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Challenges in Modelling and Observing Urban Environments: Recent Trends, Current Progress and Future Directions (2nd Edition)

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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 (22 March 2024) | Viewed by 2338

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Serena Falasca

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Guest Editor

Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: atmospheric modeling; urban modeling; atmospheric boundary layer; urban areas; air quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Annalisa Di Bernardino

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Guest Editor

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,

This Special Issue is a follow-up of a previous Special Issue entitled "Challenges in modelling and observing urban environments: recent trends, current progress and future directions" (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/special_issues/MR5S18JJDP) published in Atmosphere in 2023.

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 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 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

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 (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3551 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improvement in the Adaptation and Resilience of the Green Areas of Yerevan City to Climate–Ecological Challenges

by Zhirayr Vardanyan, Gayane Nersisyan, Arkadiusz Przybysz, Marine Elbakidze, Hovik Sayadyan, Manik Grigoryan, Sergey Ktrakyan, Gorik Avetisyan and Nelli Muradyan

Atmosphere 2024, 15(4), 473; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15040473 - 11 Apr 2024

Viewed by 531

Abstract

The services provided by green infrastructures may lead to a decrease in climate-related ecological, social, and health risks, especially in the urban environment. Consequently, the best guarantee to make this environment as safe as possible is to increase the extent of green areas, taking into consideration the functional importance, and climatic–ecological peculiarities of the area. These are also issues for the Republic of Armenia’s (RA) capital Yerevan. There the current conditions of the green areas of Yerevan city do not meet the expected requirements of the climatic–ecological development of urban areas. The green area per capita is 8 m², which is unevenly distributed within 12 different administrative districts of Yerevan city. The aim of this research was to study the natural climatic and ecological conditions of Yerevan city and the status of the green areas of the city. The eco-biological indicators of the trees and shrubs growing in Yerevan green areas have been assessed, and the more resilient plant species have been singled out. All 12 administrative districts of Yerevan have been mapped and the green area per capita for each administrative district has been calculated. The received data have been combined with health indicators and suggestions have been made to add green areas in Yerevan according to the functional significance and sustainability of shrubby species and to their decorative and phyto-filtration properties. The city has unfavorable climatic conditions. It is located in the northern section of the subtropical climatic zone and has a distinct dry continental climate. Temperatures above +40 °C are typical, while winter is rather cold and sometimes temperatures may drop below −20 °C (in January 2008, it dropped to −27.6 °C). The amount of atmospheric precipitation has reduced by 9%. The city is counted as one of the driest urban areas of the South Caucasus. The other unfavorable ecological conditions are heavy traffic, the city’s open landfill, the concentration of industrial enterprises, large-scale construction works, etc. The atmospheric concentrations of particulate matter (PM), gases and heavy metals have been detected to exceed the permitted limits. In terms of health care, the death cases due to various diseases (acute respiratory, vascular, and cancer) have increased, which requires complex activities to reduce environmental pollution and to improve the microclimate. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Modelling and Observing Urban Environments: Recent Trends, Current Progress and Future Directions (2nd Edition))

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20 pages, 11607 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improvement of Stable Atmospheric Boundary Simulation with High-Spatiotemporal-Resolution Nudging over the North China Plain

by Tingting Xu, Zhuohao Peng, Yan Wang, Chaoyue Wan, Shenlan Liu, Shuqiao Jiang, Xiaolu Tang and Xilin Zhao

Atmosphere 2024, 15(3), 277; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15030277 - 25 Feb 2024

Viewed by 697

Abstract

The WRF model often struggles to accurately replicate specific characteristics of the atmospheric boundary layer, particularly under highly stable conditions. In this study, we reconstructed an OBS-nudging module using meteorological data with high spatiotemporal resolution, then coupled it in the WRF model (WRF-OBS) to improve stable boundary layer (SBL) simulation over the North China Plain (NCP). The results showed that WRF-OBS improved the simulation of SBL characteristics and reduced the deviation from observations significantly. The correlations (R²) between WRF-OBS simulations and observations of 2 m temperature, relative humidity, and 10 m wind speed at 460 stations across the NCP were 0.72, 0.56, and 0.75, respectively, which were much higher than the values for results from the unassimilated WRF model (WRF-BS). The simulated vertical profiles of temperature, relative humidity, and wind were generally consistent with observations at Pingyuan station. The meteorological factors which caused heavy air pollution was also investigated based on WRF-OBS simulation. The SBL characteristics obtained from WRF-OBS showed that light wind persisted over the NCP region during the period of heavy pollution, and Pingyuan was affected by warm and humid air. Vertically, the persistent temperature inversion at Pingyuan station was one of the main drivers of the heavy pollution. The WRF-OBS simulation captured the characteristics of the two temperature inversion layers very well. The two inversion layers covered the NCP, with a horizontal scale of approximately 200 km, and created very stable conditions, preventing the vertical diffusion of pollutants and maintaining high PM_2.5 concentrations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Modelling and Observing Urban Environments: Recent Trends, Current Progress and Future Directions (2nd Edition))

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18 pages, 8733 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Turbulence and Pollutant Statistics around a High-Rise Building with and without Overhangs

by Guoyi Jiang, Ming Wu and Tingting Hu

Atmosphere 2023, 14(12), 1771; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14121771 - 30 Nov 2023

Viewed by 692

Abstract

Wind flow around an isolated building is highly turbulent. Facade appurtenances can further increase the complexity of the flow, which strongly affects the gas dispersion around the building. This study investigated the turbulence and pollutant statistics around a high-rise building with large-eddy simulations and determined the influence of overhangs on the local wind flow and dispersion. Large-scale periodic vortex motion was detected. The results indicated that both the oncoming flow and the flow around the building followed a standard Gaussian distribution, whereas the occurrence frequencies of pollutant concentrations were far from Gaussian for pollutants discharged from both the rooftop and the ground behind the building. Near the pollutant sources, the positive concentration fluctuations occurred more frequently; occasionally, positive and negative fluctuations occurred equally. For the majority of areas far from the source, negative fluctuations were more common, but the maximum positive fluctuations were much larger. Overhangs changed the local flow structures near the building facade. Both the maximum concentration fluctuation and the maximum occurrence frequency decreased in the region between overhangs because turbulence was restricted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Modelling and Observing Urban Environments: Recent Trends, Current Progress and Future Directions (2nd Edition))

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