Special Issue "Air Quality in Metropolitan Areas and Megacities"

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2023 | Viewed by 2014

Special Issue Editors

Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 715, São Paulo 05508-070, Brazil
Interests: aerosols; air pollution; air particulate matter; air quality; tropospheric ozone; VOCs; Health Assessment; elemental analysis
Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6.627, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil
Interests: air pollution; air particulate matter; air quality, air quality modeling, air pollution control and modeling applications
Center for Climate and Resilience Research, Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, University of Chile. Blanco Encalada 2002, 4to piso, Santiago, Chile
Interests: ozone trends; volatile organic compounds; air quality; urban resilience
Paul Scherrer Institute, Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, 5232 Villigen, PSI, Switzerland
Interests: aerosols; source apportionment; elemental analysis; PMF; PM; metals; air pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 45 26-86, Colombia
Interests: air pollution; PM; source apportionment; atmospheric emission

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Air pollution is the world’s single greatest environmental risk to health. Some 6.5 million people across the world die prematurely every year from exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution, and nine out of ten people breathe outdoor air polluted beyond acceptable WHO guidelines levels.

Megacities (metropolitan areas with populations over 10 million) present a major global environmental challenge. Rapid population growth, unsustainable urban development, and increased energy demand by transportation, industrial, commercial, and residential activities, have led to large amounts of emissions to the atmosphere that subject the residents to the health risks associated with harmful pollutants, and impose heavy economic and social costs.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present original research articles and reviews in assessing air pollution in metropolitan areas and megacities, including both experimental and monitoring studies and mathematical/numerical modeling studies. Topics to be covered include gases pollutants and urban aerosol observations, including particulate matter chemical characterization and human exposure assessment.

Dr. Thiago Nogueira
Dr. Taciana Toledo De Almeida Albuquerque
Dr. Rodrigo J. Seguel
Dr. Manousos Ioannis Manousakas
Dr. Néstor Y. Rojas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Article
Future Ozone Levels Responses to Changes in Meteorological Conditions under RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 Scenarios over São Paulo, Brazil
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 626; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040626 - 26 Mar 2023
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Abstract
Since the implementation of emission control policies in 1983, the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) has experienced a significant decrease in the annual mean concentration of air pollutants, except for ozone, which has remained relatively stable. This work analyzes the future impact [...] Read more.
Since the implementation of emission control policies in 1983, the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) has experienced a significant decrease in the annual mean concentration of air pollutants, except for ozone, which has remained relatively stable. This work analyzes the future impact on surface ozone formation in the MASP caused by changes in atmospheric conditions. The authors performed air quality simulations using the weather research and forecasting with chemistry (WRF-Chem) model under two representative concentration pathway (RCP) atmospheric conditions. A base case simulation from September and October 2018 was compared to scenarios for the same months in 2030, using the same anthropogenic emissions. Results show an average increase in peak ozone concentrations (0.43% for RCP 4.5 and 5.92% for RCP 8.5) with variations depending on the month and location. However, under the RCP 4.5 scenario, peak ozone concentrations in October were higher in urban areas than under the RCP 8.5. These outcomes can assist decision-makers in understanding the potential future impacts of high ozone formation, which has historically occurred in September and October in São Paulo by considering the effects of changing meteorological conditions, such as increased temperatures, higher surface radiation, and reduced cloudiness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Metropolitan Areas and Megacities)
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Article
Emission Source Areas of Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 579; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030579 - 17 Mar 2023
Viewed by 398
Abstract
This study aims to determine emission source areas of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City, Vietnam, using a conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF) and hybrid receptor models, including three-dimensional potential source contribution function (3D-PSCF) and concentration-weighted trajectory [...] Read more.
This study aims to determine emission source areas of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City, Vietnam, using a conditional bivariate probability function (CBPF) and hybrid receptor models, including three-dimensional potential source contribution function (3D-PSCF) and concentration-weighted trajectory (3D-CWT), considering latitudes, longitudes, and height of trajectory segments. Uncertainties of the CBPF and 3D-PSCF/3D-CWT were evaluated based on the 95th confidence intervals and 95% confidence levels, respectively. For the local scale, PM2.5 in HCM City was primarily emitted from shallow or common ground sources (e.g., vehicle emissions) throughout the year. Regarding non-local source areas, PM2.5 in HCM City is contributed by those originated from the East Sea (e.g., shipping emissions) and southeastern Vietnam (e.g., Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces) having several industrial zones with PM2.5 emission sources, especially in the dry season (December to April of the following year). In the rainy season (May–November), PM2.5 derived from emission sources in the Mekong Delta (e.g., biomass burning) might be transported to HCM City. However, contribution of the non-local sources to PM2.5 pollution in HCM City during the rainy season is less important because of PM2.5 deposition stemmed from the high rainfall amount in this season. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Metropolitan Areas and Megacities)
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Article
Exploring Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers of PM2.5 Concentrations Based on Random Forest Model: Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Urban Agglomeration, China
Atmosphere 2023, 14(2), 381; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14020381 - 15 Feb 2023
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Abstract
PM2.5 is the key reason for the frequent occurrence of smog; therefore, identifying its key driving factors has far-reaching significance for the prevention and control of air pollution. Based on long-term remote sensing inversion of PM2.5 data, 21 driving factors in [...] Read more.
PM2.5 is the key reason for the frequent occurrence of smog; therefore, identifying its key driving factors has far-reaching significance for the prevention and control of air pollution. Based on long-term remote sensing inversion of PM2.5 data, 21 driving factors in the fields of nature and humanities were selected, and the random forest model was applied to study the influencing factors of PM2.5 concentration in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration (BTH) from 2000 to 2016. The results indicate: (1) The main factors affecting PM2.5 concentration not only include natural factors such as sunshine hours (SSH), relative humidity (RHU), elevation (ELE), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), wind speed (WIN), average temperature (TEM), daily temperature range (TEMR), and precipitation (PRE), but also human factors such as urbanization rate (URB), total investment in fixed assets (INV), and the number of employees in the secondary industry (INDU); (2) The concentration of PM2.5 changed into an inverted S-shape with the increase in SSH and WIN, and into an S-shape with the increase in RHU, NDVI, TEM, PRS, URB and INV. As for ELE and TEMR, it fluctuated and decreased with the increase in ELE, while it increased and then decreased with the increase in TEMR. However, its change was less pronounced with the increase in PRE and INDU; (3) The influence of natural factors is higher than that of human factors, but the role of human factors has been continuously strengthened in recent years. The adjustment and control of PM2.5 pollution sources from the perspective of human factors will become an effective way to reduce PM2.5 concentrations in the BTH. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Quality in Metropolitan Areas and Megacities)
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