Air quality and public health impacts of UK airports. Part I: Emissions

Abstract The potential adverse human health and climate impacts of emissions from UK airports have become a significant political issue, yet the emissions, air quality impacts and health impacts attributable to UK airports remain largely unstudied. We produce an inventory of UK airport emissions – including aircraft landing and takeoff (LTO) operations and airside support equipment – with uncertainties quantified. The airports studied account for more than 95% of UK air passengers in 2005. We estimate that in 2005, UK airports emitted 10.2 Gg [−23 to +29%] of NO x , 0.73 Gg [−29 to +32%] of SO 2 , 11.7 Gg [−42 to +77%] of CO, 1.8 Gg [−59 to +155%] of HC, 2.4 Tg [−13 to +12%] of CO 2 , and 0.31 Gg [−36 to +45%] of PM 2.5 . This translates to 2.5 Tg [−12 to +12%] CO 2 -eq using Global Warming Potentials for a 100-year time horizon. Uncertainty estimates were based on analysis of data from aircraft emissions measurement campaigns and analyses of aircraft operations. The First-Order Approximation (FOA3) – currently the standard approach used to estimate particulate matter emissions from aircraft – is compared to measurements and it is shown that there are discrepancies greater than an order of magnitude for 40% of cases for both organic carbon and black carbon emissions indices. Modified methods to approximate organic carbon emissions, arising from incomplete combustion and lubrication oil, and black carbon are proposed. These alterations lead to factor 8 and a 44% increase in the annual emissions estimates of black and organic carbon particulate matter, respectively, leading to a factor 3.4 increase in total PM 2.5 emissions compared to the current FOA3 methodology. Our estimates of emissions are used in Part II to quantify the air quality and health impacts of UK airports, to assess mitigation options, and to estimate the impacts of a potential London airport expansion.

[1]  Philip D. Whitefield.  Development of exhaust speciation profiles for commercial jet engines. , 2007 .

[2]  Ian A. Waitz,et al.  Microphysical Modeling of Ground-Level Aircraft-Emitted Aerosol Formation: Roles of Sulfur-Containing Species , 2008 .

[3]  Gregg G. Fleming,et al.  Analysis of Departure and Arrival Profiles Using Real-Time Aircraft Data , 2009 .

[4]  Reinhold Busen,et al.  Influence of fuel sulfur on the composition of aircraft exhaust plumes: The experiments SULFUR 1–7 , 2002 .

[5]  David R. Cocker,et al.  Characterization of chemical and particulate emissions from aircraft engines , 2008 .

[6]  J. Penner,et al.  Aviation and the Global Atmosphere , 1999 .

[7]  Reinhold Busen,et al.  Gaseous SO3 and H2SO4 in the exhaust of an aircraft gas turbine engine: measurements by CIMS and implications for fuel sulfur conversion to sulfur (VI) and conversion of SO3 to H2SO4 , 2004 .

[8]  Charles A. Brock,et al.  In situ observations and model calculations of black carbon emission by aircraft at cruise altitude , 1999 .

[9]  R. Logan,et al.  Chemical characterization of the fine particle emissions from commercial aircraft engines during the Aircraft Particle Emissions eXperiment (APEX) 1 to 3. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[10]  Ian A. Waitz,et al.  Effects of Engine Aging on Aircraft NOx Emissions , 1997 .

[11]  Bernhard Lechner,et al.  AIRCRAFT EMISSION MEASUREMENTS BY REMOTE SENSING METHODOLOGIES AT AIRPORTS , 2003 .

[12]  Marco Ratto,et al.  Global Sensitivity Analysis , 2008 .

[13]  L Morawska,et al.  Particle and gaseous emissions from commercial aircraft at each stage of the landing and takeoff cycle. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[14]  A. Döpelheuer,et al.  Influence of engine performance on emission characteristics , 1999 .

[15]  Michal Krzyzanowski,et al.  Update of WHO air quality guidelines , 2008 .

[16]  Prem Lobo,et al.  Commercial aircraft engine emissions characterization of in-use aircraft at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[17]  David S. Lee,et al.  Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate: Aviation , 2009, Atmospheric Environment.

[18]  Changlie Wey,et al.  Nitrogen Oxide (NO/NO2/HONO) Emissions Measurements in Aircraft Exhausts , 2007 .

[19]  Michael T. Timko,et al.  Gas Turbine Engine Emissions—Part II: Chemical Properties of Particulate Matter , 2010 .

[20]  Andrew Malwitz,et al.  System for Assessing Aviation's Global Emissions (SAGE), Version 1.5-Technical Manual , 2005 .

[21]  Glen R. Cass,et al.  Sources of fine organic aerosol. 2. Noncatalyst and catalyst-equipped automobiles and heavy-duty diesel trucks , 1993 .

[22]  Richard C. Miake-Lye,et al.  Chemical Properties of Aircraft Engine Particulate Exhaust Emissions , 2009 .

[23]  David S. Lee,et al.  Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate: Metrics , 2010 .

[24]  P. Schulte,et al.  Sulfuric acid measurements in the exhaust plume of a jet aircraft in flight: Implications for the sulfuric acid formation efficiency , 2002 .

[25]  Michael T. Timko,et al.  Gas Turbine Engine Emissions—Part I: Volatile Organic Compounds and Nitrogen Oxides , 2010 .

[26]  Gregg G Fleming,et al.  Methodology to Estimate Particulate Matter Emissions from Certified Commercial Aircraft Engines , 2009, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association.

[27]  E. Katragkou,et al.  First gaseous Sulfur (VI) measurements in the simulated internal flow of an aircraft gas turbine engine during project PartEmis , 2004 .

[28]  S. Baughcum,et al.  Scheduled civil aircraft emission inventories for 1992: Database development and analysis , 1996 .

[29]  Karl Ropkins,et al.  Near-field commercial aircraft contribution to nitrogen oxides by engine, aircraft type, and airline by individual plume sampling. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[30]  A. Kiendler,et al.  Unambiguous identification and measurement of sulfuric acid cluster chemiions in aircraft jet engine exhaust , 2002 .

[31]  David S. Lee,et al.  Aviation and global climate change in the 21st century , 2009, Atmospheric Environment.

[32]  Saltelli Andrea,et al.  Global Sensitivity Analysis: The Primer , 2008 .

[33]  Carsten Jahn,et al.  The impact of NOx, CO and VOC emissions on the air quality of Zurich airport , 2007 .

[34]  S. Herndon,et al.  Characterization of lubrication oil emissions from aircraft engines. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[35]  Changlie Wey,et al.  Aircraft Particle Emissions eXperiment (APEX) , 2006 .

[36]  Willard Dodds,et al.  Aircraft hydrocarbon emissions at Oakland International Airport. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[37]  Karen Willcox,et al.  Surrogate Modeling for Uncertainty Assessment with Application to Aviation Environmental System Models , 2010 .

[38]  N. H. Ravindranath,et al.  2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories , 2006 .

[39]  B. Demirdjian,et al.  Aircraft engine soot as contrail nuclei , 2004 .

[40]  Ian A. Waitz.  Assessment of the effects of operational procedures and derated thrust on American Airlines B777 emissions from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports , 2006 .

[41]  G. Etiope.  EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2009 , 2009 .

[42]  James I. Hileman,et al.  Energy Content and Alternative Jet Fuel Viability , 2010 .

[43]  B. Demirdjian,et al.  Heterogeneities in the Microstructure and Composition of Aircraft Engine Combustor Soot: Impact on the Water Uptake , 2006 .

[44]  Ulrich Platt,et al.  Investigations of emissions and heterogeneous formation of HONO in a road traffic tunnel , 2001 .

[45]  F. Davies,et al.  Urban air pollution modelling and measurements of boundary layer height , 2007 .

[46]  D. M. Leahey.  Urban air pollution modelling , 1983 .

[47]  Thomas W. Kirchstetter,et al.  On-Road Emissions of Particulate Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Black Carbon from Gasoline and Diesel Vehicles , 1998 .

[48]  Kevin J. Hughes,et al.  Particle emissions from aircraft engines - a survey of the European project PartEmis , 2005 .

[49]  Paul E. Yelvington,et al.  Speciation and chemical evolution of nitrogen oxides in aircraft exhaust near airports. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[50]  Yura Alexander Sevcenco,et al.  Mass and size distribution measurement of particulates from a gas turbine combustor using modern mobility analyzer and particle sizer , 2009 .

[51]  Steven R H Barrett,et al.  Global mortality attributable to aircraft cruise emissions. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[52]  Mr. Daniel King.  Assessment of the effects of operational procedures and derated thrust on American Airlines B 777 emissions from London ’ s Heathrow and Gatwick airports , 2006 .

[53]  D. A. Sylvia,et al.  Aircraft engine and auxiliary power unit emissions from combusting JP-8 fuel , 1997 .

[54]  John S. Kinsey,et al.  Physical characterization of the fine particle emissions from commercial aircraft engines during the Aircraft Particle Emissions eXperiment (APEX) 1–3 , 2010 .

[55]  Claus Brüning.  Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate , 2010 .

[56]  W. Pierson,et al.  Sulfate in diesel exhaust , 1980 .