title: A methodology to estimate benzene concentrations in a town through a traffic model.
abstract: In this work an approach is presented that describes the changes of benzene concentration in the air, in relation with the special traffic characteristics of a road. The dominant input parameters of the model are traffic density and the vehicle's type distribution according to seven main categories characterized by different emission factors. The dispersion approach used is a semi-empirical relationship that apart from emission rates requires also wind speed and the direction, as well as the geometrical characteristics of the road. The methodology was validated for Ioannina, a Greek medium sized town with special traffic and geographic characteristics presenting high atmospheric pollution values. It is found that the benzene concentrations estimated by the methodology are in a very good agreement with the measurements.
authors.affiliation: University of Ioannina, Department of Physics, Laboratory of Meteorology, GR-45110, Ioannina, Greece. pkassom@cc.uoi.gr
authors.forename: Pavlos A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Kassomenos
authors.forename: Spyros P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Karakitsios
authors.forename: Georgios A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Pilidis
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D001554:Benzene / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006115:Greece; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D001554:Benzene