Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

Air pollution in cities

Helmut Mayer
Meteorological Institute, University of Freiburg, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany

Abstract
Air quality in cities is the result of a complex interaction between natural and anthropogenic environmental
conditions. Air pollution in cities is a serious environmental problem } especially in the developing countries. The air
pollution path of the urban atmosphere consists of emission and transmission of air pollutants resulting in the ambient
air pollution. Each part of the path is in#uenced by di!erent factors. Emissions from motor tra$c are a very important
source group throughout the world. During transmission, air pollutants are dispersed, diluted and subjected to
photochemical reactions. Ambient air pollution shows temporal and spatial variability. As an example of the temporal
variability of urban air pollutants caused by motor tra$c, typical average annual, weekly and diurnal cycles of NO, NO2,
O and O are presented for an o$cial urban air-quality station in Stuttgart, southern Germany. They are supplemented

V
by weekly and diurnal cycles of selected percentile values of NO, NO2, and O3. Time series of these air pollutants give
information on their trends. Results are discussed with regard to air pollution conditions in other cities. Possibilities for
the assessment of air pollution in cities are shown. In addition, a qualitative overview of the air quality of the world's
megacities is given.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Emissions for urban air pollution; Cycles and trends of urban air pollutants; Assessment of air pollution

1. Introduction
Most cities world-wide su!er from serious air-quality
problems, which have received increasing attention in the
past decade. A major probable reason for the air-quality
problems is urban population growth, combined with
change in land use due to increasing urban areas. The
urban population growth is caused by (1) drift to the
cities and (2) excess of births over deaths in the cities
themselves } especially due to high birthrates in the
developing countries.
Mainly responsible for the migration to the cities is
a deep structural change, especially in non-industrialised
countries. This structural change is the consequence of (1)
economic opening-up, (2) new trading partners, and (3)
change of political conditions, e.g. democratisation.
Structural change takes a rapid course in some countries, dubbed `tigersa. It is not surprising that the expected urban population growth from 1992 until 2010 is
much higher for Lagos, Bombay or Dhaka than for
Tokyo or New York (Table 1). Urban population growth
has many consequences. One of them is higher emission
of air pollutants. Even though for most air pollutants,

the emission rate per inhabitant is at present higher in

industrialised countries, the tendency is obvious that this
rate will in future be higher in the so-called developing
countries.
2. Air pollution path in the atmosphere
Emission of air pollutants is caused by di!erent anthropogenic processes which can be categorised into the
source groups motor tra$c, industry, power plants,
trade, and domestic fuel. In industrialised countries like
Germany, emissions of `classica air pollutants are decreasing (Fig. 1). This trend is pronounced for carbon
monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO) and total
suspended particulate (TSP), and is weakly evident for
nitrogen oxides (NOV) and non-methane volatile organic
compounds (NMVOC). In Germany, emissions of CO
and NOV caused by motor tra$c amount to more than
half the total emissions of these pollutants, and NMVOC
emissions of motor tra$c are just under half the total
emission of NMVOC.
Hence, it follows that motor vehicle tra$c seems to be
the most important source group for air pollution,

1352-2310/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 1 3 5 2 - 2 3 1 0 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 1 4 4 - 2

4030

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

Table 1
Estimated population (in millions) of selected megacities in 1992,
projected population (in millions) in 2010, and projected population increase after UN, 1993
Megacity

1992

2010

2010}1992

Lagos
Bombay
Dhaka
Delhi
Jakarta
Beijing
Sao Paulo
Teheran
Cairo
Tokyo
Mexico City
Los Angeles
Rio de Janeiro
Buenos Aires
New York

8.7
13.3
7.4
8.0
10.0
11.4
19.2
7.0
9.0
25.8
15.3
11.9
11.3
11.8
16.2

21.1
24.4
17.6
15.6
17.2
18.0
25.0
11.9
13.4
28.9
18.0
13.9
13.3
13.7
17.2

12.4
11.1
10.2
7.6
7.2
6.6
5.8
4.9
4.4
3.1
2.7
2.0
2.0
1.9
1.0

especially in cities. The investigation by Mage et al.

(1996) indicates that motor tra$c is a major source of air
pollution in megacities (cities with a projected population of over 10 million by the year 2000). In half of them it
is the single most important source. Since 1950, the
global vehicle #eet has grown tenfold, and is estimated to
double again within the next 20}30 years. Much of the

expected growth in vehicle numbers is likely to occur in

developing countries and in eastern Europe. As cities
expand, more people will drive more vehicles over greater
distances and for longer time. Emissions of air pollutants
by motor tra$c depends on di!erent factors such as
tra$c density, driving habits or ratio of automobiles to
trucks (Fig. 2). In contrast to the trend in the industrialised countries of decreasing emissions of air pollutants, emissions are presently increasing in some cities of
non-industrialised countries (UNEP/WHO, 1993).
Emitted air pollutants are dispersed and diluted in the
atmosphere (Lyons and Scott, 1990). Chemical reactions
producing, for example, photochemical ozone occur
frequently during this transmission process (Alloway
and Ayres, 1993; Bloom"eld et al., 1996). Dispersion and
dilution of air pollutants are strongly in#uenced by meteorological conditions, especially by wind direction,
wind speed, turbulence, and atmospheric stability. Topographical siting and urban structures like street canyons,
for example, have a great e!ect on these meteorological
parameters. Chemical reactions also depend on ambient
weather conditions because they are in#uenced by shortwave radiation, air temperature, and air humidity.
Along with chemical reactions, dispersion and dilution
processes result in ambient air pollution which shows
concentrations of di!erent substances varying with regard to time and space. Either measurements or modelling may be used to quantify these processes. `Classica air
pollutants like SO , NO, NO and ozone (O ) are




Fig. 1. Emissions (all sources) of nitrogen oxides (NO ), sulphur dioxide (SO ), carbon monoxide (CO), total suspended particulate
V

(TSP), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) in Germany from 1975 until 1996 (after UBA, 1998).

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

4031

long-term air pollution data from the o$cial urban airquality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta which is
strongly in#uenced by motor tra$c. Stuttgart is a big city
in southern Germany with about 500,000 residents.

3. Temporal variability of air pollutants

Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of the air pollution path in the

atmosphere.

monitored routinely at most o$cial air-quality stations.

`Speciala air pollutants like VOC, Pb, soot or other
carcinogenic compounds are usually measured only during particular investigations over a limited period. Modelling of air pollutants enables the illustration of their
spatial dispersion on di!erent urban scales (Williams et
al., 1995), the forecasting of changes in air-quality conditions in#uenced by increasing built-up areas, new buildings such as skyscrapers, or industrial plants, and the
forecasting of peak NO or O concentrations (Ziomas et


al., 1995).
The temporal variability of air pollutants can be generally characterised by time courses (annual, weekly, and
diurnal cycles) and by trends. The spatial variability of
air pollutants is pronounced if they are emitted or produced near the ground level, i.e. especially for emissions
from motor tra$c. Hence it follows that the spatial
variability of air pollutants primarily caused by motor
tra$c is marked in cities, with their di!erent built-up and
green spaces (Mayer and Haustein, 1994).
This paper gives some basic information on the temporal variability of NO, NO , and O which are typical


air pollutants from motor tra$c. The base is veri"ed

Fig. 3 presents the average annual cycles of NO, NO ,


O and O at the station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta in

V
the period 1981}1993. O is a measure of the O concenV

tration contained in an air mass. It is de"ned as the sum
of NO and O and is more suitable for the assessment of


the photochemical O budget than O alone because it


takes account of reversible chemical processes (Guicherit,
1988).
The annual cycle of the primary air pollutant NO
shows the greatest values at the end of November and
January. The concentration of NO depends not only on
emission, but also on weather conditions, which were
very stable at that time. The average annual cycle of NO
has the lowest values in summer (June and July) due
to favourable atmospheric air mass exchange. In contrast
to NO, the annual cycle of NO shows only slight vari
ation, because this secondary substance is produced
mainly by chemical reactions. O is an air pollutant that

originates from di!erent sources (Heidorn and Yap, 1986).
Ozone is partly produced in the lower troposphere by the
action of short-wave radiation on anthropogenically released precursor substances. Therefore, the average annual cycle of O } as well as O } has the greatest values

V
in summer (July). The low O and O minimum in June is

V
a consequence of local weather conditions with increased
cloudiness and less incoming short-wave radiation.
The diurnal cycles of NO and NO (Fig. 4) have the

shape of a double wave which is more pronounced for
NO than for NO . Due to the tra$c density, the NO

level is comparatively higher on weekdays than on weekends. This e!ect can also be seen for the secondary
substance NO . The average diurnal variations on week
days are greater for NO than for NO , because NO has


a longer lifespan than the more reactive NO. The NO
concentrations are noticeably higher in the morning than
in the evening. This is because, in the morning, the
rushhour is shorter and the atmosphere near the ground
is more stable than in the evening. The low NO concentrations in the early afternoon result mainly from the
reduction of O by NO.

The diurnal cycles of O are typical for stations that

are strongly in#uenced by motor tra$c. They show a distinct maximum in the afternoon caused by photochemical O formation and a comparatively low secondary

maximum in the early morning which seems to be the
result of downward transport of O from higher level

containing more O . The secondary O maximum


is more distinct the more the air quality station is

4032

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

Fig. 3. Average annual cycles of NO, NO , O and O at the urban air-quality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta for the period
 
V
1981}1993.

Fig. 4. Average weekly and diurnal cycles of NO, NO , O and O at the urban air-quality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta for the
 
V
period 1981}1993.

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

4033

Fig. 5. Average weekly and diurnal cycle of percentile values of O at the urban air-quality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta for the

period 1989}1993.

in#uenced by motor tra$c (Mayer and Schmidt, 1993).

Thus, air a quality stations in green spaces in the suburbs
or in the rural surroundings of cities do not show a
secondary O maximum. Due to its de"nition, the

diurnal cycle of O has no secondary maximum like
V
O . On weekends, the average O maximum values


are a little higher than on weekdays, but this is not
valid for O . However, O peak values (Fig. 5) } which
V

are most relevant for human health (Hall, 1996) } show
a maximum mostly during weekdays (Mayer and
Schmidt, 1993), which is the case for average O
V
values, too. From the analysis of NO and NO peak

values (Mayer and Schmidt, 1994b), it becomes obvious
that the highest values occur most frequently in the
evening (Figs. 6 and 7), whereas the diurnal cycle of mean
NO concentrations has its maximum in the morning.
The patterns of temporal variability of air pollutants
presented here can be found in cities world-wide (e.g.

Sluyter, 1996; Uno et al., 1996). Sometimes they are

modi"ed by local circulations like sea breeze #ows (Nester, 1995) or short-time meteorological e!ects (Mayer
and Schmidt, 1994a), but the basic structures are preserved. The level of air pollution is di!erent in di!erent
cities. It depends on the background air pollution, speci"c emission conditions, general meteorological conditions and location of the air-quality station within the
city (Kuttler, 1996).

4. Trends of air pollutants

Time series of air pollutants indicate trends in air
pollution. In cities of non-industrialised countries, time
series of air pollutants are often too short for statistical
trend analysis. In many cities of industrialised countries,
however, air pollutant time series are su$ciently long to

4034

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

Fig. 6. Average weekly and diurnal cycle of percentile values of NO at the urban air-quality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta for the
period 1989}1993.

permit trend analysis. As an example for a city in central

Europe, Fig. 8 contains average monthly concentrations
of NO, NO , O and O at the urban air-quality station
 
V
`Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta.
Trend analysis of these time series shows that NO and
NO concentrations were tending to decrease slightly at

`Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta, whereas for O and O no

V
statistically signi"cant trend could be determined } indicating that O concentrations did not change during the

investigation period. These results are typical of many
cities in industrialised countries world-wide. Modi"cations are possible, if only selected seasons, speci"c urban
structures or speci"c emission conditions are analysed
(Uno et al., 1996; Wakamatsu et al., 1966. For example,
Bezuglaya (1996) reports that emissions and concentrations of CO and NO have risen by more than 10% in the

last ten years in selected cities in the Russian Federation,
as a result of the increasing number of defective motor
vehicles on urban motorways.

Seen on a global scale, there exist more and longer time

series for SO , TSP and smoke than for air pollutants

that are typical of motor tra$c. They show varying
trends depending on substance, country features, station,
location and general meteorological exchange conditions
of the city (UNEP/WHO 1993).

5. Assessment of air pollution

Exposure to elevated concentrations of ambient air
pollutants causes adverse human health e!ects. A critical
question in many urban environments is not whether the
air in cities is unhealthy, but, given that air quality is
poor, how severely is health a!ected (Hall, 1996). Answering this question is a di$cult task, because (1) assembling and analysing the air-quality data necessary for
this problem is to a large degree location-speci"c and (2)
appropriate indexes for the assessment of the air-quality

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

4035

Fig. 7. Average weekly and diurnal cycle of percentile values of NO at the urban air-quality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta for the

period 1989}1993.

component of the urban climate have yet to be developed

and rigorously tested.
Nearly every country has standards to assess single air
pollutants, e.g. EU-standards in Europe, NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards) in USA or
WHO-AQGs (World Health Organization Air Quality
Guidelines). But these standards are not su$cient, especially for urban air quality management or urban planning, because human beings in cities are exposed not to
a single air pollutant alone, but to a mixture of di!erent
substances. The problem is to develop an index based on
air pollutants that are typical of di!erent emission source
groups and for which data are easily available, i.e. they
must be routinely recorded at o$cial air-quality stations.
Meanwhile some indexes do exist for the assessment of
the air pollution conditions in cities, e.g. Pollutant Standards Index PSI in USA or air quality stress index (LBI)
in Germany (Mayer, 1993, 1996). One major challenge in

the development of an integral assessment index for air

pollution in cities is to make it su$ciently relevant in
environmental medical terms. On the other hand, if this
index is too complicated, it is nearly impossible to use it
in di!erent applied questions, e.g. in urban planning. This
problem is currently under discussion with regard to
LBI, which is an index for average and short-term air
pollution loads and considers SO , NO and TSP, i.e. air


pollutants from o$cial air-quality stations, for which
data are easily available.
The investigation on air pollution (SO , suspended

particulate matter (SPM), lead (Pb), CO, NO and O ) in


megacities by Mage et al. (1996) shows that air pollution
is widespread across the megacities and is often most
severe in cities in the developing countries. But even in
others, health norms are exceeded, although to a smaller
degree. Each of the 20 megacities has at least one major
air pollutant which occurs at levels that exceed WHO

4036

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

Fig. 8. Average monthly concentrations of NO, NO , O and O at the urban air-quality station `Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatta for the
 
V
period 1981}1993.

health protection guidelines. Fourteen of these megacities have two such pollutants and seven (Beijing, Cairo,
Jakarta, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Moscow and Sao
Paulo) have three or more. The major problem a!ecting
megacities as a group is their high level of SPM. It
presents a very serious problem in 12 of the megacities
surveyed by Mage et al. (1996), the majority of which are
located in the Paci"c Basin. The concentrations of SPM
in these cities are persistently above the WHO guidelines
by a factor as much as two or three.

6. Conclusions
Air quality in cities is getting worse as the population,
tra$c, industrialisation and energy use increase. Urban
air pollutants show typical annual, weekly and diurnal
cycles. Some air pollutants are present in high concentrations, often above WHO guidelines, especially in cities of
non-industrialised countries. Available time series of air
pollutants in cities are often too short, especially in nonindustrialised countries, precluding meaningful statistical

H. Mayer / Atmospheric Environment 33 (1999) 4029}4037

trend analysis of urban air pollutants. Where long-term

trends can be calculated, they are decreasing for most
`classica air pollutants other than O , especially in indus
trialised countries. Time series of O show no statistically

signi"cant trend in most cities world-wide.
From a review of trends in air quality in di!erent cities
made by Mage et al. (1996), it is quite evident that
`history repeats itselfa. The experience of the current
megacities in the developed countries is being repeated in
the developing countries. Before rapid industrial development takes place, air pollution arises mainly from
domestic sources and light industry. Concentrations of
air pollutants are generally low and increase slowly as
population increases. As industrial development and energy use grow, air pollution levels begin to rise rapidly.
Then urban air pollution becomes a serious public health
concern, and emission controls are introduced. Due to
the complexity of the situation, an immediate improvement in air quality cannot usually be achieved. At best,
the situation is stabilised, and serious air pollution persists for some time.
Several megacities studied by Mage et al. (1996) are
now in the state where additional controls must be implemented without delay. Experience has shown that the
introduction of emission controls is followed by a staged
reduction of air pollution as controls take e!ect. The
earlier the integrated enforceable air-quality management plans are enacted, the lower the maximum pollution levels that will occur. This is important for those
cities, especially in developing countries, that are not of
the size and complexity of present-day megacities.
Air-quality management should, therefore, be implemented in those cities where strategic planning is weak or
non-existent, i.e. in half of all megacities. Due to the
insu$ciency of air-quality information in many cities of
the world, there is an immediate world-wide need to
improve the monitoring and evaluation systems for urban air pollution.

References
Alloway, B.J., Ayres, D.C., 1993. Chemical Principles of Environmental Pollution. Blackie Academic & Professional, London.
Bezuglaya, E.Y., 1996. Air quality in the Russian Federation.
WMO Bulletin 45, 132}135.
Bloom"eld, P., Royle, J.A., Steiberg, L.J., Yang, Q., 1996. Accounting for meteorological e!ects in measuring urban
ozone levels and trends. Atmospheric Environment 30,
3067}3077.
Guicherit, R., 1988. Ozone on an urban and regional scale } with
special reference to the situation in the Netherlands. In:

4037

Isaksen, I.S.A. (Ed.), Tropospheric Ozone. Reidel Publ.

Comp, Dordrecht, pp. 49}62.
Hall, J.V., 1996. Assessing health e!ects of air pollution. Atmospheric Environment 30, 743}746.
Heidorn, K.C., Yap, D., 1986. A synoptic climatology for surface
ozone concentrations in Southern Ontario, 1976}1981.
Atmospheric Environment 20, 695}703.
Kuttler, W., 1996. Aspekte der Angewandten Stadtklimatologie.
Geowissenschaften 14, 221}228.
Lyons, T.J., Scott, W.D., 1990. Principles of Air Pollution Meteorology. Belhaven Press, London.
Mage, D., Ozolins, G., Peterson, P., Webster, A., Orthofer, R.,
Vandeveerd, V., Gwynne, M., 1996. Urban air pollution in
megacities of the world. Atmospheric Environment 30,
681}686.
Mayer, H., 1993. Urban bioclimatology. Experientia 49,
957}963.
Mayer, H., 1996. Human-biometeorologische Probleme des
Stadtklimas. Geowissenschaften 14, 233}239.
Mayer, H., Haustein, Ch., 1994. Air pollution caused by motortra$c in urban spaces. Meteorol. Zeitschrift, N.F. 3,
138}142.
Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1993. Analyse der Ozonkonzentrationen
an Sonn-und Werktagen. Res. Rep., Meteorol. Inst. Univ.
Freiburg.
Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1994a. Trendanalyse von Immissionszeitreihen in Baden-WuK rttemberg und Bayern. Meteorol.
Zeitschrift, N.F. 3, 116}121.
Mayer, H., Schmidt, J., 1994b. Methoden zur Regionalisierung
der NO -Immissionsdaten. Res. Rep., Meteorol. Inst.

Univ. Freiburg.
Nester, K., 1995. In#uence of sea breeze #ows on air pollution
over the Attica peninsula. Atmospheric Environment 29,
3655}3670.
Sluyter, R., 1996. Overview of air pollution in European cities.
WMO Bulletin 45, 123}128.
UBA, 1998. Umweltdaten Deutschland 1998. Umweltbundesamt. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin .
UN, 1993. World Urabanization Prospects. The 1992 Revision.
United Nations.
UNEP/WHO, 1993. City air quality trends } Vol. 2. WHO
PEP/93 26, UNE93 26P GEMS 93.A.2, Genf.
Uno, I., Ohara, T., Wakamatsu, S., 1996. Analysis of the wintertime NO pollution in the Tokyo Metropolitan area. At
mospheric Environment 30, 703}713.
Wakamatsu, S., Ohara, T., Uno, I., 1996. Recent trends in
precursor concentrations and oxidant distributions in the
Tokyo and Osaka areas. Atmospheric Environment 30,
715}721.
Williams, M.D., Brown, M.J., Cruz, X., Sosa, G., Streit, G., 1995.
Development and testing of meteorology and air dispersion models for Mexico City. Atmospheric Environment
29, 2929}2960.
Ziomas, I.C., Melas, D., Zerefos, Ch.S., Bais, A.F., 1995. Forecasting peak pollutant levels from meteorological variables. Atmospheric Environment 29, 3703}3711.