Application of statistical methods to assess carbon monoxide pollution variations within an urban area

Abstract

In recent years there have been considerable new legislation and efforts by vehicle manufactures aimed at reducing pollutant emission to improve air quality in urban areas. Carbon monoxide is a major pollutant in urban areas, and in this study we analyze monthly carbon monoxide data from Valencia City, a representative Mediterranean city in terms of its structure and climatology. Temporal and spatial trends in pollution were recorded from a monitoring network that consisted of five monitoring sites. A multiple linear model, incorporating meteorological parameters, annual cycles, and random error due to serial correlation, was used to estimate the temporal changes in pollution. An analysis performed on the meteorologically adjusted data reveals a significant decreasing trend in CO concentrations and an annual seasonal cycle. The model parameters are estimated by applying the least-squares method. The standard error of the parameters is determined while taking into account the serial correlation in the residuals. The decreasing trend implies to a certain extent an improvement in the air quality of the study area. The seasonal cycle shows variations that are mainly associated with traffic and meteorological patterns. Analysis of the stochastic spatial component shows that most of the intersite covariances can be analyzed using an exponential variogram model.