Impact of increase in urban sprawls representing five decades on summer-time air quality based on WRF-Chem model simulations over central-National Capital Region, India

Autor: Ankur Prabhat Sati, Manju Mohan
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Atmospheric Pollution Research. 12:404-416
ISSN: 1309-1042
DOI: 10.1016/j.apr.2020.12.002
Popis: The impact of urbanization on air quality is expected to vary based on how meteorology and the complex atmospheric chemistry would respond to prominent changes in land use land cover (LULC) taking place over several decades. The present study examines the aerodynamic impacts of an increase in the urban sprawls across the central National Capital Region, encompassing about 12,540 km2 area of India over fifty years for representative years 1972, 1981, 1993, 2003 and 2014 using WRF-Chem with equal emission inventories for each year. Subsequent to model validation for the study area, various air quality parameters are analyzed in the context of model prediction and increasing urban sprawls. Surface values and their spatial variations and vertical profiles during day and night are examined decade-wise and cumulatively over half a century for various pollutant species. In the various decades, where considerable area got urbanized, the model simulated a decrease of surface SO2 and PM10 values of about 20% and 40%, respectively, during both, night and daytime. In contrast, the O3 surface values show an increase of about 40% and 10% during night time and daytime, respectively. At higher levels, a significant increase in O3 and PM10 values is observed attributed to redistribution from changing wind speed and temperature pattern, which alters atmospheric mixing and the boundary layer. It is inferred that the aerodynamic impacts of urban sprawls influences the dispersal behavior of pollutants and requires further in-depth studies.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: