Engineering Commons^™

Assessing Public Health Benefits Of Replacing Freight Trucks With Cargo Cycles In Last Leg Delivery Trips In Urban Centers, Jennifer C. Hartle, Ossama (Sam) A. Elrahman, Cara Wang, Daniel A. Rodriguez, Yue Ding, Matt Mcgahan

Mineta Transportation Institute

Increased urbanization, population growth, and demand for time-sensitive deliveries means increased freight movement in cities, which contributes to emissions, noise, and safety concerns. One innovative mode gaining widespread attention for urban deliveries is cargo cycles—bicycles adapted for freight delivery. Despite the recognized potential and possible success of transporting at least 25% of freight via cycle, research remains limited. This research investigates the potential of cargo cycle delivery for last mile freight in Oakland, California, with a focus on the West Oakland neighborhood. The data collection included interviews, focus groups, vehicle field observation and counts, and traffic simulation modeling. The traffic …

Towards Creating Smart Cities In Nepal, Ambika P. Adhikari, Keshav Bhattarai

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Many urban centers in the world are seeking to become smart cities. Nepali city leaders are also aspiring to make their cities smart. A smart city basically has clever improvements made in three sectors of its operations: technological, human, and institutional. Globally, many cities have recently made impressive enhancements in at least one or more of these areas. Nepal’s National Planning Commission (NPC) in 2016 had released a concept paper on smart cities for Nepal, defining smart cities as sustainable, information and technology-based, with high quality services and replicable (NPC 2016). As most Nepali cities still operate with limited infrastructure, …

Household Income And Air Pollution At Public Schools In The United States, Katyland Facas, Kristina Wagstrom

Honors Scholar Theses

Poor air quality at schools may negatively impact students’ academic performance.1 2 3 In this study we look at the relationship between ambient, outdoor air quality and student socioeconomic status at United States public schools. We used free and reduced lunch eligibility, as part of the USDA’s National School Lunch Program, as an indicator of household income. We focus on nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns (PM2.5). We used ambient pollutant concentration estimates at census block group resolution (Kim et al.) as the outdoor air pollution concentration at each school.4 We found a positive …

Global Air Quality Trekkers: Nandi Clean Kitchen Study, Samantha Dykhuis, Stephanie Schiavo, Avalin Senefeld

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Indoor air pollution is a widespread environmental health challenge sub-Saharan Africa and is the leading cause of premature death in many sub-Saharan African countries. This pollution is primarily caused by the burning of biomass fuels inside an enclosed kitchen in order to provide heat for cooking. Global Air Quality Trekkers is an undergraduate engineering team within the EPICS department at Purdue that began in fall 2016. Our objective is to create a kitchen design that utilizes natural ventilation to mitigate the amount of air pollutants present in these kitchens, specifically in the Nandi community of Western Kenya. This year, our …

Understanding Air Pollutants And Meteorology Interactions Using Chemical Transport Models, Pengfei Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Air pollution is a worldwide threat to human health and ecosystems, especially in developing countries. After being emitted to the atmosphere, air pollutant concentrations are determined by chemical and physical processes including transport, transformation, and deposition, which are largely affected by meteorological variations. In turn, pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) affect meteorology by impacting solar radiation and cloud condensation processes. Thus, it is important and necessary to understand the interactions between air pollutants and meteorology for better designing effective air pollution control strategies and forecasting weather. In this study, two chemical transport models (CTMs) are applied …

A Conceptual Model For Integrating Community Health In Managing Remediation Of West Virginia And Central Appalachia’S Abandoned Coal Mines, Sarah J. Surber

Applied Safety & Technology Faculty Research

The decline of the coal industry and the associated ongoing bankruptcies of large coal companies create a serious concern that surface coal mining states may inherit large-scale liabilities for unremediated coal mines. These states may also have limited funding to remediate all abandoned mines at once, requiring prioritization of the cleanup of coal mines. In West Virginia and central Appalachia, these coal mines are often located in areas ranked as having poor public health outcomes, poor health factors, and extremely low-socioeconomic status. Epidemiological research has associated poor health outcomes for residents located near coal mining. Coal mine remediation presents an …

Kentucky's Environmental Future, Fall/Winter 2004, Issue 9

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Urban Air Quality, Spring/Summer 2002, Issue 6

Sustain Magazine

No abstract provided.

Health Benefits From Upgrading Public Buses For Cleaner Air: A Case Study Of Clark County, Nevada And The United States, John O. Olawepo, L.-W. Antony Chen

Public Health Faculty Publications

Public transit buses, which move more than 5 billion passengers annually in the United States (U.S.), can contribute substantially to the environmental health burden through emitted air pollutants. As a leader in transforming to cleaner bus fleets, the Regional Transport Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) has been transitioning from diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG) transit buses since 1999. By 2017, ~75% of RTC’s buses operating in Clark County, Nevada were CNG-powered. This study assesses the health benefits of the venture using the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Co-Benefits Risk Assessment (COBRA) model, considering the emission and exposure changes from …

The Effect Of Particles Pm10 And Pm2.5 In Dust Emission Of Urban Infrastructure From Thermal Power Plant Technology Kosovo, Afrim Syla

International Journal of Business and Technology

Airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 microns (referred to as PM10) is one of the six criteria pollutants used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicator of air quality. During the last decade, the health effects of urban aerosols have become a major concern for the society.

The main environmental problems in Kosovo include all issues related to water supply and sanitation system, air quality, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. The major problem remains high pollutions, energy losses and low collection efficiency. The awareness of environmental issues among the general public is poor. Air quality …

Assessing Spatiotemporal Exposures To Transportation Pollutants In Near-Road Communities Using Aermod, Mayra Consuelo Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Traffic-related air pollution has a profound impact on human health especially for residents living in near-road communities which are constantly exposed these air pollutants. A near-road community is expected to observe significant spatial and temporal variations in pollutant concentrations, as air pollution resulting from emissions from major highways decreases rapidly from the highway. This research conducted on-site traffic and air quality measurements on four critical transportations related air pollutants, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3, as well as emission and air dispersion modeling of transportation emission impacts in a near-road community. Using numerical models provided by the EPA, integrated with field measurements …

Caracterización De Bioaerosoles Presentes En Las Áreas Cercanas A Las Estaciones De La Red De Monitoreo De La Calidad Del Aire De La Zona Industrial De Bogotá, Angie Lorena Díaz Molina, Lina Fernanda Hernández Coca

Ingeniería Ambiental y Sanitaria

La contaminación atmosférica como problema ambiental, social y de salud pública es ampliamente conocida y relacionada con fuentes de tipo industrial, móviles o puntuales. Su control y monitoreo se reduce a la obtención de valores de concentraciones emitidas de los contaminantes criterio (SO2, NOx, PM10 y PM2.5). No obstante, también existe la contaminación de tipo biológico: Los bioaerosoles (partículas sólidas o líquidas, que corresponden a partículas de origen natural vivo como granos de polen, esporas, bacterias, hongos, entre otros) presentes en la atmósfera se encuentran relacionados a producción y transmisión de virus y enfermedades infecciosas respiratorias. Sin embargo, la información …

Purdue Air Sense: A Methodology For Improving The Accuracy Of Ambient Aerosol Mass Concentration And Size Distribution Measurement With Low-Cost Optical Sensing Techniques, Rishabh Ramsisaria, Satya Sundar Patra, Brandon Emil Boor

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

There is a global lack of a means for monitoring air pollutant levels at a local level due to expensive and bulky instrument requirements. It is important to monitor toxic gas levels, as well as particulate matter levels, in the atmosphere to study their effects on human health and to further develop city- and community-level air pollution solutions. In this study, with the means of a Raspberry Pi, low-cost Alphasense Optical Particle Counter and gas sensors, and methodical calibration techniques, we built a portable 3-D printed module powered by clean electricity generated by an on-board Voltaic solar cell that measures …

Phytoforensics: Trees As Bioindicators Of Potential Indoor Exposure Via Vapor Intrusion, Jordan L. Wilson, V. A. Samaranayake, Matt A. Limmer, Joel Gerard Burken

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Human exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) via vapor intrusion (VI) is an emerging public health concern with notable detrimental impacts on public health. Phytoforensics, plant sampling to semi-quantitatively delineate subsurface contamination, provides a potential non-invasive screening approach to detect VI potential, and plant sampling is effective and also time- and cost-efficient. Existing VI assessment methods are time- and resource-intensive, invasive, and require access into residential and commercial buildings to drill holes through basement slabs to install sampling ports or require substantial equipment to install groundwater or soil vapor sampling outside the home. Tree-core samples collected in 2 days at …

The Effect Of Particles Pm10 And Pm2.5 In Dust Emission Of Urban Infrastructure From Thermal Power Plant Technology Kosovo, Afrim Syla

UBT International Conference

Airborne particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 10 microns (referred to as PM10) is one of the six criteria pollutants used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as indicator of air quality. During the last decade, the health effects of urban aerosols have become a major concern for the society.

The main environmental problems in Kosovo include all issues related to water supply and sanitation system, air quality, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. The major problem remains high pollutions, energy losses and low collection efficiency. The awareness of environmental issues among the general public is poor. Air quality …

Characterization Of Jet Fuel Combustion Emissions During A C-130 Aeromedical Evacuation Engines Running Onload, Michelle L. Page

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to characterize jet fuel combustion emissions (JFCE) in an occupational setting. Prior research demonstrated that aircraft emit hazardous species, especially at engine start-up and ground idle. Complaints of eye, nose, and throat irritation from occupational exposures near aircraft exist. In this study JFCE were tested during an aeromedical evacuation engines running patient onload (ERO) on a C-130 Hercules at the 179^th Airlift Wing, Mansfield-Lahm Air National Guard. Ultrafine particles, VOC, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide (CO), sulfuric acid, and metals were sampled simultaneously in approximate crew and patient breathing zones. Testing methods were portable condensation …

Purdue Airsense: An Affordable Way To Measure And Study Air Pollution, Stephane Junior Nouafo Wanko, Shadi Tariq Azouz, Ruihang Du, Brandon Boor, Greg Michalski

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Air pollution is a major health hazard worldwide, accounting for one-eighth of all deaths in 2012 (World Health Organization). Globally, there is a severe lack of ground-based spatiotemporal monitoring of gaseous and particulate air pollutants, particularly in Africa, South and Central America, and the Middle East. This is in great part due to the high costs of air quality instrumentation that meet accuracy and reliability criteria set by monitoring agencies. The air quality data that is available is often not presented to the public in a user-friendly manner. Taking advantage of recent developments in low-cost sensing technologies, an integrated sensor …

Assessing Public Health Burden Associated With Exposure To Ambient Black Carbon In The United States, Ying Li, Daven K. Henze, Darby Jack, Barron H. Henderson, Patrick L. Kinney

Ying Li

Black carbon (BC) is a significant component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, which has been linked to a series of adverse health effects, in particular premature mortality. Recent scientific research indicates that BC also plays an important role in climate change. Therefore, controlling black carbon emissions provides an opportunity for a double dividend. This study quantifies the national burden of mortality and morbidity attributable to exposure to ambient BC in the United States (US). We use GEOS–Chem, a global 3-D model of atmospheric composition to estimate the 2010 annual average BC levels at 0.5 x 0.667° resolution, and …

Sustainable Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System, Poojitha Aleti

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Deterioration of air quality is a growing concern in the world. Air pollution causes serious health problems and also can sometimes result in death. In order to assess air quality, long term and continuous monitoring of pollutant levels in ambient air are needed, such monitoring is often expensive, cumbersome, and resource intensive and so the monitoring programs often fail to succeed.

This research focused on designing an ambient air monitoring system by integrating (1) low-cost sensor with a battery, (2) repurposed materials to fabricate all-weather housing for air monitors, and (3) electronics needed to download the data to an on-site …

Assessing Public Health Burden Associated With Exposure To Ambient Black Carbon In The United States, Ying Li, Daven K. Henze, Darby Jack, Barron H. Henderson, Patrick L. Kinney

ETSU Faculty Works

Black carbon (BC) is a significant component of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) air pollution, which has been linked to a series of adverse health effects, in particular premature mortality. Recent scientific research indicates that BC also plays an important role in climate change. Therefore, controlling black carbon emissions provides an opportunity for a double dividend. This study quantifies the national burden of mortality and morbidity attributable to exposure to ambient BC in the United States (US). We use GEOS–Chem, a global 3-D model of atmospheric composition to estimate the 2010 annual average BC levels at 0.5 x 0.667° …

Maximizing The Spatial Representativeness Of No2 Monitoring Data Using A Combination Of Local Wind-Based Sectoral Division And Seasonal And Diurnal Correction Factors, Aoife Donnelly, Owen Naughton, Bruce Misstear, Brian Broderick

Articles

This article describes a new methodology for increasing the spatial representativeness of individual monitoring sites. Air pollution levels at a given point are influenced by emission sources in the immediate vicinity. Since emission sources are rarely uniformly distributed around a site, concentration levels will inevitably be most affected by the sources in the prevailing upwind direction. The methodology provides a means of capturing this effect and providing additional information regarding source/pollution relationships. The methodology allows for the division of the air quality data from a given monitoring site into a number of sectors or wedges based on wind direction and …

Environmental Systems Analysis - Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology, Hong Kong, Ng Tze Ling

All ECSTATIC Materials

Undergraduate course in environmental systems analysis offered at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong in Fall 2015.

Household Bush Burning Practice And Related Respiratory Symptoms In Grenada, The Caribbean, Muge Akpinar-Elci, Kareem Coomansingh, James Blando, Larissa Mark

Center for Global Health Publications

The practice of household bush burning in Grenada occurs frequently, though it is not well documented. The effects of the emissions from bush burning on respiratory health of the population have never been researched in Grenada. The goal of the study was to measure the frequency of bush burning and to investigate the relationship between bush burning practice and respiratory health in Grenada. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was used to gather information from households in the parishes of St. George and St. Andrew, Grenada. In total, 225 participants were recruited and their responses on household bush burning and …

Obliczenia Rozprzestrzeniania Się Pyłu Drobnego W Powietrzu Atmosferycznym Z Wykorzystaniem Dyfuzyjnych Modeli Gaussa, Robert Oleniacz, Mateusz Rzeszutek

Robert Oleniacz

The chapter presents a comparison of results of modelling concentrations of fine dust (suspended dust PM10) in the air with the use of two diffusion models: the Gaussian plume model (used commonly in Poland), and the Gaussian puff model CALPUFF (used significantly less frequently). It indicates discrepancies in obtained results of calculations for point emitters taking into consideration three dimensional options (with the following heights: 20, 40 and 60 m and diameters of respectively: 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 m). For particular variants, errors were visualised, resulting from use of the simple Gaussian plume model in place of the advanced CALPUFF …

Environmental Systems Engineering - Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Arthur Mcgarity

All ECSTATIC Materials

Course in environmental systems engineering offered at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore in Spring 2015.

Zastosowanie Systemu Modeli Calmet/Calpuff O Wysokiej Rozdzielczości Do Oceny Wpływu Na Jakość Powietrza Spalarni Odpadów Komunalnych W Krakowie, Mateusz Rzeszutek, Robert Oleniacz

Robert Oleniacz

In this paper there was presented a comprehensive assessment of the impact on air for the Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) plant in Krakow with the planned start of operation by the end of 2015. Construction of the plant started in autumn 2013 in the district of Nowa Huta in Krakow. Modeling of the spread of pollutants in ambient air was conducted using an advanced multi-layer cloud CALPUFF Gaussian model, whose algorithms include, among other things, diversity of terrain. Spatial data of land area in the admitted computational domain are obtained from digital terrain model Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM3) …

Ocena Wpływu Na Jakość Powietrza Procesu Przygotowania Obszaru Wiertni Przy Poszukiwaniach Gazu Z Łupków, Marek Bogacki, Robert Oleniacz, Monika Janicka

Robert Oleniacz

This chapter presents the model calculation results of the level of concentration of air pollutants emitted during works related to the preparation of the drilling pad for the shale gas exploration. The most significant emission sources located in the drilling pad, including rig access roads, paved and unpaved, were analyzed. The emission field was defined by the parameterization of various sources/processes, taking into account the technical, technological, organizational and environmental conditions. The calculations of the pollutants dispersion in the air were carried out using the Gaussian reference model. The results of numerical calculations showed that the only substance likely to …

Ocena Wpływu Rozdzielczości Siatki Obliczeniowej Na Wyniki Modelowania Rozprzestrzeniania Się Zanieczyszczeń W Powietrzu, Mateusz Rzeszutek, Robert Oleniacz, Marian Mazur

Robert Oleniacz

In this study are presented the results of the assessment of the impact of grid resolution on the results of computational modeling of the dispersion of air pollutants. Calculations were performed using Gaussian, non-stationary puff model CALPUFF. Four different grids resolution were analyzed. Networks were established on the basis of SRTM3 terrain and land cover classes of CLC, 2006. Analysis of results of spatial distribution of concentrations of air pollutants obtained in a regular computing grid was performed using statistical indicators recommended by the U.S. EPA. The study shows the applicability of particular computational grids in the system modeling transport …

Determination Of Optimal Spatial Databases For The Area Of Poland To The Calculation Of Air Pollutant Dispersion Using The Calmet/Calpuff Model, Robert Oleniacz, Mateusz Rzeszutek

Robert Oleniacz

The paper presents a methodology for the preparation of three-dimensional spatial data and land use data for the purpose of modeling pollutant dispersion in the ambient air using a group of geophysical preprocessors of the CALMET/CALPUFF modeling system and the GIS software. Some space information data sources available to Poland were specified and their characteristics and availability were discussed. Particular attention was turned to the SRTM3 and GTOPO30 elevation data as well as the CLC2006 and GLCC land use data, for the preparation of computational grids of different resolutions. Groups of programs which can be used in order to form …

Slides: Public Health Research On Near O&G Development: Challenges And Needs, John L. Adgate

Water and Air Quality Issues in Oil and Gas Development: The Evolving Framework of Regulation and Management (Martz Summer Conference, June 5-6)

Presenter: John L. Adgate, PhD, MSPH, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Colorado

19 slides