Functional ANOVA starting from discrete data: an application to air quality data

A nonparametric functional approach is proposed to compare the mean functions of $k$ k samples of curves. In practice, curves data are usually collected in a discrete form and hence they must be pre-processed to use purely functional techniques. However, in the context of $k$ k -sample tests, the pre-processing step can have effects in terms of power reduction. Hall and Van Keilegom (Stat Sin 17:1511–1531, 2007) proposed a methodology to minimizing these effects in the context of tests for the equality of two distribution functions. Their procedure is here extended to the case of $k$ k -sample hypothesis tests. The asymptotic validity of the procedure is established and its finite sample performance is analyzed through Monte Carlo experiments. As an illustration, the method is applied to air quality data collected from several monitoring stations placed at different geographical locations at the center of Spain.     

大气中氟化物污染的生物学指标监测评价

植物对HF气体的敏感性是由多种因素相互作用而成的复杂综合性状,常用于定性描述大气环境质量状况。通过在密闭的培养瓶中一次性通入不同体积浓度的HF气体,以不同浓度HF胁迫下的不同类型植物为例,观察其在不同时间的外观伤害症状和细胞膜透性与HF浓度的关系。结果表明：不同植物对HF的敏感性不同;低浓度长时间和高浓度短时间的症状基本相同;植物细胞膜透性数据即电导率直接反映植物受损程度。综合植物外观症状指标与生理生化指标并赋予不同权重值,建立相对定量化的大气质量生物学指标评价模式,以定量的判断HF气体对植物的伤害,为应用植物监测和评价大气环境质量提供理论和实践依据。     

大气臭氧污染的生物学指标监测评价

臭氧是具有很大危害性的大气污染物之一,近150年来大气对流层中的臭氧质量浓度已经增加了36%,在今后50～100年内还将以每年0.5%-2%的速度继续升高。植物对大气污染物的敏感性是由多种因素相互作用而成的复杂综合性状。以不同质量浓度（分别为0.0、1.0、2.0、3.0、4.0、5.0 mg·L-1）臭氧（O3）胁迫下的不同类型植物为例,观察植物在不同时间（2、4、6、8 h）的外观伤害症状和细胞膜透性与O3质量浓度的相关性。试验结果表明：不同植物对O3的敏感度不同,蔬菜对臭氧相对较敏感;低质量浓度长时间和高质量浓度短时间的作用条件下,植物的受害症状基本相同,典型症状表现为叶片上散布细密点状斑,斑点的颜色呈白色、黄色、棕褐色,也有褪绿斑;植物细胞膜透性数据即电导率直接反映植物受损程度。综合植物外观症状指标与生理生化指标建立了相对定量化的大气质量生物学指标评价模式,即划分为轻微（0-0.2）、轻度（0.2-0.4）、中度（0.4-0.6）、高度（0.6-0.8）、严重（0.8-1.0）5个受害等级,以定量的判断O3气体对植物的伤害。     

Cost-sharing approach for air quality control implementation A case study

The objective of the study was to investigate and develop new alternative approaches to effectively meeting the federal SOx and particulate ambient air quality standards at cost savings. Since air pollution control costs would very likely be passed along to the consumer, it is in the best interests of the consumer and industry to find the least-cost alternative policies. Cost-sharing possesses advantages not shared by other control schemes, such as emissions taxes, auctioning of “pollution certificates,” or other methods. The results of this paper indicate that the cost-sharing approach is useful for particulates control in order to minimize the burden of plants already performing substantial control who may require significant added capital investment beyond their initial amount. For SO_ξ emissions control the cost-sharing analysis calculations show significant savings in nearly all situations, whether or not stack gas treatment methods were assumed available. Furthermore, the cost-sharing approach may allow further savings when the particular cost requirements of an individual firm differ substantially from the average engineering cost estimates. A cost-sharing option should thus be included in implementation plans as an option to be used by industries at their own initiative. The spatial characteristics of emissions resulting from a particular application of the cost-sharing approach are considered. A spatial airshed emissions allocation model is discussed as a useful method of evaluating cost sharing.     

Indoor air quality and academic performance

I examine the effect of school indoor air quality (IAQ) on academic outcomes. I utilize a quasi-natural experiment, in which IAQ-renovations were completed at virtually every school in a single Texas school district at different points in time, combined with a panel of student-level data to control for many confounding factors and thereby uncover the causal effect of IAQ-renovations on academic outcomes. Results indicate that performance on standardized tests significantly improves while attendance is unresponsive to improvements in IAQ. Rough calculations suggest that IAQ-renovations may be a more cost-effective way to improve standardized test scores than class size reductions.     

Site rent,air quality,and the demand for amenities

There has been considerable debate as to the information contained in the coefficients of a cross-sectional regression of site rent on air quality. Much of the confusion surrounding the analysis of the relationships (a) between air quality changes and property value changes, (b) between property value changes and benefits derived from quality changes, and (c) between the estimated cross-sectional coefficients and all of the above, can be cleared up by a discussion of the meaning of the hedonic equation. In that context, the implications for demand analysis are clarified.     

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

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.     

Determination and implementation of optimal air quality standards

This paper utilizes two least-cost emission control strategies and develops rules for structuring and implementing optimal air quality standards. A strategy typical of those currently enforced, based on the State Implementation Plans (SIP's ), is compared to two least-cost strategies: (i) ambient least cost (ALC ), which achieves required air quality at least cost; and (ii) emissions least cost (ELC ), which achieves required emissions reduction at least cost. A demonstration is given of the theoretically derived result that the ALC strategy should be utilized in cost-benefit analyses to determine air quality standards and to generate emissions taxes. Preliminary analysis of the St. Louis area indicated tentative justification for a particulate ambient standard at least as strict as the current Federal primary standard. The efficiency, equity, and administrative costs for implementation of strategies based on the least-cost concept are also examined.     

空气清新剂中挥发性有机物的组成及其对室内空气质量的潜在影响

研究调查了广州市各大型超市销售的14个品牌,15种不同香型,共26个盒装空气清新剂中挥发性有机物（VOCs）的成分.通过顶空GC-MS分析获得的结果可以看出各个空气清新剂的成分组成差别较大,即使是相同香型的产品,其中的化合物种类和百分比浓度都不尽相同.定性出94种化合物,包括烯烃18种,醇类15种,醛类14种,酮类4种,醚类5种,酚类1种,酯类25种及其它化合物12种,其中萜类化合物约占总化合物数量的40%.β-月桂烯、罗勒烯、苧烯、苯乙醇、乙酸苄酯、β-蒎烯、β-水芹烯、伞花烃、1-甲基-4-（1-甲基乙烯基）苯、里拉醇等化合物在各种清新剂中出现频率为100%.空气清新剂中萜类化合物与臭氧反应,可生成二次有机气溶胶,对室内空气质量造成影响.     

A cost-effectiveness analysis of alternative air quality control strategies

A number of linear programming models purport to minimize the costs of emission control to achieve ambient air quality standards. Many of the simulations incorporate the simplifying assumption that improvements in ambient air quality are proportional to reductions in regional emissions. This approach minimizes the cost of mass emission reduction, but not the cost to achieve a prescribed ambient air quality. The costs of this emissions least-cost strategy are compared to an ambient least-cost strategy which does achieve prescribed ambient air quality at minimum cost. The cost saving achieved by this strategy relative to the emissions least-cost strategy is as much as 50670. In addition, both are compared to a strategy typical of those currently used by the states, which is found to be as much as ten times as expensive as the ambient least-cost strategy.     

The distribution of benefits from improvements in urban air quality

This paper analyzes the distribution of benefits from an air pollution control strategy for the Boston metropolitan area. Average benefits to seven income groups are measured by physical improvements in air quality and by dollar values, using housing value and health damage approaches to estimate willingness to pay. Benefits include those in the work environment as well as at home. Physical benefits at home are found to be greater for the poor rather than for the rich; when measured in monetary terms with workplace benefits included, however, the distribution is much less pro-poor.     

Indoor air quality in elementary schools of Lisbon in spring

Analysis of indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools usually reveals higher levels of pollutants than in outdoor environments. The aims of this study are to measure indoor and outdoor concentrations of NO₂, speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbonyls at 14 elementary schools in Lisbon, Portugal. The investigation was carried out in May–June 2009. Three of the schools were selected to also measure comfort parameters, such as temperature and relative humidity, carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), total VOCs, and bacterial and fungal colony-forming units per cubic metre. Indoor concentrations of CO₂ in the three main schools indicated inadequate classroom air exchange rates. The indoor/outdoor (I/O) NO₂ ratio ranged between 0.36 and 0.95. At the three main schools, the total bacterial and fungal colony-forming units (CFU) in both indoor and outdoor air were above the advised maximum value of 500 CFU/m³ defined by Portuguese legislation. The aromatic compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, followed by ethers, alcohols and terpenes, were usually the most abundant classes of VOCs. In general, the indoor total VOC concentrations were markedly higher than those observed outdoors. At all locations, indoor aldehyde levels were higher than those observed outdoors, particularly for formaldehyde. The inadequate ventilation observed likely favours accumulation of pollutants with additional indoor sources.     

Application of CFD modelling to air quality in Kuwait City

High-resolution computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations have been performed to assess the dispersion of air pollutants (CO₂) emanating from traffic in a busy street and in the vicinity of a complex configuration of buildings located in Salmiya, Kuwait City. New buildings are planned for this area, and the work here includes predictions for the dispersion of pollutants after the buildings’ completion. The CFD simulations are based on calculated CO₂ concentration levels for traffic counts taken on location in Salmiya with the existing configuration of buildings. As the computer code used in this work has been evaluated previously, it will be applied here to predict with confidence any potential air pollution problem areas on the addition of the new buildings. It was found for very light wind, that the proposed new buildings help reduce pollution in the vicinity of residential buildings within the configuration of buildings, but as the wind becomes moderate to strong, there was a tendency for the pollutant to get trapped in the residential area. Results are given for both exceptionally high ambient temperatures and very light wind, which are not often reported in studies found in the literature.     

Impact of photocatalytic remediation of pollutants on urban air quality

In the recent years, photocatalytic self-cleaning and “depolluting” materials have been suggested as a remediation technology mainly for NO _x and aromatic VOCs in urban areas. A number of products incorporating the aforementioned technology have been made commercially available with the aim to improve urban air quality. These commercial products are based on the photocatalytic properties of a thin layer of TiO₂ at the surface of the material (such as glass, pavement, etc.) or embedded in paints or concrete. The use of TiO₂ photocatalysts as an emerging air pollution control technology has been reported in many locations worldwide. However, up to now, the effectiveness measured in situ and the expected positive impact on air quality of this relatively new technology has only been demonstrated in a limited manner. Assessing and demonstrating the effectiveness of these depolluting techniques in real scale applications aims to create a real added value, in terms of policy making (i.e., implementing air quality strategies) and economics (by providing a demonstration of the actual performance of a new technique).

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Spatiotemporal calibration of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide concentration estimates from an air quality model for Connecticut

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - A spatiotemporal calibration and resolution refinement model was fitted to calibrate nitrogen dioxide ($$\hbox {NO}_2$$) concentration estimates from the...     

Target the neglected VOCs emission from iron and steel industry in China for air quality improvement

● Haze formation in China is highly correlated with iron and steel industry. ● VOCs generated in sinter process were neglected under current emission standard. ● Co-elimination removal of sinter flue gas complex pollutants are timely needed. Recent years have witnessed significant improvement in China’s air quality. Strict environmental protection measures have led to significant decreases in sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), and particulate matter (PM) emissions since 2013. But there is no denying that the air quality in 135 cities is inferior to reaching the Ambient Air Quality Standards (GB 3095–2012) in 2020. In terms of temporal, geographic, and historical aspects, we have analyzed the potential connections between China’s air quality and the iron and steel industry. The non-target volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions from iron and steel industry, especially from the iron ore sinter process, may be an underappreciated index imposing a negative effect on the surrounding areas of China. Therefore, we appeal the authorities to pay more attention on VOCs emission from the iron and steel industry and establish new environmental standards. And different iron steel flue gas pollutants will be eliminated concurrently with the promotion and application of new technology.     

Distributional analysis of regional benefits and cost of air quality control

The methodology and results of an analysis of benefits and costs of air quality control for an urban region in Florida are given. The machinery used considers the spatial distribution of (a) emission sources, (b) the ambient levels resulting from local meteorological conditions and geographic features, and (c) the socioeconomic characteristics of the impacted population groups. This facilitates an examination of the distributional aspects of costs and benefits associated with various control scenarios. With appropriate adaptation and inputs the steps in our analysis should apply to a distributional benefit/cost analyses for any region.