160 research outputs found
Optimisation of Modelling Methods for Traffic Pollution in Streets. TRAPOS
No full textThe TRAPOS (Optimisation of Modelling Methods for Traffic Pollution in Streets) Project was a European Research Network that had two main objectives:
1) To contribute to scientific achievements in the development and improvement of modelling tools used for the prediction of traffic pollution in urban streets through co-operative work.
2) To promote training-through-research, especially of young researchers, within the framework of high quality trans-national collaborative research projects
The project was in the framework of the European Commission’s Training and Mobility of Researchers Programme (TMR), was co-ordinated by the Danish National Environmental Research Institute (NERI) and ran from November 1997 until April 2001. This summary and available CD has been distributed to some researchers in Europe. Several of them suggested that others may be interested in the project and that led to this note and contact points.
The Network's participants represented universities, public research organisations and commercial consulting companies from several European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). Their fields of research covered several different aspects of air pollution modelling, such as: laboratory wind tunnel modelling, field measurements, dispersion modelling including computational fluid dynamics and the regulatory applications of models. The work within the TRAPOS Network was closely connected with many other European projects and research activities conducted by the participants. The interdisciplinary character of the co-operation among the participants represented diverse experience and working methods and this led to efficient utilisation of the results and scientific achievements.
Traffic pollution modelling is a very broad area and, to narrow the scope of the work within the Network, some principal research areas were identified as priorities:
• the traffic created turbulence and its influence on dispersion of pollutants in the street,
• the influence of thermal effects on flow modification within street canyons with special regard to low wind speed conditions,
• the sensitivity of the flow and turbulence characteristics to the architecture of the street and its surroundings,
• the fast chemical processes with special regard to NO-NO2 conversion,
• the dispersion and transformation processes of Respirable Suspended Particulate (RSP) matter.
Making use of the existing facilities and expertise of the participants, the activities contributing to the research objectives were:
• field measurements and analyses of data,
• laboratory (wind tunnel) measurements,
• model evaluation and inter-comparison.
The models in use within TRAPOS covered both simpler, parameterised models and more advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models. Synergy in the work with different types of models ensured scientific quality and the practical applicability of the results.
Field measurements and wind-tunnel data were used for evaluation and improvement of mathematical models. Wind-tunnel models were also tested against data from field measurements. Results from CFD models were used to improve parameterisation of simpler semi-empirical models. Design of new field experiments and also wind-tunnel measurements were guided by results from mathematical modelling.
In order to facilitate the joint work a number of Working Groups were created to focus on each of several activities of the Network. These Working Groups, which were led by the young researchers, accepted the main responsibility for the organisation of the work within TRAPOS. Especially dedicated web-sites, with presentation of the results and conclusions, were established by these groups (http://www.dmu.dk/AtmosphericEnvironment/trapos/wg.htm).
Based on the achievements and conclusions provided by the Working Groups a CD was put together for distribution. This included:
Chapter 1 deals with the processes influencing dispersion in a street environment. Theoretical and experimental studies of these processes were the main subject of TRAPOS. Beside the more traditional aspects, such as the influence of the street architecture on the dispersion conditions, this chapter covers also some special phenomena, which have not been studied in such details previously. These include traffic produced turbulence and effects of surface heating.
Presentation and discussion of the different tools used within traffic pollution modelling is given in Chapter 2. This chapter covers the use of laboratory wind tunnels and the use of CFD modelling. An extensive CFD model evaluation study was conducted within TRAPOS. The data used for this evaluation study originated mainly from systematic wind tunnel experiments but field data were also used.
In Chapter 3 the application and evaluation of different modelling methodologies for a practical traffic pollution study is presented. This study, the so-called "Podbielski exercise", was initiated and conducted by German institutions but with a very active participation of TRAPOS.
A summary and overview of the TRAPOS Network and its achievements is given in Chapter 4.
The achievements of the TRAPOS project were frequently presented at several major Air Pollution conferences and published in the open literature. In March 2001 the Third International Conference on Urban Air Quality was held in Loutraki, Greece. This conference provided an excellent opportunity to present some the results of the Network to a broader community. The Extended Abstracts of presentations given by TRAPOS participants at this Conference are attached to this publication as Chapter 5.
The reference list of all papers published during TRAPOS is given in Chapter 6.
The Appendices provide organisational details of the Participants and the list of the Young Visiting Researchers employed by the network
Single nucleotide polymorphisms at the imprinted bovine insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) locus are associated with dairy performance in Irish Holstein-Friesian cattle
No full textpeer-reviewedThe imprinted insulin-like growth factor 2 gene (IGF2) encodes a fetal mitogenic hormone
protein (IGF-II) and has previously been shown to be associated with performance in dairy cattle. In this study we assessed genotype-phenotype associations between four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within the bovine IGF2 locus on chromosome 29 and a range of performance traits related to milk production, animal growth and body size, fertility and progeny
survival in 848 progeny-tested Irish Holstein-Friesian sires. Two of the four SNPs (rs42196909 and IGF2.g-3815A>G), which were in strong linkage disequilibrium (r 2=0.995), were associated with milk yield (Pf0.01) and milk protein yield (Pf0.05); the rs42196901 SNP was also associated (Pf0.05) with milk fat yield. Associations (Pf0.05) with milk fat percentage and milk
protein percentage were observed at the rs42196901 and IGF2.g-3815A>G SNPs, respectively. The rs42196909 and IGF2.g-3815A>G SNPs were also associated with progeny carcass conformation (Pf0.05), while an association (Pf0.01) with progeny carcass weight was observed at the rs42194733 SNP locus. None of the four SNPs were associated with body size, fertility and progeny survival. These findings support previous work which suggests that the IGF2 locus is an
important biological regulator of milk production in dairy cattle and add to an accumulating body of research showing that imprinted genes influence many complex performance traits in cattle.This work was supported by a Research Stimulus Grant from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (project number: RSF-06-0406, RSF-06-0353; RSF-06-0409) and Investigator Programme Grants from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI/01/F.1/B028 and SFI/08/IN.l/B2038). MPM was funded by
Science Foundation Ireland research grant number 07/SRC/B1156
The Modelling of Turbulence from Traffic in Urban Dispersion Models – Part I: Theoretical Considerations
No full textA model evaluation protocol for urban scale flow and dispersion models
No full textThis paper reports on a comprehensive model evaluation protocol for urban scale flow and dispersion models that has been developed within the framework of the COST action 732 on Quality Assurance and Improvement of Micro-Scale Meteorological Models. It briefly discusses the different components forming model evaluation with particular emphasis on model validation and on the implementation of the protocol for a specific test case: the MUST (Mock Urban Setting Test) experiment. The protocol was first developed with building-resolving models in mind, but more traditional integral models have also been included. Currently the Action is finalising the MUST exercise results and will suggest the best approach for further model evaluation and for the standardization of CFD modelling practise for micro-scale meteorological applications
Towards a model evaluation protocol for urban scale flow, dispersion models
No full textThis paper reports on the stages forming a model evaluation protocol for urban flow and dispersion models proposed within the COST Action 732 on "Quality Assurance and Improvement of Micro-Scale Meteorological Models". It discusses the different components forming model evaluation with emphasis on validation and implementation of the protocol for the test case Mock Urban Setting Test (MUST). The protocol was proposed with building-resolving models in mind, but integral models have also been included. The suggested approach can be used for further micro-scale model evaluation and for the standardisation of their applications
Briefly about the history of war photography with special regard to the collection from the period of the World War I located in the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen
No full textThe author of the article focuses on the description of war photography which she classifies as journal photography. She points out that the development of this type of photography was considerably influenced by social photography. She argues that the image of unnecessary human suffering shows the senselessness and injustice of war which are strongly accentuated in photographs. Such emphasis affects emotions, compels the receiver to reflection and performs a propaganda function at the same time. On selected examples, the author presents the historical, documentary and artistic value of war photographs. She devotes a separate part of the article to the description of the beginnings of the Polish journal photography
The Modelling of Traffic Produced Turbulence
No full textThe chapter summarises the results of the TRAPOS working group “Traffic Produced Turbulence” (TPT). The main goals of these working group have been i) to summarise the TPT results that had already been achieved by the different teams, ii) to exchange the views and knowledge regarding TPT
effects iii) to find a consensus concerning the relevance of traffic produced turbulence for dispersion modelling, iv) to improve TPT scaling concepts v) to verify TPT parameterisations for numerical dispersion models and vi) to present concepts for an incorporation of TPT effects in regulatory dispersion models. The studies performed within the TRAPOS TPT working group have shown that TPT is an important aspect for dispersion of traffic emissions. Neglecting TPT parameterisations in dispersion models causes significant over-predictions of pollutant concentrations in urban street canyons that range up to a factor of 4 to 5. Empirical formulas like the so-called VDI method lead to improvements, but
operationally significant differences between model calculations and measured concentration values
still occur for above-roof wind speeds smaller than approximately 4-5 m/s. Based on the findings of the TRAPOS TPT working group the following recommendations are made
for practical applications of dispersion models: The TPT parameterisation implemented in the OSPM
model works satisfactorily and dispersion models similar to OSPM should include the OSPM TPT
concept. The traditional velocity scaling of concentrations and the empirical VDI method have
deficiencies and must be reconsidered. The approach presented in Kastner-Klein et al. (2001) and
Ketzel et al. (2001) that is based on a velocity scale which is defined as composition of velocity variances due to the external flow and due to traffic motions is an improvement and can be recommended. In CFD models TPT parameterisations must be implemented and the developed
concepts are an improvement compared to model calculations without TPT parameterisations. However, for recommendations of particular modifications in the system of equations further verification studies are necessary
The must model evaluation exercise: statistical analysis of modelling results
No full textThe first validation exercise of the COST action 732 lead to a substantial number of simulation results for comparison with the MUST wind tunnel experiments. Validation metrics for selected simulation results of the flow field and the concentrations are presented and compared to the state of the art. In addition mean metrics and corresponding scatter limits are computed from the individual results
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