Investigating the impacts of urban form and meteorological parameters on air pollution in Tehran and Tabriz

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD Student of Climatology, Department of Natural Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

2 Professor of Climatology, Department of Natural Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Climatology, Department of Natural Geography, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

4 Associate Professor of Forestry, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tarbiat Modarres, Mazandaran, Iran

10.22111/gdij.2025.48916.3654

Abstract

Urban form significantly affects the generation and emission of air pollutants. Therefore, better knowledge of the relationship between urban form and air pollution can have important implications for improving air quality by optimizing urban planning and management policies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between urban form and the air pollutants CO, NO2, SO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5, and BC in Tehran and Tabriz and their climatic interactions during 2015-2021. This goal was achieved using Spearman's correlation analysis and calculation of landscape metrics related to urban size, shape, fragmentation, compactness, and sprawl based on the Dynamic World land use data with a resolution of 10×10 meters in the Google Earth Engine and R 4.3.3 software. The random forest (RF) and multiple linear regression (MLR) models were applied to determine the effects of urban form on pollutants. The results demonstrate that urban form played a crucial role in the generation and emission of air pollutants in Tehran and Tabriz during the study period. In addition, the mechanisms by which urban form affects air pollution are quite different for some pollutants, considering the differences in the regional characteristics of these cities, including population, climatic conditions, and industrial structure. Meteorological parameters significantly influence the relationship between urban form characteristics and the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants in Tehran and Tabriz.
 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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  • Receive Date: 03 June 2024
  • Revise Date: 25 December 2024
  • Accept Date: 06 January 2025

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