Traffic-Related air pollution measurements in two streets with different geometry in Athens, Greece

Traffic emission is a major source of air pollution in the urban environment, especially along narrow and main traffic arteries. The purpose of this study is to analyze the dependence of the measured air pollutants on street configuration, traffic levels and meteorological parameters. In the frame of an EU project, OSCAR (Optimised Expert System for Conducting Environmental Assessment of Urban Road Traffic), simultaneous measurements were carried out for a number of traffic-related pollutants on two typical roads - a street canyon and open road. Their traffic measurements (volume, classification and speed) and meteorological data were continuously sampled and recorded. Spatial and temporal variations as well as the correlation of the above parameters have been examined. Measurement comparison showed a different behaviour, as far as the primary and secondary (i.e O sub(3)) emitted pollutants are concerned. In that case, geometry seemed to be of great importance. Meteorological conditions significantly affected the levels of pollutants in the streets. Low and parallel to the street axis, winds not significantly contributed to the pollutants dispersion.