Special Issue "Challenges in Modelling and Observing Urban Environments: Recent Trends, Current Progress and Future Directions"

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Techniques, Instruments, and Modeling".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (3 March 2023) | Viewed by 869

Special Issue Editors

Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: atmospheric modeling; air pollution modeling; meteorological modeling; air quality; urban areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: atmospheric boundary layer; air quality monitoring; remote sensing; climate change; urban climate; turbulence; atmospheric dynamics; ground-based atmospheric monitoring
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue “Challenges in modelling and observing urban environments: recent trends, current progress and future directions”, to be published in MDPI Open Access Journal Atmosphere.

The percentage of the global population living in cities is progressively increasing. The study of urban environments and related living conditions is thus crucial for the well-being of more and more citizens. In recent decades, the international scientific community has paid considerable attention to the livability of cities, also identifying the routes to follow for their sustainable development. Usually, urban issues can be addressed both with the observational method, i.e., through measurements obtained from remote sensing tools and with the modeling method, i.e., by analyzing the outputs of numerical simulations, the synergy between the two methods represents the optimal solution.

The motivation of this Special Issue hosted by the journal Atmosphere is to enhance the recent outcomes in the characterization of urban environments based on different methodologies (i.e., both observational and numerical) and from different points of view. The Guest Editors encourage the submission of relevant contributions including, but not limited to, the following topics: air quality, thermo-hygrometric well-being, energy consumption, thermal stress mitigation techniques, effects of climate change, ground- and satellite-based techniques for environmental monitoring, the interaction between circulation systems at different spatial and temporal scales. Submissions concerning multidisciplinary approaches and future challenges are also welcome.

Dr. Serena Falasca
Dr. Annalisa Di Bernardino
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 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.

Keywords

  • urban climate and sustainability
  • climate change
  • environmental monitoring
  • numerical modeling and monitoring techniques
  • remote sensing
  • ground-based and satellite observations
  • outdoor thermal comfort
  • air quality
  • adaptation and mitigation techniques
  • nature-based solutions

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
Simultaneous Quantification of Real-World Elemental Contributions from the Exhaust and Non-Exhaust Vehicular Emissions Using Road Dust Enrichment Factor-Elemental Carbon Tracer Method (EFECT)
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 631; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040631 - 27 Mar 2023
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Abstract
Emission control regulations have been essential in reducing vehicular exhaust emissions. However, the contribution of exhaust and non-exhaust emissions to ambient particulate matter (PM) has not yet been accurately quantified due to the lack of standardized sampling and measurement methods to set regulations. [...] Read more.
Emission control regulations have been essential in reducing vehicular exhaust emissions. However, the contribution of exhaust and non-exhaust emissions to ambient particulate matter (PM) has not yet been accurately quantified due to the lack of standardized sampling and measurement methods to set regulations. The identified sources and the source profiles generated have not been comparable as none of the emission data collection techniques and the receptor models applied in the literature have produced a standard or reference method to simultaneously identify and quantify the non-exhaust emission sources. This study utilized and thoroughly characterized PM samples including 32 major and trace elements from a mixed fleet in a mountain highway tunnel atmosphere in Bolu, Türkiye. This work proposed a two-stage, simple, and robust method based on road dust enrichment factor (EF) and elemental carbon (EC) tracer methods (EFECT) for the identification and prediction of the exhaust (exh), and non-exhaust (n-exh) emissions in PM. The indicated method revealed that road dust resuspension emissions are the most significant contributor to the concentrations of crustal elements. This method was used successfully to determine the real-world elemental contributions of road dust resuspension (rdrs), emissions (em), exhaust (exh), and non-exhaust (n-exh) emission sources to the elemental concentrations in PM samples. This study provided significant insights into generating actual source profiles, source-specific emission factors, and the source apportionment results for vehicular emission sources worldwide. Considering this, PM data of any particle size fraction (PM10, PM10-2.5, and PM2.5, for example) can be used as input for the EFECT, provided that the data include the analytical results of elemental carbon in both the atmospheric PM and road dust samples having similar PM sizes. Full article
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Article
Temporal Variation of NO2 and O3 in Rome (Italy) from Pandora and In Situ Measurements
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030594 - 21 Mar 2023
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Abstract
To assess the best measures for the improvement of air quality, it is crucial to investigate in situ and columnar pollution levels. In this study, ground-based measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) collected in Rome (Italy) between [...] Read more.
To assess the best measures for the improvement of air quality, it is crucial to investigate in situ and columnar pollution levels. In this study, ground-based measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) collected in Rome (Italy) between 2017 and 2022 are analyzed. Pandora sun-spectrometers provided the time series of the NO2 vertical column density (VC-NO2), tropospheric column density (TC-NO2), near-surface concentration (SC-NO2), and the O3 vertical column density (VC-O3). In situ concentrations of NO2 and O3 are provided by an urban background air quality station. The results show a clear reduction of NO2 over the years, thanks to the recent ecological transition policies, with marked seasonal variability, observable both by columnar and in situ data. Otherwise, O3 does not show inter-annual variations, although a clear seasonal cycle is detectable. The results suggest that the variation of in situ O3 is mainly imputable to photochemical reactions while, in the VC-O3, it is triggered by the predominant contribution of stratospheric O3. The outcomes highlight the importance of co-located in situ and columnar measurements in urban environments to investigate physical and chemical processes driving air pollution and to design tailored climate change adaptation strategies. Full article
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