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© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.Considering an integrated approach to assess all of the measured pollutants in a diurnal, monthly, seasonal, and annual time scales and understanding the mechanisms hidden under low air quality conditions are essential for tackling potential air pollution issues. Konya, located in central Anatolia, is the largest province of Turkey with a surface area of 40,838 km2 and has different industrial activities. The lack of recent detailed studies limits our information on the underlying air pollution levels in Konya and obscuring policymakers to develop applicable mitigation measures. In this study, we used hourly monitored air quality data of CO, NO2, NOx, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 from five stations in Konya and investigated the temporal and spatial variabilities for the 2008–2018 period via statistical analysis. Upon analysis, particulate matter was found to be the dominant pollutant deteriorating the air quality of Konya. The highest 2008–2018 periodic mean value of PM10 was found in Karatay Belediye as 70.5 µg/m3, followed by 67.4 µg/m3 in Meram, 58.7 µg/m3 in Selçuklu, and 43.7 µg/m3 in Selçuklu Belediye. The 24-h limit value of PM10 given as 50 µg/m3 in the legislation was violated in all of the stations, mainly during winter and autumn. High positive correlations were found among the stations, and the highest correlation was obtained between Selçuklu Belediye and Karatay Belediye with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.77. Long-term data showed a decreasing trend in PM10 concentrations. Diurnal variability is found to be more pronounced than weekly variability. For almost all of the pollutants, except for photochemical pollutants like O3, a prominent result was the nighttime and morning rush hours high-pollutant levels. A case study done for the January 29, 2018 to February 05, 2018 episode showed the importance of meteorology and topography on the high levels of pollution. Limitation of the pollutant transport and dilution by meteorological conditions and the location of Konya on a plain surrounded by high hills are believed to be the main reasons for having low air quality in the region.

Using a fully coupled air quality prediction model, simulations were carried out to investigate the impact of aerosol indirect effect on air pollution-meteorology interaction in an urban environment. We found that the aerosol indirect effect results in an increase in cloud droplet number concentration, a reduction in cloud droplet size, and an increase in cloud water. While, as a result, precipitation production is suppressed in low-level clouds, we found that, in a case of deep convective clouds, there is an enhancement of cloud ice and precipitation production at higher levels due to the increase in abundance of smaller drops being carried up in the updraft. There is also an indication of enhanced convective activity due to urban heating.

This study focuses on the changes over time in the relationship between surface temperature and particulate matter (PM) concentration over Seoul using long-term observational data. Correlation coefficients between the daily mean PM10 concentration and surface temperature were calculated to investigate the relationship between the two. The PM10 and temperature displayed a strong positive correlation, suggesting the increase in PM was driven by large-scale synoptic patterns accompanying such high temperatures. It was found that the correlation coefficient in 2002&ndash, 2009 was significantly higher than that of 2010&ndash, 2017, indicating that the relationship between PM10 concentration and temperature has weakened over time in recent decades. Correlation coefficients between daily averaged temperature and the PM10 of each year were calculated to account for the decreased correlation in the most recent decade. We found that the correlation coefficients between surface temperature and PM of each year exhibited a clear negative correlation with the longitudinal position of the Siberian High, suggesting that the position of the Siberian High might affect the strength of the relationship between PM concentration and temperature over Seoul. We also found that the eastward shift of the Siberian High reduces the standard deviation of pressure over Seoul, indicating reduction of synoptic perturbation. These results imply that the eastward shift of the Siberian High in recent decades might weaken the relationship between the PM and surface temperature over Seoul. This study suggests that the relationship between PM and meteorological variables is changing over time through changes in large climate variability.

Air pollution is a major environmental problem. It is divided into indoor air pollution and outdoor air pollution. The pollutants released in the outdoor atmosphere are under the control of meteorological conditions prevailing at the time of emission and after. Thus, the subject, air pollution meteorology, has emerged. It explains the significance of meteorological aspects and their influences on air pollutants emitted in the outdoor atmosphere. Prevailing winds and atmospheric stability are the two major factors that determine the dispersion of the pollutants. In this chapter, a brief outline is presented on composition and structure of atmosphere, and its processes such as radiation through the atmosphere, winds, global circulation, and atmospheric stability. Mixing height and ventilation coefficients are explained. The prediction of air quality using Gaussian dispersion model with the input of data of emission and meteorology is also explained.

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a serious public health issue for the United States. While there is a growing body of evidence that climate change will partially counter the effectiveness of future precursor emission reductions to reduce ozone (O3) air pollution, the links between PM and climate change are more complex and less understood. This paper discusses what we currently understand about the potential sensitivity of PM episodes to climate-change-related shifts in air pollution meteorology, in the broader context of the emissions and atmospheric chemistry drivers of PM. For example, initial studies have focused largely on annual average concentrations of inorganic aerosol species. However, the potential for future changes in the occurrence of PM episodes, and their underlying meteorological drivers, are likely more important to understand and remain highly uncertain. In addition, a number of other poorly understood factors interact with these likely critical meteorological changes. These in...

[1] We conducted a first-order sensitivity analysis to investigate ozone responses to precursor emissions and source contributions (local versus upwind) for California's San Joaquin Valley (SJV) under four distinct meteorology conditions of summer 2000 using a three-dimensional photochemical transport model. Ozone-limiting reagents, nitrogen oxides (NOx), or anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (AVOCs) and their transition regime were determined from ozone sensitivity coefficients and delineated spatially at high-ozone locations in the SJV. In general, AVOC-limited areas were located near urban centers, while NOx-limited areas were located farther downwind. However, the spatial extent of AVOC-limited areas varied with meteorology. Meteorological dependence of predominant ozone-limiting precursors was found to vary significantly among different subregions within the SJV. Specifically, weaker dependences were identified for regions of the southern SJV located farther away from emission sources, where ozone chemistry was mostly limited by NOx for the episodes considered. Stronger dependences were identified for the central and northern SJV, where ozone chemistry can be limited by NOx or AVOC depending on meteorology. Source contributions to ozone sensitivities in the SJV were also investigated. Local sources were important for the eastern side of the central SJV, while upwind sources were also important (from ~40% to more than 50% of the total ozone sensitivities) for the western side of the valley, except for the most stagnant episode. Different contributing source regions were identified for the same VOC-limited areas in the northern SJV, and these depended on the flow characteristics. The predominant ozone-limiting reagent was found to exhibit less dependence on meteorology in the central and southern SJV as the baseline NOx emissions were reduced, ultimately causing ozone formation to be limited by NOx. In contrast, the VOC-limited areas in the northern SJV continued to be influenced by meteorology for two of the episodes.

1Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China 2Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms and School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73072, USA 3Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China 4I.M. System Group, NOAA/NCEP/Environmental Modeling Center, College Park, MD 20740, USA 5Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA 6Karlsruher Institut fur Technologie (KIT), IMK-IFU, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 7Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China

The tenth in a continuing series of joint conferences between the American Meteorological Society and the Air and Waste Management Association on meteorological aspects of air pollution was held 11–16 January 1998 in Phoenix, Arizona. Diverse topics in air dispersion modeling, boundary layer meteorology, cloud physics, atmospheric chemistry, fluid mechanics, and engineering were presented at the conference. A summary of the presentations made at the conference is provided.

Conditions for stagnation, recirculation and ventilation potential of the atmosphere were studied in five argentine cities: Resistencia, Cordoba, Buenos Aires, Mar del Plata and Comodoro Rivadavia, located in different regions of the country. Wind run and recirculation factors were calculated for a 24-h transport time using 2 years of hourly surface measurements of wind speed and direction. The largest stagnation frequency (45% of the time) was observed in Resistencia, located in the northeastern part of the country, in an area where winds are weak. The least frequency of stagnations (2%) was observed in Comodoro Rivadavia, in the southern region of the country, a region dominated by strong westerly winds. Comodoro Rivadavia and Cordoba registered the largest frequency of recirculations. Comodoro Rivadavia exposed to sea–land breezes and Cordoba, located on a complex terrain area and exposed to local circulations, experienced recirculation events during 10% of the time. Good atmospheric ventilation occurs when a high value of wind run and a low value of the recirculation factor are observed and it can be associated with the atmosphere's capacity to replace polluted air with clean air. Ventilation events occurred 58% of the time at Comodoro Rivadavia, 52% at Mar del Plata, 40% at Buenos Aires, 35% at Cordoba and 18% at Resistencia. In general, stagnation was more frequently observed during autumn and winter, recirculation during spring and summer and good ventilation conditions occurred during spring.

The Department of Environment Affairs (DEA) recently (December 2012) published, for public comment, guidelines for regulatory air quality modelling, including guidance on modelling input requirements, and protocols and procedures to be followed to ensure comparability of results. Due to the relative scarcity of site- representative meteorology, the proposed Regulations propose mainly qualitative criteria for the acceptable use of alternative meteorology, that is meteorology representative of the site but not local to it. Modellers are also not required to validate their modelling but are required to use ambient air quality measurements to evaluate modelling results but only if these measurements are available. We explore the comparability in modelled concentrations when using different sets of surface and upper air data, using a case study of SO emissions from a large stationary source (an oil refinery), 2 and compare AERMOD modelled concentrations against monitored values. Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) surface data, 14km from the refinery, differed significantly from that of local meteorological stations. AERMOD modelled SO concentrations based on CTIA surface and upper air data differed significantly from those based on local (Table View) data. Good agreement with monitored ambient concentrations and is achieved using the combination of local (Table View) surface meteorology and Lakes Environment's Upper Air Estimator using both Table View and CTIA surface data to estimate mixing heights

The Eighth Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology with the Air and Waste Management Association was held in conjunction with the AMS 74th Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tenness...

The Planetary Boundary Layer plays an important role in air pollution meteorology and in fixing the Stack height of major air-polluting industries, including the super thermal power plants. In India a super thermal power plant is being set up at Yamunanagar (30·1° N, 77·33 ° E) and it has been studied using an acoustic sounder with a stack height of 220 m which would be the optimum height to keep the physical stack above surface based inversions for 80 per cent of the time and the elevated inversions for 50 per cent of time above. However, the hot plume rise would inject any pollutants above the surface based inversions for 95 per cent of the time

Application of acoustic sounders (sodars) to study the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) began in the early 1970s. During the last two decades the scope of sodars applications enlarged considerably. The proceedings of eleven symposia of the International Society for Remote Acoustic Sensing of the Atmosphere and Oceans (ISARS) are a unique collection of papers, where all directions of the sodar use since 1981 are presented. In this paper, a review of sodar applications to atmospheric research is presented based on materials published in these proceedings in the following fields: conditions of microwave and light propagation; regional climatology of the ABL; air pollution meteorology and weather forecast; mesoscale phenomena under stable and unstable stratification; micrometeorology; peculiarities of the ABL in remote and complex terrain.

SODAR-RASS systems are progressively used for a large number of applications especially in air pollution meteorology. Both quantitative and qualitative information on the atmospheric structure parameters can be obtained with reasonable accuracy. Among others, the mixing height of the atmosphere, the wind and temperature field and the stability class can be determined. This paper studies correlations between certain profilometer-produced estimates of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) characteristics and urban air pollution patterns incorporating collected environmental data in Athens, Greece. The recorded air pollution episodes, considering both primary emitted and photochemically produced pollutants, were analyzed along side the ABL characteristics determined by a SODAR-RASS profilometer operating close to the center of the city. First results indicated that sufficiently good correlation exists between relevant profilometer ABL estimates, (e.g. Zi) and the patterns of air pollution encountered over the city.

An overview of the key scientific results presented at the 10th Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology.

Most air pollution phenomena occur in the lower part of the atmosphere called the planetary boundary layer, or PBL. The PBL (which is sometimes called the friction layer) is defined as “the region in which the atmosphere experiences surface effects through vertical exchanges of momentum, heat and moisture” (Panofsky and Dutton, 1984).

The application of ground-based remote-sensing systems for monitoring those meteorological parameters of importance in urban air pollution is discussed. Typical system considerations include an analysis of site characteristics and sensor location. Examples of how remote-sensing systems might be applied to air pollution meteorology are given.

The air pollution meteorology program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), administered by personnel from EPA and by personnel on assignment to EPA from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is described. The program consists of two general areas of activity: research activities aimed at defining and describing meteorological factors of prime importance to air pollution control and abatement; operational support activities which apply meteorological principles to air pollution control programs. Current research activities on air quality simulation modeling, the Regional Air Pollution Study in the St. Louis area, geophysical studies, and air pollution potential climatology are reviewed.

Insights from dendrochronology have provided a new seasonal predictor for air pollution meteorology. In the San Francisco Bay Area summer ozone excesses over the federal ozone standard are correlated (correlation coefficient r = .87) with precipitation for the two preceding winters, a factor related to tree-ring width in a precipitation-stressed climate. The hypothesis that reactive hydrocarbon emissions from vegetative biomass affects these ozone excesses was supported by a similar correlation between summer hydrocarbon average maximums and the two-winter precipitation factor, reaching r = .88 at suburban stations. A weak tendency for hot summers to follow wet winters (in 16 years of California data) explains only a minor part of the ozone-rain relationship in multiple correlations.

A ground-based 5-mm wavelength radiometer, named the Radiometric Thermasonde, has been developed. Typical vertical temperature profiles, derived from a recently developed radiometric data processing technique, are compared with profiles measured simultaneously by conventional techniques. Two years of performance testing of the operational prototype Thermasonde have demonstrated the feasibility of using radiometric remote probing techniques to describe thermal stability conditions within the first 1.5–2.0 km above the surface, during fair weather conditions. Preliminary tests indicate that temperature profiles derived from the Thermasonde can provide useful information, particularly for air pollution meteorology, for describing dispersion characteristics within the planetary boundary layer. The evaluation of a preliminary data reduction technique is described.

First, the atmospheric transport equations for citywide particulate air pollution are stated and methods for the numerical evaluation of each term are discussed. Next, the role of the several transport mechanisms in producing the observed daily air pollution cycle in Denver and analyzed. Finally, problems of concentration of pollution within Denver and the onset and termination of pollution episodes are described.

This annotated bibliography was prepared for the purpose of directing interested persons to some of the more helpful references in the field of air pollution meteorology. It obviously is not a complete listing. The reader who requires more information is directed to the references in the articles listed.

Hourly surface wind-speed observations recorded over 2 yrs, at 16 Weather Bureau Airport Stations were studied to establish relationships between average daily speeds and the frequencies of individual hourly speeds. Only days with no precipitation were considered. Although the results of the study are intended for use in air pollution meteorology, they are of general interest to synoptic meteorologists.

The main goals of environmental assessment are to provide answers to one or both of the following questions: What is the current state of the atmosphere in the area of concern? What changes in the state of the atmosphere are likely to result from certain actions that man might take? It follows that the principal activities in environmental assessment are (1) observation and (2) prediction. Observational activities must be considered of primary importance, because even predictions depend upon observations for input information and for techniques evaluation.

One of the natural defences of living organisms against the effects of toxic air pollutants is the great capacity of the atmosphere to dilute and in many cases subsequently to rid itself of these materials. The mechanisms which ensure that dilution is sufficient to enable life to continue are the wind and atmospheric turbulence.

An air pollution ecosystem is shown schematically in Figure 1. The size of the ecosystem may be as small as a village or as large as the world. In all cases, the atmosphere is an integral component, transporting substances from sources to receptors and, on most occasions, diluting the pollution to acceptable levels. Dispersion rates are so Open image in new window variable from place to place and from time to time, however, that the meteorological part of the ecosystem requires special study. Sometimes the natural ventilation provided by the atmosphere is very limited, and air quality deteriorates greatly. On other occasions the pollution mixes thoroughly through a very large volume of air.

The paper gives a brief introduction to air pollution meteorology with particular emphasis on the description of short-range dispersion from single sources. Industrial sites are normally not chosen on the basis of air pollution criteria. However, air pollution problems may be avoided to some extent, if meteorological, climatological, topographic, and aerodynamic factors are taken into account in the design and location of industrial stacks.

This paper describes an agent framework to support spatial data mining of air pollution data. A Web-based solution, APMF (Air Pollution Mining Framework), is developed to investigate the effect of meteorological and air pollutant elements on air pollution. It makes use of three types of agents: collect agents, coordinate agents and query/mining agents. Query/mining agents interact with the user, receive user queries and mining requests, and deliver the results. Coordinate agents help to prepare the data resources for the querying tasks. Collect agents provide access to a heterogeneous collection of Web sources. In order to standardize data exchanges and query/mining process descriptions, an XML-based language, DQML, is developed. A prototype of the APMF is implemented with a Java servlet and JavaLite.