ASSESSMENT OF THE DISPERSIVE CAPACITY OF NEIGHBOURHOODS BASED ON LOCAL CLIMATE ZONES CLASSIFICATION

NOx dispersion simulations of a winter period were performed with the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) coupled with an urban canopy scheme (BEP-BEM) in Vitoria-Gasteiz, a small size city in the north of the Iberian peninsula. Road traffic and residential heating were considered as emission sources and NOx was treated as an inert gas, with no deposition. Comparison with observations across three urban air quality stations shows that the model is able to reproduce time and space variability. NOx is normalized by the emission in each grid cell in order to represent the dispersion capacity of the urban canyons and results are analysed based on the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification. The dispersive capacity is found to be influenced by urban morphology. LCZs show different dispersion capacity, with LCZ 2 and 3 showing higher normalized concentration values than the rest. On the other hand, horizontal transport of NOx is found to hinder the analysis and further understanding of urban winds is needed. This study shows the potential of the LCZ classification for air quality management, providing a fast screening method for cities, in order to prioritize the areas to be improved from the air pollution perspective.