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Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Urban Climate Resilience

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Air, Climate Change and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 962

Special Issue Editors

School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
Interests: multi-scale urban climate modelling; pollutant dispersion in built environment; urban climate mitigation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China
Interests: urban climate modeling and mapping; urban radiative exchange; urban surface parameterization
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; secondary aerosols; aerosol physicochemical characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
Interests: green ecological building; building environment aerodynamics; pollutant transmission
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

(1) Introduction, including scientific background and highlighting the importance of this research area.

With the rapid development of urbanization and climate change, studies of urban environment sustainable development have become a topic of great concern in the fields of urban planning, energy management and architectural design. These mainly include two fields: air pollution control and sustainable urban climate resilience. Air quality in the urban environment is directly linked to human health because of daily exposure to pollutants/aerosol particles, outdoor activities and the penetration of outdoor pollutants into interior spaces through openings. Exposure to pollutants can directly lead to critical diseases, such as respiratory illness, lung disease, and cerebrovascular disease, with some being linked to birth defects. On the other hand, the urban heat island effect and extreme heat events can lead to health problems such as heat stroke, dehydration, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory problems. Measures that can mitigate the influence of extreme hot weather on human health have been widely explored, including blue and green bodies in urban areas, water mist spray, etc. Thereby, control or mitigation measures on improving air quality and alleviating the urban heat island effect in built areas are of great importance in designing a sustainable urban environment.

(2) Aim of the Special Issue and how the subject relates to the journal scope.

This Special Issue aims to provide a scientific and quantitative evaluation of practical air pollution control and urban heat mitigation measures while promoting measures for sustainable urban climate resilience.

(3) Suggest themes.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Air pollution formation;

Air pollution dispersion mechanism;

Air pollution chemical reaction;

Air pollution improvement measures;

Urban climate mitigation measures;

Sustainable urban development strategies;

High-resolution studies on urban climate;

Urban climate multi-scale modelling.   

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Dr. Yaxing Du
Dr. Shuojun Mei
Dr. Shiguo Jia
Dr. Dongjin Cui
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 quality
  • pollution dispersion
  • pollution control
  • urban climate resilience
  • sustainable development
  • mitigation measures
  • built environment

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 7167 KiB  
Article
Drone-Based 3D Thermal Mapping of Urban Buildings for Climate-Responsive Planning
by Haowen Yan, Bo Zhao, Yaxing Du and Jiajia Hua
Sustainability 2025, 17(12), 5600; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17125600 - 18 Jun 2025
Viewed by 376
Abstract
Urban thermal environment is directly linked to the health and comfort of local residents, as well as energy consumption. Drone-based thermal infrared image acquirement provides an efficient and flexible way of assessing urban heat distribution, thereby supporting climate-resilient and sustainable urban development. Here, [...] Read more.
Urban thermal environment is directly linked to the health and comfort of local residents, as well as energy consumption. Drone-based thermal infrared image acquirement provides an efficient and flexible way of assessing urban heat distribution, thereby supporting climate-resilient and sustainable urban development. Here, we present an advanced approach that utilizes the thermal infrared camera mounted on the drone for high-resolution building wall temperature measurement and achieves centimeter accuracy. According to the binocular vision theory, the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of thermal infrared images is first conducted, and then the two-dimensional building wall temperature is extracted. Real-world validation shows that our approach can measure the wall temperature within a 5 °C error, which confirms the reliability of this approach. The field measurement of Yuquanting in Xiong’an New Area China during three time periods, i.e., morning (7:00–8:00), noon (13:00–14:00) and evening (18:00–19:00), was used as a case study to demonstrate our approach. The results show that during the heating season, the building wall temperature was the highest at noon time and the lowest in evening time, which were mostly caused by solar radiation. The highest wall temperature at noon time was 55 °C, which was under direct sun radiation. The maximum wall temperature differences were 39 °C, 55 °C, and 20 °C during morning, noon and evening time, respectively. The lighter wall coating color tended to have a lower temperature than the darker wall coating color. Beyond this application, this approach has potential in future autonomous thermal environment measuring systems as a foundational element. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Urban Climate Resilience)
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17 pages, 6087 KiB  
Article
Application of Modern Low-Cost Sensors for Monitoring of Particle Matter in Temperate Latitudes: An Example from the Southern Baikal Region
by Maxim Yu. Shikhovtsev, Mikhail M. Makarov, Ilya A. Aslamov, Ivan N. Tyurnev and Yelena V. Molozhnikova
Sustainability 2025, 17(8), 3585; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17083585 - 16 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 416
Abstract
The aim of this study was to expand the monitoring network and evaluate the accuracy of inexpensive WoMaster ES-104 sensors for monitoring particulate matter (PM) in temperate latitudes, using the example of the Southern Baikal region. The research methods included continuous measurements of [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to expand the monitoring network and evaluate the accuracy of inexpensive WoMaster ES-104 sensors for monitoring particulate matter (PM) in temperate latitudes, using the example of the Southern Baikal region. The research methods included continuous measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, temperature, and humidity at three stations (Listvyanka, Patrony, and Tankhoy) from October 2023 to October 2024, using the LCS WoMaster ES-104. ERA5-Land reanalysis data and the HYSPLIT model were used to analyze meteorological conditions and air mass trajectories. The results of this study showed a high correlation between the WoMaster ES-104 and the DustTrak 8533; the correlation coefficient was 0.94 (R2 = 0.85) for both fractions. The seasonal dynamics of PM2.5 and PM10 were characterized by a dual-mode distribution with maxima in summer (secondary aerosols, high humidity) and winter (anthropogenic emissions, inversions). The diurnal cycles showed morning/evening peaks associated with transport activity and atmospheric stratification. Extreme concentrations were recorded in anticyclonal weather (weak north-westerly winds, stable atmosphere). This study confirms the suitability of the LCS WoMaster ES-104 for real-time monitoring of PM2.5 and PM10, which contributes to sustainable development by increasing the availability of air quality data for ecologically significant regions such as Lake Baikal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Air Pollution Control and Sustainable Urban Climate Resilience)
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