• Atmosphere
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.343-354
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• 2023

Turbulence produced on roadways is one of the major factors determining the dilution rates at the initial stage of traffic emissions of air pollutants and, thus, the distribution of air pollutants near the roadways. Field experiments were conducted on Gyeongbu Highway, one of the busiest highways in Korea, for 4~7 days in winter, spring, and summer. Two three-dimensional ultrasonic anemometers were installed on both sides of the highway to estimate turbulence intensities (vertical wind fluctuation and kinetic turbulence energy) induced by the roadway. Roadway-induced turbulence consists of three components: structural road-induced turbulence (S-RIT), thermal road-induced turbulence (T-RIT), and vehicle-induced turbulence (VIT). The contribution of T-RIT to the total RIT was insignificant (less than 10%), and the majority of RIT was S-RIT (by the highway embankment) and VIT. In this study, we propose the empirical relationships of VIT as a function of traffic density and wind speed under free-flow traffic conditions. Although this empirical relationship appears to underestimate the VIT, it can be applied to the air quality models easily because the relationship is simple and only needs readily obtainable input variables (wind speed and traffic information).