Roadside vegetation design characteristics that can improve local, near-road air quality
TLDR
The characteristics of roadside vegetation that previous research shows can result in improved local air quality, as well as characteristics that should be avoided in order to protect from unintended increases in nearby concentrations are described.Abstract:
As public health concerns have increased due to the rising number of studies linking adverse health effects with exposures to traffic-related pollution near large roadways, interest in methods to mitigate these exposures have also increased. Several studies have investigated the use of roadside features in reducing near-road air pollution concentrations since this method is often one of the few short-term options available to reduce near-road air pollution. Since roadside vegetation has other potential benefits, the impact of this feature has been of particular interest. The literature has been mixed on whether roadside vegetation reduces nearby pollutant concentrations or whether this feature has no effect or even potentially increases downwind pollutant concentrations. However, these differences in study results highlight key characteristics of the vegetative barrier that can result in pollutant reductions or increase local pollutant levels. This paper describes the characteristics of roadside vegetation that previous research shows can result in improved local air quality, as well as identify characteristics that should be avoided in order to protect from unintended increases in nearby concentrations. These design conditions include height, thickness, coverage, porosity/density, and species characteristics that promote improved air quality. These design considerations can inform highway departments, urban and transportation planners, and developers in understanding how best to preserve existing roadside vegetation or plant vegetative barriers in order to reduce air pollution impacts near transportation facilities.read more
Citations
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Air pollution abatement performances of green infrastructure in open road and built-up street canyon environments – A review
K.V. Abhijith,Prashant Kumar,John Gallagher,John Gallagher,Aonghus McNabola,Richard Baldauf,Francesco Pilla,Brian Broderick,Silvana Di Sabatino,Beatrice Pulvirenti +9 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined published literature on neighbourhood air quality modifications by green interventions and provided a better understanding of the interactions between vegetation and surrounding built-up environments and ascertain means of reducing local air pollution exposure using green infrastructure.
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Journal ArticleDOI
The nexus between air pollution, green infrastructure and human health.
Prashant Kumar,Prashant Kumar,Angela Druckman,John Gallagher,Birgitta Gatersleben,Sarah J. Allison,Theodore S. Eisenman,Uy Hoang,Sarkawt Hama,Arvind Kumar Tiwari,Ashish Sharma,K.V. Abhijith,Deepti Adlakha,Aonghus McNabola,Thomas Astell-Burt,Xiaoqi Feng,Anne C. Skeldon,Simon de Lusignan,Lidia Morawska +18 more
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Urban trees, air quality, and asthma: an interdisciplinary review
Theodore S. Eisenman,Galina Churkina,Sunit Jariwala,Prashanth Kumar,Gina S. Lovasi,Diane E. Pataki,Kate R. Weinberger,Thomas H. Whitlow +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, an interdisciplinary review on urban trees, air quality, and asthma is presented, concluding that there is no scientific consensus that urban trees reduce asthma by improving air quality.
Supporting Information for "Roadside Vegetation Barrier Designs to Mitigate Near-Road Air Pollution Impacts"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluated the performance of the Comprehensive Turbulent Aerosol Dynamics and Gas Chemistry (CTAG) model with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to capture the effects of vegetation barriers on near-road air quality, compared against field data.
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