Unexpected air quality impacts from implementation of green infrastructure in urban environments: A Kansas City case study.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Zhang Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7802588 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Green infrastructure (GI) in urban areas may be adopted as a passive control system to reduce air pollutant concentrations. However, current dispersion models offer limited modelling options to evaluate its impact on ambient pollutant concentrations. The scope of this review revolves around the following question: how can GI be considered in readily available dispersion models to allow evaluation of its impacts on pollutant concentrations and health risk assessment? We examined the published literature on the parameterisation of deposition velocities and datasets for both particulate matter and gaseous pollutants that are required for deposition schemes. We evaluated the limitations of different air pollution dispersion models at two spatial scales - microscale (i.e. 10-500?m) and macroscale (i.e. 5-100?km) - in considering the effects of GI on air pollutant concentrations and exposure alteration. We conclude that the deposition schemes that represent GI impacts in detail are complex, resource-intensive, and involve an abundant volume of input data. An appropriate handling of GI characteristics (such as aerodynamic effect, deposition of air pollutants and surface roughness) in dispersion models is necessary for understanding the mechanism of air pollutant concentrations simulation in presence of GI at different spatial scales. The impacts of GI on air pollutant concentrations and health risk assessment (e.g., mortality, morbidity) are partly explored. The i-Tree tool with the BenMap model has been used to estimate the health outcomes of annually-averaged air pollutant removed by deposition over GI canopies at the macroscale. However, studies relating air pollution health risk assessments due to GI-related changes in short-term exposure, via pollutant concentrations redistribution at the microscale and enhanced atmospheric pollutant dilution by increased surface roughness at the macroscale, along with deposition, are rare. Suitable treatments of all physical and chemical processes in coupled dispersion-deposition models and assessments against real-world scenarios are vital for health risk assessments.
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Project description:This paper archives spatiotemporal volumetric moisture content (VMC) and associated precipitation datasets collected between 2012 and 2014 at different depths in two different New York City green infrastructure (GI) (e.g. bioretention) facilities, termed Site 1 and Site 2, respectively. The two sites are similar in both design and monitoring set up, and are located within two kilometers of one another, but differ in terms of hydraulic loading ratio (HLR). Both sites were designed and instrumented specifically to facilitate a comparison of the hydrologic fluxes within the two GI facilities. Site 1 receives only direct rainfall and is hydrologically isolated from the surrounding impervious surfaces (HLR = 1); Site 2 receives both direct precipitation and street runoff through a curb cut inlet (HLR = 3.8). Monitoring was conducted both inside (L plots) and outside (G plots) weighing lysimeters that were installed at both sites and planted with similar vegetation. Each L and G plot was equipped with five soil moisture sensors installed at 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 cm depths in a circular pattern. This dataset is associated with the original research presented in "Observed Variability in Soil Moisture in Engineered Urban Green Infrastructure Systems and Linkages to Ecosystem Services [1]."
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Project description:The importance of natural ecosystem processes is often overlooked in urban areas. Green Infrastructure (GI) features have been constructed in urban areas as elements to capture and treat excess urban runoff while providing a range of ancillary benefits, e.g., ecosystem processes mediated by microorganisms that improve air and water quality, in addition to the associations with plant and tree rhizospheres. The objective of this study was to characterize the bacterial community and diversity in engineered soils (Technosols) of five types of GI in New York City; vegetated swales, right of way bioswales (ROWB; including street-side infiltration systems and enhanced tree pits), and an urban forest. The design of ROWB GI features directly connects with the road to manage street runoff, which can increase the Technosol saturation and exposure to urban contaminants washed from the street and carried into the GI feature. This GI design specifically accommodates dramatic pulses of water that influence the bacterial community composition and diversity through the selective pressure of contaminants or by disturbance. The ROWB had the highest biodiversity, but no significant correlation with levels of soil organic matter and microbially-mediated biogeochemical functions. Another important biogeochemical parameter for soil bacterial communities is pH, which influenced the bacterial community composition, consistent with studies in non-urban soils. Bacterial community composition in GI features showed signs of anthropogenic disturbance, including exposure to animal feces and chemical contaminants, such as petroleum products. Results suggest the overall design and management of GI features with a channeled connection with street runoff, such as ROWB, have a comprehensive effect on soil parameters (particularly organic matter) and the bacterial community. One key consideration for future assessments of GI microbial community would be to determine the source of organic matter and elucidate the relationship between vegetation, Technosol, and bacteria in the designed GI features.
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Project description:Compared to traditional methods of fungal exposure assessment, molecular methods have provided new insight into the richness of fungal communities present in both indoor and outdoor environments. In this study, we describe the diversity of fungi in the homes of asthmatic children located in Kansas City. Fungal diversity was determined by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal RNA derived from fungi collected in air and dust samples from 31 homes participating in the Kansas City Safe and Healthy Homes Program (KCSHHP). Sequencing results were then compared to data obtained using viable and non-viable fungal exposure assessment methods. ITS clone libraries were predominantly derived from the phylum Ascomycota in both air (68%) and dust (92%) samples and followed by the Basidiomycota and Zygomycota. The majority of Ascomycota clones belonged to four orders including the Pleosporales, Eurotiales, Capnodiales, and Dothideales. ITS sequencing revealed the presence of a number of rarely documented fungal species placed in the Pleosporales. Several species placed in the Basidiomycota were detected in ITS clone libraries but not by viable or non-viable methods. The prevalence of organizational taxonomic units (OTUs) was significantly higher in air than in dust samples (p < 0.0001); however, no differences between OTUs in air samples collected in the subjects' room and basement were observed. These sequencing results demonstrate a much broader diversity of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota communities in KCSHHP indoor environments than previously estimated using traditional methods of assessment.
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Project description:Climate change is likely to alter the quantity and quality of urban stormwater, presenting a risk to water quality and public health. How might stormwater management practices need to change to address future climate? Answering requires understanding how management practices respond to climate forcing. Traditional "gray" stormwater design employs engineered structures, sized based on assumptions about future rainfall, which have limited flexibility once built. Green infrastructure (GI) uses vegetation, soil, and distributed structures to manage rainwater where it falls and may provide greater flexibility for adaptation. There is, however, uncertainty about how a warmer climate may affect performance of different types of GI. This study uses the hydrologic and biogeochemical watershed model, Regional Hydro-Ecologic Simulation System (RHESSys), to investigate sensitivity of different GI practices to climate. Simulations examine 36 urban "archetypes" representing different development patterns (at the city block scale) of typical U.S. cities, eleven regional climatic settings, and a range of mid-21st century scenarios based on downscaled climate model output. Results suggest regionally variable effects of climate change on the performance of GI practices for water quantity, water quality, and carbon sequestration. GI is able to mitigate most projected future increases in surface runoff, while bioretention can mitigate increased nitrogen yield at nine of eleven sites. Simulated changes in carbon balance are small, while local evaporative cooling can be substantial. Given uncertainty in the local expression of future climate, infrastructure design should emphasize flexibility and robustness to a range of future conditions.
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Project description:Little is known about how stormwater exfiltrates from green infrastructure and few efforts have been undertaken to address this question. This study used tensiometers to monitor water exfiltration from an aggregate-filled storage gallery installed under permeable pavement. An 80-space parking lot was built at Seitz elementary school in Fort Riley, KS under an agreement between EPA and US Army during the summer of 2015. A network of twelve tensiometers and twelve monitoring wells was installed under and south of the storage gallery. Tensiometers were installed a various depths and distances to monitor soil moisture tension. The installation was used to monitor subsurface water flow patterns from the storage gallery under the permeable pavement site. The results of the study showed that soil moisture tension is larger at the shallower depths, decreasing with depth from the ground surface. Larger soil tension was associated with increased distance from the permeable pavement storage gallery. The results showed exfiltration from both the sidewalls and the bottom of the gallery while the changes in soil tension were larger for the tensiometer monitoring exfiltration from the side walls. Both the accumulated water depth inside the storage gallery and groundwater level rise were positively correlated with total rainfall depth. The calculated vertical flow rate was larger than the horizontal flow. The soil water tension change associated with storage gallery exfiltration was measured in a radius of <5 m from the storage gallery. Long-term peak groundwater level rise should be considered for design of the storage gallery depth to maintain the effective exfiltration. Understanding the exfiltration pathways aids with the placement and design the storage gallery. Additional research is necessary to understand how specific local parameters and vadose zone characteristics would affect the long-term exfiltration process.
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Project description:Functional and biogeographical properties of soil microbial communities in urban ecosystems are poorly understood despite their role in metabolic processes underlying valuable ecosystem services. The worldwide emergence of engineered habitats in urban landscapes-green roofs, bioswales, and other types of soil-based green infrastructure-highlights the importance of understanding how environmental changes affect the community assembly processes that shape urban microbial diversity and function. In this study we investigated (1) whether engineered green roofs and bioswales in New York City had distinct microbial community composition and trait-associated diversity compared to non-engineered soils in parks and tree pits, and (2) if these patterns were consistent with divergent community assembly processes associated with engineered specifications of green infrastructure habitats not present in conventional, non-engineered green infrastructure; specifically, tree pit and park lawn soils. We found that green roofs and bioswales each had distinct bacterial and fungal communities, but that community composition and diversity were not significantly associated with geographic distance, suggesting that the processes structuring these differences are related to aspects of the habitats themselves. Bioswales, and to a lesser extent green roofs, also contained increased functional potential compared to conventional GI soils, based on the diversity and abundance of taxa associated with nitrogen cycling, biodegradation, decomposition, and traits positively associated with plant growth. We discuss these results in the context of community assembly theory, concluding that urban soil microbial community composition and diversity in engineered habitats are driven largely by environmental filtering, whereas stochastic processes are more important among non-engineered soils.
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Project description:Urban hydrology and green infrastructure (GI) can be modeled using the Automated Geospatial Watershed Assessment (AGWA) Urban tool and the Kinematic Runoff and Erosion (KINEROS2) model. The KINEROS2 model provides an urban modeling element with nine overland flow components that can be used to represent various land cover types commonly found in the built environment while treating runoff-runon and infiltration processes in a physically based manner. The AGWA Urban tool utilizes a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework to prepare parameters required for KINEROS2, executes the model, and imports results for visualization in the GIS. The AGWA Urban tool was validated on a residential subdivision in Arizona, USA, using 47 rainfall events (June 2005 to September 2006) to compare observed runoff volumes and peak flow rates with simulated results. Comparison of simulated and observed runoff volumes resulted in a slope of 1.00 for the regression equation with an R2 value of 0.80. Comparison of observed and simulated peak flows had a slope of 1.12 with an R 2 value of 0.83. A roof runoff analysis was simulated for 787 events, from January 2006 through December 2015, to analyze the water availability from roof runoff capture. Simulation results indicated a 15% capture of the average monthly rainfall volume on the watershed. Additionally, rainwater captured from roofs has the potential to provide for up to 70% of the domestic annual per capita water use in this region. Five different scenarios (S1 - base, S2 - with retention basins, S3 - with permeable driveways, S4 - with rainwater harvesting cisterns, and S5 - all GI practices from S2, S3, and S4) were simulated over the same period to compare the effectiveness of GI implementation at the parcel level on runoff and peak flows at the watershed outlet. Simulation results indicate a higher runoff volume reduction for S2 (53.41 m3 average capacity, average 30% reduction) as compared to S3 (average 14% reduction), or S4 (3.78 m3 capacity, average 6% reduction). Analysis of peak flows reveal larger peak flow reduction for S2. S3 showed more reduction of smaller peak flows as compared to S4.
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Project description:Cities in the United States have announced initiatives to become more sustainable, healthy, resilient, livable, and environmentally friendly. However, indicators for measuring all outcomes related to these targets and the synergies between them have not been well defined or studied. One such relationship is the linkage between air quality with emotional well-being (EWB) and neighborhood infrastructure. Here, regulatory monitoring, low-cost sensors (LCSs), and air quality modeling were combined to assess exposures to PM2.5 and traffic-related NOx in 6 Minneapolis, MN, neighborhoods of varying infrastructure parameters (median household income, urban vs suburban, and access to light rail). Residents of the study neighborhoods concurrently took real-time EWB assessments using a smart phone application, Daynamica, to gauge happiness, tiredness, stress, sadness, and pain. Both LCS PM2.5 observations and mobile-source-simulated NOx were calibrated using regulatory observations in Minneapolis. No statistically significant (??=?0.05) PM2.5 differences were found between urban poor and urban middle-income neighborhoods, but average mobile-source NOx was statistically significantly (??=?0.05) higher in the 4 urban neighborhoods than in the 2 suburban neighborhoods. Close proximity to light rail had no observable impact on average observed PM2.5 or simulated mobile-source NOx. Home-based exposure assessments found that PM2.5 was negatively correlated with positive emotions such as happiness and to net affect (the sum of positive and negative emotion scores) and positively correlated (ie, a higher PM2.5 concentration led to higher scores) for negative emotions such as tiredness, stress, sadness, and pain. Simulated mobile-source NOx, assessed from both home-based exposures and in situ exposures, had a near-zero relationship with all EWB indicators. This was attributed to low NOx levels throughout the study neighborhoods and at locations were the EWB-assessed activities took place, both owing to low on-road mobile-source NOx impacts. Although none of the air quality and EWB responses were determined to be statistically significant (??=?0.05), due in part to the relatively small sample size, the results are suggestive of linkages between air quality and a variety of EWB outcomes.
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