The effects of roadside structures on the transport and dispersion of ultrafine particles from highways
Abstract
Understanding local-scale transport and dispersion of pollutants emitted from traffic
sources is important for urban planning and air quality assessments. Predicting pollutant
concentration patterns in complex environments depends on accurate representations
of local features (e.g., noise barriers, trees, buildings) affecting near-field air
flows. This study examined the effects of roadside barriers on the flow patterns and
dispersion of pollutants from a high-traffic highway in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
The effects of the structures were analyzed using the Quick Urban & Industrial Complex
(QUIC) model, an empirically based diagnostic tool which simulates fine-scale wind
field and dispersion patterns around obstacles. Model simulations were compared with
the spatial distributions of ultrafine particles (UFP) from vehicular emissions measured
using a passenger van equipped with a Differential Mobility Analyzer/Condensation
Particle Counter. The field site allowed for an evaluation of pollutant concentrations
in open terrain, with a noise barrier present near the road, and with a noise barrier
and vegetation present near the road. Results indicated that air pollutant concentrations
near the road were generally higher in open terrain situations with no barriers present;
however, concentrations for this case decreased faster with distance than when roadside
barriers were present. The presence of a noise barrier and vegetation resulted in
the lowest downwind pollutant concentrations, indicating that the plume under this
condition was relatively uniform and vertically well-mixed. Comparison of the QUIC
model with the mobile UFP measurements indicated that QUIC reasonably represented
pollutant transport and dispersion for each of the study configurations. © 2007 Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6443Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.06.064Publication Info
Bowker, GE; Baldauf, R; Isakov, V; Khlystov, A; & Petersen, W (2007). The effects of roadside structures on the transport and dispersion of ultrafine particles
from highways. Atmospheric Environment, 41(37). pp. 8128-8139. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.06.064. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6443.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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