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Abstract
The impact of urban morphology on air quality, particularly within deep canyons with longer residence times for complex chemical processes, remains insufficiently addressed. A flexible multi-box framework was used to simulate air quality at different canyon heights (3 m and 12 m). This approach incorporated essential parameters, including ventilation rates, background concentrations, photochemical schemes, and reaction coefficients. A field campaign within a deep canyon with an aspect ratio of 3.7, in Naples, Italy was conducted and used for the model evaluation. The model performance demonstrated good agreement, especially at the street level, when employing a realistic light intensity profile and incorporating volatile organic compound (VOC) chemistry. Our findings indicate that peroxyl radical production affects NO2 and O3 levels by up to 9.5% in deep canyons and underscore the significance of vertical distribution (approximately 5% variance) in health assessments and urban air quality strategy development. The model response was sensitive to changes in emissions as expected, but also, somewhat more surprisingly, to background conditions, emphasizing that policies to remove pollution hotspots must include local and broader citywide action. This work advances the understanding of air quality dynamics in deep urban canyons and presents a valuable tool for effective air quality management in intricate urban environments.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1385 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Atmosphere |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:A.M., J.Z., X.C., A.R.M. acknowledge the funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) WM-Air project (grant number NE/S003487/1).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
Keywords
- photochemistry
- NOx
- aspect ratio
- chemistry-transport
- VOCs
- air pollution
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
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Dive into the research topics of 'Modelling of Deep Street Canyon Air Pollution Chemistry and Transport: A Wintertime Naples Case Study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
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West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Programme
Sevinc, D., Pope, F., Bloss, W., Chapman, L., Thomas, N., Shi, Z., Bartington, S., Bryson, J., Jowett, S., Muller, C., MacKenzie, R., Harrison, R., Ferranti, E. & Cai, X.
Natural Environment Research Council
1/01/19 → 31/12/24
Project: Research Councils