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Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Rise in air pollution resulting in negative health externalities for humans has created an urgent need for cities and communities to monitor it regularly. At present we have insufficient ground passive and active monitoring networks in place which presents a huge challenge. Satellite imagery has been used extensively for such analysis, but its resolution and methodology present other challenges in estimating pollution burden. The objective of this study was to propose three low-cost methods to fill in the gaps that exist currently. First, EPA grade sensors were used in 11 cities across the U.S. to examine NO2. This is a simplistic way to assess the burden of air pollution in a region. However, this technique cannot be applied to fine scale analysis, which resulted in the next two components of this research study. Second, a citizen science network was established on the east side of Indianapolis, IN who hosted 32 Ogawa passive sensors to examine NO2 and O3 at a finer scale. These low-cost passive sensors, not requiring power, and very little maintenance, have historically tracked very closely with Federal Reference Monitors. Third, a low-cost PurpleAir PA-II-SD active sensors measuring PM2.5 were housed with the citizen scientists identified above. This data was uploaded via Wi-Fi and available via a crowd sourced site established by PurpleAir. These data sets were analyzed to examine the burden of air pollution. The second and third research studies enabled granular analyses utilizing citizen science, tree canopy data, and traffic data, thus accommodating some of the present limitations. Advancement in low-cost sensor technology, along with ease of use and maintenance, presents an opportunity for not just communities, but cities to take charge of some of these analyses to help them examine health equity impacts on their citizens because of air pollution.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第24153号 / 地環博第231号 / 新制||地環||44(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 梶井 克純, 教授 高野 裕久, 准教授 田中 周平 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

<p> Exposure to traffic-related air pollutants has been found to be damaging to human health. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels, commonly used to indicate traffic-related pollution levels, vary significantly over small areas with higher levels found near sources such as major roads and industrial areas. The temporal and spatial variability in NO2 levels is partly caused by fluctuations in meteorological variables, and better understanding of these: meteorological influences can be used to enhance exposure assessment in health effects models.</p> <p> In this study, the interaction between measured hourly NO2 concentrations and climate variables at 11 locations in the Toronto-Hamilton Urban Airshed (THUAS) is examined. Analysis of meteorological data shows that two large urban heat islands (UHI) are present in the THUAS, centred on the downtown areas of Toronto and Hamilton. Lake breezes are found to occur frequently in the region, on up to 50% of summer days at lakeshore locations. These temperature and wind patterns influence NO2 and pollutant distributions. NO2 concentrations are highest in the early morning and late evening. Mean concentrations are highest in winter, although individual 1-hour NO2 concentrations are found to be highest in summer because of higher production rates. Wind direction is the strongest control on hourly NO2 concentration, and temperature and wind speed also have an effect. Seasonal variations in meteorology and emissions mean that the degree of spatial variability in NO2 concentrations changes from season-to-season in the THUAS resulting in variable exposure of urban populations.</p> <p> An attempt to improve an existing Land Use Regression (LUR) model, used for predicting nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations and estimating human exposure, was made by incorporating high resolution interpolated observed up- and downwind effects of wind transport on NO2 concentrations around major roadways. Incorporation of observed wind direction effects in the LUR model slightly improved the accuracy of NO2 concentration estimates in densely populated, high traffic, and industrial/business areas in both Toronto and Hamilton. However the short-term nature of initial NO2 concentration data limits the utility of the model in light of the significant seasonal variation in climate parameters in the THUAS and their influence on NO2 transport and distribution.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

This thesis presents methods to place landing sites for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept. The analysis shows an integrated approach to establish UAM landing site requirements, place landing sites based on predicted demand, and estimate the costs associated with UAM landing sites. This thesis also makes estimates of fares associated with UAM operations. The methods presented are applied to three large urban centers in the United States. The analysis assumes an all-electric, advanced multi-rotor aircraft with autonomous navigational and Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) capabilities to estimate UAM landing site requirements. The thesis presents the land area requirements of UAM landing sites using Federal Aviation Administration heliport design criteria considering ground-taxi configurations. The analysis performed employs a UAM vehicle with an equivalent Rotor Diameter (RD) of 43 feet. In this thesis, UAM demand is estimated using a mode choice model developed in a companion study (UAM Scenario Analysis). The methodology to locate UAM landing sites includes splitting and consolidation of UAM landing sites considering the Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset (ZTRAX) to introduce land-use size and cost constraints. The sites are split using a K-Means clustering method and are consolidated using a simple center of mass approach where the demand of each landing site is analogous to mass. The results presented in this thesis apply to 75 and 200 landing sites in each region and assume passenger Cost-Per-Mile (CPM) of $1.20 and $1.80, respectively. This thesis presents a comparative study on how the availability of land affects the splitting, consolidation, and relocation of UAM landing sites for each region, the number of landing sites, and the cost per passenger-mile. / Master of Science / This thesis aims at the landing sites for the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept for commuting passengers in Northern California (17 counties), Southern California (9 counties), and Dallas-Fort Worth (12 counties) region. The aircraft for this service is designed to be an all-electric advanced multi-rotor aircraft with autonomous navigational and Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) capabilities. The commuting trips considered is focused on passengers traveling to work from home and back. This thesis presents the land area requirements of these landing sites, which are calculated from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Advisory Circular 150/5390-2C using ground-taxi configuration for a typical representative aircraft of an equivalent rotor diameter (RD) of 43 feet. The landing sites are then split into smaller sites and consolidated into larger sites. This thesis also presents a list of plots of land located within the 0.5 statute-mile boundaries of the landing sites for relocation. This entire analysis is based on the availability of land from the Zillow Transaction and Assessment Dataset (ZTRAX). The results presented in this thesis are for 75 and 200 landing sites set in the study area for a passenger Cost-Per-Mile (CPM) of $1.2 and $1.8, respectively. The results show how the availability of land changes for different CPM for a set of landing sites and affects the splitting, consolidation, and relocation of landing sites for each region. In the end, the thesis presents conclusions and recommendations unique to each region.

Urban Air mobility (UAM) promises reduced congestion on roads, reduced travel times and stronger overall efficiency in densely populated areas. However several challenges arise when wanting to implement UAM such as safety and social acceptance. The aim of this paper is to gain valuable insights how to implement safe and socially accepted UAM into society. Current regulations are discussed as well as X, Y and Z volumes in U-space, flight separations with ellipsoidal safety buffers, high speed corridors, landing separation at vertiports and airspace partition with voronoi diagrams are proposed and discussed. Social acceptance is addressed with some of the most prominent concerns e.g. safety, privacy and noise. Examples are set in Stockholm, Sweden, resulting in a maximum airspace occupation of 1 % which means 210 UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) on each flight level. Sensitive areas and people with privacy concerns should have the option to opt-out of having their properties under the flight paths of UAM-vehicles. Concerns with UAM from the public has to be taken into great consideration for a successful implementation of UAM.

In decentralised multi-agent reinforcement learning communication can be used as a measure to increase coordination among the agents. At the same time, the essence of message exchange and its contribution to successful goal achievement can only be established with the domain knowledge of a given environment. This thesis focuses on understanding the impact of communication on a decentralised multi-agent system. To achieve this, communication is employed and studied in the context of Urban Air Mobility, in particular- to the vertiport terminal area control problem. A proposed in this work experimental framework, that promotes different information exchange protocols, allows to investigate if and how the agents leverage their communication capabilities. Acquired simulation results show that in the terminal area of a vertiport the aircrafts, controlled in a decentralised way, are capable of proper self-organisation, similar to the structured technique formulated in [Bertram and Wei(2020)]. A study of their communication mechanisms indicates that through different protocols the agents learn to signal their intent to enter a vertiport regardless of environment settings.

Die vorliegende Doktorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit der numerischen Ausbreitungssimulation von Luftschadstoffen im urbanen Raum. Als Strömungshindernisse prägen Gebäude maßgeblich das kleinskalige Windfeld und damit den horizontalen Transport und die Verteilung von urbanen Luftschadstoffen. Die häufig im Rahmen von Großwirbelsimulationen (engl.: Large Eddy Simulation, LES) zur expliziten Darstellung von Gebäuden verwendeten hohen räumlichen Auflösungen in Bereich von wenigen Metern erforden einen hohen Rechenaufwand und beschränken daher die Anwendung meist auf wenige Gebäudeblöcke. Mittels eines neuen Diskretisierungsansatzes können Gebäude auch bei deutlich geringeren Auflösungen in Bereich der sogenannten urbanen Grauzone (horizontale Gitterweite > 10m) mittels diffuser Gebäudekanten explizit dargestellt werden. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde das urbane Dispersionsmodells CAIRDIO (v1.0) mit diesem neuen Diskretisierungsansatz entwickelt. Das Modell wurde zunächst mit einem Windkanalexperiment, welches die turbulente Ausbreitung eines Test-Tracers in einer Modellstadt beinhaltet, validiert. Dabei konnte bis zu einer horizontalen Auflösung von 40m noch eine hinreichend gute Übereinstimmung des Modells mit Konzentrationsmessungen erzielt werden, es wurde jedoch nur ein Bruchteil der Rechenzeit einer Referenzsimulation mit 5m Gitterweite benötigt. Der Ansatz mit diffusen Gebäuden erlaubt daher den Anwendungsbereich mikroskaliger Simulationen im Vergleich zu klassischen LES Simulationen erheblich zu erweitern, z.B. auf die Simulation ganzer Städte. In einer ersten realistischen Fallstudie wurde das Modell CAIRDIO auf die Stadt Leipzig in Mitteldeutschland angewandt. Dabei wurde die Ausbreitung von realistischen Feinstaub und Ruß-Emissionen bei einer horizontalen Auflösung von 40m für das gesamte Stadtgebiet über einen Zeitraum von 2 Tagen (Anfang März 2020) berechnet und mit Messungen validiert. Es konnten die Auswirkungen der variablen Grenzschichtdynamik auf den urbanen Luftschadstofftransport mit dem Modell qualitativ korrekt wiedergegeben werden. Nur für verkehrsnahe Standorte führte eine höhere räumliche Auflösung von bis zu 5m noch zu einer besseren Übereinstimmung mit den Messungen. Insgesamt stellten jedoch bereits bei 40m Auflösung die Unsicherheiten in den Emissionen und den Randbedingungen den größten Anteil am Modellfehler dar. In einer zweiten Fallstudie wurde eine weiter entwickelte Version des Modells CAIRDIO auf die Stadt Dresden im Elbtal angewandt. Der Fokus dieser Studie lag diesmal auf der den urbanen Raum umgebenden Orographie, welche erhebliche Auswirkungen auf die lokale Luftqualität bei Inversionswetterlagen haben kann. Dazu wurde das Dresdner Becken mittels geländefolgender Koordinaten zusammen mit den nach wie vor diffus repräsentierten Stadtgebäuden auf der Skala der urbanen Grauzone im Modell dargestellt. Neben der Dispersion von Ruß-Emissionen wurde auch die Ruß-Alterskonzentration, welche sich besonders gut zur Identifikation von orographisch bedingten Akkumulation von Luftschadstoffen eignet, über einen Zeitraum von insgesamt 24 Tagen modelliert. Die räumliche Verteilung der Alterskonzentrations-Hotspots wurde bei stabilen Wetterlagen neben den Gebäudeeffekten maßgeblich durch die Orographie beeinflusst, während bei neutraler Schichtung orographische Effekte nur gering ausgeprägt waren.

With the recent emergence of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) as a potential solution to alleviate congested urban transportation, concerns have arisen regarding adherence to noise emission regulations and general public acceptance. With the design of new and innovative air vehicles utilizing electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) propulsion systems for UAM applications, significant gaps remain in the understanding of their aerodynamic and acoustic performance, particularly when interacting with disturbances such as turbulence generated by buildings. To address safety, noise, and performance challenges, effective optimization methods must be developed. However, there is a lack of sufficient experimental data to support these advancements. This study investigates the aerodynamic and acoustic performance of a scaled eVTOL propeller operating in both axial and non-axial flight. A comprehensive summary of the experimental propeller's design is provided. Thrust, torque, and sound pressure data are acquired from wind tunnel testing of the experimental propeller operating with various blade pitch angles, yaw angles, and under several inflow velocities. The experimental results are subsequently compared to a custom-developed Blade Element Momentum Theory (BEMT) utility for low-fidelity predictions. The findings aim to provide baseline data for Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) validation, enhancing predictive tools for advancing safe and efficient urban air transportation. Experimental results exhibit positive correlations between thrust, torque, and acoustic intensity with increasing yaw angle. The acoustic profile of the propeller at large yaw angles features an increase in broadband noise, a characteristic feature of Blade-Wake Interaction. Additionally, BEMT calculations predict thrust and torque within 10% accuracy of the measured data across most conditions. Supplementary calculations of the induced velocity fields offer preliminary insights into the distortion effects for future studies on interactions between eVTOL propellers and turbulent flows. / Master of Science / Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is viewed as a solution to congested transportation in urban areas. Newly designed aircraft, essentially "air taxis", seek to provide transportation in and around urban landscapes. A great concern with the operation of UAM aircraft in densely populated environments is their noise emissions. Methods must be developed to optimize vehicle performance while balancing the goal of being quiet enough for public acceptance. However, there remain knowledge gaps about how these vehicles will perform in such environments where turbulent flows are common. Therefore, experimental data must be acquired to provide a better understanding of how to model their performance and interactions. This study presents a comprehensive overview of the design and wind tunnel experimentation of a scaled air taxi propeller. Experimental results on aerodynamic and acoustic performance are collected and analyzed to provide baseline data for the validation of computational methods. Experimental results show trends of increasing thrust, torque, and acoustic intensity with increasing propeller tilt angle. The acoustic profile of the propeller at large tilt angles features an increase in broadband noise, which is characteristic of an increased presence of unsteady interaction. Lastly, low-fidelity calculations accurately predict thrust and torque within 10% error of the measured data for most conditions.

Spatial and temporal variations and factors affecting these variations in concentrations of measured parameters at two different groups of stations in Ankara are investigated in this study. The first group consists of three curbside stations that are under the direct influence of traffic emissions, on the other hand, the other group is composed of eight residential stations in which domestic heating is the main emission source. State of air quality in Ankara is determined through comparison with air quality data generated in other countries and available air quality standards. Based on this comparison, although air quality has improved in recent years, it is still not one of the clean cities around the world. Although measured concentrations of pollutants comply with standards in the Turkish Air Quality Regulation, further reduction in concentrations will be necessary, if EU directives become effective in the country. Relation between measured concentrations and meteorological parameters are also investigated. Wind speed and mixing height are the two parameters that are most closely related to measured concentrations at residential stations. However, at curbside stations concentrations are determined by emissions. Qualitative comparison of two groups of stations emphasizes the contribution of motor vehicle emissions on residential areas. Seasonal and diurnal variations of measured parameters and lower winter-to-summer ratio of SO2 indicate contribution of diesel vehicle emissions to SO2 levels at curbside stations. Contribution of traffic emissions are also observed in terms of well defined bimodal traffic pattern of SO2 and PM-10 at non-curbside stations. Seasonal and diurnal pollutant ratios are investigated to apportion different source types that are effective in each group of station. PM-to-SO2, NO-to-NO2, PM-10-to-NOX and SO2-to-NOX ratios are found to be good tracers for qualitative assessment of source groups, namely traffic and domestic heating. Different statistical methodologies are demonstrated to determine the source regions of pollutants with respect to wind direction. Air quality level of Ankara, instead of air quality level in each station, is determined in terms of daily API. One by one correlation between API and meteorological factors are investigated, maximum wind speed and daily thermic excursion is found to be the highest correlated variables. The relation between API and these variables is analyzed by multiple linear regression method and then air pollution forecast model highly correlated with API and meteorological variables is developed. The assimilative capacity of Ankara is calculated in terms of ventilation coefficient and found to be highest in summer and lowest in winter. In winter poor dispersion conditions favor the poor air quality in the city.