Global project to reduce health inequalities in cities around the world

King’s College London will partner with eleven other universities in a major new research partnership, led by Imperial College, and funded by the Wellcome Trust (Our Planet Our Health). The four year project will gather evidence of issues affecting the health of people in urban areas, focusing on London, Dhaka, Vancouver, Beijing, Accra and Tamale, as well as develop policies to improve the health of the millions of people living there.

Having already comprehensively modelled London, King’s are focusing on developing modelling methods to predict particle (PM2.5) air pollution in Accra (Ghana) and to apply these to Dhaka. The modelling approach will use a combination of chemical transport models (WRF-Chem), satellite imagery and ground based measurements and will benefit from 10 fixed air pollution monitoring sites and a hundred temporary monitoring sites around the city.
There are many challenges to undertaking air pollution modelling in cities such as Accra including; obtaining geographically detailed emissions information such as road traffic, wood burning from cooking and industrial emissions. To address this, investigation will be made of the value of using satellite imagery to ‘spot’ pollution sources alongside other data such as videos.
Applying the correct emissions factors for sources such as cooking and transport is also problematic and will be addressed with measurement campaigns of specific sources.
Finally, correctly predicting larger scale influences on air pollution such as the occurrence of regular land-sea breezes, as well as the influence of the Sahara, will also be critical.

Name	Expertise	Role in the project
Dr Andrew Beddows	Air pollution modelling	Predicting air pollution in Accra/Dhaka
Dr Sean Beevers	Air pollution modelling	Ground based emissions
Dr Benjamin Barratt	Air pollution modelling	Setting up long term monitoring sites
Professor Frank Kelly	Respiratory Toxicology	Work package lead