Introduction

Air Pollution 2013 is the 21st Annual Meeting in the successful series of international conferences organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology dealing with Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution.

The series started in Mexico (1993) and continued in Barcelona (1994); Halkidiki (1995); Toulouse (1996); Bologna (1997); Genova (1998); San Francisco (1999); Cambridge, UK (2000); Ancona (2001); Segovia (2002); Catania (2003); Rhodes (2004); Cordoba (2005); the New Forest (2006); the Algarve (2007); Skiathos (2008); Tallinn (2009); Kos (2010) Malta (2011) and A Coruña (2012). These meetings have attracted outstanding contributions from leading researchers from around the world with all papers since 1993 permanently stored in the WIT eLibrary at http://library.witpress.com

Despite the long history of attempts to manage the consequences of air pollution, it remains one of the most challenging problems facing the international community. Air pollution is widespread and growing in importance, and has clear and known impacts on health and the environment. The human need for transport, manufactured goods and services brings with it often unintended impacts on the atmospheric environment at scales from the local to the global. Whilst there are good examples of regulatory successes in minimising such impacts, the continuing development of the global economy brings new pressures upon the ability of the atmosphere to process pollutants and to safely remove them. This brings risks to human health and the environment. The willingness of governments to regulate air pollution is often balanced by concerns over the economic impact of such regulations. This frequently results in a lag between the scientific knowledge about the nature, scale and effect of air pollution and the implementation of appropriate, targeted and timely legislation.

Science remains the key to identifying the nature and scale of air pollution impacts and is essential in the formulation of policy to produce information for regulatory decision making. Continuous improvements to our knowledge of the fundamental science of air pollution and its applications are necessary if we are to properly predict, assess and mitigate the air pollution implications of emissions in the atmosphere.

This important conference brings together contributions from scientists from around the world to present recent work on various aspects of the air pollution phenomena. Notable in each of the conferences in this series has been the opportunity to foster scientific exchange between participants. New collaborations amongst scientists and between scientists and policy makers or regulators have arisen through contacts made in this series, and each meeting has provided a further opportunity for identifying new areas of air pollution science demanding collaborative investigation.

The conference papers deal with a rich variety of topics listed below. The presentation of case studies of specific regions and cities, including those in emerging countries, are particularly encouraged.