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Creating an Integrated Historical Record of Extreme Particulate Air Pollution Events in Australian Cities from 1994 to 2007
Citation
Johnston, FH and Hanigan, IC and Henderson, SB and Morgan, GG and Portner, T and Williamson, GJ and Bowman, DMJS, Creating an Integrated Historical Record of Extreme Particulate Air Pollution Events in Australian Cities from 1994 to 2007 , Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 61, (4) pp. 390-398. ISSN 1096-2247 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2011 Air & Waste Management Association
DOI: doi:10.3155/1047-3289.61.4.390
Abstract
Epidemiological studies of exposure to vegetation fire
smoke are often limited by the availability of accurate
exposure data. This paper describes a systematic framework
for retrospectively identifying the cause of air pollution
events to facilitate a long, multicenter analysis of
the public health effects of vegetation fire smoke pollution
in Australia. Pollution events were statistically defined
as any day at or above the 95th percentile of the
24-hr average concentration of particulate matter (PM).
These were identified for six cities from three distinct
ecoclimatic regions of Australia. The dates of each event
were then crosschecked against a range of information
sources, including online newspaper archives, government
and research agency records, satellite imagery, and
aerosol optical thickness measures to identify the cause
for the excess particulate pollution. Pollution events occurred
most frequently during summer for cities in subtropical
and arid regions and during winter for cities in
temperate regions. A cause for high PM on 67% of days
examined in the city of Sydney was found, and 94% of
these could be attributed to landscape fire smoke. Results
were similar for cities in other subtropical and arid locations.
Identification of the cause of pollution events was
much lower in colder temperate regions where fire activity
is less frequent. Bushfires were the most frequent cause
of extreme pollution events in cities located in subtropical
and arid regions of Australia. Although identification of
pollution episodes was greatly improved by the use of multiple
sources of information, satellite imagery was the most
useful tool for identifying bushfire smoke pollution events.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
Research Group: | Pollution and contamination |
Research Field: | Pollution and contamination not elsewhere classified |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Air quality, atmosphere and weather |
Objective Field: | Air quality, atmosphere and weather not elsewhere classified |
UTAS Author: | Johnston, FH (Associate Professor Fay Johnston) |
UTAS Author: | Hanigan, IC (Mr Ivan Hanigan) |
UTAS Author: | Henderson, SB (Associate Professor Sarah Henderson) |
UTAS Author: | Portner, T (Miss Talia Portner) |
UTAS Author: | Williamson, GJ (Dr Grant Williamson) |
UTAS Author: | Bowman, DMJS (Professor David Bowman) |
ID Code: | 69802 |
Year Published: | 2011 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 24 |
Deposited By: | Menzies Institute for Medical Research |
Deposited On: | 2011-05-18 |
Last Modified: | 2012-05-31 |
Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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