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Urban Science
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Urban Climate Change Management and Society
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Urban Climate Change Management and Society

A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 32173

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Umesh Chandra Dumka

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Guest Editor
Atmospheric Science Division, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital 263001, India
Interests: atmospheric aerosol observation; black carbon; radiative and climate impact; in situ and remote sensing aerosols; radiation; aerosol–cloud interactions; carbonaceous aerosols; source apportionment; secondary aerosol formations; air pollution; specific phenomena like dust storms and biomass burning; solar energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Balram Ambade

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Guest Editor
Chemistry, National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, India
Interests: analytical chemistry; environmental chemistry; atmospheric chemistry; source apportionment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Mohd Talib Latif

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Earth Science and Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
Interests: composition of atmospheric aerosols; atmospheric surfactants; source apportionment of atmospheric pollutants; surface ozone and volatile organic carbon; volatile organic carbons from sea-surface microlayer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban climate change and the management of air quality are subjects of major concern as they have a great impact on Earth’s radiation budget, human health, environmental degradation, as well as regional/global climate change. Rapid development and urbanization in recent decades, as well as greatly increased energy demand/consumption have brought a variety of urban air pollution problems. In general, the urban environment produces ~70% of carbon emissions and airborne pollutants that have adversely affected human health and urban climate change. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to develop accurate air quality modeling systems on the urban scale with high horizontal and vertical resolution, and to identify the most important emission sources which significantly contribute to very high pollution concentrations. The role of meteorology in air quality is also an important issue in urban environmental management.

Dr. Umesh Chandra Dumka
Dr. Balram Ambade
Dr. Mohd Latif
Guest Editors

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 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 pollution and air quality observations
  • urban air pollution modelling
  • urban climate change
  • health risks of urban pollution
  • source apportionment of atmospheric pollutants
  • urban climate change and society
  • urban environmental monitoring
  • aerosol remote sensing

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 836 KiB  
Article
Identification of Critical Locations for Improvement of Air Quality Developing a Prioritized Clean Air Assessment Tool (PCAT)
by Kanishtha Dubey, Shubha Verma, Sauvik Santra and Mukul Kumar
Urban Sci. 2023, 7(3), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7030075 - 14 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1915
Abstract
Fourteen Indian cities, including urban and rural locations, were chosen for the present study across India, with unhealthy air quality based on National Air Quality Index (NAQI > 100). However, it was found that NAQI values over the locations are driven by the [...] Read more.
Fourteen Indian cities, including urban and rural locations, were chosen for the present study across India, with unhealthy air quality based on National Air Quality Index (NAQI > 100). However, it was found that NAQI values over the locations are driven by the undifferentiated mass concentration of particulate matter (PM, both PM10 and PM2.5) than other criteria pollutants. The PM2.5 and PM10 concentration during the winter violated the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of India by two to five times at six urban locations, with the mean daily PM2.5 concentration averaged over the month; the the largest being at Patna (353 µg m−3) during the winter and lowest at Bengaluru (27 µg m−3) during the summer. The analysis of chemical species, in general, indicated NO2 (SO2, CO) as having a 25% to 70% (16% to 50%, 16% to 85%) increase in concentration from the summer to winter, which is adequately reflected in higher fuzzy scores during the winter. Thus, to provide a realistic approach to air quality management, the present study focuses on identifying priority-based locations requiring immediate mitigation measures by developing a Prioritized Clean Air Assessment Tool (PCAT). The tool utilizes a fuzzy-based algorithm to incorporate the cumulative effect of all six criteria pollutants, taking into consideration the severity of their expected health implications. Using PCAT, Delhi and Varanasi cities are identified for prioritized mitigation considering the NAAQS of India, unlike all cities (except Bengaluru) during the winter and nine out of fourteen cities during the summer, considering the NAQI. Using more stringent WHO guideline values in PCAT, six cities out of fourteen were identified requiring immediate mitigation during the winter and summer months; locations such as Solapur and Patna are identified to need season-specific mitigation measures during the summer and winter, respectively. The tool is simplistic, user-friendly, and quickly evaluates multiple locations simultaneously to provide priority sites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Climate Change Management and Society)
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25 pages, 6167 KiB  
Article
Relation between PM2.5 and O3 over Different Urban Environmental Regimes in India
by Rahul Kant Yadav, Harish Gadhavi, Akanksha Arora, Krishna Kumar Mohbey, Sunil Kumar, Shyam Lal and Chinmay Mallik
Urban Sci. 2023, 7(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7010009 - 17 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4404
Abstract
Atmospheric ozone (O3) concentration is impacted by a number of factors, such as the amount of solar radiation, the composition of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons, the transport of pollutants and the amount of particulate matter in the atmosphere. The oxidative [...] Read more.
Atmospheric ozone (O3) concentration is impacted by a number of factors, such as the amount of solar radiation, the composition of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrocarbons, the transport of pollutants and the amount of particulate matter in the atmosphere. The oxidative potential of the atmosphere and the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) as a result of atmospheric oxidation are influenced by the prevalent O3 concentration. The formation of secondary aerosols from O3 depends on several meteorological, environmental and chemical factors. The relationship between PM2.5 and O3 in different urban environmental regimes of India is investigated in this study during the summer and winter seasons. A relationship between PM2.5 and O3 has been established for many meteorological and chemical variables, such as RH, WS, T and NOx, for the selected study locations. During the winter season, the correlation between PM2.5 and O3 was found to be negative for Delhi and Bengaluru, whereas it was positive in Ahmedabad. The city of Bengaluru was seen to have a positive correlation between PM2.5 and O3 during summer, coinciding with the transport of marine air masses with high RH and low wind speed (as evident from FLEXPART simulations), leading to the formation of SOAs. Further, O3 concentrations are predicted using a Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) model based on the relation obtained between PM2.5 and O3 for the summer season using NOx, T, RH, WS and PM2.5 as inputs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Climate Change Management and Society)
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13 pages, 1846 KiB  
Article
Emissions of Greenhouse Gases from Municipal Solid Waste Management System in Ho Chi Minh City of Viet Nam
by Ram Lal Verma and Guilberto Borongan
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(4), 78; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6040078 - 7 Nov 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 14024
Abstract
Accurate estimation of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is required for making effective climate change mitigation policies at the national level. Among major sources, municipal solid waste (MSW) is an important source of GHGs, such as methane (CH4), generated during the [...] Read more.
Accurate estimation of emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is required for making effective climate change mitigation policies at the national level. Among major sources, municipal solid waste (MSW) is an important source of GHGs, such as methane (CH4), generated during the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. In Viet Nam, the emissions of GHGs are not well quantified, in particular from the MSW management system. In this study, we estimated emissions of GHGs from the MSW management system of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), considering the current waste management practices. In HCMC, landfilling has been a common practice of solid waste management. About 85 percent of the total MSW generated in the city has been landfilled at two landfill sites. Our estimates show that landfilling was the significant source of GHGs in HCMC, with a net contribution of 781.05 kg CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq.) per tonne of MSW landfilled. From the whole MSW management system, the direct GHG emission was 768.61 (kg CO2-eq. per tonne of MSW) with avoided emissions of 72.47 (kg CO2-eq. per tonne of MSW) through composting and recycling of MSW. The net GHG emission from the MSW management system was 696.14 kg CO2-eq. per tonne of MSW (≈1.665 million tonnes of CO2-eq. per year). The GHG emission data of this study may be useful to policymakers for making effective climate change mitigation policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Climate Change Management and Society)
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19 pages, 5437 KiB  
Article
Relationship between Lightning and Aerosol Optical Depth over the Uttarakhand Region in India: Thermodynamic Perspective
by Alok Sagar Gautam, Abhishek Joshi, Sagarika Chandra, Umesh Chandra Dumka, Devendraa Siingh and Ram Pal Singh
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(4), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6040070 - 9 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2518
Abstract
The current study is mainly focused on the monthly variation in the lightning flash rate (LFR) and related thermodynamic parameters using the data for the years 2000–2013, and the trend of lightning variation is explored. Lightning data are used from a lightning imaging [...] Read more.
The current study is mainly focused on the monthly variation in the lightning flash rate (LFR) and related thermodynamic parameters using the data for the years 2000–2013, and the trend of lightning variation is explored. Lightning data are used from a lightning imaging sensor (LIS) and an optical transient detector (OTP) boarded on the tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM). Additionally, aerosol optical depth (AOD) data at 550 nm for the same period were considered from a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The assessment of lightning and AOD using monthly data makes it difficult to study seasonal contributions, and higher-resolution (hourly) data may be more appropriate, but unfortunately, no data were available with a higher resolution than monthly. The dependency of LFR is also investigated using thermodynamic/dynamic parameters. The LFR shows a moderate correlation with a correlation coefficient of 0.56, 0.62, and 0.63 for AOD, CAPE, and vertical velocity, respectively. The increasing AOD in the pre-monsoon season is associated with higher lightning flash rates over this region. The possible sources of aerosols that cause an increase in lightning activities are identified from the classification of aerosols based on the characteristic values of the AOD and the Ångström exponent. The thermodynamic relation of the Product of Bowen ratio with the sum of the precipitation rate and evaporation rate has been used as a proxy to evaluate the lightning flash rate density over Srinagar, Uttarakhand region (78.55° E–79.05° E, 29.97° N–30.47° N), with nine models from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project-Phase 5 (CMIP5). The model-simulated LFR has also been used for the projection of lightning in the late 21st century, and the projected LFR over the study area shows a 7.41% increase during the (2079–2088) period as compared to the historic period (1996–2005). The results of the study region indicate caution in using any single climate variable as a proxy for projecting a change in the lightning–climate relationships in the scenario of global warming. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Climate Change Management and Society)
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23 pages, 1604 KiB  
Article
Effectiveness of Urban Climate Change Governance in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia
by Tigezaw Lamesgin Addis, Belay Simane Birhanu and Tesfaye Zeleke Italemahu
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(3), 64; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6030064 - 16 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3293
Abstract
Addis Ababa is one of the eleven cities in Africa that have been taking bold action in meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement. At the present time, the city is working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enabling the city to be [...] Read more.
Addis Ababa is one of the eleven cities in Africa that have been taking bold action in meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement. At the present time, the city is working toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enabling the city to be resilient to the impacts of climate change. To make the city carbon neutral and resilient to climate change, the coordination of different sectors and actors is crucial. To this end, the planning and implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures needs effective climate change governance. Thus, this study was intended to explore the effectiveness of climate change governance in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia. The study followed both quantitative and qualitative research approaches and relied on both primary and secondary data sources. A survey of 232 respondents, who were environment experts at different levels, was conducted using questionnaires. In addition, interviews and observations were conducted to gather relevant data. Secondary data were collected from different sources. The quantitative data were analysed using relative importance index (RII) analysis. The study found that existing environmental policies, strategies, regulations, proclamations, laws, and implementations in the city were facing major challenges in terms of weak accountability, the poor enforcement of regulation, and the failure to involve key actors, especially NGOs, communities, and private sectors; these failures were characterized by weak institutional setup and a lack of formal systems allowing actors (private sectors, communities, and NGOs) to interact to respond to climate change. Hence, climate change governance was ineffective in terms of accountability, participation, law enforcement, equity, institutions, the role of actors, and partnership. Thus, the Addis Ababa City Environmental Protection and Green Development Commission should give more emphasis to the coordination of other actors (NGOs, communities, private sectors, and research institutions) to respond to climate change in the city. In addition, the commission should provide training to the lower layers of experts and mobilise the community for climate change response, particularly in the undertaking of adaptation measures. Furthermore, Addis Ababa City administrators should give due attention to climate change response through an established strong accountability system to enforce regulation, rules, proclamations, laws, policies, and strategies in different sectors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Climate Change Management and Society)
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16 pages, 3488 KiB  
Article
Understanding Sources and Composition of Black Carbon and PM2.5 in Urban Environments in East India
by Balram Ambade, Tapan Kumar Sankar, Lokesh K. Sahu and Umesh Chandra Dumka
Urban Sci. 2022, 6(3), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci6030060 - 5 Sep 2022
Cited by 48 | Viewed by 4395
Abstract
Black carbon (BC) and PM2.5 chemical characterizations are crucial for insight into their impact on the health of the exposed population. PM2.5 sampling was carried out over selected residential sites of Jamshedpur (JSR) and Kharagpur (KGP), east India, during the winter [...] Read more.
Black carbon (BC) and PM2.5 chemical characterizations are crucial for insight into their impact on the health of the exposed population. PM2.5 sampling was carried out over selected residential sites of Jamshedpur (JSR) and Kharagpur (KGP), east India, during the winter season. Seven selected elements (SO42−, Cl−, Na+, NO3−, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+) were analyzed using ion chromatography (IC). Black carbon (BC) sampling was also done at two different sites in JSR and KGP to understand its correlation. The PM2.5 ionic species mass concentration in JSR was in the order of SO42− > Cl− > Na+ > NO3− > K+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+, whereas in KGP, it was SO42− > NO3− > Cl− > Na+ > K+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+. The back-trajectory analysis showed that most of the air masses during the study period originated from the Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP). The Pearson relations of BC-PM2.5 indicate a better positive correlation (r = 0.66) at KGP compared to JSR (r = 0.42). As shown in the diagnostic ratio analysis, fossil fuel combustion and wood burning account for 51.51% and 36.36% of the total energy consumption in JSR city, respectively. In KGP city, the apportionment of origin sources were fossil fuel and wood burning at 43.75% and 34.37%, respectively. This study provides the first inventory of atmospheric particulate-bound chemical concentrations and BC profiles in middle-east India and informs policymakers and scientists for further studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Climate Change Management and Society)
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