Optimized Arrangement of Constant Ambient Air Monitoring Stations in the Kanto Region of Japan

Shintaro Shirato, Atsushi Iizuka, Atsushi Mizukoshi, Miyuki Noguchi, Akihiro Yamasaki and Yukio Yanagisawa
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Shintaro Shirato: Department of Environmental Systems, Institute of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Atsushi Iizuka: Department of Environmental Systems, Institute of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Atsushi Mizukoshi: Department of Environmental Systems, Institute of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Miyuki Noguchi: Department of Environmental Systems, Institute of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan
Akihiro Yamasaki: Department of Materials and Life Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Seikei University, 3-3-1 Kichijoji-kitamachi, Musashino, Tokyo 180-8633, Japan
Yukio Yanagisawa: Department of Environmental Systems, Institute of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8563, Japan

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Continuous ambient air monitoring systems have been introduced worldwide. However, such monitoring forces autonomous communities to bear a significant financial burden. Thus, it is important to identify pollutant-monitoring stations that are less efficient, while minimizing loss of data quality and mitigating effects on the determination of spatiotemporal trends of pollutants. This study describes a procedure for optimizing a constant ambient air monitoring system in the Kanto region of Japan. Constant ambient air monitoring stations in the area were topologically classified into four groups by cluster analysis and principle component analysis. Then, air pollution characteristics in each area were reviewed using concentration contour maps and average pollution concentrations. We then introduced three simple criteria to reduce the number of monitoring stations: (1) retain the monitoring station if there were similarities between its data and average data of the group to which it belongs; (2) retain the station if its data showed higher concentrations; and (3) retain the station if the monitored concentration levels had an increasing trend. With this procedure, the total number of air monitoring stations in suburban and urban areas was reduced by 36.5%. The introduction of three new types of monitoring stations is proposed, namely, mobile, for local non-methane hydrocarbon pollution, and O x -prioritized.

Keywords: constant ambient air monitoring; Kanto region; NO x; O x; non-methane hydrocarbon; suspended particulate matter; principle component analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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