Abstract

This study examines the consequences of human activity on the atmospheric boundary layer considering (i) atmospheric pollution, (ii) urban micrometeorology, (iii) three geographic morphologies (mountain, basin and coast) and (iv) surface change of roughness due to buildings. Qualitative relationships are established between the four issues mentioned using measurements from different periods, urban meteorology and pollutants, in the boundary layer of the three geographic morphologies, all with large urban settlements. The measurements per hour and at ground level correspond to the variables: temperature, magnitude of wind speed, relative humidity and concentration of anthropogenic pollutants (PM10, PM2.5 and CO). The measurements form time series, demonstrating their chaoticity through the parameters: Lyapunov coefficient, correlation dimension, Hurst coefficient, Lempel–Ziv complexity, information loss, fractal dimension and correlation entropy. The results, according to each parameter, allow us to characterize the effect of human activity on geographical morphologies and its meteorology, showing a lower impact on mountain and coastal areas. Calculating, for each geographical configuration, the quotient between the total correlation entropy of the meteorological variables and that of the pollutants, the basin entropy is less than one, which shows, for the study period, the entropic domain of atmospheric pollutants unlike mountain and coast.