Evaluation of Anthropogenic Emissions into the Atmosphere: Regional Scale Approach, Trends, and Large-Scale Mitigation

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 April 2023) | Viewed by 9233

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Yu.A.Izrael Institute of Global Climate & Ecology /Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
Interests: regional and global atmospheric pollution; atmospheric chemistry; evaluation of anthropogenic emissions into the atmosphere; long-range transport of air pollutants; geoengineering for climate

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atmospheric emissions (AE) are the one of the evident anthropogenic factors having an effect on the quality of air and pollution of other environmental media. Due to their rapid growth as the side effect of industrial and social development as well as higher transfer and dispersion capacity through the atmosphere, AE pollute the air in a multiscale manner, from locally to regionally or even globally. In recent decades, the regional scale evaluation of emissions has become increasingly necessary for further application in research on long-range transport of pollutants, for the study of changing, large-scale biogeochemical cycles, for the assessment of the effects on life quality for humans, as well as for their role in sub-continental climate changes, etc.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide original results on a number of topics related to regional aspects of anthropogenic emissions over the continents, including various air pollutants, temporal variability and tendencies, relationship with changes in industrial development, and implementation of mitigation policies and measures.

The scope of the Special Issue may include (but is not limited to) research on AE estimation with top-bottom approaches and/or industry-type oriented investigation, AE trends in regions and their reflection in air quality dynamics, and potential and observed effects of regional or national mitigation programs and policy.

Dr. Sergey Gromov
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • regional-scale atmospheric emissions
  • regional air pollution
  • air quality trends
  • mitigation programs and their effectiveness
  • industrial pollutant emission tendencies
  • historical emission change records
  • regional emissions and long-range transport
  • integrated indexes of regional anthropogenic impact

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 6662 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Impact of COVID-19 Restrictions on Air Pollution in Russia’s Largest Cities
by Anna Morozova, Oleg Sizov, Pavel Elagin, Natalia Lobzhanidze, Anatoly Fedash and Marina Mironova
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 975; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060975 - 2 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1672
Abstract
Governments around the world took unprecedented measures, such as social distancing and the minimization of public/industrial activity, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This provided a unique chance to assess the relationships between key air pollutant emissions and track the reductions [...] Read more.
Governments around the world took unprecedented measures, such as social distancing and the minimization of public/industrial activity, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This provided a unique chance to assess the relationships between key air pollutant emissions and track the reductions in these emissions in various countries during the lockdown. This study considers atmospheric air pollution in the 78 largest Russian cities (with populations over 250,000) in March–June of 2019–2021. This is the first such study for the largest cities in Russia. The initial data were the TROPOMI measurements (Sentinel-5P satellite) of such pollutants as carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), which are the main anthropogenic pollutants. The data were downloaded from the Google Earth Engine’s cloud-based geospatial data platform. This provided L3-level information for subsequent analysis. The TROPOMI data indicated a decrease in the atmospheric content of the air pollutants in the largest Russian cities during the lockdown compared to the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods. The reduced economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic had the greatest impact on NO2 concentrations. The average reduction was −30.7%, while the maximum reduction was found within Moscow city limits that existed before 01.07.2012 (−41% with respect to the 2019 level). For sulfur dioxide, the average decrease was only 7%, with a further drop in 2021 (almost 20% relative to 2019). For formaldehyde and carbon monoxide, there were no reductions during the 2020 lockdown period (99.4% and 100.9%, respectively, with respect to 2019). The identified impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on NO2, SO2, HCHO, and CO NO2 concentrations in major Russian cities generally followed the patterns observed in other industrialized cities in China, India, Turkey, and European countries. The COVID-19 pandemic had a local impact on NO2 concentration reductions in major Russian cities. The differences leveled off over time, and the baseline pollution level for each pollutant was restored. Full article
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20 pages, 7223 KiB  
Article
Airborne Air Pollutant Emission Characteristics of Mobile Vehicles in Taiwan
by Jiun-Horng Tsai, Jian-You Chen and Hung-Lung Chiang
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 916; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060916 - 24 May 2023
Viewed by 1528
Abstract
This study examines the air pollutant emission characteristics, activity intensity, and trends of mobile sources from 2013 to 2021. The target pollutants include criteria pollutants (fine particulate matters, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons) and hazardous air pollutants (benzene, formaldehyde, and BaP). The results indicated [...] Read more.
This study examines the air pollutant emission characteristics, activity intensity, and trends of mobile sources from 2013 to 2021. The target pollutants include criteria pollutants (fine particulate matters, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons) and hazardous air pollutants (benzene, formaldehyde, and BaP). The results indicated that the activity intensity levels of road mobile sources in Taiwan were148 × 109, 156 × 109, 159 × 109, and 155 × 109 km/year in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021, respectively, with the largest proportion attributed to gasoline passenger cars (42.6%), followed by four-stroke motorcycles (32.6%). An emission factor of PM2.5 was estimated by EPA’s MOVES (Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator) model, and the results showed that the emission sequence was diesel > gasoline > motorcycle; the NOx emission factor was estimated using the MOBILE6.2 model, and the results showed that the order was diesel > gasoline > motorcycle; the HC emission factor was compiled with the use of gasoline vehicle dynamometer data, and the results showed that motorcycle > gasoline vehicles. Further results showed that the emission sequence for benzene was motorcycle > gasoline ≥ diesel; the formaldehyde emission sequence was diesel > motorcycle ≥ gasoline. The BaP emission factors of different vehicle types were estimated using MOVES, and the emission factors of old heavy-duty diesel vehicles were the highest. Full article
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21 pages, 3494 KiB  
Article
Characteristics of Airborne Pollutants in the Area of an Agricultural–Industrial Complex near a Petrochemical Industry Facility
by Jiun-Horng Tsai, Vivien How, Wei-Chi Wang and Hung-Lung Chiang
Atmosphere 2023, 14(5), 803; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050803 - 28 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1232
Abstract
In the area of a petrochemical industrial site, ten monitoring stations are established to determine the airborne pollutants that are emitted, which include criteria air pollutants and 54 species of ozone formation precursors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The hourly pollutants are increased [...] Read more.
In the area of a petrochemical industrial site, ten monitoring stations are established to determine the airborne pollutants that are emitted, which include criteria air pollutants and 54 species of ozone formation precursors of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The hourly pollutants are increased by human activities, such as traffic flow after 7:00 a.m., and ozone becomes more abundant as solar radiation increases in intensity. Monthly air pollutants are present in low concentrations during the rainy season from May to September and in high concentrations from October to April. Results show that VOC concentrations are low in the summer (average concentration 5.7–5.9 ppb) and more than double in the winter (11–12 ppb), with 52–63% alkanes, 18–24% aromatics, 11–22% alkenes and 4.7–7.1% alkynes. Ethane, toluene, propane, n-butane, ethylene and acetylene are the major VOCs, with an annual average concentration exceeding 0.50 ppb. In 2016–2020, the VOC concentration is decreased from 10.1 to 7.73 ppb, corresponding to the ozone formation potential (OFP) decrease from 84 to 61 μg-O3 m−3, with toluene, m,p-xylene, ethylene and propene being the most abundant species. The primary VOC sources are petrochemical industry sites, fuel combustion, vehicle exhaust emissions and evaporation, solvent application, industrial facilities and emission from farming vegetation. Full article
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14 pages, 4474 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Green Development and PM2.5 Emission Reduction for China’s Cement Industry
by Li Tian
Atmosphere 2023, 14(3), 482; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030482 - 28 Feb 2023
Viewed by 1547
Abstract
The atmospheric dust caused by the cement industry is one of the main components of air pollutants. China is the largest producer and consumer of cement. It is challenging to balance cement needs and environmental protection. Based on the emission source data, this [...] Read more.
The atmospheric dust caused by the cement industry is one of the main components of air pollutants. China is the largest producer and consumer of cement. It is challenging to balance cement needs and environmental protection. Based on the emission source data, this study examined the spatial and temporal patterns of PM2.5 by the cement industry’s contribution (PM2.5Cement). The annual value of PM2.5Cement decreased from 1.40 × 106 µg/m3 in 2010 to 0.98 × 106 µg/m3 in 2017, which was reduced by 30.31%. I used the standard deviation ellipse and gravity center transfer method and identified that the cement industry center shifted from the east to the midwest of China, where a high-density population exists and a large portion of the population is exposed to the air pollution. The geographical detector method was used to analyze the contribution of the natural environment, green development, and socioeconomic development to PM2.5Cement. The main driving factors were identified as the socioeconomic development and the traffic conditions in 2010, which was giving way to the regional independent innovation in 2017. The cement industry’s contributions to atmospheric PM2.5 vary spatially, suggesting that green development and optimized location for the cement industry are crucial to reducing the size of the population exposed to the pollutants. Full article
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14 pages, 7446 KiB  
Article
Impact of PM2.5 and PM10 Emissions on Changes of Their Concentration Levels in Lithuania: A Case Study
by Steigvilė Byčenkienė, Abdullah Khan and Vilma Bimbaitė
Atmosphere 2022, 13(11), 1793; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13111793 - 29 Oct 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2334
Abstract
Due to negative effects on human health and visibility, atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a prioritized contaminant for urban air pollution management. Over the past few decades, managing emissions have been a top priority. This paper investigated PM national inventory data and mass [...] Read more.
Due to negative effects on human health and visibility, atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is a prioritized contaminant for urban air pollution management. Over the past few decades, managing emissions have been a top priority. This paper investigated PM national inventory data and mass concentration trends for Lithuania. This analysis considers primary (sum of filterable and condensable) PM2.5 and PM10 emissions from point, mobile on-road and off-road, industry, agriculture, and waste sectors. In this study, by examining both the emissions and the mass concentrations of PM10, the effects of emissions decreasing with a concentration decrease were revealed. The slower decreasing tendency of PM10 and BC (0.03 Gg/year) than that of PM2.5 (0.1 Gg/year) should be noted. Furthermore, the correlation analysis also finds that the increase in PM10 from stationary and mobile combustion sources is closely related to the increase in the contribution to the pollution level. Full article
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