Mobile Air Quality Studies (MAQS) - an international project

Due to an increasing awareness of the potential hazardousness of air pollutants, new laws, rules and guidelines have recently been implemented globally. In this respect, numerous studies have addressed traffic-related exposure to particulate matter using stationary technology so far. By contrast, only few studies used the advanced technology of mobile exposure analysis. The Mobile Air Quality Study (MAQS) addresses the issue of air pollutant exposure by combining advanced high-granularity spatial-temporal analysis with vehicle-mounted, person-mounted and roadside sensors. The MAQS-platform will be used by international collaborators in order 1) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to road structure, 2) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to traffic density, 3) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to weather conditions, 4) to compare exposure within vehicles between front and back seat (children) positions, and 5) to evaluate "traffic zone"- exposure in relation to non-"traffic zone"-exposure. Primarily, the MAQS-platform will focus on particulate matter. With the establishment of advanced mobile analysis tools, it is planed to extend the analysis to other pollutants including including NO2, SO2, nanoparticles, and ozone

Simulation And Analysis Of Indian Air Traffic

Air Traffic Density In India And The World At Large Is Growing Fast . The Airspace And Air Traffic Management Therefore Need Augmentation Of System Capability Without Compromising Safety . This Report Addresses The Judicious Use Of Simulation Facilities To Predict Present And Futuristic Problems. It Is Intended To Help Service Providers Plan And Come Out With Strategies For Air Traffic Management. "State Of The Art Simulation Facilities Are Also Useful In Training A Team Of Reliable, Safe And Efficient Air Traffic Controllers . The Report Presents Results Of Simulation Of Three International Airports : One Existing In Bangalore, The One Planned At Devanahalli And The One In Cochin . The Problems Addressed Are Those Of Delay Encountered At The Three Airports, Controller Workload And Noise Contours Around The Bangalore Aerodrome

Effects of air pollution and the introduction of the London Low Emission Zone on the prevalence of respiratory and allergic symptoms in schoolchildren in East London: a sequential cross-sectional study

The adverse effects of traffic-related air pollution on children’s respiratory health have been widely reported, but few studies have evaluated the impact of traffic-control policies designed to reduce urban air pollution. We assessed associations between traffic-related air pollutants and respiratory/allergic symptoms amongst 8–9 year-old schoolchildren living within the London Low Emission Zone (LEZ). Information on respiratory/allergic symptoms was obtained using a parent-completed questionnaire and linked to modelled annual air pollutant concentrations based on the residential address of each child, using a multivariable mixed effects logistic regression analysis. Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants was associated with current rhinitis: NOx (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00–1.02), NO2 (1.03, 1.00–1.06), PM10 (1.16, 1.04–1.28) and PM2.5 (1.38, 1.08–1.78), all per μg/m3 of pollutant, but not with other respiratory/allergic symptoms. The LEZ did not reduce ambient air pollution levels, or affect the prevalence of respiratory/allergic symptoms over the period studied. These data confirm the previous association between traffic-related air pollutant exposures and symptoms of current rhinitis. Importantly, the London LEZ has not significantly improved air quality within the city, or the respiratory health of the resident population in its first three years of operation. This highlights the need for more robust measures to reduce traffic emissions

Empirical exploration of air traffic and human dynamics in terminal airspaces

Air traffic is widely known as a complex, task-critical techno-social system, with numerous interactions between airspace, procedures, aircraft and air traffic controllers. In order to develop and deploy high-level operational concepts and automation systems scientifically and effectively, it is essential to conduct an in-depth investigation on the intrinsic traffic-human dynamics and characteristics, which is not widely seen in the literature. To fill this gap, we propose a multi-layer network to model and analyze air traffic systems. A Route-based Airspace Network (RAN) and Flight Trajectory Network (FTN) encapsulate critical physical and operational characteristics; an Integrated Flow-Driven Network (IFDN) and Interrelated Conflict-Communication Network (ICCN) are formulated to represent air traffic flow transmissions and intervention from air traffic controllers, respectively. Furthermore, a set of analytical metrics including network variables, complex network attributes, controllers' cognitive complexity, and chaotic metrics are introduced and applied in a case study of Guangzhou terminal airspace. Empirical results show the existence of fundamental diagram and macroscopic fundamental diagram at the route, sector and terminal levels. Moreover, the dynamics and underlying mechanisms of "ATCOs-flow" interactions are revealed and interpreted by adaptive meta-cognition strategies based on network analysis of the ICCN. Finally, at the system level, chaos is identified in conflict system and human behavioral system when traffic switch to the semi-stable or congested phase. This study offers analytical tools for understanding the complex human-flow interactions at potentially a broad range of air traffic systems, and underpins future developments and automation of intelligent air traffic management systems.Comment: 30 pages, 28 figures, currently under revie

Modelling,simulation, and analysis of HAL Bangalore13; international airport

Air traffic density in India and the world at large is growing fast and posing challenging13; problems. The problems encountered can be parameterized as flight delay, workload of air traffic13; controllers and noise levels in and around aerodromes. Prediction and quantification of these13; parameters aid in developing strategies for efficient air traffic management. In this study, the13; method used for quantifying is by simulation and analysis of the selected aerodrome and air13; space. This paper presents the results of simulation of HAL Bangalore International Airport,13; which is used by civil as well as military aircraft. With the test flying of unscheduled military13; aircraft and the increase in the civil air traffic, this airport is hitting the limit of acceptable delay.13; The workload on air traffic controllers is pushed to high during peak times. The noise contour13; prediction, especially for the test flying military aircraft is sounding a wake up call to the13; communities living in the vicinity of the Airport.13

General aviation air traffic pattern safety analysis

A concept is described for evaluating the general aviation mid-air collision hazard in uncontrolled terminal airspace. Three-dimensional traffic pattern measurements were conducted at uncontrolled and controlled airports. Computer programs for data reduction, storage retrieval and statistical analysis have been developed. Initial general aviation air traffic pattern characteristics are presented. These preliminary results indicate that patterns are highly divergent from the expected standard pattern, and that pattern procedures observed can affect the ability of pilots to see and avoid each other

Abstractions of stochastic hybrid systems

Many control systems have large, infinite state space that can not be easily abstracted. One method to analyse and verify these systems is reachability analysis. It is frequently used for air traffic control and power plants. Because of lack of complete information about the environment or unpredicted changes, the stochastic approach is a viable alternative. In this paper, different ways of introducing rechability under uncertainty are presented. A new concept of stochastic bisimulation is introduced and its connection with the reachability analysis is established. The work is mainly motivated by safety critical situations in air traffic control (like collision detection and avoidance) and formal tools are based on stochastic analysis

Visual analytics of flight trajectories for uncovering decision making strategies

In air traffic management and control, movement data describing actual and planned flights are used for planning, monitoring and post-operation analysis purposes with the goal of increased efficient utilization of air space capacities (in terms of delay reduction or flight efficiency), without compromising the safety of passengers and cargo, nor timeliness of flights. From flight data, it is possible to extract valuable information concerning preferences and decision making of airlines (e.g. route choice) and air traffic managers and controllers (e.g. flight rerouting or optimizing flight times), features whose understanding is intended as a key driver for bringing operational performance benefits. In this paper, we propose a suite of visual analytics techniques for supporting assessment of flight data quality and data analysis workflows centred on revealing decision making preferences