Doctoral Dissertation Research: Segregation and Its Effects on Social Disparities in Exposure to Air Pollution

这个博士论文研究项目将研究种族和民族隔离如何影响不平等暴露于空气污染，考虑到个人每天经历的各种空间（例如，家庭、工作场所和休闲活动场所）。 这位博士生将开发一种个人层面的隔离措施，该措施将这种更全面的隔离概念化结合起来，并将其与以高时空分辨率评估个人暴露于空气污染的方法相结合。联合收割机。 这种新的细粒度方法将使研究人员能够更可靠地检查隔离与暴露于空气污染的差异之间的关联，因为它可以改善以前仅基于居住地的研究中的几个方法学问题。 超越单纯基于居住隔离的简单化理解，研究结果将产生新的见解，了解环境暴露的差异如何通过复杂的社会空间过程形成，以及非居住隔离如何促成这些差异。调查人员将与有关组织和机构合作，传播项目调查结果。 研究结果将通过强调考虑人类日常流动性的政策的必要性，为未来的政策建议提供更细致入微的知识。调查结果还将有助于提高公众对空气污染不公平负担的认识和理解，以及解决这种差异的迫切需要。这一新的知识将有助于更包容和全面地参与决策，并参与关于环境正义和由隔离引起的更广泛的社会差距问题的建设性对话。1）个体在一天中是否经历不同程度的隔离，如果是，少数种族是否在白天经历更高程度的隔离（即，在非住宅区）和在夜间（即，在住宅区）比大多数？2)不同种族群体的平均暴露水平是否不同，如果是，哪个群体面临的空气污染暴露水平最高？3)在一天中不同时间观察到的隔离如何影响每天暴露于空气污染的总量的差异？ 第一个问题将通过开发一种新的隔离措施来解决，该措施将个人之间的时空接近度与活动旅行日记数据集结合起来，该数据集包括个人特征和详细的日常旅行信息（例如，地理编码的位置和行程的持续时间）。将使用重复测量方差分析（ANOVA）检查时间段之间的差异。 为了回答第二个问题，博士生将使用地理信息系统（GIS）将暴露水平数据与日记数据以及空气扩散模型产生的每小时空气污染数据相结合。 然后进行ANOVA以比较种族差异。第三个问题的答案是，利用地理信息系统对不同时间的隔离与不同的空气污染暴露之间的空间关系进行地理可视化，并对这种关联进行回归分析。 该项目将以大亚特兰大、格鲁吉亚地区为基地，但将产生适用于美国许多其他大都市的信息。

This doctoral dissertation research project will examine how racial and ethnic segregation impacts the unequal exposure to air pollution by considering the full range of spaces individuals experience daily (e.g., home, workplace, and leisure activity locations). The doctoral student will develop an individual-level segregation measure that incorporates this more comprehensive conceptualization of segregation and combine it with a method for assessing personal exposure to air pollution at a high spatiotemporal resolution. This new fine-grained approach will enable investigators to more reliably examine the association between segregation and the disparity in exposure to air pollution because it can improve on several methodological problems in previous studies that were solely residence-based. Moving beyond simplistic understandings based solely on residential segregation, the research findings will yield new insights into how the disparities in environmental exposures are shaped through complex socio-spatial processes and how non-residential segregation contributes to those disparities. The investigators will collaborate with relevant organizations and agencies to disseminate the project findings. Findings will provide more nuanced knowledge for future policy recommendations by emphasizing the need for policies that consider human daily mobility. The findings will also help promote general awareness and understanding of the unfair burdens of air pollution and the urgent need to address such disparities. This new knowledge will contribute to a more inclusive and comprehensive participation in policy-making and engagement in a constructive dialogue about environmental justice and a wider range of social disparity issues stemming from segregation.This project addresses three specific research questions: 1) Do individuals experience different levels of segregation over the course of a day, and if so, do racial minorities experience higher levels of segregation both during the daytime (i.e., in non-residential areas) and at night (i.e., in residential areas) than the majority? 2) Are the average exposure levels of different racial groups different, and if so, which group faces the highest level of exposure to air pollution? 3) How does the observed segregation at different times of day affect the disparity in total daily exposure to air pollution? The first question will be addressed by developing a new segregation measure that considers spatiotemporal proximity among individuals in combination with an activity-travel diary dataset that includes personal characteristics and detailed daily travel information (e.g., geocoded locations and time durations of trips). The differences between time periods will be examined using a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). To answer the second question the doctoral student will use a geographic information system (GIS) to integrate exposure level data with diary data, as well as hourly air pollution data produced from air dispersion modeling. An ANOVA will then be conducted to compare the racial differences. The third question will be answered by geo-visualizing the spatial relationship between segregation at different times and differential exposures to air pollution using GIS and by conducting regression analyses on the association. This project will be based in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, region, but will be generating information that will be applicable to many other metropolitan locations in the United States.