TYRE WEAR MAPPING

Tire abrasion has been controversially discussed for years in the context of various environmental problems: as a contributor to the pollution of particulate matter in cities, as an issuer of nanoparticular soot and currently as one of the largest sources of microplastics in the environment. While numerous studies on emission factors and predictive models for the spread of tyre abrasion in the atmosphere have been published — but without reference to traffic data models — the spread of tyre abrasion across the road is hardly studied. TyreWearMapping addresses this problem and links geographic data and traffic data, road types and driving situations to model the spatial distribution, spread and whereabouts of tire abrasion along roads, in the atmosphere and in the aquatic environment. Specifically, the project team integrated a traffic data model and a probabilistic model to the TWM model that plausibly assesses the tyre wear intensity on a specific section of the route based on physical-empirical relationships based on the characteristics of the road section. A methodology was developed for the determination of traffic strengths by existing data sets, supplementary sources and the estimation in residential, commercial and mixed areas, which enables a realistic description of potential traffic conditions and has been implemented into unique, Germany-wide traffic data models. In addition, a methodological procedure for the fast deposit calculation was developed and applied to the individual Länder. The analyses show where hotspots lie and how much tyre abrasion is deposited in the environment. As an example for the spread in the aquatic environment, the quantities of tyre abrasion generated in the catchment areas of the Panke and Wupper and their substance paths were calculated and accounted for. The source emissions were used as input for a precipitation runoff simulation. For example, the origin and entry hotspots of tyre abrasion in the catchment area were identified and the paths and input quantities were quantified. This approach to settlement water management is only one example of the multi-layered functional scope of the developed planning and decision-making tools that enable targeted transport and environmental planning measures to be implemented to prevent and reduce tyre abrasion and to estimate the impact of new mobility scenarios.