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Atmosphere
Special Issues
Atmospheric Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection
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Atmospheric Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2023) | Viewed by 10661

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Francesca Frasca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: microclimate; indoor climate simulation; museum environment; historical buildings; churches; climate-induced risk assessment; cultural heritage; preventive conservation
Dr. Elena Verticchio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: microclimate; preventive conservation; cultural heritage; museum environment; historical buildings; libraries; climate-induced risk assessment; paper degradation
Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Siani

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: applied meteorology to the conservation of the cultural heritage; atmospheric constituents; UV radiation; Brewer spectrophotometry; climatology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cultural heritage—both movable and immovable—is a unique witness of our past, and any alteration of its integrity contributes to the loss of its inestimable value. Therefore, its preservation becomes a priority. The ongoing climate change and human activities (use of HVAC systems, air pollution, mass tourism, etc.) represent a threat for the durability of cultural heritage. Indeed, the natural ageing of an object and the alteration of its chemical-physical-structural properties can be activated and controlled (both directly and indirectly) by the indoor/outdoor climate and its fluctuations. This implies that microclimate studies play a key role in investigating the causes of climate-induced deterioration risks. In such a way, conservation strategies can be outlined for the appropriate management of cultural sites according to their preserved collections and intended use.

This Special Issue aims to attract and collect articles/communications/reviews on research focused on:

  • The study of microclimate—measured and/or simulated—inside historical-cultural buildings (e.g., museums, libraries, churches, archaeological sites) that could house artworks (paintings, paper, glass, wooden objects, etc.);
  • Technologies developed for the measurement of climate variables and air pollution;
  • Definition of mitigation strategies of climate-induced deterioration risks.

Due to the complexity of the topic, interdisciplinary studies and advanced techniques (e.g., whole-building dynamic simulation, machine learning, non-destructive techniques (NDTs)) can support conservation strategies to mitigate the impact of the causes of deterioration.

Dr. Francesca Frasca
Dr. Elena Verticchio
Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Siani
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

  • microclimate
  • indoor air quality
  • preventive conservation
  • risk assessment
  • climate simulation
  • advanced data analysis methods
  • non-destructive testing techniques
  • instruments/monitoring
  • adaptation actions to climate change
  • retrofit of historical buildings

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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21 pages, 5593 KiB  
Article
Effects of Visitor Influx on the Indoor Climate of the Milan Cathedral
by Harold Enrique Huerto-Cardenas, Niccolò Aste, Claudio Del Pero, Stefano Della Torre, Fabrizio Leonforte and Camille Luna Stella Blavier
Atmosphere 2023, 14(4), 743; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14040743 - 19 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2041
Abstract
The indoor climate of non-climatized churches is usually subject to cyclical fluctuations of temperature and relative humidity induced by external climate conditions which might be dampened by the high thermal capacity of their envelope. However, several phenomena affect their indoor climate (e.g., internal [...] Read more.
The indoor climate of non-climatized churches is usually subject to cyclical fluctuations of temperature and relative humidity induced by external climate conditions which might be dampened by the high thermal capacity of their envelope. However, several phenomena affect their indoor climate (e.g., internal gains due to people and artificial lighting, air infiltration, etc.), which lead to environmental variations that might jeopardize the artworks contained within. In particular, one of the most influential parameters that may affect non-climatized churches is the massive and intermittent presence of people who constantly visit their spaces. In such regard, long-term monitoring allows the collection of environmental data with different building operation conditions and visitor fluxes. This paper analyses the indoor climate of the Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) in Italy for three continuous years (including the lockdown period that occurred in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic), with a focus on visitors’ effects on the indoor environment and the conservation of the main artworks contained within. The results of the analysis have shown that spaces with huge volume are most influenced by the opening of the doors rather than the hygrothermal contribution of the intermittent presence of massive crowds. Moreover, the absence of visitors for a prolonged period correlates with an improvement in the indoor conservation conditions for artworks, especially those made of hygroscopic materials, due to the reduction in short, rapid climate fluctuations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection)
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17 pages, 3945 KiB  
Article
The European Standard EN 15757 Concerning Specifications for Relative Humidity: Suggested Improvements for Its Revision
by Dario Camuffo, Antonio Della Valle and Francesca Becherini
Atmosphere 2022, 13(9), 1344; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13091344 - 23 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2158
Abstract
The European Standard EN 15757: 2010 ‘Conservation of Cultural Property—Specifications for temperature and relative humidity to limit climate-induced mechanical damage in organic hygroscopic materials’ is a guide specifying the allowed limits of variability of the indoor climate, in particular relative humidity (RH) to [...] Read more.
The European Standard EN 15757: 2010 ‘Conservation of Cultural Property—Specifications for temperature and relative humidity to limit climate-induced mechanical damage in organic hygroscopic materials’ is a guide specifying the allowed limits of variability of the indoor climate, in particular relative humidity (RH) to preserve cultural heritage objects and collections composed of climate-vulnerable materials. This paper is finalized to provide useful elements to improve the Standard at its next revision, based on focused research. The methodologies and the mathematical tools used are performed on 18 case studies representing different buildings, climates, and use, including heated and unheated buildings, museums, churches, concert halls, archives, and storage rooms. The first aim is to compare the method based on the centred moving average suggested by Annex A of EN15757 with an alternative method based on percentile interpolation to calculate the reference RH values, and in particular the safe band of RH variability, as well as the upper and lower risky bands. It has been found that the two methods provided the same results, but the latter is easier to manage. The second aim is to verify if the duration of the record necessary for the determination of the safe band is really 13 months of measurements as required by the Standard to account for the specific request of the centred moving average with a 30-day time window. This paper demonstrates that the same goal may be reached with a 12-month record, but extracting from the record itself the two periods required by the time window, i.e., the last 15 days of the year will be copied before the start of the record, and the same with the first 15 days after the end. The third aim is to test if the particular choice of the width of the time window is influential on the width of the safe band, and to assess the relationship between the width of the safe band and the width of the time window. The results show that the safe band logarithmically depends on the length of the time window, so it is crucial to respect the 30-day window established by the Standard. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection)
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13 pages, 5263 KiB  
Article
Non-Invasive-Monitoring Methodology for the Evaluation of Environmental Impacts on Istrian Stone Surfaces in Venice
by Margherita Gnemmi, Laura Falchi and Elisabetta Zendri
Atmosphere 2022, 13(7), 1036; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13071036 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2153
Abstract
This work proposes a non-invasive, affordable, and easily reproducible methodology for monitoring limestone surfaces vulnerability. The proposed methodology integrates the study of environmental factors impacting limestone surfaces with physical–chemical and morphological observations of historical Istria stone surfaces in Venice. Pollutant trends of particulate [...] Read more.
This work proposes a non-invasive, affordable, and easily reproducible methodology for monitoring limestone surfaces vulnerability. The proposed methodology integrates the study of environmental factors impacting limestone surfaces with physical–chemical and morphological observations of historical Istria stone surfaces in Venice. Pollutant trends of particulate matters (PPM), NO2, SO2, O3, and the meteorological forcing were considered over a 20-year period. To collect information on the conservation state of stone surfaces, visual, optical microscopy observation, chemical analysis via FT-IR-ATR spectroscopy, and the evaluation of morphological and profilometric parameters by digitalizing the surface of silicone molds were carried out. The surfaces of Ca’ Foscari, Ca’ Dolfin, and Garzoni Palace were monitored in 2015 and five years after. Indicators, such as site, sheltered or exposed position, and location of the stone surfaces, were taken into consideration for data interpretation. A relationship between surface conservation state and the proposed environmental indicators has been evaluated. Deposits and crusts were found only in the courtyard façade and in sheltered points, reflecting SO2 reduction; large, eroded areas were found on exposed surfaces related to rain runoff and possibly related to the locally high NOx levels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection)
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15 pages, 7893 KiB  
Article
Analysing the Main Standards for Climate-Induced Mechanical Risk in Heritage Wooden Structures: The Case of the Ringebu and Heddal Stave Churches (Norway)
by America Califano, Marco Baiesi and Chiara Bertolin
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 791; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050791 - 13 May 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2558
Abstract
Studying, controlling and extrapolating the indoor microclimate of historical buildings have always been at the forefront among numerous preventive conservation strategies, especially in case of buildings made of organic hygroscopic materials, e.g., wood. The variations and fluctuations of the microclimatic variables, namely temperature [...] Read more.
Studying, controlling and extrapolating the indoor microclimate of historical buildings have always been at the forefront among numerous preventive conservation strategies, especially in case of buildings made of organic hygroscopic materials, e.g., wood. The variations and fluctuations of the microclimatic variables, namely temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH), could have a detrimental effect on the mechanical properties of wooden objects, works of art and structures. For this reason, through the years, several guidelines have been provided by standards and protocols about the optimal microclimatic conditions that should be ensured to avoid the decay and the eventual catastrophic failure of heritage objects and buildings. In this work, two historical buildings entirely made of Scots pine wood have been analysed: the Ringebu and Heddal stave churches (Norway). These churches store several wooden medieval statues and paintings that are also susceptible to the effects of the microclimate. For this reason, the timeseries of the indoor relative humidity of the two churches have been analysed, in the framework of the indications provided by the standards. The criticalities of the existing protocols have been pointed out, emphasizing the need for systematically and periodically updated specifications, tailorable to a given case study of concern, without forgetting the ever-present needs of energy- and money-saving approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Environment and Cultural Heritage Protection)
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