Estimating windblown PM-10 emissions from vacant urban land using GIS

This paper presents a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based methodology to estimate annual area-wide airborne particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm (PM-10) emissions, and identify zones with high emissions in order to efficiently implement mitigation strategies. Application of the methodology is demonstrated using the land disposal boundary within Clark County, NV as the study area, which is currently classified as a non-attainment area by United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). The estimated PM-10 emissions depend on the extent of disturbed vacant land area, undisturbed vacant land area, emission factors by soil group, and wind speeds. Portable wind tunnel field test data were used to estimate emission factors at 78 sites in the study area. Portable wind tunnel results were categorized by the wind speed range and the corresponding site soil group in order to estimate emission factors by soil group and the wind speed range. Wind speed data were obtained from the Clark County Health District's air quality monitoring stations. The proximal area over which the wind speeds are same is obtained by constructing “Thiessen” polygons around each wind speed monitoring station. PM-10 emissions were estimated as a function of the extent of disturbed vacant lands, the measured or estimated erodibility of the soil surfaces, and the intensity, duration and frequency of erosive wind events.