Quantifying the effect of urban tree planting on concentrations and depositions of PM10 in two UK conurbations

Trees are efficient scavengers of particulate matter and are characterised by higher rates of dry deposition than other land types. To estimate the potential of urban tree planting for the mitigation of urban PM10 concentrations, an atmospheric transport model was used to simulate the transport and deposition of PM10 across two UK conurbations (the West Midlands and Glasgow). Tree planting was simulated by modifying the land cover database, using GIS techniques and field surveys to estimate reasonable planting potentials. The model predicts that increasing total tree cover in West Midlands from 3.7% to 16.5% reduces average primary PM10 concentrations by 10% from 2.3 to 2.1 mu gm(-3) removing 110ton per year of primary PM10 from the atmosphere. Increasing tree cover of the West Midlands to a theoretical maximum of 54% by planting all available green space would reduce the average PM10 concentration by 26%, removing 200 ton of primary PM10 per year. Similarly, for Glasgow, increasing tree cover from 3.6% to 8 % reduces primary PM10 concentrations by 2 %, removing 4 ton of primary PM10 per year. Increasing tree cover to 21 % would reduce primary PM10 air concentrations by 7%, removing 13 ton of primary PM10 per year. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[1]  David J. Nowak,et al.  A modeling study of the impact of urban trees on ozone. , 2000 .

[2]  D. Broday,et al.  Urban-scale variability of ambient particulate matter attributes , 2006 .

[3]  Mark A. Sutton,et al.  A multi-layer model to describe the atmospheric transport and deposition of ammonia in Great Britain , 1998 .

[4]  Michael B. Usher,et al.  The state of Scotland's environment and natural heritage , 2002 .

[5]  E. Mcpherson,et al.  Chicago's urban forest ecosystem: Results of the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project. (Includes executive summary). Forest Service general technical report (Final) , 1994 .

[6]  Martin Gallagher,et al.  Measurements and parameterizations of small aerosol deposition velocities to grassland, arable crops, and forest: Influence of surface roughness length on deposition , 2002 .

[7]  D. Fowler,et al.  Study of Aerosol Deposition at a Wind Exposed Forest Edge Using 210Pb and 137Cs Soil Inventories , 2004 .

[8]  C. Galán,et al.  Airborne pollen sampling in Toledo, Central Spain , 2006 .

[9]  C. N. Hewitt,et al.  Urban land classification and its uncertainties using principal component and cluster analyses: A case study for the UK West Midlands , 2006 .

[10]  John Handley,et al.  "City form and natural process" - Indicators for the ecological performance of urban areas and their application to Merseyside, UK , 2001 .

[11]  Gail Taylor,et al.  Particulate pollution capture by urban trees: effect of species and windspeed , 2000 .

[12]  Neil A Powe,et al.  Mortality and morbidity benefits of air pollution (SO2 and PM10) absorption attributable to woodland in Britain. , 2004, Journal of environmental management.

[13]  P. Hobbs,et al.  The potential of NH3, N2O and CH4 measurements following the 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Great Britain to reduce the uncertainties in agricultural emissions abatement , 2004 .

[14]  M. Gallagher,et al.  Measurements of aerosol fluxes to Speulder forest using a micrometeorological technique , 1997 .

[15]  W. Slinn,et al.  Predictions for particle deposition to vegetative canopies , 1982 .

[16]  Michael Hough,et al.  City form and natural process , 1984 .

[17]  Mark A. Sutton,et al.  Modelling the deposition of atmospheric oxidised nitrogen and sulphur to the United Kingdom using a multi-layer long-range transport model , 2004 .

[18]  E. Mcpherson,et al.  Energy Conservation Potential of Urban Tree Planting , 1993, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry.

[19]  E. Nemitz,et al.  Measuring Aerosol and Heavy Metal Deposition on Urban Woodland and Grass Using Inventories of 210Pb and Metal Concentrations in Soil , 2004 .

[20]  W. J. Bealey,et al.  Estimating the reduction of urban PM10 concentrations by trees within an environmental information system for planners. , 2007, Journal of environmental management.

[21]  James R. Simpson,et al.  Air Pollutant Uptake by Sacramento's Urban Forest , 1998, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry.

[22]  Herve Morvan,et al.  Modelling the size-dependent collection efficiency of hedgerows for ambient aerosols , 2006 .

[23]  Kiyoshi Matsumoto,et al.  Formation and dissociation of atmospheric particulate nitrate and chloride: An approach based on phase equilibrium , 1996 .

[24]  C. N. Hewitt,et al.  Laboratory and field studies of biogenic volatile organic compound emissions from Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis Bong.) in the United Kingdom , 1996 .

[25]  W. J. Bealey,et al.  The role of trees in landscape planning to reduce the impacts of atmospheric ammonia deposition. , 2004 .

[26]  J. C. Stevens,et al.  Air pollution removal by urban trees and shrubs in the United States , 2006 .

[27]  T Duffy,et al.  The role of web-based environmental information in urban planning--the environmental information system for planners. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[28]  M. L. Laucks,et al.  Aerosol Technology Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Airborne Particles , 2000 .

[29]  John N. Cape,et al.  Deposition of atmospheric pollutants on forests. , 1989 .

[30]  Micrometeorological measurements of particle deposition velocities to moorland vegetation , 2002 .

[31]  Margitta Nord,et al.  Shelter effects of vegetation belts — Results of field measurements , 1991 .

[32]  D. Nowak,et al.  Carbon storage and sequestration by urban trees in the USA. , 2002, Environmental pollution.

[33]  K. P. Beckett,et al.  Urban woodlands: their role in reducing the effects of particulate pollution. , 1998, Environmental pollution.

[34]  C. N. Hewitt,et al.  BIOGENIC VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND (VOC) EMISSION ESTIMATES FROM AN URBAN TREE CANOPY , 2003 .

[35]  J. C. Stevens,et al.  Modeling the Effects of Urban Vegetation on Air Pollution , 1998 .

[36]  R. Hill,et al.  The UK Land Cover Map 2000: Construction of a Parcel-Based Vector Map from Satellite Images , 2002 .

[37]  G. Taylor,et al.  Capture of Particulate Pollution by Trees: A Comparison of Species Typical of Semi-Arid Areas (Ficus Nitida and Eucalyptus Globulus) with European and North American Species , 2004 .