A new index to assess the air quality impact of urban tree plantation

TY - JOUR

T1 - A new index to assess the air quality impact of urban tree plantation

AU - Datta, Savita

AU - Sharma, Anita

AU - Parkar, Vidit

AU - Hakkim, Haseeb

AU - Kumar, Ashish

AU - Chauhan, Astha

AU - Tomar, Shubham Singh

AU - Sinha, Baerbel

N1 - Funding Information: We thank the IISER Mohali Atmospheric Chemistry Facility for data and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), India, and IISER Mohali for funding the facility. V.P. acknowledges DST Inspire fellowship, A.K., A.C. and H.H., acknowledge MHRD and IISER Mohali for JRF/SRF fellowships, and S.D. acknowledges University Grants Comission (UGC) for SRF fellowship. A.S. acknowledges MHRD and IISER Mohali for postdoctoral fellowship. We acknowledge the DST Climate Change Program (SPLICE) DST/CCP/MRDP/100/2017(G) for funding support towards sampling and fieldwork for plant chamber experiments. We thank all past and present members of the group for technical assistance with leaf porometer and plant chamber measurements. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2021/10/15

Y1 - 2021/10/15

N2 - At present, urban planners select tree species for urban plantation based on the size, aerodynamic properties, the aesthetic value of trees and the tree's air pollution tolerance and rank choices based on an anticipated performance index (API). The index does not consider whether the chosen species will aggravate the pollution by emitting highly reactive ozone or secondary aerosol precursors or allergenic pollen. In this study, we introduce a new Air Quality Impact Index (AQII) which ranks choices in a more holistic manner, by taking aerodynamic properties, leaf structure, pollution uptake potential, pollution tolerance, ozone and aerosol precursor emissions, and the pollen allergy impact into account. We demonstrate the advantage of the AQII ranking by evaluating the impact of two species with equally high API that rank on the opposite ends of the AQII scale on urban air quality during summer season. We review the literature to compile a list of 149 species out of 280 tree species, which are commonly considered for urban plantation, for which VOC emissions have been reported. We also compile the allergy potential (107) and air pollution tolerance and calculate the AQII for 98 species, for which sufficient data is available.

AB - At present, urban planners select tree species for urban plantation based on the size, aerodynamic properties, the aesthetic value of trees and the tree's air pollution tolerance and rank choices based on an anticipated performance index (API). The index does not consider whether the chosen species will aggravate the pollution by emitting highly reactive ozone or secondary aerosol precursors or allergenic pollen. In this study, we introduce a new Air Quality Impact Index (AQII) which ranks choices in a more holistic manner, by taking aerodynamic properties, leaf structure, pollution uptake potential, pollution tolerance, ozone and aerosol precursor emissions, and the pollen allergy impact into account. We demonstrate the advantage of the AQII ranking by evaluating the impact of two species with equally high API that rank on the opposite ends of the AQII scale on urban air quality during summer season. We review the literature to compile a list of 149 species out of 280 tree species, which are commonly considered for urban plantation, for which VOC emissions have been reported. We also compile the allergy potential (107) and air pollution tolerance and calculate the AQII for 98 species, for which sufficient data is available.

KW - Aerosol

KW - Emissions

KW - Pollen allergy

KW - Population exposure

KW - Urban air quality

KW - Urban vegetation impacts

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117088678&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.uclim.2021.100995

DO - 10.1016/j.uclim.2021.100995

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85117088678

SN - 2212-0955

VL - 40

JO - Urban Climate

JF - Urban Climate

M1 - 100995

ER -