Monitoring the potential effect of particulate matter on cultural heritage. Contribution of an environmental monitoring system

Abstract

The air pollution has a contribution to the degradation of surfaces of historical buildings and monuments [1]. The impact of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere on materials is enormous and often irreversible. Corrosion caused by chemicals and soiling caused by particles can lead to economic losses but, more importantly, to the destruction of our cultural heritage, degradation of the public spaces, infrastructures and facilities [2]. Moreover, the effects of the air pollution in façades and on the structural systems lead to unexpected costs for the buildings maintenance. So, these effects must be monitored and assessed for making possible to act in time for minimizing or eliminating the adverse effects and the unexpected costs over the cultural heritage to preserve the identity and memorial value. Domestic and industrial sources but mainly road traffic sources are the principal sources of emissions of air pollution in cities, which affect directly the quality of life, infrastructures and spaces in urban areas. Several studies of materials have indicated that atmospheric corrosion influenced by acidifying pollutants is costly. Extensive damage has also been observed on historical and cultural structures and monuments calcareous stones, medieval glass and metals. Therefore, evaluating and monitoring the urban environment quality inside the urban areas becomes very important to the urban heritage conservation through the creation of the new environmental policies to minimize and control the air pollution consequences over the urban spaces [1,2,3]. This work presents a methodology to evaluate, on a regular basis, the potential impact of atmospheric pollution on monuments. It uses a monitoring system to collect samples of particulate matter and then analyzes its composition and assesses the degree of risk of degradation. This study is being applied in the Portuguese midsized city of Vila Real where the urban pollution assessment and their effects in urban infrastructures was considered the main goal. For the development of the project, two systems have been created: A website for the acquisition and the storing of the data; and a technological solution for the data acquisition constituted by one mobile unit of measurement. The mobile unit of measurement is equipped with an air particulate matter monitor/collector (PM10 and PM2.5), a meteorological station, and communication and positioning devices. The devices are connected with the router installed inside the mobile unit that is connected with a database.