The study, led by researchers at the University of Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), put an extensive array of instruments in and around a hedge to measure the presence of various pollutants at numerous locations, identifying the effect of the hedge at different heights and distances from the road.
This study builds a new understanding of the distribution of different air pollutants around a hedge in a shallow street canyon, where the width of the road is at least twice the height of the buildings which line it, by quantifying:
1. The overall air pollutant concentration changes behind the hedgerow;
2. The effect of wind speed and direction on pollutant variation in the presence of hedgerows; and
3. The horizontal and vertical distribution of air pollutants.
The insight gained will guide the improved design of green infrastructure barriers and validate microscale dispersion models. However, it revealed a complex picture dependent on many factors – wind speed and direction, hedge characteristics, type of pollutant and more – highlighting a need for more field studies to validate future modelling studies.
Read more at: University of Surrey