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To solve the problem of dust production by the caving coal seam on the weather side of a fully mechanized coal face with a large mining height, this study proposes coal cutter onboard dust removal technology for the first time. In this work, taking the 12511 fully mechanized coal face of the Bulianta Coal Mine with a large mining height as an example, a mathematical model was built to study the influence of the onboard dust collector on airflow–dust dispersion pollution and the key technological parameters of the dust collector, and field tests were performed for verification. The results of numerical simulation showed that the dust-carrying airflow, after being blocked by the coal cutter, dispersed in the lateral direction, leading to an increase of airflow velocity on the walkway side to 1.75 m s −1 , and a dust concentration as high as 2500 mg m −3 . At the same time, an airflow vortex area with the largest diameter of 3 m was formed near the surface of the coal cutter body, which attracted dust to gather there. However, after the application of the onboard dust removal technology, the lateral dispersion of dust-carrying airflow weakened, and the dust concentration on the walkway side was reduced to below 600 mg m −3 . In addition, this technology also obviously reduced the influence scope of the vortex and the dust concentration area. It was also found that the installation height of the suction inlet of the dust collector and the air capacity had a large impact on the dust suppression efficiency. The optimum dust suppression efficiency was reached at an installation height of 1.15 m and air capacity of 120 m 3 min −1 . Field test verification demonstrated that the dust concentration on the walkway side could be reduced by as much as 49.3% with the application of the proposed onboard dust removal technology.

The present study investigated the buoyant wind-driven pollutant plume dispersion and recirculation behaviour inside urban street canyons formed by buildings with wedge-shaped roofs. Numerical modelling was performed using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) large eddy simulation (LES). Street canyon models with a strongly buoyant fire source located on the street and environmental winds perpendicular to the canyon were developed using the fire dynamics simulator (FDS). The complex interaction of buoyancy and wind, as well as their combined effects on the pollutant plume dispersion, was simulated inside the urban street canyon. The results showed that the flow pattern of pollutant plume dispersion inside the street canyon with increasing wind speed for different roof inclination angles could be divided into three regimes, including a recirculation regime, a quasi-recirculation regime and a non-recirculation regime. The pollutant levels in the street canyon, as indexed by carbon monoxide (CO) concentration, increased under the recirculation regime. For the quasi-recirculation regime, however, the leeward buildings primarily suffered from the higher pollutant levels. The critical wind speed needed to trigger recirculation was analysed for various roof inclination angles. A correlation was proposed to predict the critical wind speed of various wedge-shaped roof angles for recirculation regime and quasi-recirculation regimes.

Atmospheric pollution is a critical issue in public health systems. The simulation of atmospheric pollution dispersion in urban blocks, using CFD, faces several challenges, including the complexity and inefficiency of existing CFD software, time-consuming construction of CFD urban block geometry, and limited visualization and analysis capabilities of simulation outputs. To address these challenges, we have developed a prototype system that couples 3DGIS and CFD for simulating, visualizing, and analyzing atmospheric pollution dispersion. Specifically, a parallel algorithm for coordinate transformation was designed, and the relevant commands were encapsulated to automate the construction of geometry and meshing required for CFD simulations of urban blocks. Additionally, the Fluent-based command flow was parameterized and encapsulated, enabling the automatic generation of model calculation command flow files to simulate atmospheric pollution dispersion. Moreover, multi-angle spatial partitioning and spatiotemporal multidimensional visualization analysis were introduced to achieve an intuitive expression and analysis of CFD simulation results. The result shows that the constructed geometry is correct, and the mesh quality meets requirements with all values above 0.45. CPU and GPU parallel algorithms are 13.3× and 25× faster than serial. Furthermore, our case study demonstrates the developed system’s effectiveness in simulating, visualizing, and analyzing atmospheric pollution dispersion in urban blocks.

The motivation for this work stems from the increased number of high-rise buildings/skyscrapers all over the world, and in London, UK, and hence the necessity to see their effect on the local environment. We concentrate on the mean velocities, Reynolds stresses, turbulent kinetic energies (TKEs) and tracer concentrations. We look at their variations with height at two main locations within the building area, and downstream the buildings. The pollution source is placed at the top of the central building, representing an emission from a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant. We see how a tall building may have a positive effect at the lower levels, but a negative one at the higher levels in terms of pollution levels. Mean velocities at the higher levels (over 60 m in real life) are reduced at both locations (within the building area and downstream it), whilst Reynolds stresses and TKEs increase. However, despite the observed enhanced turbulence at the higher levels, mean concentrations increase, indicating that the mean flow has a greater influence on the dispersion. At the lower levels (Z < 60 m), the presence of a tall building enhanced dispersion (hence lower concentrations) for many of the configurations.

Abstract In recent years, marine, freshwater and terrestrial pollution with microplastics has been discussed extensively, whereas atmospheric microplastic transport has been largely overlooked. Here, we present global simulations of atmospheric transport of microplastic particles produced by road traffic (TWPs – tire wear particles and BWPs – brake wear particles), a major source that can be quantified relatively well. We find a high transport efficiencies of these particles to remote regions. About 34% of the emitted coarse TWPs and 30% of the emitted coarse BWPs (100 kt yr −1 and 40 kt yr −1 respectively) were deposited in the World Ocean. These amounts are of similar magnitude as the total estimated direct and riverine transport of TWPs and fibres to the ocean (64 kt yr −1 ). We suggest that the Arctic may be a particularly sensitive receptor region, where the light-absorbing properties of TWPs and BWPs may also cause accelerated warming and melting of the cryosphere.

The emerging threat of atmospheric microplastic pollution has prompted researchers to study areas previously considered beyond the reach of plastic. Investigating the range of atmospheric microplastic transport is key to understanding the global extent of this problem. While atmospheric microplastics have been discovered in the planetary boundary layer, their occurrence in the free troposphere is relatively unexplored. Confronting this is important because their presence in the free troposphere would facilitate transport over greater distances and thus the potential to reach more distal and remote parts of the planet. Here we show evidence of 0.09-0.66 microplastics particles/m over 4 summer months from the Pic du Midi Observatory at 2877 meters above sea level. These results exhibit true free tropospheric transport of microplastic, and high altitude microplastic particles <50 µm (aerodynamic diameter). Analysis of air/particle history modelling shows intercontinental and trans-oceanic transport of microplastics illustrating the potential for global aerosol microplastic transport.

The lockdown response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused an unprecedented reduction in global economic and transport activity. We test the hypothesis that this has reduced tropospheric and ground-level air pollution concentrations, using satellite data and a network of >10,000 air quality stations. After accounting for the effects of meteorological variability, we find declines in the population-weighted concentration of ground-level nitrogen dioxide (NO₂: 60% with 95% CI 48 to 72%), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5: 31%; 95% CI: 17 to 45%), with marginal increases in ozone (O₃: 4%; 95% CI: −2 to 10%) in 34 countries during lockdown dates up until 15 May. Except for ozone, satellite measurements of the troposphere indicate much smaller reductions, highlighting the spatial variability of pollutant anomalies attributable to complex NOₓ chemistry and long-distance transport of fine particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5). By leveraging Google and Apple mobility data, we find empirical evidence for a link between global vehicle transportation declines and the reduction of ambient NO₂ exposure. While the state of global lockdown is not sustainable, these findings allude to the potential for mitigating public health risk by reducing “business as usual” air pollutant emissions from economic activities. Explore trends here: https://nina.earthengine.app/view/lockdown-pollution.

Although air quality in China has substantially improved since 2013 as a consequence of the clean air action, severe haze events still frequently strike megacities despite strict local emissions reduction efforts. Long-range transport and local accumulation as well as chemical transformation have been deemed as key factors of heavy haze pollution; however, the formation mechanisms of regional long-lasting haze and the physical and chemical connections between different megacities clusters are still poorly understood. Here we present that long-range transport and aerosol–boundary layer feedback may interact rather than act as two isolated processes as traditionally thought by investigating typical regional haze events in northern and eastern China. This interaction can then amplify transboundary air pollution transport over a distance of 1,000 km and boost long-lasting secondary haze from the North China Plain to the Yangtze River delta. Earlier emission reduction before the pollution episodes would provide better air pollution mitigation in both regions. Our results show an amplified transboundary transport of haze by aerosol–boundary layer interaction in China and suggest the importance of coordinated cross-regional emission reduction with a focus on radiatively active species like black carbon. Secondary air pollution events are enhanced in the Yangtze River delta, China, due to the interaction of long-range transport and aerosol–boundary layer feedback, according to a combination of observations and simulations of haze events from 2013 to 2018.

The MIX inventory is developed for the years 2008 and 2010 to support the Model Inter-Comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia) and the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) by a mosaic of up-to-date regional emission inventories. Emissions are estimated for all major anthropogenic sources in 29 countries and regions in Asia. We conducted detailed comparisons of different regional emission inventories and incorporated the best available ones for each region into the mosaic inventory at a uniform spatial and temporal resolution. Emissions are aggregated to five anthropogenic sectors: power, industry, residential, transportation, and agriculture. We estimate the total Asian emissions of 10 species in 2010 as follows: 51.3 Tg SO2, 52.1 Tg NOx, 336.6 Tg CO, 67.0 Tg NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic compounds), 28.8 Tg NH3, 31.7 Tg PM10, 22.7 Tg PM2.5, 3.5 Tg BC, 8.3 Tg OC, and 17.3 Pg CO2. Emissions from China and India dominate the emissions of Asia for most of the species. We also estimated Asian emissions in 2006 using the same methodology of MIX. The relative change rates of Asian emissions for the period of 2006–2010 are estimated as follows: −8.1 % for SO2, +19.2 % for NOx, +3.9 % for CO, +15.5 % for NMVOC, +1.7 % for NH3, −3.4 % for PM10, −1.6 % for PM2.5, +5.5 % for BC, +1.8 % for OC, and +19.9 % for CO2. Model-ready speciated NMVOC emissions for SAPRC-99 and CB05 mechanisms were developed following a profile-assignment approach. Monthly gridded emissions at a spatial resolution of 0.25°  ×  0.25° are developed and can be accessed from http://www.meicmodel.org/dataset-mix.

The mandate of the Task Force Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) is to improve the scientific understanding of the intercontinental air pollution transport, to quantify impacts on human health, vegetation and climate, to identify emission mitigation options across the regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and to guide future policies on these aspects. The harmonization and improvement of regional emission inventories is imperative to obtain consolidated estimates on the formation of global-scale air pollution. An emissions data set has been constructed using regional emission grid maps (annual and monthly) for SO2, NOx, CO, NMVOC, NH3, PM10, PM2.5, BC and OC for the years 2008 and 2010, with the purpose of providing consistent information to global and regional scale modelling efforts. This compilation of different regional gridded inventories - including that of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for USA, the EPA and Environment Canada (for Canada), the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) for Europe, and the Model Inter-comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia III) for China, India and other Asian countries - was gap-filled with the emission grid maps of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGARv4.3) for the rest of the world (mainly South America, Africa, Russia and Oceania). Emissions from seven main categories of human activities (power, industry, residential, agriculture, ground transport, aviation and shipping) were estimated and spatially distributed on a common grid of 0.1 degree 0.1 degree longitude-latitude, to yield monthly, global, sector-specific grid maps for each substance and year. The HTAP_v2.2 air pollutant grid maps are considered to combine latest available regional information within a complete global data set. The disaggregation by sectors, high spatial and temporal resolution and detailed information on the data sources and references used will provide the user the required transparency. Because HTAP_v2.2 contains primarily official and/or widely used regional emission grid maps, it can be recommended as a global baseline emission inventory, which is regionally accepted as a reference and from which different scenarios assessing emission reduction policies at a global scale could start. An analysis of country-specific implied emission factors shows a large difference between industrialised countries and developing countries for acidifying gaseous air pollutant emissions (SO2 and NOx) from the energy and industry sectors. This is not observed for the particulate matter emissions (PM10, PM2.5), which show large differences between countries in the residential sector instead. The per capita emissions of all world countries, classified from low to high income, reveal an increase in level and in variation for gaseous acidifying pollutants, but not for aerosols. For aerosols, an opposite trend is apparent with higher per capita emissions of particulate matter for low income countries.