Exposure assessment to high-traffic corridors in bogota using a near-road air quality model

Abstract

Vehicular traffic in Bogota is one of the main causes of air pollution, therefore it is necessary to estimate concentration levels at which the population is exposed near roads. This work summarizes the implementation of the near-road air quality model R-LINE in Bogota. Emissions from vehicles were calculated for 12,725 road links (912 km of principal roads) and assigned to the model in (g m−1s−1) units. Meteorological information was obtained from the Bogota’s Air Quality Monitoring Network (BAQMN) stations. Evaluation of model was performed by comparing modeling outputs against pollutant observations from the BAQMN. Results suggest a good model performance and potential to use the model to evaluate personal exposure and assess/develop emission reduction strategies for improving air quality in a large metropolitan area.