scholarly journals Evaluating the Efficacy of Government Spending on Air Pollution Control: A Case Study from Beijing

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyao Xie ◽  
Yuhong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
First Grade ◽  
Chinese Economy ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
The Government

The reform and opening up of the Chinese economy over the last 40 years has led to rapid economic development. However, with the rapid expansion of the economy, increasingly serious air pollution is apparent. In order to control urban air pollution effectively, Chinese governments at all levels have invested large sums every year. However, it has become a difficult issue which influences public government decisions with respect to how and according to what standard to distribute financial funds so as to improve air quality while saving money at the same time. Taking Beijing as an example, this paper investigates the ten-year change in the annual daily mean of inhalable particulate matter (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) from the year of 2006 to 2015, researches the invested funds in environmental protection in Beijing, and establishes a relationship between the atmospheric indexes of the above three parameters and government-invested funds in environmental protection. According to model analysis, government financial input has an obvious influence on the improvement of air quality. However, during the long period of financial input, the degree of air quality improvement will reduce gradually as time goes by. There exists a direct link between the effectiveness of government financial input to promote air quality and the air quality index, which means when the pollutant standards index is poor (i.e., the corresponding pollutant concentration is higher), the effectiveness will be more apparent. On the contrary, when the index is at a good level, the effectiveness of government financial input is very small. To achieve the best air quality conditions, the government should set the detailed financial input at or over the first-grade standard according to urban air quality standards.

An assessment of ambient air quality using AQI and exceedance factor for Udaipur City, Rajasthan (India)

2021 ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Porush Kumar ◽  
Kuldeep ◽  
Nilima Gautam
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Quality Monitoring ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Air Quality Monitoring ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Control Board

Air pollution is a severe issue of concern worldwide due to its most significant environmental risk to human health today. All substances that appear in excessive amounts in the environment, such as PM10, NO2, or SO2, may be associated with severe health problems. Anthropogenic sources of these pollutants are mainly responsible for the deterioration of urban air quality. These sources include stationary point sources, mobile sources, waste disposal landfills, open burning, and similar others. Due to these pollutants, people are at increased risk of various serious diseases like breathing problems and heart disease, and the death rate due to these diseases can also increase. Hence, air quality monitoring is essential in urban areas to control and regulate the emission of these pollutants to reduce the health impacts on human beings. Udaipur has been selected for the assessment of air quality with monitored air quality data. Air quality monitoring stations in Udaipur city are operated by the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) and RSPCB (Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board). The purpose of this study is to characterize the level of urban air pollution through the measurement of PM10, NO2, or SO2 in Udaipur city, Rajasthan (India). Four sampling locations were selected for Udaipur city to assess the effect of urban air pollution and ambient air quality, and it was monitored for a year from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019. The air quality index has been calculated with measured values of PM10, NO2, and SO2. The concentration of PM10 is at a critical level of pollution and primarily responsible for bad air quality and high air quality Index in Udaipur city.

ACROSS: An Observational Campaign to Improve Understanding of Photochemistry of Mixed Urban and Biogenic Air Masses

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Cantrell ◽  
Vincent Michoud ◽  
Paola Formenti ◽  
Jean-Francois Doussin ◽  
Aline Gratien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Numerical Models ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Oxides Of Nitrogen ◽  
Chemical Structures

<p>In recent decades, significant progress has been made in understanding the causes and impacts of urban air pollution, generally leading to improved air quality through enhanced knowledge and regulatory action. While a significant number of people still die prematurely each year from air pollution, progress continues to be made. Scientific investigation has exposed the processes by which primary pollutants, such as oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds, are processed in the atmosphere, leading to their oxidation and ultimate removal, while at the same time producing secondary species such as ozone and organic aerosols.</p><p>Research has uncovered the complex chemistry of natural organic compounds released from trees and other plants. Because of the chemical structures of these compounds, they react somewhat differently than organic substances typically found in urban environments. The ACROSS (<strong>A</strong>tmospheric <strong>C</strong>hemist<strong>R</strong>y <strong>O</strong>f the <strong>S</strong>uburban fore<strong>S</strong>t) project focuses on scientific research to understand the detailed chemistry and physics of urban air mixed with biogenic emissions with the goals to increase detailed understanding of the chemical processes and to use this knowledge to improve the performance of air quality models. Enhanced knowledge and improved models will allow society to develop better strategies to improve air quality and save lives.</p><p>The central component of ACROSS is a comprehensive summertime field study with many instruments for the measurement of primary and secondary constituents. Measurements will be made from research aircraft, a tower located in a forest, tethered balloons and/or drones, and mobile platforms. Observations from the field study will be analyzed in a variety of ways involving statistical approaches and comparisons with different types of numerical models.</p><p>This presentation describes activities in preparation of the ACROSS measurement campaign and provides information for interested parties to become involved.</p>

scholarly journals ASSESSING POPULATION SENSITIVITY TO URBAN AIR POLLUTION USING GOOGLE TRENDS AND REMOTE SENSING DATASETS

2020 ◽  
Vol XLII-3/W11 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
P. Misra ◽  
W. Takeuchi
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Aerosol Concentration ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
Search Volume ◽  
Fine Aerosol

Abstract. This study demonstrates relationship between remote sensing satellite retrieved fien aerosol concentration and web-based search volumes of air quality related keywords. People’s perception of urban air pollution can verify policy effectiveness and gauge acceptability of policies. As a serious health issue in Asian cities, population may express concern or uncertainty for air pollution risk by performing search on the web to seek answers. A ‘social sensing’ approach that monitors such search queries, may assess people’ perception about air pollution as a risk. We hypothesize that trend and volume of searches show impact of air pollution on general population. The objectives of this research are to identify those atmospheric conditions under which relative search volume (RSV) obtained from Google Trends shows correlation with measured fine aerosol concentration, and to compare search volume sensitivity to rise in aerosol concentration in seven Asian megacities. We considered weekly relative search volumes from Google Trends (GT) for a four year period from January, 2015 to December, 2018 representing diverse PM2.5 concentrations. Search volumes for keywords corresponding to perception of air quality (‘air pollution’) and health effects (‘cough’ and ‘asthma’) were considered. To represent PM2.5 we used fine aerosol indicator developed in an earlier research. The results suggest that tendency to search for ‘air pollution’ and ‘cough’ occurs when AirRGB R is in excess and temperature is below the baseline values. Consistent with this, in cities with high baseline concentrations, sensitivity to rise in AirRGB R is also comparatively lower. The result of this study can used as an indirect measure of awareness in the form of perception and sensitivity of population to air quality. Such an analysis could be useful for forecasting health risks specially in cities lacking dedicated services.

scholarly journals Survey of knowledge and attitude of people about air pollution in Tehran, Iran

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Ahmadfazeli ◽  
Zohreh Hesami ◽  
Ali Ghanbari ◽  
Mohammad Safari ◽  
Mohammad Sadegh Has-sanvand
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Air Pollution Control ◽  
Significant Negative Impact ◽  
Knowledge And Attitude ◽  
The Government

Introduction: The importance of air quality and paying attention to what we breathe have been valuable always. So that air pollution is one of the key environmental issues in urban communities. Several studies show that the potential effects of air pollution on human health include increased mortality and changes in cardiovascular and respiratory functions.   Materials and methods: The population of this study was people in 22 dis-tricts of Tehran megacity. The questionnaires were placed at the municipality centers of 22 districts and randomly completed by people who came to the center. Questions included the importance of air pollution, the comparison of air quality with last year, the main sources of air pollution, the problems created by air pollution, the quality of informing system, as well as questions about their satisfaction about government’s actions on air pollution control plans. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 24.   Results: 84.14 % of the participants stated that air pollution is important to them and has a negative influence on their lives. Also, most of them were not satisfied with the measures taken and expected that actions would be better to reduce air pollution. 91.10 % of the participants considered cars as the main causes of air pollution. Also, 68.22 % of people believed that air pollution had a significant negative impact on their quality of life.   Conclusion: Most people are willing to live at a higher cost but a less pol-luted environment, while more of them are not well aware of their role in reducing air pollution. Moreover further education should be provided on the role of people in reducing air pollution. Additionally, the government must deal with air pollutants and take serious measures.

scholarly journals High-resolution mapping of urban air quality with heterogeneous observations: a new methodology and its application to Amsterdam

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bas Mijling
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Heterogeneous Data ◽  
Urban Air Quality ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Reference Measurements ◽  
Concentration Patterns

Abstract. In many cities around the world people are exposed to elevated levels of air pollution. Often local air quality is not well known due to the sparseness of official monitoring networks, or unrealistic assumptions being made in urban air quality models. Low-cost sensor technology, which has become available in recent years, has the potential to provide complementary information. Unfortunately, an integrated interpretation of urban air pollution based on different sources is not straightforward because of the localized nature of air pollution, and the large uncertainties associated with measurements of low-cost sensors. In this study, we present a practical approach to producing high spatio-temporal resolution maps of urban air pollution capable of assimilating air quality data from heterogeneous data streams. It offers a two-step solution: (1) building a versatile air quality model, driven by an open source atmospheric dispersion model and emission proxies from open data sources, and (2) a practical spatial interpolation scheme, capable of assimilating observations with different accuracies. The methodology, called Retina, has been applied and evaluated for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, during the summer of 2016. The assimilation of reference measurements results in hourly maps with a typical accuracy of 39 % within 2 km of an observation location, and 53 % at larger distances. When low-cost measurements of the Urban AirQ campaign are included, the maps reveal more detailed concentration patterns in areas which are undersampled by the official network. During the summer holiday period, NO2 concentrations drop about 10 % due to reduced urban activity. The reduction is less in the historic city center, while strongest reductions are found around the access ways to the tunnel connecting the northern and the southern part of the city, which was closed for maintenance. The changing concentration patterns indicate how traffic flow is redirected to other main roads. Overall, we show that Retina can be applied for an enhanced understanding of reference measurements, and as a framework to integrate low-cost measurements next to reference measurements in order to get better localized information in urban areas.

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