Pollution Research Paper

POSITIONING AMBIENT AIR QUALITY MONITORING STATIONS UTILIZING SPATIAL MULTI-OBJECTIVE DECISION ANALYSES

PATIWAT LITTIDEJ AND SUNYA SARAPIROME

Abstract

Air quality monitoring station (AQMS) has high cost on the investment to detect pollutants from traffic line source. Its location requires maximized conditions on pollution intensity, frequency of violence, service area, and people exposure impact. The objective of the study is to determine a proper position of AQMSs for Nakhon Ratchasima municipal area using the spatial multi-objective decision analyses. The spatial distributions of pollution intensity were generated in forms of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter less than 10 micron (PM10) including their combination using CALINE4 and GIS, based on varying vehicle types, time periods, and wind directions. The result shows high pollution dispersions in areas along the Mittrapap Road and Highway 224. The maximum frequency of violence index derived from pollution intensity could obviously be observed from area surrounding Mittrapap Road in front of The Mall and Tesco Lotus department stores. Locations provided the highest index of service area were found in the area surrounding Mittrapap Road in front of The Mall and along Highway 224. The highest index of people exposure impact determined using fuzzy logic, ranged between 0.6001-0.7931, could be observed in the area surrounding Highway 224 in front of Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima School, Anuban Nakhon Ratchasima School, Nakhon Ratchasima vocational college, and SuranareeWittaya school. These characteristics related to pollution intensity and its impact was then input as objective functions in spatial multi-objectives decision analysis for siting proper AQMSs. The site with highest score as 3.66 of combined all objective functions was located opposite to The Mall commercial center at coordinate X1= 831,100 m and Y1=1,658,100 m. This site was purposed as a new AQMS position.