Characterization of intra-urban exposure and source impacts of air pollution through monitoring and modeling

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The above all goal of air quality management is to protect human health and our environment. Presently, the two missing links are accurate estimation of exposure to air pollutants which establishes a causal relationship with health outcomes, and quantitative identification of source contributions in order to aid development and evaluation of risk reduction strategies. NSERC funding will support efforts to improve our knowledge and assist management decisions through a novel approach integrating all three components: intensive monitoring, emission inventory development and application, and computer model simulation. The characterization of intra-urban air quality within the Windsor airshed will be achieved by developing and applying tools of emission and dispersion, and by utilizing data of intensive monitoring. The methodologies developed during this research can easily be employed by others in the community because of the use of modeling systems and Canadian traffic data which are familiar to Canadian engineers and scientists. It will help to evaluate mitigation strategies and alternative transportation routes proposed under the Border Air Quality Strategy. The finding of the model evaluation and cross-validation will be not only of interest to our local community, but also be beneficial to the scientific community by improving our understanding of the capabilities of the various methods of air quality modeling. Furthermore, this research will enhance our understanding of the long term relationship between ambient air quality and anthropogenic emissions. In most Canadian cites, air quality has been gradually improving during the past 15 years. However, there have been a few examinations of the relationship with the emission reduction that has occurred during the same time period. By investigating the air quality and emission trends for particulate matter, ozone and mercury in southern Ontario and other Canadian cities in the past 15 years, this study will provide useful methodology that could be used in other places to evaluate the effectiveness of emission control measures. Such assessment will aid development of future emission reduction policy.