Measuring the Effectiveness of Air Pollutant Reduction by Near-Road Green Infrastructure

Keywords: near-road air pollution, green infrastructure, green barrier
Session Type: Virtual Paper
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 4/9/2021 09:35 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada)) - 4/9/2021 10:50 AM (Pacific Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 25

Abstract

One of the aspects of near-road air pollution is its dispersion adjacent to freeways, since twenty – eight percent of the Ontario population live near major roads. My study identifies how built roadside structures affect ambient air pollution concentrations in the near-road environment and how green barriers could reduce roadside air pollution. There are two objectives of my research. The first objective is to determine the influence of roadside structures on local NO, NO2, NOx, O3, and PM, including trace metal speciation. The second one quantifies the effectiveness of near-road green barriers on air pollutants reduction in areas near roads. In this study, after mapping the near-road air pollutant, the result can demonstrate the significant changes in pollutant concentrations by various combinations of green barriers. Using spatial analysis, I will generate air pollution dispersion models and examine the spatial patterns of dispersion across different nearby green infrastructure types. The result of this study will help urban planners, engineers, and scientists explore feasible and cost-effective roadside structures to reduce air pollution dispersion near freeways.