Simple photochemical modelling of NOX pollution in a street canyon

TL;DR

This paper develops and evaluates simple chemical models to predict NO2 pollution in urban street canyons, considering different conditions and comparing predictions with real measurements to guide model choice.

Contribution

It introduces and analytically assesses various NO-NO2-O3 chemical models for urban pollution prediction, highlighting their applicability based on urban canyon conditions.

Findings

Photostationary model performs well in enclosed courtyards without emissions.

Non-photostationary model improves accuracy in areas with vehicular emissions.

Model applicability depends on ventilation and emission characteristics.

Abstract

To predict pollutant concentration in urban areas, it is crucial to take into account the chemical transformations of reactive pollutants in operational dispersion models. In this work, we derive and discuss different NO-NO2-O3 chemical street canyon models with increasing complexity and we analytically evaluate their applicability in different urban contexts. We then evaluate the performance of the models in predicting NO2 concentration at different locations within an urban district by comparing their predictions with measurements acquired in a field campaign. The results are in line with analytical speculations and give indications as to which model to use according to the conditions of the urban street canyon. In courtyards with limited ventilation and without direct emissions, the performance of the photostationary model is satisfactory. On the other hand, the application of a non-photostationary model significantly improves the predictions in urban canyons with direct vehicular emissions. The applicability of the proposed models in operational tools at the city scale is finally discussed.