Journal Article

Global Air Quality: An Inter-Disciplinary Approach to Exposure Assessment for Burden of Disease Analyses

Mudu, Pierpaolo, Salter, James M., Ruggeri, Giulia, Gumy, Sophie, Thomas, Matthew L., Shaddick, Gavin, Peuch, Vincent-Henri, Baklanov, Alexander, Tarasova, Oksana

2021

Overview

Global assessments of air quality and health require comprehensive estimates of the exposures to air pollution that are experienced by populations in every country. However, there are many countries in which measurements from ground-based monitoring are sparse or non-existent, with quality-control and representativeness providing additional challenges. While ground-based monitoring provides a far from complete picture of global air quality, there are other sources of information that provide comprehensive coverage across the globe. The World Health Organization developed the Data Integration Model for Air Quality (DIMAQ) to combine information from ground measurements with that from other sources, such as atmospheric chemical transport models and estimates from remote sensing satellites in order to produce the information that is required for health burden assessment and the calculation of air pollution-related Sustainable Development Goals indicators. Here, we show an example of the use of DIMAQ with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service Re-Analysis (CAMSRA) of atmospheric composition, which represents the best practices in meteorology and climate monitoring that were developed under the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Atmosphere Watch programme. Estimates of PM2.5 from CAMSRA are integrated within the DIMAQ framework in order to produce high-resolution estimates of air pollution exposure that can be aggregated in a coherent fashion to produce country-level assessments of exposures.

• Publisher: MDPI AG
• Subject: Aerosols / Air pollution / Air quality / Air quality measurements / Air quality models / Airborne particulates / Atmosphere / Atmospheric chemistry / Atmospheric composition / Atmospheric models / Atmospheric monitoring / Best practice / Best practices / Case studies / Chemical transport / Climate monitoring / Collaboration / Data assimilation / Data integration / Estimates / fine particulate matter / global burden of disease / health effects / Meteorology / Monitoring / Mortality / Outdoor air quality / Particulate matter / PM2.5 / Population / Public health / Quality assessment / Remote sensing / Satellites / Spaceborne remote sensing / Sustainable development / Sustainable Development Goals