Modeling carbon emissions from urban traffic system using mobile monitoring

- Constructed an urban carbon emission monitoring system using mobile monitors and collected traffic characteristics and meteorological data.
- Identified the traffic carbon emission at microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic levels, and assessed the major influenced factors.
- VSP-bin is categorized into: idle, low velocity, medium velocity and high velocity, so as to figure out the proportion of idling condition for MOVES.
- With the final carbon emission factors calculated by MOVES, arterial traffic was identified to generate the major carbon emissions among the urban road system.

Comprehensive analyses of urban traffic carbon emissions are critical in achieving low-carbon transportation. This paper started from the architecture design of a carbon emission mobile monitoring system using multiple sets of equipment and collected the corresponding data about traffic flow, meteorological conditions, vehicular carbon emissions and driving characteristics on typical roads in Shanghai and Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Based on these data, the emission model MOVES was calibrated and used with various sensitivity and correlation evaluation indices to analyze the traffic carbon emissions at microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic levels, respectively. The major factors that influence urban traffic carbon emissions were investigated, so that emission factors of CO, CO2 and HC were calculated by taking representative passenger cars as a case study. As a result, the urban traffic carbon emissions were assessed quantitatively, and the total amounts of CO, CO2 and HC emission from passenger cars in Shanghai were estimated as 76.95 kt, 8271.91 kt, and 2.13 kt, respectively. Arterial roads were found as the primary line source, accounting for 50.49% carbon emissions. In additional to the overall major factors identified, the mobile monitoring system and carbon emission quantification method proposed in this study are of rather guiding significance for the further urban low-carbon transportation development.

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