A building-based data capture and data mining technique for air quality assessment

Abstract

Recently, a building-based air quality model system which can predict air quality in front of individual buildings along both sides of a road has been developed. Using the Macau Peninsula as a case study, this paper shows the advantages of building-based model system in data capture and data mining. Compared with the traditional grid-based model systems with input/output spatial resolutions of 1–2 km, the building-based approach can extract the street configuration and traffic data building by building and therefore, can capture the complex spatial variation of traffic emission, urban geometry, and air pollution. The non-homogeneous distribution of air pollution in the Macau Peninsula was modeled in a high-spatial resolution of 319 receptors·km^-2. The spatial relationship among air quality, traffic flow, and urban geometry in the historic urban area is investigated. The study shows that the building-based approach may open an innovative methodology in data mining of urban spatial data for environmental assessment. The results are particularly useful to urban planners when they need to consider the influences of urban form on street environment.

Keywords

traffic air pollution / spatial distribution / high resolution / geographic information system

References

[1] McHugh C A, Carruthers D J, Edmunds H A. ADMS and ADMS-Urban. International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 1997, 8(3-6): 438-440

[2] Bøhler T, Sivertsen B. A Modern Air Quality Management System Used in Norway. Kjeller: Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU F 4/98), 1998

[3] Kadikis N, Vasiljeva T, Jevtushenko L, Lyulko I, Smalins E. Air quality modelling as a part of complex air management system in Latvia. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes. Sofia, Bulgaria: Demetra Ltd, 2002, 159-163

[4] Alberti M, Waddell P. An integrated urban development and ecological simulation model. Integrated Assessment, 2000, 1(3): 215-227

[5] Qi S H, Yan J, Zhang G, Fu J M, Sheng G Y, Wang Z S, Tong S M, Tang U W, Min Y S. Distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aerosols and dustfall in Macao. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2001, 72(2): 115-127

[6] Chen C, Wang X M, Zhang G, Min Y S, Sheng G Y, Fu J M, Wang Z S, Tang U W. Volatile organic compounds in ambient air in Macau. In: Wang Z S, ed. Environmental Assessment of Vehicular Exhaustion Emission Pollution in Urban Areas of Macau. Macao: University of Macau, 2000, 32-39 (in Chinese)

[7] João E. How scale affects environmental impact assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2002, 22(4): 289-310

[8] Gontier M. Scale issues in the assessment of ecological impacts using a GIS-based habitat model — A case study for the Stockholm region. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2007, 27(5): 440-459

[9] Partidário M R. Scales and associated data — What is enough for SEA needs? Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 2007, 27(5): 460-478

[10] Goodchild M F, Quattrochi D A. Introduction: Scale, multiscaling, remote sensing, and GIS. In: Quattrochi D A, Goodchild M F, eds. Scale in Remote Sensing and GIS. Boca Raton FL: Lewis Publishers, 1997, 1-11

[11] Montello D R, Golledge R. Scale and Detail in the Cognition of Geographic Information — Report of a Specialist Meeting Held Under the Auspices of the Varenius Project. Santa Barbara CA: National Centre for Geographical Information and Analysis, 1999

[12] Jensen S S. Mapping human exposure to traffic air pollution using GIS. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 1998, 61(1-3): 385-392

[13] Jensen S S. A Geographic Approach to Modelling Human Exposure to Traffic Air Pollution Using GIS. Roskilde: National Environmental Research Institute, 1999

[14] Borrego C, Tchepel O, Barros N, Miranda A I. Impact of road traffic emissions on air quality of the Lisbon region. Atmospheric Environment, 2000, 34(27): 4683-4690

[15] Borrego C, Tchepel O, Costa A M, Amorim J H, Miranda A I. Emission and dispersion modelling of Lisbon air quality at local scale. Atmospheric Environment, 2003, 37(37): 5197-5205

[16] Borrego C, Tchepel O, Salmim L, Amorim J H, Costa A M, Janko J. Integrated modelling of road traffic emissions: Application to Lisbon air quality management. Cybernetics and Systems, 2004, 35(5): 535-548

[17] De Ridder K, Adamec V, Bañuelos A, Bruse M, Bürger M, Damsgaard O, Dufek J, Hirsch J, Lefebre F, Pérez-Lacorzana J M, Thierry A, Weber C. An integrated methodology to assess the benefits of urban green space. Science of the Total Environment, 2004, 334- 335(1): 489-497

[18] Tang U W. A model system to determine traffic-induced air pollution in highly compact urban forms. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies. Hong Kong: HKSTS, 2007, 111-120 (the 1st prize paper in the student paper competition)

[19] Tang U W, Wang Z S. Influences of urban forms on traffic-induced noise and air pollution: results from a modelling system. Environmental Modelling & Software, 2007, 22(12): 1750-1764

[20] Berkowicz R, Ketzel M, Jensen S S, Hvidberg M, Raaschou-Nielsen O. Evaluation and application of OSPM for traffic pollution assessment for a large number of street locations. Environmental Modelling & Software, 2008, 23(3): 296-303

[21] Tang U W, Wang Z S. Fragmentation of urban forms and the environmental consequences: results from a high-spatial resolution model system. In: Proceedings of Geoinformatics 2008 and Joint Conference on GIS and Built Environment. Guangzhou: SPIE, 2008, 71441Q-71441Q-9 (the 3rd prize paper in the student paper competition)

[22] Tang U W. Data capture and data mining of urban air pollution: the building-based approach. In: Proceedings of URISA’s 46th Annual Conference & Exposition: Spatially Enabling the Enterprise. New Orleans: URISA, 2008, 1607-1631 (the 3rd prize paper in the student paper competition)

[23] Tang U W, Sheng N. Macao. Cities, 2009, 26(4): 220-231

[24] Tang U W, Wang Z S. Determining gaseous emission factors and driver’s particle exposures during traffic congestion by vehicle-following measurement techniques. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 2006, 56(11): 1532-1539

[25] Hao J M, Hu J N, Fu L X, Wu Y, Wang L T. Vehicle emission characteristics and control in Macao. In: Wang Z S, ed. Scientific Innovation for Environmental Assessment of Coastal Cities. Macao: University of Macau, 2003, 67-130

[26] Wu Y, Hao J M, Fu L X, Hu J N, Wang Z S, Tang U W. Emission inventory for mobile sources in Macao, China. Journal of Tsinghua University (Science and Technology), 2002, 42(12): 1601-1604 (in Chinese)

[27] Oke T R. Street design and urban canopy layer climate. Energy and Building, 1988, 11(1-3): 103-113

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg