10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Community-Level Spatial Mapping of Ultrafine Particle Number Concentration
PRADEEP S. PRATHIBHA, Ray Yeager, Aruni Bhatnagar, Jason S. Su, Jay R. Turner, Washington University in St. Louis
Abstract Number: 1454 Working Group: Aerosol Exposure
Abstract The Green Heart Project is a prospective study examining linkages between urban vegetation and cardiovascular health. This association could be mediated by several factors, including the effect of vegetation on local air quality. The study is being conducted in Louisville, KY, where a 1900-acre region has been chosen for long-term monitoring of major urban air pollutants. A 575-acre contiguous region within the domain serves as the intervention area where mature vegetation selected based on ecological compatibility and pollutant abatement characteristics will be installed for near-road as well as widespread neighborhood-scale ‘greening’. The remainder of the study domain serves as the non-intervention (control) area. As part of this study, we are estimating residential level exposure to ambient air pollution with measurements being conducted in the intervention and control areas both before (baseline) and after planting.
To date, pilot studies have been conducted in the control and intervention areas using a mobile platform with ultrafine particle (UFP) number concentration measured at one-second time resolution. An interstate highway with ~4 m high noise barrier bisects the study domain, and rush hour UFP concentrations <10 m downwind of the barrier were up to 45 times greater than background levels. Consistent with previous studies, UFP concentrations returned to background levels within a short distance (<150 m) of the highway. Measurements are also conducted along major arterial roadways and residential streets, and repeated under varying traffic and dispersion conditions. In spring 2018, baseline measurements will expand to include black carbon (BC) and CO2 on the mobile platform and NOx (NO + NO2) through a time-integrated passive sampler network; additional parameters will be added as the study progresses. A vegetation planting strategy informed by the baseline measurements will be implemented in fall 2018; post-intervention air quality measurements will be conducted thereafter.