Characterization of urban air quality using GIS a management system.

PULIAFITO, E. ; GUEVARA, M; PULIAFITO, C.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd.

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2003 vol. 122 p. 105 - 117

0269-7491

Keeping the air quality acceptable has become an important task for decision makers as well as for non-governmental organizations. Particulate and gaseous emissions of pollutant from industries and auto-exhaust are responsible for rising discomfort, increasing airway diseases, decreasing productivity and the deterioration of artistic and cultural patrimony in urban centers. A model to determine the air quality in urban areas using a geographical information system will be here presented. This system permits the integration, handling, analysis and simulation of spatial and temporal data of ambient concentration of main pollutant. It allows the users to characterize and recognize areas with potential increase or improvement in its air pollution situation. It is also possible to compute past or present conditions by changing basic input information as traffic flow, or stack emission rates. Additionally the model may be used to test the compliance of local standard air quality, to study the environmental impact of new industries or to determine the changes in the conditions when the vehicle circulation is increased.