Estimating Concentrations of Fine Particulate Matter in Urban Background Air of European Cities

Amann, M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1963-0972, Cofala, J., Gzella, A., Heyes, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5254-493X, Klimont, Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2630-198X, & Schoepp, W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5990-423X (2007). Estimating Concentrations of Fine Particulate Matter in Urban Background Air of European Cities. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-07-001

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Abstract

This report presents a generic methodology for estimating, for the purposes of a Europe-wide integrated assessment of the cost-effectiveness of emission control strategies, concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the urban areas of Europe. The report outlines the conceptual approach, discusses input data and presents results from a first implementation for 473 European cities based on input data that are readily available at the European level.

The methodology hypothesizes a functional relationship that connects the most critical city-specific factors with concentration increases in PM2.5 that result from the local low-level emissions in a city. The diameter of a city, annual mean wind speeds, the number of winter days with low wind speeds and emission densities have been identified as the most important local factors.

Parameters of these functional relationships have been determined through a regression analysis of a sample of model responses derived from an ensemble of three state-of-the-art atmospheric dispersion models for seven cities.

To extrapolate the found relationships to all European cities, a set with local input data for the 473 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants has been compiled from available European data sources. Most strikingly, significant differences in the emission densities across countries are detected, which have a dominating impact on the computed urban increments. A solid validation of the computed urban PM2.5 increments is hampered by the lack of reliable monitoring data.

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