Bilateral project with Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Dubna, Russia: Atmospheric deposition study in street canyon of Belgrade and Moscow

2011 - 2013

Urban environments are hot-spots of atmospheric pollution. Especially, air pollutants in urban street canyons have been a matter of growing concern as these canyons work mainly as a trap for traffic related pollutants and since their concentrations are many times higher than in open sites. According to the complexity of physical measurements, up to date investigations in street canyons have been based on a few measurements and modelling only. In the course of the project the small scale patterns of element deposition in urban street canyons will be investigated, for the first time by a net of biomonitoring sites. Monitoring will be performed by a well established and cost efficient method (active moss monitoring). For the first time this method will be applied in the cities of Belgrade and Moscow.

For moss element analysis complementary analytical techniques will be used: in Serbia -induced coupled plasma optic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and in Russia - instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) allows concentration determination up to 45 chemical elements in moss samples, including heavy metals, lanthanides and actinides.

The analytical results obtained will form a qualitatively new database for mathematical modelling predicting levels and identifying sources of atmospheric pollution on a large scale based on a small scale monitoring in the study areas. For modelling an operational street canyon model (WinOSPM) will be used. By applying conventional input data and data obtained by this study a validation of these models can be given and adapted models will subsequently be transferred to comparable sites in the respective towns. The proposed study shall provide deeper insights into pollution patterns of urban street canyons.

In addition, this study can be taken as an important regulatory assessment support for environmental impact assessment by urban authorities and can deliver important tools for human health related studies.