Integrated decision support system for urban air quality assessment

Urban air quality is a major concern throughout the world. In the UK, local authorities are now required to improve air quality in their respective area. In most urban areas, emissions from traffic are a major contributor of harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOX) and particulate matter (PM). Tools such as transportation and dispersion models are needed to predict any potential atmospheric pollution problems and to test the effectiveness of any air quality action plans. This paper describes a new framework to link existing air quality tools and the implementation of this framework through the development of prototype software IMPAQT (Integrated Modular Program for Air Quality Tools). IMPAQT aims to aid transport or environmental planners by increasing the efficiency of air quality assessments. IMPAQT was applied to several case studies using a countywide transportation model, an advanced atmospheric dispersion model and a desktop GIS. It was used to carry out urban air quality assessments and to test traffic scenarios. The laborious and time-consuming data preparation work involved in air quality studies was completed efficiently and in a shorter time compared with the methodology currently adopted by local authorities.