Population Exposure to Ambient PM 2.5 at the Subdistrict Level in China

Ying Long, Jianghao Wang, Kang Wu and Junjie Zhang
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Ying Long: School of Architecture and Hang Lung Center for Real Estate, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Jianghao Wang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Kang Wu: Beijing Key Laboratory of Megaregions Sustainable Development Modelling and School of Urban Economics and Public Administration, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Fine-particulate pollution is a major public health concern in China. Accurate assessment of the population exposed to PM 2.5 requires high-resolution pollution and population information. This paper assesses China’s potential population exposure to PM 2.5 , maps its spatiotemporal variability, and simulates the effects of the recent air pollution control policy. We relate satellite-based Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) retrievals to ground-based PM 2.5 observations. We employ block cokriging (BCK) to improve the spatial interpolation of PM 2.5 distribution. We use the subdistrict level population data to estimate and map the potential population exposure to PM 2.5 pollution in China at the subdistrict level, the smallest administrative unit with public demographic information. During 8 April 2013 and 7 April 2014, China’s population-weighted annual average PM 2.5 concentration was nearly 7 times the annual average level suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO). About 1322 million people, or 98.6% of the total population, were exposed to PM 2.5 at levels above WHO’s daily guideline for longer than half a year. If China can achieve its Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution targets by 2017, the population exposed to PM 2.5 above China’s daily standard for longer than half a year will be reduced by 85%.

Keywords: PM 2.5; population exposure; MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) AOD; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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