Mobile Realtime Air Monitoring Platform -MAP 18 Districts June 2010 Funded by: 1
Summary 1. Air quality can vary significantly within a district, even along a street. 2. Traffic control (e.g. bus stops, traffic lights) have significant impacts on local air quality. 3. Careful town planning, including buildings, traffic and open space provisions, is essential in improving air quality in a specific locality. 4. Shipping emissions contribute significantly to SO2 concentration in residential districts such as Kwai Tsing. 5. EPD s proposed LEZs currently not designed to cover all of the highest pollution areas; and sensitive receivers (e.g. schools, hospitals etc.), thus failing to protect vulnerable populations. 6. CE-HKUST full research MAP report will be released Q3 2010. 2
Rationale Street-level air pollution is important in terms of exposure Close to emission source emitted directly into the breathing zone of the pedestrians and other road users People spend a significant portion of time on streets: for travelling, shopping, other outdoor activities 3
Operation summary Started: 27 August 2009 Finished: 12 March 2010 More than 15,000 km traveled Approximately 9,000 km data 89 days measurements 4+1 measurements: 2 days AM: 8 am to 3 pm 2 days PM: 3 pm to 9 pm 1 day circling HK 4
Mobile Realtime Air Monitoring Platform (MAP) 5
Mobile Realtime Air Monitoring Platform (MAP) Three EPD roadside stations at fixed locations Detailed street-level air quality survey in the 18 districts Spatial and temporal air quality distribution 6
MAP Makes measurement as it travels capabilities Pollutants Gases: NO2/NO/NOX CO SO2 O3 Particles: Black carbon Particle concentration (#/cm3, 0.02 1.0 μm) Particle size distribution (10 nm 10 μm) Location GPS Weather T, RH, Solar, P Wind 7
Examples: Yau Tsim Mong 8
Examples: Yau Tsim Mong Main routes Cover major arterial roads and emitters Overall representatives of the districts ONE for each district Local routes Cover special features or areas of particular interests, e.g. commercial, schools 2 to 3 routes for each district Measurements: 8-10 times each route Time: AM and PM, both rush and non-rush hours Weekdays: Mon Fri, excluding public holidays 9
Circle Route Start/ End 10
Circle Route Circle Route Makes one circle route measurement in the week of measurements in each district. Allows the comparison among districts over a long project time span Passes through most districts in HK Island, Kowloon and New Territories Covers a large number of highways and main arterial roads Start/ End 11
Variability within a district Yau Tsim Mong District 1st September 2009 King s Park & Yau Ma Tei 12
Variability within a district Yau Tsim Mong District 1st September 2009 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 King s Park & Yau Ma Tei; 08:00 13
Variability within a district Wan Chai District, 23rd September 2009 Gloucester Road & Hennessy Road 14
Variability within a district Wan Chai District, 23rd September 2009 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 Gloucester Road & Hennessy Road, 10:00-10:15 15
NOX vs. raffic Density Urban Roads Highways 1500 Hennessy Road Des Voeux Road Central Nathan Road NOx (μg/m3) 1000 500 Un Chau Street King s Road Ma Tau Wai Road Queen s Road East Kwun Tong Road San Tin Highway Fanling Highway Yuen Long Highway Tsing Kwai Highway North Lantau Highway Tate s Cairn Highway 0 0 25000 50000 75000 100000 Traffic density (veh/day) 16
Tolo Highway 93,200veh/day NO2 = 120ug/m 3 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 17
Kwun Tong Bypass 96,700veh/day NO2 = 180ug/m 3 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 18
Nathan Road 41,400 veh/day NO2 = 380 ug/m 3 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 19
Hennessy Road 24,000 veh/day NO2 = 480 ug/m 3 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 20
Tolo Highway Kwun Tong Bypass Nathan Road Hennessy Road 93,200 veh/day NO2 = 120ug/m 3 96,700 veh/day NO2 = 180ug/m 3 41,400 veh/day NO2 = 380 ug/m 3 24,000 veh/day NO2 = 480 ug/m 3 21
Hennessy Road 22
Hennessy Road Air quality on Hennessy Road is the worst Consequence of different factors Bus stops Traffic lights Bad air ventilation Air quality vs. convenience of transportation Exposure 23
Effects of open space Gloucester Road Causeway Bay 0 75 150 225 300 µg/m 3 NO2 24
Episode- Container Port 25
Episode- Container Port 26
Episode- Container Port 10th December 2009; 07:00 ppb SO2 Wind Direction 27
Episode- Container Port 10th December 2009; 10:00 ppb SO2 Wind Direction 28
Episode- Container Port 10th December 2009: 10:48 Wind Direction ppb SO2 29
Hotspots in Main arterial roads Hong Kong 30
Hotspots in Main arterial roads Hong Kong Highways High fine particle concentrations Main arterial roads High NO 2 and NO X Others Container Port Road S. and Po Shek Wu Road Main roads for container/cross-border transportation High fine particle and black carbon concentrations 31
Transport 32
Ports Mei Fu Lai Chi Kok Park 33
How is the public affected along the Students, the elderly and patients are the vulnerable groups of air pollution To correlate the MAP result with the impact of air pollution on the public, especially the vulnerable populations, locations where schools, hospitals and rehabilitation centres are indicated along the routes. 34
Findings Kwai Chung 18 15 3 Yau Tsim Mong 31 7 6 Central West 17 2 11 Wan Chai 3 2 2 35
Number of children affected in the About 100,000 children are affected by roadside pollution along the MAP routes of the 4 districts In some districts, the actual NO2 level measured is 2-3 times exceeding the WHO level 36
Health Impacts Asthma and other respiratory illnesses Strokes Lung Diseases low birth weight and infant mortality Heart Attacks 37
Implications 1. Importance of upgrading bus and truck fleets ASAP and use planning means to maximize improvements 2. For future planning, avoid high pollution routes from overlapping on sensitive receivers 3. This also provides reference for parents, home owners, etc when purchasing and renting property 4. Re: Proposed Low Emission Zones (LEZs) in Central, Causeway Bay and Mongkok in the AQO reports: Insufficiently cover high pollution areas and sensitive receivers, thus failing to protect vulnerable populations 38
Central LEZ 39
Causeway Bay LEZ 40
Mongkok LEZ 41
Conclusions 1. There are roads with high pollution levels and with lots of pedestrians. The poor air quality poses a human health exposure issue. 2. Air quality can vary significantly within a district, even along a street. 3. Traffic arrangement and control have significant impacts to local air quality. 4. Open space helps improving roadside air quality. 5. Careful town planning, including buildings and traffic, is essential in improving air quality. 6. Marine emission can contribute significantly to ambient SO2 concentration in districts such as Kwai Tsing. Estimated to be onethird of the time based on wind direction info at EPD Kwai Chung site. 42