Classification of aerosol types in mega-city of Lahore (Pakistan) using ground-based remote sensing
This study was aimed at classifying the aerosol types and assessing their temporal distribution in the atmosphere of Lahore. For this purpose, we utilized the particle linear depolarization ratio (PLDR) and single scattering albedo (SSA) from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) version 3 inversion products. Datasets from AERONET stationed at Lahore were computed to obtain results. Based on the dust ratio (Rd) (obtained from SSA and PLDR) aerosols were classified into pure dust (PD), pollution aerosols: non-absorbing (NA), weakly absorbing (WA), moderately absorbing (MA), and strongly absorbing (SA) aerosols, and mixtures: po...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 17, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Using synthetic data to benchmark correction methods for low-cost air quality sensor networks
The objective of the network calibrations was to correct the 2000+ sensor measurements in the Netherlands for the sensitivity to (local) environmental conditions. The option to use real measurements was dropped because the number of low-cost sensors sufficiently close to the 40 reference measurement locations was assessed to be spatially insufficient to benchmark the proposed approaches. Instead, synthetic real concentrations were generated to enable validation at all sensor locations. Hourly actual sensor and actual fixed concentrations, as well as interpolated concentration maps, were used as underlying data to generate ...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 16, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Air quality changes during the COVID-19 pandemic guided by robust virus-spreading data in Italy
AbstractThis paper aims to assess the impact of restrictive measures against the COVID-19 spread on the air quality of the most representative urban centers in Italy during the 66 days of the first lockdown, integrating a broad and detailed set of socioeconomic and health data into machine learning techniques and correlation analysis. Hierarchical Clustering analysis applied to all 104 Italian provinces indicated a group of six provinces to represent the urban environment in Italy. In contrast, correlation analyses suggested two meteorological parameters and four other air quality parameters as the most skilful at expressi...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 16, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Examining the nexus between tourist arrivals and transportation sector-based emissions in Mediterranean countries: evidence from quantile regressions via method of moments
In this study, the impact of international tourist arrivals on CO2 emissions caused by transportation is investigated using the quantile regression via method of moments (MMQR) approach with data for the period 1995 –2019 from selected Mediterranean countries. Moreover, testing of tourism-induced environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is included in the analysis in terms of transportation sector-based pollution. The U-shaped correlation between economic growth and transportation sector-based emissions i n all quintiles is revealed, as well as tourist arrivals are found to increase emissions up to higher quintile le...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 16, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Smoke plume from fire Lagrangian simulation: dependence on drag coefficient and resolution
AbstractPlume rising from wildfire due to the buoyancy generated by the heat released from the fire is a crucial phenomenon to model for a correct description of smoke dispersion within the atmosphere. During the rise, the plume experiences the drag of external air which limits the rising itself. In this work, we investigate the dependence of the hybrid Eulerian-Lagrangian plume rise scheme embedded in the Lagrangian stochastic particle model SPRAY-WEB on the drag coefficient and on the horizontal resolution of the plume rise grid. We test four different drag coefficient models depending on the Reynolds number of the cells...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 12, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Randomized trial in rural Native American homes heated with wood stoves: results from the EldersAIR study
AbstractResidential wood burning has both practical and traditional values among many indigenous communities of the US Mountain West, although household biomass burning also results in emissions that are harmful to health. In a household-level three-arm placebo-controlled randomized trial, we tested the efficacy of portable filtration units and education interventions on improving pulmonary function and blood pressure measures among elder participants that use wood stoves for residential heating. A total of 143 participants were assigned to the Education (n = 49), Filter (n = 47), and Control (n = 47) arms. Blo...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 9, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Exploring the association between air pollution and spontaneous abortion through systematic review and bibliometric analysis
This study presents the existing literature on air pollution exposure and its link to spontaneous abortion (SAB) utilizing a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis (BA). Firstly, SLR was employed to collect relevant articles based on specified inclusio n/exclusion criteria and formulated research questions. Secondly, BA was used to map and assess research trends, current knowledge, and structure using network analysis constructed on citation, co-citation, co-occurrence, and collaboration patterns among articles, authors, keywords, and institutions , respectively. Thematic analysis identified emerging ...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 8, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Changing patterns for cardiovascular disease and subtypes mortality attributable to ambient fine particulate matter pollution between China and India during 1990 to 2019
AbstractLong-term trends in PM2.5-attributable cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and subtypes mortality remain unclear between China and India, facing dual challenges of aging and severe air pollution. We aim to compare long-term trends and age-, period-, and cohort-effects changes in PM2.5-attributable CVD and subtypes mortality in China and India from 1990 to 2019. Data are derived from Global burden of disease 2019. Long-term trends and age-, period-, and cohort-effects changes were evaluated by join-point regression and age-period-cohort models. We found that in China, the age-standardized mortality rate in CVD potentiall...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 4, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Association between air pollution and hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a time series analysis in Dingxi, China, 2018 –2020
This study indicates that exposure to PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and CO is associated with COPD hospital admissions. (Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health)
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - January 3, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Associations between dust exposure and hospitalizations in a dust-prone city, Lubbock, TX, USA
AbstractAlthough it is a growing area of investigation in the Global Dust Belt, only a few population-level studies have evaluated the human health associations of windblown dust in North America. We investigated whether acute, short-term dust exposures (DE), in Lubbock, Texas (a medium-sized, dust-prone city in the southern Great Plains, USA) were associated with significant increases in hospitalizations on the day of the exposure and up to 7 days afterward. We used the distributed lag non-linear models in time series analysis to describe non-linear relationship between response outcomes and the delayed effects of expos...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - December 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Effects of breathing variables on modelled particle lung deposition at physical activity for children and adults
AbstractThe respiratory tract deposited fraction (DF) is the link between exposure and health effects of airborne particles. Here, we investigate how breathing pattern alterations at increasing physical activity affect DF in different regions of the respiratory tract and compare DF between adults and children (5 and 10 years old). We performed a literature review on the alteration of tidal volume with minute ventilation at increasing physical activity and used the results to model the size resolved (0.001–10 µm) DF, primarily using the deposition models from NCRP and Yeh and Schum (1980), but also MPPD. We f ound a s...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - December 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Air quality monitoring in Ukraine during 2022 military conflict using Sentinel-5P imagery
The objective of this study is air quality monitoring in Ukraine using Sentinel-5P imagery and Google Earth Engine. To this end, the monthly concentration of four gaseous pollutants including ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), formaldehyde (HCHO), and carbon monoxide (CO) in 2022 is compared to 2019 and 2021 as business-as-usual (BAU) periods. Further statistical focus of this evaluation is on five major cities, namely Kiev, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson, and Lviv. According to the results, the general trend of the O3 concentration is found to be increasing, whereas NO2, HCHO, and CO follow mostly a decreasing trend. However,...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - December 29, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Analyzing the EKC hypothesis for the top 10 energy-importing countries: a perspective for the COP27 targets
AbstractThe environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) has been analyzed in many studies, but none of them has focused on countries with high energy imports. COP27 reiterated that fossil fuels are the main cause of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and highlighted the importance of net-zero targets for CO2 reduction by 2050. Analyzing the determinants of CO2 emissions in countries that import a lot of fossil energy is an important issue for achieving the net-zero targets within the scope of COP27. The study therefore empirically analyzes the effects of resource rents, energy prices, urbanization, and income on CO2 emissions. To this e...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - December 28, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Assessment of the sensitivity of model responses to urban emission changes in support of emission reduction strategies
We present the FAIRMODE exercise and the participating models, and provide an analysis of the variability of O3 and PM concentrations due to emission reduction scenarios. The key novel feature, in comparison with other exercises, is that emission reduction strategies in the present work are applied and evaluated at urban scale over a large number of cities using new indicators such as the absolute potential, the relative potential and the absolute potency. The results show that there is a larger variability of concentration changes between models, when the emission reduction scenarios are applied, than for their respective...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - December 26, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Development of a novel chamber for evaluating the performance of passive air samplers according to ISO 16107
This study can contribute to improve workplace environments for monitoring chemical pollution by low-cost PAS devises. (Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health)
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - December 18, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
