, the paper sheds further light on innovative approaches, such as integrated urban planning, citizen science and Internet of Things as key means to enhance cities’ resilience and support the implementation of effective legal responses to air and noise pollution.

Data-Driven Framework for Understanding and Predicting Air Quality in Urban Areas.

Monitoring, predicting, and controlling the air quality in urban areas is one of the effective solutions for tackling the climate change problem. Leveraging the availability of big data in different domains like pollutant concentration, urban traffic, aerial imagery of terrains and vegetation, and weather conditions can aid in understanding the interactions between these factors and building a reliable air quality prediction model. This research proposes a novel cost-effective and efficient air quality modeling framework including all these factors employing state-of-the-art artificial intelligence techniques. The framework also includes a novel deep learning-based vegetation detection system using aerial images. The pilot study conducted in the UK city of Cambridge using the proposed framework investigates various predictive models ranging from statistical to machine learning and deep recurrent neural network models. This framework opens up possibilities of broadening air quality modeling and prediction to other domains like vegetation or green space planning or green traffic routing for sustainable urban cities. The research is mainly focused on extracting strong pieces of evidence which could be useful in proposing better policies around climate change.

Modeling of reducing NH4NO3 in PM2.5 under high ammonia emission in urban areas: Based on high-resolution data

At present, the air quality in urban areas in China has continued to improve, but PM2.5 is still severely polluted in autumn and winter and is difficult to meet the Chinese standard. With the renovation of coal-fired boilers and the transformation of ultra-low emissions in factories, NO3− has gradually become the main inducing species for high levels of PM2.5. In this study, a high-resolution (1 h) online instrument was used to analyze the characteristics of atmospheric PM2.5 in the autumn and winter periods from October 2019 to February 2020 at Zhengzhou University in Zhengzhou. The inorganic nitrate in PM2.5 mainly existed in the form of semivolatile NH4NO3, and the method of reducing NH4NO3 was studied through data analysis. The basic method of reducing particulate nitrate in PM2.5 is not only to reduce nitrate precursors (NOx) but also to transform particulate nitrate into gas by reducing the aerosol pH value (enhancing aerosol acidity). The simulation analysis of NHx (NHx = NH3+NH4+), NO3T (NO3T=HNO3+NO3−), and SO42− reduction using the thermodynamic model ISORROPIA-II revealed that total ammonia (TA) has an obvious peak clipping effect on particulate NO3− when it is reduced by 60% and can effectively reduce NH4NO3 in PM2.5. The reliability and credibility of the data results were enhanced through long-term observation and local time analysis, and reducing TA and NO3− in areas with high ammonia emissions was proven to be feasible. This study is beneficial for formulating measures to reduce the average annual concentration of PM2.5 in ammonia-rich areas.

Coupling the TEB and Surfatm Models for Heat Flux Modelling in Urban Area: Comparison With Flux Measurements in Strasbourg (France)

This study presents the coupling of TEB (Town Energy Balance) and Surfatm models developed for energy exchange estimates for urban impervious and vegetation surfaces, respectively. Once coupled, the TEB-Surfatm model allows the estimate of radiative, sensible (H), and latent heat (LE) fluxes in urban areas accounting for urban vegetation. The modelled fluxes were compared with measurements performed in an urban garden. The model was able to reproduce the energy fluxes, but its performance varied. The variability of the model accuracy depended on the measurement footprint in link with the heterogeneity of the site characteristics: while the measurement footprint fitted with the area characteristics considered by the TEB-Surfatm model, the modelled H and LE fluxes presented a good agreement with the measurements. In the other cases, some overestimation and underestimation occurred, in link with different fractions of impervious surfaces or green spaces. The validation of the TEB-Surfatm model for energy fluxes is a first step, the second will be to include the pollutant exchanges since Surfatm is able to quantify the atmosphere-biosphere fluxes for numerous pollutants. It will allow the TEB-Surfatm model to quantify the impact of urban greening on the assessment of air quality in urban areas.

What urban lakes and ponds quality is about? Conciliating water quality and ecological indicators with users’ perceptions and expectations about urban lakes and ponds quality in urban areas

ABSTRACT Urban lakes and ponds (L&Ps) provide numerous ecological and social services for local populations living in urban areas. Their monitoring and management are mostly based on water quality and ecological indicators and poorly consider public preferences and expectancies related to these artificial ecosystems. Even fewer studies bring together expert indicators and public expectations to inform management objectives for urban lakes. Based on an interdisciplinary study, this paper compares an expert assessment of the ecological quality of three urban L&Ps located in the Ile-de-France area with the public perception of these lakes. This approach permits us to explore the compatibilities and incongruences between the various ways in which scientists, managers and urban users assess urban L&P quality. Based on these data, we discuss how it could be possible to define management objectives that integrate quality indicators and expect these objectives to be used in a territorial approach that might allow to obtain a better adequacy between social users’ expectations and the ecological status of these L&Ps.

Assessing major drivers of runoff water quality using principal component analysis: a case study from a Colombian and a Brazilian catchments

ABSTRACT Understanding the major drivers of runoff water quality in urban areas is important for sustainable water management. In this study, runoff water quality in a catchment in Colombia and another in Brazil was monitored and related to rain, and meteorological variables through correlation and principal component analysis. High correlations were found between event mean concentration of total suspended solids (TSS) and total phosphorus (TP), as well as with total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) and total organic carbon (TOC). The results indicated that TSS and TP were related to sediment transport in the catchment, while NTK and TOC were derived from point sources (improper wastewater disposal). Rain depth, maximum specific discharge, air temperature, and solar radiation were the main factors explaining variability of water quality. These results contribute to a better understanding of local processes driving runoff water quality, and bring valuable insights for modelling and management of stormwater in urban catchments.

RETRACTED: Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Traffic Volume and Air Quality in Urban Areas

The large transmission of COVID-19 has resulted in a deep impact on the surrounding urban environments, especially on air quality and traffic flows. The objective of this study was to analyze air pollutant concentrations (PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3) and traffic volumes at five congested districts (Bundaran HI, Kelapa Gading, Jagakarsa, Lubang Buaya, and Kebon Jeruk) within Jakarta city impacted by the large-scale social restriction (LSSR) policy. Air quality data during three periods; before, during, and after the LSSR at five observed districts was obtained from the Department of Environment of Jakarta using the Air Quality Monitoring (AQMS) tool. While vehicle speed data were obtained from the waze data during the study period. In this study, air pollutant data during three periods; before, during, and after the LSSR were compared with vehicle speed and meteorological data using a statistical analysis. Results revealed the mean traffic volume at all five districts has greatly reduced by 19% from before to during the LSSR period. It was consistent with the mean PM10, NO2, CO, and SO2 concentrations which also dropped about 46%, 45%, 30%, and 23% respectively. In contrast, the concentrations of air pollutants significantly increased after the LSSR period. During the LSSR period, the traffic volume was negatively associated with the O3 concentration ( r = −.86, p < .01), it was different with before the LSSR periods where the traffic volume associated with CO ( r = .88, p < .01) and NO2 ( r = .89, p < .01). The broad analysis of changes in air pollutants and traffic volumes can be used by the authorities to arrange a good air quality management and an effective way for current and future scenarios.

Brazilian truckers’ strike and particulate matter (PM10) concentration: Temporal trend and time series models

High particulate matter (PM) emissions from vehicular traffic impact air quality in urban areas. In 2018, a truckers’ strike interrupted some of the services in Brazil, leading to a fuel outage in several cities that significantly reduced the flow of vehicles. This study evaluated air quality during the strike in two cities (Limeira and Campinas) in Southeastern Brazil. PM10 concentration was analyzed in the periods before (BTS — 05/01/2018 to 05/22/2018), during (DTS — 05/23/2018 to 05/30/2018), and after (ATS — 05/31/2018 to 06/30/2018) the strike using the Theil-Sen method and the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model with Exogenous Variables (ARIMAX). A reduction in the PM daily mean concentration in both cities occurred during the strike. Considering the daily peak time of vehicular flow (6:00 p.m.), the PM10 concentration was 20% higher in the BTS period compared to the DTS period for both cities. In comparison, the ATS period showed concentrations 17% (Limeira) and 7% (Campinas) higher when compared with the DTS period. The variations were statistically significant based on the time series models, and the influences of wind speed, rainfall on the sampling day and the day before sampling, and weekends were also evaluated. It was also possible to verify the contribution of the truckers’ strike to the PM10concentration in the two cities evaluated. In Limeira, truck traffic had a greater influence on the concentration of PM10, while in Campinas, the contribution of trucks was like that of light vehicles. Based on the variation of the PM10 concentration, the influence of changes in vehicle emission dynamics, one of the main sources of emission in the regions studied, was observed. The results indicate that restricting vehicular traffic had an immediate impact on improving air quality. Therefore, public investment in other types of transport and traffic control policies are suggested.

Nventory model for the management of urban trees using a geographic information system

The urban trees of the Chapultepec Country neighborhood in Guadalajara, Jalisco were studied in order to elaborate a forestmanagement model and through a Geographic Information System. The neighbourhood has a total amount of 32 blocks, 1 raisedmedian, 1 roundabout, 1 park, 1 traffic easement, with a surfae area of 49.95 hectares. A full census of the wooded area wasconducted and supported by thematic mapping, data gathering of enviromental and forestry variables, using a GPS Garmin eTrex 10every tree was georeferenced. Outstandig results; there are 1386 trees, from 81 different species that belong to 31 botanical families.The more prolific are Ficus benjamina, Thuja orientalis, Arecastrum romanzoffianum, Citrus aurantium y Cupressus sempervirens.The present condition of the regsstered trees revealed that 33.91% are healthy, 57.07% are in regular condition, 7.36% are in poorcondition and 1.66% are standing dead. On the basis of the elaborated database, the wooded area census thah includes forestryvariables, pruning necessities, phytosanitary condition of the trees and thematic cartography of the wooded areas status, a forestrymanagement program was developed specially for the urban trees of the neighbourhood that can be executed weekly or monthly bythe Park and Gardens brigades. A ratio of 9.16 mgreen area surface per citizen was found, this constitutes the minimum standardrecommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). There is a relationship of 3.03 trees per habitant, a much bigger amountthan the WHO’s standard, which points out that in order to obtain a better air quality in urban areas there must be a tree for everythree citizens.

Low emission zones reduced PM10 but not NO2 concentrations in Berlin and Munich, Germany

Low emission zones (LEZs) aiming at improving the air quality in urban areas have been implemented in many European cities. However, studies are limited in evaluating the effects of LEZ, and most of which used simple methods. In this study, a general additive mixed model was utilized to account for confounders in the atmosphere and validate the effects of LEZ on PM10 and NO2 concentrations in two German cities. In addition, the effects of LEZ on elemental carbon (EC) and total carbon (TC) in Berlin were also evaluated. The LEZ effects were estimated after taking into account air pollutant concentrations at a reference site located in the regional background, and adjusting for hour of the week, public holidays, season, and wind direction. The LEZ in Berlin, and the LEZ in combination with the heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) transit ban in Munich significantly reduced the PM10 concentrations, at both traffic sites (TS) and urban background sites (UB). The effects were greater in LEZ stage 3 than in LEZ stages 2 and 1. Moreover, compared with PM10, LEZ was more efficient in reducing EC, a component that is considered more toxic than PM10 mass. In contrast, the LEZ had no consistent effect on NO2 levels: no effects were observed in Berlin; in Munich, the combination of the LEZ and the HDV transit ban reduced NO2 at UB site in LEZ stage 1, but without further reductions in subsequent stages of the LEZ. Overall, our study indicated that LEZs, which target the major primary air pollution source in the highly populated city center could be an effective way to improve urban air quality such as PM mass concentration and EC level.

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Ambient Air Quality in Yogyakarta Urban Area Parameters SO2, CO and, NO2 with Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW)

In early March 2020, a pandemic disrupted human activities, especially in the Yogyakarta Urban Area. The area is experiencing development or becoming a tourist center in the Province of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. With these developments, this study would carry out data processing related to air quality, remove it comparing the concentration of SO2, CO, and NO2 parameters before the pandemic in 2019 and after the pandemic in 2020. The results of this study are that the ambient air quality in urban areas Yogyakarta tends to experience a decline and the monitoring locations are located around industries and major road junctions. So, the mapping of ambient air quality itself can facilitate visualization research.

Comparative Assessment of Cooking Emission Contributions to Urban Organic Aerosol Using Online Molecular Tracers and Aerosol Mass Spectrometry Measurements

Cooking organic aerosol (COA) is an important source of particulate pollutants in urbanized regions. Yet, the diversity and complexity of COA components make direct identification and quantification of COA difficult. In this study, we conducted collocated OA measurements with an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and a thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (TAG) in Shanghai. Cooking molecular tracers (e.g., C18 fatty acids, azelaic acid) measured by TAG provide unambiguous source information for evaluating the tracer ion (C6H10O+, m/z 98) used for identification and apportionment of COA in AMS analysis. Based on the collocated AMS and TAG measurements, two COA factors, namely, a primary COA (PCOA) and an oxygenated COA (OCOA) produced from rapid oxygenation of freshly emitted PCOA, were identified. Criteria for identifying COA factors from AMS analysis with different oxygenation levels are proposed, i.e., characteristic mass spectra, temporal variations, etc. Furthermore, two positive matrix factorization approaches, namely, AMS-PMF and the molecular marker (MM)-PMF, were compared for COA quantification, where high consistency was found with the contribution of COA to total PM2.5 mass estimated to be 9 ± 7% by AMS-PMF and 6 ± 5% by the MM-PMF. Our study highlights the important impacts of cooking activities on air quality in urban areas. We also demonstrate the advantage of conducting collocated measurements using multiple high time resolution mass spectrometric techniques in advancing our understanding of atmospheric OA chemistry and improving the accuracy of source apportionment.

Reviewing Comfortability in City Squares: A Case Study of Beylikdüzü Özgürlük Square

Public spaces play a significant role in our social life. There are different types of public spaces and squares are one of the most important places in the cities that have influence on shaping our social activities from the past to the present. City squares are not just designed to spend time, in the past, squares were known as gathering locations to make important social decisions. A place where people share what is happening nearby and exchange information. Active and lively public spaces increase social interaction and sense of belonging among people. With the increase of population and urbanization in recent years, the quality of urban areas has been evaluated in terms of improving the quality of life of citizens. Squares are also important public spaces that are examined in terms of quality. In this paper, Beylikdüzü Özgürlük Square comfort parameters are studied. This square is located in western part of Istanbul. Although this area is not very old but it is important due to the connection between the two areas of Esenyurt and Beylikdüzü. Comfort quality indicators of this location are examined. A questionnaire was collected from 71 people living in the area for this research. Their responses were studied and interpreted in line with the purpose of the research.