A simple semi-empirical approach to modeling benzene concentrations in a street canyon

A semi-empirical approach by applying existing techniques to model benzene concentrations in a street canyon is presented here. The dominant input parameters of the model are traffic density and the type of vehicle distribution, which are necessary to calculate with preciseness the road's emission rate. The dispersion aspect of the model is a semi-empirical relationship based on the road emission rate, wind speed and direction, and also the geometrical characteristics of the road. The model produces very good results (RMSE 10.45 and 10.11 mug m(-3); RRMSE 1.56 and 1.54, for spring and autumn, respectively) given its simplicity and the limited amount of data available with which to optimize the model. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.