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DESIGN OF LARGE-SCALE AIR MONITORING NETWORKS
Citation:
Holland, D M. AND A. Chaudhiri. DESIGN OF LARGE-SCALE AIR MONITORING NETWORKS. Presented at The International Biometric Society, Tampa, FL, March 30-April 2, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
Our main objective is to assess the exposure of selected ecosystems to specific atmospheric stressors. More precisely, we will analyze and interpret environmental quality (primarily atmospheric) data to document observable changes in environmental stressors that may be associated with legislatively-mandated emissions reductions.
Description:
The potential effects of air pollution on human health have received much attention in recent years. In the U.S. and other countries, there are extensive large-scale monitoring networks designed to collect data to inform the public of exposure risks to air pollution. A major criterion for modifying an existing network is the suitability of spatial predictions based on site measurements at non-monitored areas. These spatial predictions can be used to develop better pollution control strategies for protecting human health To accomplish this, it is important to ask what monitoring coverage is required to allow optimal, in some quantitative sense, predictions of the spatial field. We consider new approaches for network designs based on entropy criteria and modeling the underlying nonstationary covariance structure of atmospherically driven pollutant processes. In general, entropy is defined as maximizing "information" expected about potential non-rnonitored locations. Sites with observations near air quality standards are given higher priority in a combined entropy-air standard design criterion. Eight-hour daily maximum ozone values observed at 513 National Air Monitoring sites are used to demonstrate several network designs.