Estimating influences of urbanizations on meteorology and air quality of a Central Business District in Shanghai, China

Two sensitivity simulations were performed and compared by model in order to understand how high-rise buildings influence meteorology and air quality in the Lujiazui Central Business District (CBD) of Shanghai, China. The coupled meteorological-photochemical model, Metphomod, was used, with a 500-m horizontal resolution and the observations and the simulated results generally agreed well. The scheme considering buildings within roughness could reduce uncertainties in the simulated meteorological conditions and concentrations of air pollutants. The high-rise buildings decreased wind speeds by 0.5–4 m/s, increased temperatures by up to 1 °C and turbulent kinetic energy by 1–2 J/m3 in the Lujiazui CBD. The changes in meteorological conditions also increased NO by about 2–5 %. However, the complex meteorological changes of higher temperatures and stronger turbulent kinetic energy, coupled with changes of precursors’ concentrations in the Lujiazui CBD, decreased O3 concentrations by up to 6 % somewhere, while increasing O3 formation by up to 2 % in downwind areas. The results suggested that it was necessary to include high-rise building parameters in models when estimating the meteorology and diagnosing air pollution of highly urbanized regions.