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Atmosphere
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Environmental Odour (2nd Edition)
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Environmental Odour (2nd Edition)

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 3208

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Günther Schauberger

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Guest Editor
WG Environmental Health, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1210 Vienna, Austria
Interests: annoyance assessment; odour emission; determination of odour exposure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Martin Piringer

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Guest Editor
Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik, Hohe Warte 38, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Interests: odour dispersion; environmental pollution; boundary-layer meteorology; urban meteorology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental odor is perceived as a major nuisance by both the rural and urban population. The sources of odorous substances are manifold. In urban areas, these include restaurants, small manufacturing trades, and other sources, which might cause complaints.

In the suburbs, wastewater treatment plants, landfill sites, and other infrastructures are the expected sources of major odor. These problems are often caused be the accelerated growth of cities. In rural sites, livestock farming and the spreading of manure on the fields is blamed for severe odor annoyance. In fact, environmental odors are considered to be a common cause of public complaints to local authorities, regional, or national environmental agencies. With a first edition successfully published in 2021, this second edition of the Special Issue series of Atmosphere will continue to address the entire chain, from the quantification of odor sources, abatement methods, dilution in the atmosphere, and the assessment of odor exposure for the an evaluation of annoyance. In particular, this series aims to encourage contributions that deal with field trials and dispersion modeling to assess the degree of annoyance and the quantitative success of abatement measures.

Prof. Dr. Günther Schauberger
Dr. Martin Piringer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 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.

Keywords

  • odor
  • emission
  • dilution
  • atmospheric dispersion
  • ambient odor concentration
  • annoyance
  • separation distance

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 6821 KiB  
Article
Dispersion Modeling of Odor Emissions from Area Sources in a Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant
by Cristian Constantin, Cristina Modrogan, Annette Madelene Dancila, Georgeta Olguta Gavrila, Simona Mariana Calinescu, Alexandru Cirstea, Valeriu Danciulescu, Gheorghita Tanase and Gabriela Geanina Vasile
Atmosphere 2025, 16(5), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16050577 - 12 May 2025
Viewed by 243
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) generate significant emissions of gaseous substances, such as H2S, NH3, and VOCs, which cause discomfort and pose health risks to residents in surrounding areas. The objective of this study was to estimate pollutant concentrations under [...] Read more.
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) generate significant emissions of gaseous substances, such as H2S, NH3, and VOCs, which cause discomfort and pose health risks to residents in surrounding areas. The objective of this study was to estimate pollutant concentrations under various scenarios through a mathematical modeling of the pollutant dispersion in the surrounding air using the AERMOD View software platform, version 11.2.0. In this study, four mathematical models with two different scenarios were conducted to illustrate the odor concentrations both on site and in nearby areas under the most unfavorable weather conditions. The “1st Highest Values” and “98th Percentile” metrics were used to represent the peak concentrations and to exclude the 2% of conditions with the worst-case dispersion, respectively. In the first scenario, under normal operating conditions with all treatment equipment functioning, the maximum on-site odor concentration was estimated at 36.8 ouE/m3 using the 1st highest value function, and it was 20.4 ouE/m3 using the 98th percentile function. The second scenario considered all emission sources, with the grease collection system of the de-sanding/grease separation Unit Line 1 and the sludge collection system of the primary settling decanter (Unit 4) out of service. In this case, the maximum on-site odor concentration reached 749 ouE/m3 over 98% of a one-year period and 956.5 ouE/m3 using the 1st highest value function. These findings underscore the necessity for ongoing monitoring, strict adherence to environmental regulations, and stakeholder engagement to improve mitigation techniques and foster community trust in environmental management. Regular inspections are essential to ensure that all equipment operates within normal parameters, supporting both regulatory compliance and improved operational efficiency, including the control of odor emissions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Odour (2nd Edition))
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25 pages, 5612 KiB  
Article
Innovative Approaches to Industrial Odour Monitoring: From Chemical Analysis to Predictive Models
by Claudia Franchina, Amedeo Manuel Cefalì, Martina Gianotti, Alessandro Frugis, Corrado Corradi, Giulio De Prosperis, Dario Ronzio, Luca Ferrero, Ezio Bolzacchini and Domenico Cipriano
Atmosphere 2024, 15(12), 1401; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15121401 - 21 Nov 2024
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Abstract
This study evaluated the reliability of an electronic nose in monitoring odour concentration near a wastewater treatment plant and examined the correlation between four sensor readings and odour intensity. The electronic nose chemical sensors are related to the concentration of the following chemical [...] Read more.
This study evaluated the reliability of an electronic nose in monitoring odour concentration near a wastewater treatment plant and examined the correlation between four sensor readings and odour intensity. The electronic nose chemical sensors are related to the concentration of the following chemical species: two values for the concentration of VOCs recorded via the PID sensor (VPID) and the EC sensor (VEC), and concentrations of sulfuric acid (VH2S) and benzene (VC6H6). Using Random Forest and least squares regression analysis, the study identifies VH2S and VC6H6 as key contributors to odour concentration (CcOD). Three Random Forest models (RF0, RF1, RF2), with different characteristics for splitting between the test set and the training set, were tested, with RF1 showing superior predictive performance due to its training approach. All models highlighted VH2S and VC6H6 as significant predictors, while VPID and VEC had less influence. A significant correlation between odour concentration and specific chemical sensor readings was found, particularly for VH2S and VC6H6. However, predicting odour concentrations below 1000 ouE/m3 proved challenging. Linear regression further confirmed the importance of VH2S and VC6H6, with a moderate R-squared value of 0.70, explaining 70% of the variability in odour concentration. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of combining Random Forest and least squares regression for robust and interpretable results. Future research should focus on expanding the dataset and incorporating additional variables to enhance model accuracy. The findings underscore the necessity of specific sensor training and standardised procedures for accurate odour monitoring and characterisation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Odour (2nd Edition))
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12 pages, 5739 KiB  
Article
Characteristics of Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions and Odor Impact in the Pharmaceutical Industry
by Hongchao Zhao, Ying Cheng, Yanling Liu, Xiuyan Wang, Yuyan Wang, Shuai Wang and Taosheng Jin
Atmosphere 2024, 15(11), 1338; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15111338 - 7 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1423
Abstract
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are not only essential precursors for the formation of ozone and PM2.5, but also hazardous to human health and responsible for unpleasant odors. The pharmaceutical industry has become an important industrial source of VOCs due to China’s [...] Read more.
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are not only essential precursors for the formation of ozone and PM2.5, but also hazardous to human health and responsible for unpleasant odors. The pharmaceutical industry has become an important industrial source of VOCs due to China’s large emissions and complex emission chains. In total, 245 VOCs samples were collected and analyzed from 11 typical pharmaceutical companies in Zibo City of the North China Plain, in order to investigate the VOCs emission characteristics and odor impacts. The emission factor for the pharmaceutical industry was 7.97 ± 8.21 g/kg pharmaceuticals, while the main emission links were chimney emissions, equipment sealing leakage, and so on. Finally, considering both purifying efficiency and economic benefits, the multistage absorption (AB) method is most effective for VOCs concentrations below 100 mg/m3, while UV photo-oxygenation combined with adsorption (UVA) is more suitable for concentrations below 300 mg/m3. The Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO), Catalytic Oxidizer (CO), and Condensation + Adsorption (CA) technologies demonstrated greater stability and efficiency, particularly in the treatment of complex organic pollutants, highlighting their advantages in both VOCs and odor removal at higher concentrations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Odour (2nd Edition))
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