Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.9
3.7
Journals
Environments
Special Issues
The Recent Assessment Techniques and Methods of the State of...
share announcement

The Recent Assessment Techniques and Methods of the State of Air Quality and the Causes of its Pollution

A special issue of Environments (ISSN 2076-3298).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 6983

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Josef Keder

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Tušimice Observatory, 432 01 Kadan, Czech Republic
Interests: meteorological aspects of air quality; air quality monitoring, modeling and forecasting; atmospheric boundary layer meteorology; remote sensing of the ABL
Dr. Petra Bauerova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Tušimice Observatory, 432 01 Kadan, Czech Republic
Interests: environmental pollution; heavy metal pollution; environment protection; air quality monitoring
Prof. Dr. Jan Bednar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Atmosphere Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Staré Město, Czech Republic
Interests: meteorology; air pollution problems; optics; sound and electricity in the atmosphere; the physics of clouds and precipitation; the physics of the atmospheric boundary layer

Special Issue Information

The current COVID-19 pandemic has pushed problems of deteriorating air quality somewhat into the background. Nevertheless, a number of papers have already appeared in the literature studying the links between this disease and air quality. The topic of air quality assessment and the causes of air pollution will undoubtedly remain on the agenda. For such an assessment, it is necessary to measure both the concentrations of pollutants and meteorological variables affecting their transport and dispersion in the atmospheric boundary layer. Many methods and instruments, which until recently were in the phase of specialized laboratory research, have become commercially available for practical use in real conditions. Air quality monitoring networks are supplemented and thickened by low-cost air quality sensors. Drones, laser ceilometers and Doppler lidars, microwave radiometers, and other means of remote sensing have enabled measurement of the profile of meteorological quantities at high temporal and spatial resolution. Large volumes of acquired data allow their evaluation and interpretation by methods based on data mining. The content of this Special Issue will be contributions documenting the use of state-of-the-art methods and techniques for measuring and processing of data on pollutant concentrations and meteorological elements and their synergistic use to detect the causes of deteriorating air quality as well.

Dr. Josef Keder
Dr. Petra Bauerova
Prof. Dr. Jan Bednar
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. Environments 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 1800 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 quality
  • atmospheric boundary layer
  • sensor synergy
  • data mining
  • low-cost sensors
  • remote sensing methods
  • lidar
  • ceilometer
  • drone

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 4403 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Mixing Height in the Planetary Boundary Layer by Using Sodar and Microwave Radiometer Data
by Sergey Odintsov, Eugene Miller, Andrey Kamardin, Irina Nevzorova, Arkady Troitsky and Mathias Schröder
Environments 2021, 8(11), 115; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments8110115 - 27 Oct 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3559
Abstract
The height of the mixing layer is a significant parameter for describing the dynamics of the planetary boundary layer (PBL), especially for air quality control and for the parametrizations in numerical modeling. The problem is that the heights of the mixing layer cannot [...] Read more.
The height of the mixing layer is a significant parameter for describing the dynamics of the planetary boundary layer (PBL), especially for air quality control and for the parametrizations in numerical modeling. The problem is that the heights of the mixing layer cannot be measured directly. The values of this parameter are depending both on the applied algorithms for calculation and on the measuring instruments which have been used by the data source. To determine the height of a layer of intense turbulent heat exchange, data were used from acoustic meteorological locator (sodar) and from a passive single-channel scanning microwave radiometer MTP-5 (MWR) to measure the temperature profile in a layer of up to 1 km. Sodar can provide information on the structure of temperature turbulence in the PBL directly. These data have been compared with the mixing layer height calculated with the Parcel method by using the MTP-5 data. For the analysis, July and September 2020 were selected in the city of Tomsk in Siberia as characteristic periods of mid-summer and the transition period to autumn. The measurement results, calculations and inter-comparisons are shown and discussed in this work. During temperature inversions in the boundary layer, it was observed that turbulent heat transfer (increased dispersion of air temperature) is covering the inversion layers and the overlying ones. Moreover, this phenomenon is not only occurring during the morning destruction of inversions, but also in the process of their formation and development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Recent Assessment Techniques and Methods of the State of Air Quality and the Causes of its Pollution)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 3546 KiB  
Article
Ambient Air Quality Measurement with Low-Cost Optical and Electrochemical Sensors: An Evaluation of Continuous Year-Long Operation
by Jiří Bílek, Ondřej Bílek, Petr Maršolek and Pavel Buček
Environments 2021, 8(11), 114; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments8110114 - 27 Oct 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2896
Abstract
Sensor technology is attractive to the public due to its availability and ease of use. However, its usage raises numerous questions. The general trustworthiness of sensor data is widely discussed, especially with regard to accuracy, precision, and long-term signal stability. The VSB-Technical University [...] Read more.
Sensor technology is attractive to the public due to its availability and ease of use. However, its usage raises numerous questions. The general trustworthiness of sensor data is widely discussed, especially with regard to accuracy, precision, and long-term signal stability. The VSB-Technical University of Ostrava has operated an air quality sensor network for more than two years, and its large sets of valid results can help in understanding the limitations of sensory measurement. Monitoring is focused on the concentrations of dust particles, NO2, and ozone to verify the impact of newly planted greenery on the reduction in air pollution. The sensor network currently covers an open field on the outskirts of Ostrava, between Liberty Ironworks and the nearby ISKO1650 monitoring station, where some of the worst air pollution levels in the Czech Republic are regularly measured. In the future, trees should be allowed to grow over the sensors, enabling assessment of the green barrier effect on air pollution. As expected, the service life of the sensors varies from 1 to 3 years; therefore, checks are necessary both prior to the measurement and regularly during operation, verifying output stability and overall performance. Results of the PMx sensory measurements correlated well with the reference method. Concentration values measured by NO2 sensors correlated poorly with the reference method, although timeline plots of concentration changes were in accordance. We suggest that a comparison of timelines should be used for air quality evaluations, rather than particular values. The results showed that the sensor measurements are not yet suitable to replace the reference methods, and dense sensor networks proved useful and robust tools for indicative air quality measurements (AQM). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Recent Assessment Techniques and Methods of the State of Air Quality and the Causes of its Pollution)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop