Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.9
2.3
Journals
Atmosphere
Special Issues
Urban Air Quality, Heat Islands and Public Health
share announcement

Urban Air Quality, Heat Islands and Public Health

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Biometeorology and Bioclimatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 864

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Hélder Relvas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CESAM/Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: air quality modeling; atmospheric pollution; integrated assessment modeling tools; mitigation and planning; machine learning; air pollution health effects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fatemeh Mayvaneh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine of the University, University Clinic Muenster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Building D3, Directions: Domagkstraße 3, D-48149 Münster, Germany
Interests: air pollution and health; climate change and health; extreme weather and health; urban heat island and health; biometeorology; medical climatology
Dr. Daphne Parliari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: urban climate; air pollution; human biometeorology; health impacts; environmental physics; climate change; statistical modelling; epidemiology; mediterranean cities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban environments face increasing challenges related to deteriorating air quality, the intensification of urban heat islands and their combined impacts on public health. Rising temperatures, pollution episodes and extreme events are further amplified by climate change and rapid urbanization. Understanding the interactions between air pollution, local climate zones, microclimate variability and health outcomes is therefore essential for designing effective mitigation and adaptation strategies.

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive platform for recent advances, innovative methods and interdisciplinary perspectives addressing the nexus between urban air quality, thermal environments and population health. Contributions that explore mechanisms driving heat stress and pollution, assess exposure, vulnerability and discomfort hotspots and investigate health effects using approaches such as air pollution modelling, environmental epidemiology, remote sensing, citizen science, risk mapping and machine learning are welcome. The role of somatosensory temperature, climate comfort and urban resilience measures in reducing health risks is particularly encouraged.

By highlighting multidisciplinary research that integrates atmospheric sciences, urban climatology and health risk assessment, this Special Issue seeks to advance understanding of how urban planning and policy interventions can enhance sustainable, healthy and resilient cities. Authors are encouraged to contribute studies that generate evidence-based solutions, predictive models and practical tools supporting healthier urban environments under evolving climatic conditions. This platform will facilitate knowledge sharing among researchers, policymakers, urban planners and public health professionals to promote scientifically grounded strategies for addressing the intertwined challenges of urban air quality, heat islands and public health.

Dr. Hélder Relvas
Dr. Fatemeh Mayvaneh
Dr. Daphne Parliari
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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 air quality
  • local climate zones
  • urban heat islands
  • heat-related health risk
  • public health impacts
  • climate comfort
  • exposure assessment
  • somatosensory temperature
  • climate change
  • discomfort hotspots
  • urban resilience
  • interaction between air pollution and weather conditions
  • environmental epidemiology
  • mitigation and adaptation strategies
  • air pollution modelling
  • citizen science
  • remote sensing
  • risk maps
  • machine learning in urban health

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.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

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

Published Papers (1 paper)

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

Research

20 pages, 7292 KB  
Article
Data-Driven Spatial Mapping of Air Pollution Exposure and Mortality Burden in Lisbon Metropolitan Area
by Farzaneh Abedian Aval, Sina Ataee, Behrouz Nemati, Bárbara T. Silva, Diogo Lopes, Vânia Martins, Ana Isabel Miranda, Evangelia Diapouli and Hélder Relvas
Atmosphere 2026, 17(4), 408; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos17040408 - 17 Apr 2026
Viewed by 536
Abstract
Air pollution remains a critical environmental and public health threat, particularly in highly populated urban areas such as the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). This study provides a refined and detailed assessment of the spatial distribution of air pollution and associated attributable mortality across [...] Read more.
Air pollution remains a critical environmental and public health threat, particularly in highly populated urban areas such as the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). This study provides a refined and detailed assessment of the spatial distribution of air pollution and associated attributable mortality across the LMA. High-resolution (1 km2) annual mean concentrations of key pollutants (PM2.5, PM10 and NO2) for 2022 and 2023 were estimated by integrating outputs from the URBAIR dispersion model with ground-based monitoring observations using advanced geostatistical data-fusion techniques. Air pollutant concentrations were combined with gridded population data and age-stratified baseline mortality rates within a Geographic Information System framework to quantify spatial variations in health impacts. Using the World Health Organization AirQ+ framework and established concentration–response functions, we estimated a total of 3195 air-pollution-attributable deaths across the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA) in 2022, increasing to 4010 deaths in 2023. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was identified as the dominant contributor, accounting for more than 40% of the total health burden. At a high spatial resolution (1 km2 grid), estimated mortality exhibited substantial variability, ranging from 0 to 29 deaths per cell in 2022 and from 0 to 36 deaths per cell in 2023. These results highlight the importance of fine-scale spatial analysis, revealing intra-urban disparities that are not captured by aggregated estimates of total attributable mortality. The proposed methodological framework, integrating dispersion modelling, data fusion, and spatially explicit health impact assessment at fine spatial scales, provides a robust and transferable approach to support evidence-based air quality management and urban health policy development in European metropolitan contexts. This integrated approach enhances comparability, improves exposure assessment accuracy, and strengthens the scientific basis for designing targeted mitigation strategies that could prevent hundreds of premature deaths annually while addressing documented spatial inequalities in pollution exposure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Quality, Heat Islands and Public Health)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

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