CIVE 561 Urban Activity Air pollution and Health
Background
Urban air pollution and its impact on public health is a topic that has received much attention. There is ample evidence pointing to the fact that exposure to air emissions is associated with a range of respiratory illness. In urban areas, transportation and buildings are the main contributors to air and greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing awareness of this fact has led to the introduction and tightening of standards governing vehicle emissions, fuel quality, and building design. Nevertheless, changing land-use patterns and travel behaviour have offset some of the benefits of emission control technology. An increasing fraction of populations in metropolitan areas around the world, lives, works, or performs its daily activities in the vicinity of busy roads. There is therefore a need to turn our attention towards understanding the interactions between the daily activities of urban dwellers, the generation and dispersion of traffic emissions in urban environments, and the resulting patterns of urban energy consumption.
Course Content
This is an interdisciplinary course where the challenge of air pollution is introduced with a focus on urban areas. The interdependencies between transportation, air quality, and policy are demonstrated. The City and the behaviour of its inhabitants constitute the context for the following course topics:
- Urban transportation impacts on air pollution
- Overview of air pollutants in urban areas
- Monitoring urban air quality
- Mobile source emissions
- Air Pollution and meteorology
- Atmospheric dispersion
- Chemical processes specific to cities
- Exposure to air pollution and health effects
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Identify the key interactions between transportation and air quality
- Compute models for atmospheric dispersion
- Evaluate the impacts of technology, fuel quality, and driving behaviour on the generation of vehicle emissions
- Develop an urban air quality assessment for a central neighbourhood in Montreal
Schedule of Lectures
WEEK 1: COURSE INTRODUCTION
Interaction Between Land-use and Transportation and Impacts
on Air Quality
Major Air Pollution Trends in Urban Areas
WEEK 2: UNDERSTANDING THE MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS (1)
The Atmosphere and its Contaminants
Sources of Air Pollution
Causes, Effects, Control of Major Air Pollutants
WEEK 3: UNDERSTANDING THE MAJOR AIR POLLUTANTS (2)
Generation of NOx and VOC Emissions in Urban Areas
Ozone Chemistry and Trends in Ozone Levels in Urban Areas
WEEK 4: MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS (1)
An Overview of Mobile Sources
Generation of Vehicle Emissions
WEEK 5: MOTOR VEHICLE EMISSIONS (2)
Fuel Quality and Emissions
Emission Testing
Control Approaches
WEEK 6: VEHICLE EMISSIONS MODELLING (1)
Introduction to Emission Modelling at different Scales
(macro, meso, and micro)
Introduction and Training on MOVES (Motor Vehicle Emission
Simulator)
WEEK 7: AIR POLLUTION AND METEOROLOGY (1)
Atmospheric Stability
Influence of Meteorology in Urban Area
WEEK 8: ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION (1)
Introduction to air Pollution Dispersion
Dispersion of Point Sources and Gaussian Plume Models
WEEK 9: ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION (2)
Dispersion of Line Sources using Gaussian Plume Models
Shortcomings of Gaussian Plume Models
WEEK 10: ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION (3)
Gaussian Puff-Based Models
Introduction to Grid Models, Canyon Models, CFD models
WEEK 11: AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE AND HEALTH EFFECTS (1)
Air Quality Monitoring Technology
Urban Air Quality Monitoring Networks
Air Quality Indices and Standards
WEEK 12: AIR POLLUTION EXPOSURE AND HEALTH EFFECTS (2)
Exposure Assessment
Health Effects
WEEK 13: FINAL PRESENTATIONS
Course Materials
- Cooper, C.D. and Alley, F.C. Air Pollution Control: A Design Approach. 4th ed. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2011.
- Coley, D. Energy and Climate Change: Creating a Sustainable Future. Chinchester, England: Wiley, 2008.
- Griffin, R.D. Air Quality Management. 2nd ed. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis, 2007.
- Hester, R.E. and Harrison, R.M., eds. Air Quality in Urban Environments, Issues in Environmental Science and Technology, 28. Cambridge, UK: RSC Publishing, 2009.
- Hill, M.K. Understanding Environmental Pollution. 3rd ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
- Pundir, B.P. Engine Emissions: Pollutant Formation and Advances in Control Technology. Oxford, UK: Alpha Science International, 2007.
- Vardoulakis, S., Fisher, B.E.A., Pericleous, K., Gonzalez-Flesca, N. Modelling Air Quality in Street Canyons: A Review. Atmospheric Environment, 37: 155-182, 2003.