The impact on air quality of PM10 emissions from the bus fleet of Buenos Aires City

Automobile transport in megacities poses serious problems in the area of sustainability and environmental security. In the City of Buenos Aires (CABA) it represents 37% of GHG emissions and is an important source of pollutants dangerous to human health. As such, it is an energy consumption sector targeted for the implementation of methods that allow for sustainable urban transport. At the same time, very few previous studies about transport vehicle emissions have utilized the PM10 as an indicator of environmental contamination, considering that the negative impact of this environmental contaminant on human health is widely studied. An emission model linked to an atmospheric dispersion model, statistically validated, were used to study different scenarios of emissions generated by diesel buses. It was observed that in a scenario of zero bus emissions (E0), PM10 immission (air concentrations) concentration in CABA is reduced by half. When studying the energy transition from diesel buses to electric energy, while the rest of the vehicle fleet was maintained at the expense of fossil fuels, the local immission concentration of PM10 in CABA was of the same magnitude of that which was obtained when simulating the (E0) scenario of only private vehicle fleet. This study is relevant in the evaluation of public policy on vehicle emission mitigation that seeks to reduce health risks from poor air quality and to develop a more progressively sustainable city. Article Highlights: Transition energy exclusively for buses could reduce PM10 immission values of CABA by 50%.Thermal energy needed to the energy transition does not significant impact the PM10 immission values on the local air quality.Electric buses could reduce the maximum PM10 immission value by half.Fil: Accorinti, Jesica. Agencia de Protección Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Allende, David Gabriel. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Puliafito, Salvador Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional; Argentin

Simulating silver iodine dispersion with WRF: hail suppression system analysis

The aim of this article is to study silver iodine (AgI) dispersion in Mendoza using the Weather Research and Forcasting model (WRF). Crystalline structure of AgI is similar to that of ice, allowing it to induce freezing by a process known as heterogeneous nucleation. Therefore, AgI is used to seed clouds in hail suppression systems. In particular, in Mendoza, cloud seeding is done through ground generators located in the western part of the province, were most storm cells are formed. The efficiency of this system has not been scientifically proven. This paper provides a methodology to include AgI sources in WRF in order to study its dispersion in the atmosphere. Because of the physical characteristics of ground generators, they are modeled as area sources using the Fire module of WRF. This module has been design to simulate biomass burning. We show how to simulate AgI generators through definition of a special fuel behavior model to use with WRF-Fire.Thorough dispersion modeling it is possible to see if AgI reaches storm cells. Furthermore, with simulation results it is possible to choose the best location for ground AgI generators. This paper shows simulation results for the hail suppression system currently working in Mendoza and for other possible scenarios using different locations for ground generators and different number of them.Fil: Cremades, Pablo Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Allende, David Gabriel. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional de Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Puliafito, Salvador Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional de Mendoza; Argentin

Modeling of last eruption from Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex

El presente trabajo está centrado en la utilización y validación del modelo Euleriano FALL3D para la simulación de la dispersión de aerosoles, durante la erupción del complejo volcánico Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, ocurrida el 4 de junio de 2011 a las 14:45 LT (18:45 UTC). Este modelo fue configurado para modelar la pluma de cenizas durante un período de 10 días a lo largo de 1200 km de extensión territorial. FALL3D obtuvo sus condiciones meteorológicas del modelo de mesoescala Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF). El empleo de un algoritmo para la detección de ceniza volcánica sobre imágenes satelitales, verificó la evolución de la pluma señalada por el modelo de dispersión y transporte. El buen acuerdo entre las comparaciones cuantitativas entre las simulaciones con las mediciones sugiere una adecuada aproximación de modelado y permite la aplicación futura de estas herramientas para el estudio de los efectos radiativos de aerosoles volcánicos.This paper focuses on the use and validation of FALL3D Eulerian model to simulate the dispersion of aerosols during the eruption of the Puyehue–Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex which occurred on June 4 2011 at 14:45 LT (18:45 UTC). This was configured to model the ash plume over a period of 10 days over 1200 km downwind of the volcano. It obtained the meteorological conditions from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. A detection of volcanic ash method was applied on satellite images consequently It verified the plume evolution indicated by the transport and dispersion model. The good agreement between quantitative comparisons between simulations with measurements suggests an appropriate modeling approach and allows the future application of these tools to the study of the radiative effects of volcanic aerosols.Fil: Mulena, Gabriela Celeste. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Allende, David Gabriel. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Puliafito, Salvador Enrique. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; Argentin

Green Areas and Microscale Thermal Comfort in Arid Environments: A Case Study in Mendoza, Argentina

A series of mobile and stationary meteorological measurements were performed in the city of Mendoza, Argentina to study the local influence of green areas on the urban canopy layer heat island effect at the micro scale, during the Aus- tral summer of 2003-2005. These results were associated in representative local climate zones (LCZ), which helped to identify different thermal conditions within the city. The physiologically equivalent temperature index was used to de- termine the thermal comfort in each LCZ, showing that during daylight, trees and parks improve thermal comfort through shading and evapotranspiration; but at the same time, urban tree corridors delay night cooling by retaining warm air beneath their canopies. Also irrigation showed to positively influence on the extension and intensity of the cooling effect of rural areas and parks. The cooling influence of an urban park spreads out through the neighborhoods for 800 - 1000 m, with an average temperature decrease of 1.3°C during daytime and >4.0°C at nighttime.Fil: Puliafito, Salvador Enrique. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Bochaca, Fabian Rolando. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Allende, David Gabriel. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, Rafael Pedro. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Mendoza; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza; Argentin