Homeland Security Research

Brooklyn Traffic Real-Time Ambient Pollutant
Penetration and Environmental Dispersion
(B-TRAPPED) Study

The December 2009 issue of the Journal of Environmental Monitoring (RSC Publishing) focused on a real-time study of airborne particulate dispersion in urban canyons.

The Brooklyn Traffic Real-Time Ambient Pollutant Penetration and Environmental Dispersion (B-TRAPPED) Study, led by Russell Wiener, investigated the transport, dispersion, and infiltration processes of traffic emission particulate matter (PM) pollutants in a near-highway urban residential area.

The papers discuss the transport of airborne particulate pollutants in a heavily populated urban neighborhood, from the sources on the streets, down the street canyon, and into and within the adjacent buildings. This work has considerable cross programmatic value. It provides useful data and insights for EPA’s homeland security research program, providing information needed to better understand urban dispersion near an accidental or intentional release of hazardous materials on a nearly instantaneous time scale. It also provides information of value to the Human Exposure, Near-Road Program, and the Particulate Matter Program.

The B-TRAPPED field study was conducted in the residential Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, USA, in May 2005.  The laboratory portions of the program were conducted at the U.S. EPA facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, between 2004 and 2006.

B-TRAPPED Field Study Articles

• The Brooklyn Traffic Real-Time Ambient Pollutant Penetration and Environmental Dispersion (B-TRAPPED) study
• Overview of the Brooklyn Traffic Real-Time Ambient Pollutant Penetration and Environmental Dispersion (B-TRAPPED) study: theoretical background and model for design of field experiments
• The Brooklyn Traffic Real-Time Ambient Pollutant Penetration and Environmental Dispersion (B-TRAPPED) field study methodology
• Analysis of indoor air pollution trends and characterization of infiltration delay time using a cross-correlation method
• Building characterization and aerosol infiltration into a naturally ventilated three-story apartment building
• Characterization of traffic-related PM concentration distribution and fluctuation patterns in near-highway urban residential street canyons
• Establishing a link between vehicular PM sources and PM measurements in urban street canyons
• Parameterization of meteorological variables in the process of infiltration of outdoor ultrafine particles into a residential building
• The effect of a tall tower on flow and dispersion through a model urban neighborhood, Part 1. Flow characteristics
• The effect of a tall tower on flow and dispersion through a model urban neighborhood, Part 2. Pollutant dispersion
• Time-series analysis to study the impact of an intersection on dispersion along a street canyon