Ecology

Data on Meteorology Reported by Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

  2012 JUL 13 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Ecology, Environment & Conservation -- Current study results on Meteorology have been published. According to news reporting from Karlsruhe, Germany, by VerticalNews journalists, researchers stated "This study summarizes the effects of avenues of trees in urban street canyons on traffic pollutant dispersion. We describe various wind-tunnel experiments with different tree-avenue models in combination with variations in street-canyon aspect ratio W/H (with W the street-canyon width and H the building height) and approaching wind direction."

  The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research by the authors from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, "Compared to tree-free street canyons, in general, higher pollutant concentrations are found. Avenues of trees do not suppress canyon vortices, although the air ventilation in canyons is hindered significantly. For a perpendicular wind direction, increases in wall-average and wall-maximum concentrations at the leeward canyon wall and decreases in wall-average concentrations at the windward wall are found. For oblique and perpendicular wind directions, increases at both canyon walls are obtained. The strongest effects of avenues of trees on traffic pollutant dispersion are observed for oblique wind directions for which also the largest concentrations at the canyon walls are found. Thus, the prevailing assumption that attributes the most harmful dispersion conditions to a perpendicular wind direction does not hold for street canyons with avenues of trees."

  According to the news reporters, the researchers concluded: "Furthermore, following dimensional analysis, an estimate of the normalized wall-maximum traffic pollutant concentration in street canyons with avenues of trees is derived."

  For more information on this research see: Pollutant Concentrations in Street Canyons of Different Aspect Ratio with Avenues of Trees for Various Wind Directions. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 2012;144(1):41-64. Boundary-Layer Meteorology can be contacted at: Springer, Van Godewijckstraat 30, 3311 Gz Dordrecht, Netherlands. (Springer - www.springer.com; Boundary-Layer Meteorology - www.springerlink.com/content/0006-8314/)

  Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting C. Gromke, Karlsruhe Inst Technol KIT, Inst Hydromech, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany.

  Keywords for this news article include: Europe, Germany, Karlsruhe, Meteorology

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