concentrations across various demographic layers can help in identifying hotspots
that demand special investigation or monitoring. Data visualization which otherwise
means illustrating complex information through a map provides a dynamic insight to
help the authorities plan future strategies.
Keywords Geospatial modelling · Air quality monitoring · Air quality
epidemiological studies · Spatial modelling approaches
1 Introduction
Air quality is an important determinant of health and several studies have
documented the wide range of adverse effects of ambient air pollution on human
health in various parts of the world. In specific, outdoor air pollution emissions
originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Though in most natural
sources forest fires and dust storms contribute to local air pollution especially in
prone arid regions, the contribution from human activities far exceeds those of
natural sources.
Poor urban planning, rapid urban sprawl and overdependence on private vehicle
transport is a major factor responsible for accelerated pollution emissions. Adverse
health consequences due to air pollution can occur as a result of both short- or longterm exposure. The pollutants with the strongest impacts on human health are
particulate matter (PM), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and sulphur dioxide
(SO 2 ). Exposure to these airsborne pollutants may cause both acute and chronic
effects on human health resulting in damage of different systems and organs. The
health effects range from minor upper respiratory irritation to chronic respiratory and
heart disease, lung cancer, acute respiratory infection and asthmatic attacks
(Raaschou-Nielsen et al. 2013).
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group have
unanimously classified outdoor air pollution, specifically particulate matter, as
carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 1), based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and experimental animals and strong mechanistic evidence
(Loomis et al 2014). The findings state that, an increased risk of lung cancer was
observed in various cohort and case-controlled studies, including millions of people
and many thousands of lung cancer cases from Europe, North America and Asia.
2 Air Quality Monitoring
Policy makers have been installing monitoring stations or systems across many cities
(Kanaroglou et al. 2005; Jerrett et al. 2005) for legislatory purposes. Pollution
sensors have also been placed by researchers to assess the personal exposure to air
pollution in places of their interest (Semanjski et al. 2016a, b; Gillis et al. 2016), such
378
M. Prashanthi Devi et al.
that demand special investigation or monitoring. Data visualization which otherwise
means illustrating complex information through a map provides a dynamic insight to
help the authorities plan future strategies.
Keywords Geospatial modelling · Air quality monitoring · Air quality
epidemiological studies · Spatial modelling approaches
1 Introduction
Air quality is an important determinant of health and several studies have
documented the wide range of adverse effects of ambient air pollution on human
health in various parts of the world. In specific, outdoor air pollution emissions
originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Though in most natural
sources forest fires and dust storms contribute to local air pollution especially in
prone arid regions, the contribution from human activities far exceeds those of
natural sources.
Poor urban planning, rapid urban sprawl and overdependence on private vehicle
transport is a major factor responsible for accelerated pollution emissions. Adverse
health consequences due to air pollution can occur as a result of both short- or longterm exposure. The pollutants with the strongest impacts on human health are
particulate matter (PM), ozone (O 3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and sulphur dioxide
(SO 2 ). Exposure to these airsborne pollutants may cause both acute and chronic
effects on human health resulting in damage of different systems and organs. The
health effects range from minor upper respiratory irritation to chronic respiratory and
heart disease, lung cancer, acute respiratory infection and asthmatic attacks
(Raaschou-Nielsen et al. 2013).
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group have
unanimously classified outdoor air pollution, specifically particulate matter, as
carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 1), based on sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans and experimental animals and strong mechanistic evidence
(Loomis et al 2014). The findings state that, an increased risk of lung cancer was
observed in various cohort and case-controlled studies, including millions of people
and many thousands of lung cancer cases from Europe, North America and Asia.
2 Air Quality Monitoring
Policy makers have been installing monitoring stations or systems across many cities
(Kanaroglou et al. 2005; Jerrett et al. 2005) for legislatory purposes. Pollution
sensors have also been placed by researchers to assess the personal exposure to air
pollution in places of their interest (Semanjski et al. 2016a, b; Gillis et al. 2016), such
378
M. Prashanthi Devi et al.