Air Quality Modeling in Street Canyons of Kolhapur City, Maharashtra, India

摘要

Automobile transport has now become an inherent part of human life, and the negative aspects like air pollution are becoming more and more pronounced. Increased vehicular traffic is leading to deterioration of air quality in streets of Kolhapur city in recent years. It is very important to assess the impact of traffic related air pollution on human health, and to take administrative decisions for improving air quality. In present study, two street canyon models viz. STREET and STREET Box are applied to model the concentration of pollutants. The model results are based on traffic volumes, geometry of study area, and meteorological conditions prevailing in study area. Background values are obtained from National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station at Dabholkar Corner, Kolhapur. Hourly concentration of pollutants like SPM and SO2 are computed using the models and those values are compared against the observed values in the selected street to find out best fit model for conditions existing in Kolhapur. STREET Box model was found to fairly estimate concentration of pollutants while STREET model was found to underestimate concentrations. A more accurate method is required to estimate background concentrations.