Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Use of LES CFD Urban Models and Mesoscale Air Quality Models for Urban Air Quality Simulations

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Environmental Protection and Disaster Risks (EnviroRISK 2020)

Part of the book series: Studies in Systems, Decision and Control ((SSDC,volume 361))

Abstract

Most of CFD urban models are based on the so called RANS approach (Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations). Recently, the advance of computer capabilities has pushed the inclusion of Large Eddy Simulation technique (LES) which has a different approach by using a spatial filter resolving the large eddies in the atmosphere and modelling the small eddies. One of the recent open models with LESS approach is the PALM4U model developed by the Leibnitz Hannover University in Germany. We have used an area in the downtown of Madrid city to set up the PALM4U model with 2 m spatial resolution. The vertical extent of the model is set up on 300 m with the same equally spaced resolution. The system receives the boundary and initial conditions from the WRF/Chem mesoscale air quality model developed by NOAA/ESRL/GSD (US) team. WRF/Chem is a well know state-of-the-art meteorological and chemical models for mesoscale applications. Results of the simulations show a high sensitivity to the changes in type of trees in urban parks with strong impacts (hot spots) in several areas located several hundreds of meters away of the part. The system composed by both models is a reliable tool to be use for studying the impact of natural based solutions (NBS) in urban environments and for other pollution applications with very high spatial resolution. Hot spots, energy efficiency and health impact assessments at urban level are also areas where this complex tool can be applied.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Pope, C., Dockery, D.: Health effects of fine particulate air pollution: lines that connect. J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc. 56, 709–742 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Caplin, A., Ghandehari, M., Lim, C., Glimcher, P., Thurston, G.: Advancing environmental exposure assessment science to benefit society. Nat. Commun. 10 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Liu, S., McKeen, S., Hsie, E., Lin, X., Kelly, K., Bradshaw, J., Sandholm, S., Browell, E., Gregory, G., Sachse, G., Bandy, A., Thornton, D., Blake, D., Rowland, F., Newell, R., Heikes, B., Singh, H., Talbot, R.: Model study of tropospheric trace species distributions during PEM-West a. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 101, 2073–2085 (1996)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Beevers, S., Kitwiroon, N., Williams, M., Carslaw, D.: One way coupling of CMAQ and a road source dispersion model for fine scale air pollution predictions. Atmos. Environ. 59, 47–58 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Choudhary, H., Tarlo, S.: Airway effects of traffic-related air pollution on outdoor workers. Curr. Opin. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 14, 106–112 (2014)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mukul, S., Alamgir, M., Sohel, M., Pert, P., Herbohn, J., Turton, S., Khan, M., Munim, S., Reza, A., Laurance, W.: Combined effects of climate change and sea-level rise project dramatic habitat loss of the globally endangered Bengal tiger in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. Sci. Total Environ. 663, 830–840 (2019)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Resler, J., Krč, P., Belda, M., Juruš, P., Benešová, N., Lopata, J., Vlček, O., Damašková, D., Eben, K., Derbek, P., Maronga, B., Kanani-Sühring, F.: PALM-USM v1.0: A new urban surface model integrated into the PALM large-eddy simulation model. Geoscientific Model Dev. 10, 3635–3659 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Buccolieri, R., Jeanjean, A., Gatto, E., Leigh, R.: The impact of trees on street ventilation, NOx and PM2.5 concentrations across heights in Marylebone Rd street canyon, central London. Sustain. Cities Soc. 41, 227–241 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Baik, J., Kim, J.: On the escape of pollutants from urban street canyons. Atmos. Environ. 36, 527–536 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Berardi, U., GhaffarianHoseini, A., GhaffarianHoseini, A.: State-of-the-art analysis of the environmental benefits of green roofs. Appl. Energy 115, 411–428 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Neft, I., Scungio, M., Culver, N., Singh, S.: Simulations of aerosol filtration by vegetation: Validation of existing models with available lab data and application to near-roadway scenario. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 50, 937–946 (2016)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Pataki, D.E., Carreiro, M.M., Cherrier, J., Grulke, N.E., Jennings, V., Pincetl, S., Pouyat, R.V., Whitlow, T.H., Zipperer, W.C.: Coupling biogeochemical cycles in urban environments: ecosystem services, green solutions, and misconceptions. Front. Ecol. Environ. 9(1), 27e36 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Grell, G., Peckham, S., Schmitz, R., McKeen, S., Frost, G., Skamarock, W., Eder, B.: Fully coupled “online” chemistry within the WRF model. Atmos. Environ. 39, 6957–6975 (2005)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Fast, J., Gustafson, W., Easter, R., Zaveri, R., Barnard, J., Chapman, E., Grell, G., Peckham, S.: Evolution of ozone, particulates, and aerosol direct radiative forcing in the vicinity of Houston using a fully coupled meteorology-chemistry-aerosol model. J. Geophys. Res. 111, (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  15. San José, R., Pérez, J., Balzarini, A., Baró, R., Curci, G., Forkel, R., Galmarini, S., Grell, G., Hirtl, M., Honzak, L., Im, U., Jiménez-Guerrero, P., Langer, M., Pirovano, G., Tuccella, P., Werhahn, J., Žabkar, R.: Sensitivity of feedback effects in CBMZ/MOSAIC chemical mechanism. Atmos. Environ. 115, 646–656 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Zaveri, R., Peters, L.: A new lumped structure photochemical mechanism for large-scale applications. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 104, 30387–30415 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Zaveri, R., Easter, R., Fast, J., Peters, L.: Model for simulating aerosol interactions and chemistry (MOSAIC). J. Geophys. Res. 113, (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Binkowski, F., Shankar, U.: The regional particulate matter model: 1. Model description and preliminary results. J. Geophys. Res. 100, 26191 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Easter, R.: MIRAGE: Model description and evaluation of aerosols and trace gases. J. Geophys. Res. 109, (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Williams, J., Landgraf, J., Bregman, A., Walter, H.: A modified band approach for the accurate calculation of online photolysis rates in stratospheric-tropospheric chemical transport models. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 6, 4137–4161 (2006)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Mlawer, E., Taubman, S., Brown, P., Iacono, M., Clough, S.: Radiative transfer for inhomogeneous atmospheres: RRTM, a validated correlated-k model for the longwave. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 102, 16663–16682 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Lin, Y., Farley, R., Orville, H.: Bulk parameterization of the snow field in a cloud model. J. Climate Appl. Meteorol. 22, 1065–1092 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Grell, G., Dévényi, D.: A generalized approach to parameterizing convection combining ensemble and data assimilation techniques. Geophys. Res. Lett. 29, 38-1–38-4 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  24. National Centers for Environmental Prediction, 2015: NCEP GFS 0.25 degree global forecast grids historical archive. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, accessed 16 August 2019, https://doi.org/10.5065/D65D8PWK

  25. Maronga, B., Gryschka, M., Heinze, R., Hoffmann, F., Kanani-Sühring, F., Keck, M., Ketelsen, K., Letzel, M., Sühring, M., Raasch, S.: The parallelized large-eddy simulation model (PALM) version 4.0 for atmospheric and oceanic flows: model formulation, recent developments, and future perspectives. Geoscientific Model Dev. 8, 2515–2551 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Kanda, M., Inagaki, A., Miyamoto, T., Gryschka, M., Raasch, S.: A new aerodynamic parametrization for real urban surfaces. Bound.-Layer Meteorol. 148, 357–377 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Letzel, M., Krane, M., Raasch, S.: High resolution urban large-eddy simulation studies from street canyon to neighbourhood scale. Atmos. Environ. 42, 8770–8784 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Park, S., Baik, J., Lee, S.: Impacts of mesoscale wind on turbulent flow and ventilation in a densely built-up urban area. J. Appl. Meteorol. Climatol. 54, 811–824 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Abd Razak, A., Hagishima, A., Ikegaya, N., Tanimoto, J.: Analysis of airflow over building arrays for assessment of urban wind environment. Build. Environ. 59, 56–65 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Krajzewicz, D., Erdmann, J., Behrisch, M., Bieker, L.: Recent development and applications of SUMO—simulation of urban mobility. Int. J. Adv. Syst. Measure. 5(3&4), 128–138 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Hood, C., MacKenzie, I., Stocker, J., Johnson, K., Carruthers, D., Vieno, M., Doherty, R.: Air quality simulations for London using a coupled regional-to-local modelling system. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 18, 11221–11245 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wang, Y., Zhou, Y., Zuo, J., Rameezdeen, R.: A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of PM10 dispersion caused by rail transit construction activity: a real urban street canyon model. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 15, 482 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Gonzalez Olivardia, F., Zhang, Q., Matsuo, T., Shimadera, H., Kondo, A.: Analysis of Pollutant Dispersion in a Realistic Urban Street Canyon Using Coupled CFD and Chemical Reaction Modeling. Atmosphere. 10, 479 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Hwang, H., Yook, S., Ahn, K.: Experimental investigation of submicron and ultrafine soot particle removal by tree leaves. Atmos. Environ. 45, 6987–6994 (2011)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Salmond, J., Williams, D., Laing, G., Kingham, S., Dirks, K., Longley, I., Henshaw, G.: The influence of vegetation on the horizontal and vertical distribution of pollutants in a street canyon. Sci. Total Environ. 443, 287–298 (2013)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The UPM authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources, technical expertise and assistance provided by the Centro de Supercomputación y Visualización de Madrid (CESVIMA). The UPM authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources, technical expertise and assistance provided by the Red Española de Supercomputación.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Software and Modelling Group, Computer Science School, Technical University of Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain

    R. San Jose & J. L. Pérez

  2. Department of Physics and Meteorology, Faculty of Physics, Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    R. M. Gonzalez-Barras

Authors
  1. R. San Jose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. L. Pérez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. M. Gonzalez-Barras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. San Jose .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IICT-BAS), Sofia, Bulgaria

    Nina Dobrinkova

  2. National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NIGGG-BAS), Sofia, Bulgaria

    Georgi Gadzhev

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

San Jose, R., Pérez, J.L., Gonzalez-Barras, R.M. (2021). The Use of LES CFD Urban Models and Mesoscale Air Quality Models for Urban Air Quality Simulations. In: Dobrinkova, N., Gadzhev, G. (eds) Environmental Protection and Disaster Risks. EnviroRISK 2020. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 361. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70190-1_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70190-1_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-70189-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-70190-1

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation