Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.6
2.5
Journals
Atmosphere
Special Issues
Novel Developments in Mobile Monitoring of Air Pollution
share announcement

Novel Developments in Mobile Monitoring of Air Pollution

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 (25 February 2022) | Viewed by 9772

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jianbang Xiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China
Interests: air pollution; environmental health; low-cost sensors; healthy buildings
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tianjun Lu

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Earth Science and Geography, California State University Dominguez Hills, CA 90747, USA
Interests: environment and transportation; urban form; community health; data analytics
Dr. Yisi Liu

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Division of Environmental Health, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, CA 90007, USA
Interests: personal air pollution exposusre; built environment; mHealth; environmental epidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Numerous studies have shown the adverse associations between air pollution and human morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing worlds. Based on Global Burden of Disease studies, approximately 5 million people have died from air pollution exposure globally per year since 1990. Critical air pollutants such as PM2.5, ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) are often monitored from fixed air quality monitoring stations in urban areas. However, measurements from these fixed stations may not capture air quality beyond a certain geographic reach, especially for scenarios with local sources present and pollutants with larger deposition rates (e.g., ultrafine particles). In recent years, mobile measurements of air pollutants through portable monitoring equipment in multiple private/public mobile platforms (e.g., drones, buses, cars, pedestrians) have been used to generate high-resolution urban air pollution maps. Such information can help to identify natural and anthropogenic air pollution sources and estimate personal exposure more precisely.

Call for papers

In recognition of this emerging monitoring approach, the open-access journal Atmosphere hosts a Special Issue to showcase the most recent developments in mobile monitoring of air pollution. Both articles and reviews are welcome. Topics of interest for the Special Issue include but are not limited to:

  • Novel mobile monitoring platform development (e.g., Google Street View-based platforms, drone-based platform);
  • Instruments for mobile platforms (e.g., low-cost sensor, smartphone-based measurements);
  • Source identification via mobile monitoring platforms (e.g., aircraft emissions, traffic-related emissions);
  • Quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) in large-scale mobile monitoring (e.g., quantitative calibration);
  • Statistical analysis techniques of mobile-monitoring datasets (e.g., primary component analysis, machine learning algorithm);
  • Personal exposure assessment with mobile-platform-based datasets versus fixed-site-based datasets.

Dr. Jianbang Xiang
Dr. Tianjun Lu
Dr. Yisi Liu
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

  • air pollution
  • air quality
  • fine particle (PM2.5)
  • ultrafine particle (UFP)
  • black carbon (BC)
  • nitrogen oxides (NOx)
  • mobile monitoring
  • mobile measurements
  • spatial variation
  • on-road

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 184758 KiB  
Article
Concept of Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for 3D Investigation of Air Quality in the Atmosphere—Example of Measurements Near a Roadside
by Abdul Samad, Diego Alvarez Florez, Ioannis Chourdakis and Ulrich Vogt
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 663; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050663 - 21 Apr 2022
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4246
Abstract
A substantial amount of air pollution is emitted from urban sources. Hence, investigating air pollutant dispersion from urban sources is of great importance. The mechanisms influencing air pollutant dispersion also need to be studied thoroughly. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based systems offer great potential [...] Read more.
A substantial amount of air pollution is emitted from urban sources. Hence, investigating air pollutant dispersion from urban sources is of great importance. The mechanisms influencing air pollutant dispersion also need to be studied thoroughly. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based systems offer great potential for mobile exploration of air pollutants in the lower atmosphere due to the high maneuverability of multi-rotor UAVs. The aim of this study was to develop an effective UAV system that can perform high-resolution three-dimensional profiling of pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM), ultrafine particles (UFP), black carbon (BC), as well as meteorological parameters, including air temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed, and wind direction. Different experiments were performed to finalize the positioning of the instruments on the UAV platform so as not to destabilize the drone during flight, even when the wind speed is high and during turbulent flight conditions. Another very crucial question is where to place the air inlet of the measurement devices. In addition, field tests were conducted to evaluate the stability of the UAV platform and the in-flight performance of the sensors. This UAV platform was deployed to perform vertical profiles at the University campus in Stuttgart-Vaihingen and in an area near the campus, close to the federal highway B14. The measurement campaign was performed on three days in February 2021, with a maximum flight height of 120 m above ground. The vertical profiles showed that concentrations were higher on the ground due to the proximity to the source and that high wind speeds assisted pollutant dispersion. The horizontal profiles showed that the pollutant concentrations were higher at the roadside and decreased with increasing distance from the road. In conclusion, this UAV platform represented a low-cost, practical, and reliable method for studying the three-dimensional distribution of pollutants near the source. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Developments in Mobile Monitoring of Air Pollution)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 4736 KiB  
Article
Community-Engaged Use of Low-Cost Sensors to Assess the Spatial Distribution of PM2.5 Concentrations across Disadvantaged Communities: Results from a Pilot Study in Santa Ana, CA
by Shahir Masri, Kathryn Cox, Leonel Flores, Jose Rea and Jun Wu
Atmosphere 2022, 13(2), 304; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13020304 - 11 Feb 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4527
Abstract
PM2.5 is an air pollutant that is widely associated with adverse health effects, and which tends to be disproportionately located near low-income communities and communities of color. We applied a community-engaged research approach to assess the distribution of PM2.5 concentrations in [...] Read more.
PM2.5 is an air pollutant that is widely associated with adverse health effects, and which tends to be disproportionately located near low-income communities and communities of color. We applied a community-engaged research approach to assess the distribution of PM2.5 concentrations in the context of community concerns and urban features within and around the city of Santa Ana, CA. Approximately 183 h of one-minute average PM2.5 measurements, along with high-resolution geographic coordinate measurements, were collected by volunteer community participants using roughly two dozen low-cost AtmoTube Pro air pollution sensors paired with real-time GPS tracking devices. PM2.5 varied by region, time of day, and month. In general, concentrations were higher near the city’s industrial corridor, which is an area of concern to local community members. While the freeway systems were shown to correlate with some degree of elevated air pollution, two of four sampling days demonstrated little to no visible association with freeway traffic. Concentrations tended to be higher within socioeconomically disadvantaged communities compared to other areas. This pilot study demonstrates the utility of using low-cost air pollution sensors for the application of community-engaged study designs that leverage community knowledge, enable high-density air monitoring, and facilitate greater health-related awareness, education, and empowerment among communities. The mobile air-monitoring approach used in this study, and its application to characterize the ambient air quality within a defined geographic region, is in contrast to other community-engaged studies, which employ fixed-site monitoring and/or focus on personal exposure. The findings from this study underscore the existence of environmental health inequities that persist in urban areas today, which can help to inform policy decisions related to health equity, future urban planning, and community access to resources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Novel Developments in Mobile Monitoring of Air Pollution)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop