Mobile monitoring of air and noise pollution in Philadelphia neighborhoods during summer 2017

Shakya, Kabindra M.; Kremer, Peleg; Henderson, Kate; McMahon, Meghan; Peltier, Richard E.; Bromberg, Samantha; Stewart, Justin

Mobile monitoring of air and noise pollution in Philadelphia neighborhoods during summer 2017

2019

Mobile monitoring is an useful approach for measuring intra-urban variation of air pollution in urban environments. In this study, we used a mobile monitoring approach to study the spatial-temporal variability of air and noise pollution in urban neighborhoods of Philadelphia. During summer 2017, we used portable instruments to measure PM2.5, black carbon (BC), and noise levels along 5 km paths in four residential neighborhoods (Tioga, Mill Creek, Chestnut Hill, and Northern Liberties) and one commercial district (Center City) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. A total of 62 sets of measurements were made at three different times of day (during morning rush hour, mid-afternoon, and during afternoon rush hour) from June 5 to July 7, 2017. Spatially, there was a significant difference in PM2.5 concentrations among the four residential neighborhoods. Overall, the Chestnut Hill neighborhood had the highest PM2.5 concentrations (13.25 ± 6.89 μg/m3), followed by Tioga (9.58 ± 4.83 μg/m3), Northern Liberties (7.02 ± 4.17 μg/m3), and Mill Creek (3.9 ± 4.5 μg/m3). There was temporal variability of pollutants depending on the neighborhood; Northern Liberties demonstrated the highest temporal variability in these data. The highest PM2.5 (18.86 ± 3.17 μg/m3) was measured in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood during morning rush hour. Mean PM2.5, BC, and noise levels based on mobile measurements at Philadelphia during summer 2017 were 8.41 ± 4.31 μg/m3, 0.99 ± 0.44 μg C/m3, and 62.01 ± 3.20 dBA, respectively. Environmental noise showed the highest temporal variation of the monitored components for 3 time periods. Generally, an increase in tree cover led to a decrease in PM2.5.

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