Atmospheric Environment. Part B. Urban Atmosphere最新文献

Analyses of measurements and modelling studies show that SO₂ concentrations in most United Kingdom cities have decreased dramatically over the last 40 years. As a result, current concentrations do not provide an adequate picture of cumulative exposure of the built environment. Data for Lincoln Cathedral show that the current rate of exposure is about two-fifths of the average over the last four decades and that over the same period urban exposure was twice that in the surrounding countryside. Today, urban and rural exposures are similar. In contrast, urban NO_x concentrations have not declined, decreases in industrial emissions being approximately offset by increases in emissions from motor vehicles.

Information on the geographic distribution of various types of exposed materials is required to estimate the economic costs of damage to construction materials from acid deposition. This paper focuses on the identification, evaluation and interpretation of data describing the distributions of exterior construction materials, primarily in the United States. This information could provide guidance on how data needed for future economic assessments might be acquired in the most cost-effective ways. Materials distribution surveys from 16 cities in the U.S. and Canada and five related databases from government agencies and trade organizations were examined. Data on residential buildings are more commonly available than on nonresidential buildings; little geographically resolved information on distributions of materials in infrastructure was found. Survey results generally agree with the appropriate ancillary databases, but the usefulness of the databases is often limited by their coarse spatial resolution. Information on those materials which are most sensitive to acid deposition is especially scarce. Since a comprehensive error analysis has never been performed on the data required for an economic assessment, it is not possible to specify the corresponding detailed requirements for data on the distributions of materials.

Intensity and distribution of incident rainfall in Rome, and degree of lithobiont cover of building walls, were estimated, and their correlation was discussed. Rainfall and wind data over 10 years for the Rome Meteorological Observatory of Torre Calandrelli (UCEA) were used to calculate the actual hydrocontribution received over walls at various exposures. The biological colonization by lithobionts was evaluated on a sample of 14 buildings in various places of the city, using a phytosociological scale for quantifying their total cover. During all seasons the rainfall shows a significant peak in the south and the southeast exposures, where the highest cover of lithobionts is found. These results show the role of incident rainfall in the climatic conditions of Rome as the main driving factor for the growth of lithobionts on walls where rainfall is their principal source of water.

The CEGB and the Cathedrals Advisory Commission for England formed a Joint Working Party in 1985 to promote a research programme aimed at improving the understanding of the relationships between stone decay, atmospheric pollution and other factors. The programme has included exposure of limestone samples at York Minster and eight other sites in England and Scotland selected to give a mix of urban, marine and rural locations. All of the sites have comprehensive air pollution and meteorological monitoring and measurement of rainfall chemistry. At two sites samples have been fumigated with controlled levels of sulphur dioxide.

Over all sites, there was a significant trend to increased weight loss with increase in average sulphur dioxide concentration, but a negative trend with total nitrogen oxides and with nitrogen dioxide. For sample exposures longer than 200 days, the sulphur dioxide dependence at the inland Liphook fumigation site was about half that found near the coast at Littlehampton. There was no significant trend to increase weight loss with total rainfall amount for the complete data set, but the analysis was dominated by the very wet Scottish site, which experienced the lowest average concentrations of air pollutants.

A theoretical model for the chemical dissolution of rainwashed limestone has been derived from consideration of the ion and mass balances between the incident rain water and run-off water. The model has been fitted to the measured loss rates from the stonework field trials. With the exception of the very wet Scottish site, the difference between the stone loss rate, calculated from the model, and the mean measured loss rate for any particular exposure was generally smaller than the variation between the triplicate samples. Variation in the dry deposition velocity between sites and exposure periods does not appear to have been a very significant factor, and no residual effect due to the concentrations of nitrogen oxides was found. The natural solubility of limestone in water was the dominant term in describing the stone loss, and neutralization of the rainfall acidity the least significant. The volume of the intercepted rainfall and the variation in the pH of the run-off water with rainfall intensity have been identified as the two most significant terms which require more precise quantification. The data from the inland fumigation site used in the model predict a stone loss due to sulphur dioxide in the air of less than 1 μm yr⁻¹ surface recession per ppb SO₂.

Under the United States National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program a metallurgical and corrosion study has been made of sample of the 50 bronze replicas of the Hiker statue cast by the Gorham Foundry, Providence, Rhode Island, between 1906 and 1966. To study corrosion damage on a microscopic scale a technique was developed to take molds of selected features on the statue. The molds were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy and surface profilometry. The overall approach has the potential for quantitatively monitoring the local corrosion at selected sites over a period of years and also characterizing the impact of conservation procedures. In a parallel research program, run-off samples were taken from selected Brigade Markers in a series of bronze tablets in the Gettysburg National Military Park; parallel rainwater samples were collected. Analysis for pH, metal content and various ion species in the run off yields information on the total rate of corrosion as a function of dry and wet precipitation.

As part of a U.K. National Materials Exposure Programme, samples of stone and metals are being exposed at 29 sites for a minimum of 4 years. The sites were chosen to cover a wide range of environmental conditions, climate and topography. Information on meteorological conditions and atmospheric pollutants are being collected from all the sites. Four of the sites also form part of an international programme that is operating concurrently for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Results are reported from the exposure test on bare mild steel, galvanized steel, painted steel, copper and aluminium. Rates of corrosion in industrial areas are well below those reported for similar sites in 1930–1960, mainly because of the large fall in sulphur dioxide concentrations, and in many cases the scale is becoming increasingly protective. Rates for aluminium are extremely low.

The measured mass losses have been fitted to a variety of simple multivariate correlation functions. Work using continuous corrosion monitors suggests (in agreement with the mass-loss data) that:

1. 1.

   (i) the rate of corrosion of steel is controlled in British conditions mainly by the long-term average sulphur dioxide concentration, and scarcely responds to short-term SO₂ episodes;

2. 2.

   (ii) nitrogen oxide concentrations have little effect on the rate of corrosion;

3. 3.

   (iii) the chloride content of rain is not a very important factor for steel corrosion rates except at a few coastal sites.

The accumulation of gypsum on carbonate stone has been investigated through exposure of fresh samples of limestone and marble at monitored sites, through examination of alteration crusts from old buildings and through laboratory experiments. Several factors contribute to gypsum accumulation on carbonate stone. Marble or limestone that is sheltered from direct washing by rain in an urban environment with elevated pollution levels is likely to accumulate a gypsum crust. Crust development may be enhanced if the stone is porous or has an irregular surface area. Gypsum crusts are a surficial alteration feature; gypsum crystals form at the pore opening-air interface, where evaporation is greatest.