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Atmosphere
Special Issues
Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health
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Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 4906

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhaobin Sun

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, China
Interests: climate change; air pollution; health impact; influenza; pollen; infectious disease
Prof. Dr. Jun Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Public Health, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
Interests: environmental epidemiology and biostatistics; climate change; extreme weather; air pollution; public health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ling Han

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Interests: air pollution; climate change; public health; infectious disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urbanization has become an unavoidable trend. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has created a temporary crisis of confidence in many cities, we are witnessing a world that will continue to urbanize over the next three decades. The global urban population is expected to rise from 4.2 billion (56% of the total population) in 2021 to 6.4 billion (68%) in 2050. Although urbanization can enhance the well-being of residents due to the significant social and economic advances it promotes, the association between urbanization and health is complex. Urban residents may benefit from improved sanitation, infrastructure, and access to health services, but they may be confronted with other issues, including environmental pollution and unhealthy lifestyles. In particular, urban growth and climate change will exacerbate air pollution and extreme weather events, thus posing considerable health challenges to urban populations. However, the impact of air pollution and meteorological conditions on health, accompanied by urbanization and climate change, are not so clear. This Special Issue welcomes the submission of novel and original papers addressing urban air pollution, meteorological conditions and health, including, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Synthetical effects of urban air pollution and meteorological conditions on public health;
  • Risk assessment of urban heat islands and extreme heat events on human health, and vulnerability risk mapping at a finer resolution;
  • Future projections of the impact of urbanization and climate change on urban populations;
  • Modification effects of socioeconomic factors on the association between the urban environment and health;
  • Assessment of urban residents’ capacity to adapt to air pollution and climate change;
  • Effect of urbanization and climate change on infectious diseases.

Dr. Zhaobin Sun
Prof. Dr. Jun Yang
Dr. Ling Han
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 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

  • air pollution
  • meteorological conditions
  • climate change
  • urbanization
  • public health

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2506 KiB  
Article
Spatial Mapping of Air Pollution Hotspots around Commercial Meat-Cooking Restaurants Using Bicycle-Based Mobile Monitoring
by Gwang-Soon Yong, Gun-Woo Mun and Kyung-Hwan Kwak
Atmosphere 2024, 15(8), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15080991 - 17 Aug 2024
Viewed by 764
Abstract
Mobile measurement techniques are increasingly utilized to monitor urban emissions, regional air quality, and air pollutant exposure assessments. This study employed a bicycle measurement method to obtain the detailed distribution of air pollutant concentrations in roadside, commercial, residential, and recreational areas. The study [...] Read more.
Mobile measurement techniques are increasingly utilized to monitor urban emissions, regional air quality, and air pollutant exposure assessments. This study employed a bicycle measurement method to obtain the detailed distribution of air pollutant concentrations in roadside, commercial, residential, and recreational areas. The study area is located in Chuncheon, South Korea, with approximately 280,000 residents. Black carbon (BC), PM2.5, and NO2 were monitored using portable devices equipped on an electric bicycle. Results showed that in the evening (6–8 p.m.), the concentrations were higher in both commercial and residential areas compared to the background location, while concentrations were notably elevated only in roadside areas in the morning (8–10 a.m.). Spatial mapping of measured concentrations revealed that the highest concentrations corresponded to areas with densely operated charbroiling meat-cooking restaurants. Additionally, it was confirmed that BC and PM2.5 emitted from the commercial areas influenced nearby recreational areas (e.g., streamside roads). In conclusion, this study demonstrated that air pollutant hotspots resulting from human activities, such as dining at commercial restaurants, significantly worsen the local air quality on a small scale. Efforts to reduce the uncontrolled emissions of air pollutants from charbroiling meat-cooking restaurants are necessary. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health)
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21 pages, 5509 KiB  
Article
ARIMA Analysis of PM Concentrations during the COVID-19 Isolation in a High-Altitude Latin American Megacity
by David Santiago Hernández-Medina, Carlos Alfonso Zafra-Mejía and Hugo Alexander Rondón-Quintana
Atmosphere 2024, 15(6), 683; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15060683 - 2 Jun 2024
Viewed by 896
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a unique period of social isolation, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to scrutinize the influence of human activities on urban air quality. This study employs ARIMA models to explore the impact of COVID-19 isolation measures on the PM10 and [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a unique period of social isolation, presenting an unprecedented opportunity to scrutinize the influence of human activities on urban air quality. This study employs ARIMA models to explore the impact of COVID-19 isolation measures on the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in a high-altitude Latin American megacity (Bogota, Colombia). Three isolation scenarios were examined: strict (5 months), sectorized (1 months), and flexible (2 months). Our findings indicate that strict isolation measures exert a more pronounced effect on the short-term simulated concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 (PM10: −47.3%; PM2.5: −54%) compared to the long-term effects (PM10: −29.4%; PM2.5: −28.3%). The ARIMA models suggest that strict isolation measures tend to diminish the persistence of the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations over time, both in the short and long term. In the short term, strict isolation measures appear to augment the variation in the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, with a more substantial increase observed for PM2.5. Conversely, in the long term, these measures seem to reduce the variations in the PM concentrations, indicating a more stable behavior that is less susceptible to abrupt peaks. The differences in the reduction in the PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations between the strict and flexible isolation scenarios were 23.8% and 12.8%, respectively. This research provides valuable insights into the potential for strategic isolation measures to improve the air quality in urban environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health)
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23 pages, 15648 KiB  
Article
Sensitivity Analysis of Modelled Air Pollutant Distribution around Buildings under Different Meteorological Conditions
by Anton Petrov, Emilia Georgieva and Elena Hristova
Atmosphere 2024, 15(6), 638; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15060638 - 25 May 2024
Viewed by 857
Abstract
The distribution of air pollutants in urban areas is significantly influenced by the presence of various geometric structures, including buildings, bridges, and tunnels. In built-up environments, meteorological conditions may influence the accumulation or dispersion of air pollutants in specific zones. This study examines [...] Read more.
The distribution of air pollutants in urban areas is significantly influenced by the presence of various geometric structures, including buildings, bridges, and tunnels. In built-up environments, meteorological conditions may influence the accumulation or dispersion of air pollutants in specific zones. This study examines the impact of wind and atmospheric stability on the dispersion of air pollutants around an apartment building situated in close proximity to a busy boulevard in a residential district of Sofia, Bulgaria. A series of dispersion simulations were conducted using the Graz Lagrangian Model (GRAL v.22.09) for a range of meteorological conditions, defined as combinations of the direction and velocity of the approaching flow, and of stability conditions within the study area of 1 × 1 km, with a horizontal resolution of 2 m. The resulting spatial distribution revealed the presence of hotspots and strong gradients in the concentration field. A simulation with meteorological data was also conducted, which was aligned with a campaign to monitor vehicular traffic. The sensitivity tests indicate that GRAL is capable of reproducing high-resolution pollutant fields, accounting for building effects at relatively low computational costs. This makes the model potentially attractive for city-wide simulations as well as for air pollution exposure estimation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health)
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12 pages, 4603 KiB  
Article
Evaluation and Projection of Gale Events in North China
by Rong Yuan, Qiuyue Li, Lingfang Wu, Miao Huo and Yi Huang
Atmosphere 2023, 14(11), 1646; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14111646 - 2 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1282
Abstract
As an important weather extreme, gales greatly impact the air quality, agriculture, aviation, and renewable energy in North China. However, the spatial–temporal changes in gale events remain unknown in North China. In this study, using the ERA5 reanalysis with high spatiotemporal resolution and [...] Read more.
As an important weather extreme, gales greatly impact the air quality, agriculture, aviation, and renewable energy in North China. However, the spatial–temporal changes in gale events remain unknown in North China. In this study, using the ERA5 reanalysis with high spatiotemporal resolution and multi-model simulations from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase Six (CMIP6), we investigate the temporal changes, including daily, seasonal and decadal variations in gale events in North China between 1980 and 2021, and we project the changes in gale events in the mid and late 21st century under two shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs). The gale events show large spatial heterogeneity in frequency, with a high frequency of >25 days/year in central Inner Mongolia province, northern Hebei province, and northwestern Beijing. Over the past four decades, the gale events in North China have shown a decadal reversal, with a decrease between 1980 and 2006 and an increase between 2007 and 2014. Furthermore, the gale events show strong temporal variations in North China. For seasonal variation, the gale events exhibit double peaks, with the largest peak in April and the smallest peak in October. For daily variation, the gale events show a single peak, with the maximum from 10:00 to 16:00 local time in North China. Multi-model simulations from CMIP6 reveal a continuous decreasing trend of gale events in North China by the end of the 21st century under both SSP1-2.6 and SSP2-4.5 scenarios relative to the historical period. Our results provide comprehensive support for planning aviation, renewable energy, and agriculture in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health)
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