Modelling and experimental validation of deposition on vegetation to facilitate urban particulate matter mitigation.

The adverse health effects resulting from exposure to air pollution, such as particulate matter (PM), are becoming more and more prominent. Although emissions are reducing, too high PM concentrations are still expected at locations with high traffic volumes and in so-called street canyons. Urban green has been considered as a potential urban planning solution for improving air quality, especially green walls have a great potential. Vegetation has an influence on air flow patterns and aids in the removal of particulate pollutants from the atmosphere by dry deposition on the leaf surfaces. Both field, wind tunnel and modelling studies (especially CFD) have been complementary used to investigate these effects, however, current deposition models are not able to grasp all mechanisms responsible for deposition and resuspension. This research proposal will address this shortcoming by developing a size-resolved deposition model considering all relevant mechanisms as well as resuspension on plant leaves. The relevant aerodynamic parameters and deposition/resuspension rate of different plant leaf orientations of green wall species will be determined with wind tunnel experiments. These results will serve as input of a model framework at real scale. The model framework will be applied to explore the potential of nature-based systems and eco-technological solutions for urban PM mitigation. This research proposal is very innovative and challenging since it transcends the state of the art.

Keywords:PARTICULATE MATTER

Disciplines:Environmental engineering modelling, Environmental technologies