Urban Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Using GIS, GPS, Sensors and Internet

Transcription

1 International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol., No., August Urban Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Using GIS, GPS, Sensors and Internet H. Prasad Raju, P. Partheeban, and R. Rani Hemamalini Abstract Air pollution is one of the most important factors affecting the quality of life and the health of urban population. Air pollution is a serious problem in all urban and semi-urban areas in India. The air pollution in Chennai is high owing to fact that due to tremendous increase in use of private, public and personal vehicles. The Air Pollution has been up by many folds causing damage to urban public health and properties. Thus, it has become necessary to monitor the concentration of Air Pollutants regularly to take appropriate decisions to mitigate the same. This paper deals with the real time monitoring of urban air pollutants using solid state gas sensors with ARM module that connects the measured airpollution levels to GIS, GPS and Internet so that the pollution levels shall be known as and when required to deal with any unwarranted situations.also the data obtained in this process can be utilized by Public, Government and Non-governmental organizations to take appropriate decisionsin order to protect public health and properties. Index Terms Air quality, GIS, GPS, sensors and internet. I. INTRODUCTION The effects of air pollution on public health are being felt worldwide. Pollutants, such as particulates matters (PM) and Ozone; primarily resulting from emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and hydrocarbons/air toxins (HC or VOCs), destroy sensitive tissues (in people, animals and plants), impair respiratory functions, degrade building materials and deteriorate the aesthetic aspects of environment []. India is facing a serious double burden problem of disease. For the past couple of years people have been suffering from Dengue, Chicken guniya and Flu fevers. At the same time, other chronic non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disorders are becoming more dominant. It is clear that the pattern of economic growth that adopted by developing countries increasingly associated with environmental pollution. Indian cities are also being exposed to high levels of air pollution and people living in cities are paying a price for the deterioration in air quality. Air pollution is a serious problem in thickly populated and industrialized areas in Chennai. The air pollution in Chennai is abundant, especially in areas where pollution sources and the human population are concentrated. Furthermore, though the variety and quantities of polluting sources have increased dramatically, the development of a suitable method for monitoring the Manuscript received June,, revised June,. H. Prasad Raju and P. Partheeban are with the Department of Civil Engineering, St. Peter s University,, Chennai, India, ( prasadrajuh@gmail.com; parthi@yahoo.co.in). R. Rani Hemamalini is with the Department of ECE, St. Peter s College of Engineering and Technology,, Chennai, India, ( ranihema@yahoo.com). pollution causing sources has not followed at the same speed. Economic growth and industrialization are proceeding at a rapid pace, accompanied by increasing emissions of air polluting sources. Some of the main factors identified as reasons for increasing vehicular pollution in the Indian mega-cities can be put together as follows: High volume of traffic and urban population dynamics Excessive increase in private / personal vehicles Improper maintenance of vehicles Growing traffic bottlenecks Less Eco-friendly mode of transport and fuel technologies Lack of comprehensive fiscal strategies to check the increase of private / personal vehicles Urban environmental management addresses problems that are spatially distributed as well as dynamic. The two basic methods or paradigms addressing these dimensions are data bases and geographical information systems (GIS) on the one hand, and dynamic simulation models on the other []. To prevent or minimize the damage caused by atmospheric pollution, suitable monitoring systems are urgently needed that can rapidly and reliably detect and quantify polluting sources for monitoring by regulating authorities in order to prevent further deterioration of the current pollution levels. So as to carry out urban mobile air pollution monitoring over an extensive area, a combination of ground measurements through sensors and wireless communication networks and internet GIS was used for this purpose. This portable device, comprising solid state gas sensors integrated to a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) linked through Bluetooth communication tools and Global Positioning System (GPS) allowed rapid dissemination of information on pollution levels at multiple sites simultaneously. The Air Quality report generated and published using Internet, GPS and GIS to provide real-time information to the public and enhanced public participation []. II. NEED FOR THE STUDY In India, the number of motor vehicles has increased from. million in 9 to million in. The number of two wheelers registered has increased from 8. million in to 8. million in registering an increase of % over the period, while the number of Light Motor Vehicles (passengers) and Jeeps showed an impressive growth of 78% and % respectively during the same period. The total number of cars registered has increased from. million in

2 International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol., No., August to.7 million in which show a growth of % during the period. In Chennai, Motor vehicle population has increased at a phenomenal rate as an average 9.7% for the last few decades from 87, (98) to,8,87 (8) []. Vehicular emissions are of particular concern since these are ground level sources and thus have the maximum impact on the general population. Also, vehicles contribute significantly to the total air pollution load in many urban areas. Under the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (NAAQM) network, four air pollutants, namely SPM, CO, SO and NO have been identified for regular monitoring at all the 9 stations spread across the country. Out of which the entire Chennai city has got only ambient air quality monitoring stations []. With this limited number of stations, to represent the air quality in Chennai city spatially is difficult task. Hence there is need for a co-ordinated methodology to monitor air quality continuously and made available the same data in real time for decision makers and public as well in order to take necessary steps for mitigating pollution. to (this route covers all type land uses namely Industrial, Educational, Residential, Official and Recreational the areas covered are Ambatur, Annanagar, and ). These three routes on which the air quality data collected is presented in Fig. and Arc View GIS is used for this purpose [7]. The gas sensors and GPS are fitted in car and same connected to a car battery for power supply. The GPS unit and gas sensors are further connected to ARM processor. The air pollution monitoring survey is carried in the above said three routes in the afternoon session the starting and ending time of survey was kept same inorder to get same pattern of data. III. METHODOLOGY In this study, three solid state gas sensors were used to measure three gases namely CO, NO and SO are linked with GPS through ARM processor []. The Chennai city map was digitized with GIS and GPS by moving around the city then the digitized map was fed into the internet. ARM Processor is a type of processor which is used to link different types of outputs. It also helps in uploading the linked data to the internet. This ARM Processor and outputs devices are collectively known as ARM Module. The above said three sensors and GPS are linked through ARM module, then it is fed into the server through laptop and then it is uploaded to the internet. The Pollution data can be viewed through the web page ( Hence the public can view the level of pollution in a particular place in Chennai using the website. Fig. shows the block diagram of the working method of urban mobile air quality monitoring system using Gas Sensors, GPS, GIS and Internet. CO Sensor NO Sensor SO Sensor GIS ARM Processor PC GPS Module Internet Online Air Quality to Public and PCB Fig.. Block diagram of urban mobile air quality monitoring system IV. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION In this study, three important routes in Chennai were selected based on the volume of traffic that will generate high emission from the vehicles. Route : to (this route covers some of the important, official and commercial areas of the city like Ambatur, Dunlop, Koyembedu,, Udayam,, etc,.) Route : Kovalam to (This route covers tourists places like MGM, VGP, KOVALAM, MAYAJAL etc,.) and Route : Fig.. Study area showing the three routes V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Table I shows the AQI for priority pollutants as per United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) [8]. This is the rating set by USEPA for determining ambient air quality. The results of this research work and the ambient air measurement will be compared with the USEPA ambient air ratings obtained in the table. The ambient air pollutants areclassified into categories ranging from very good to very poor. From ( ) AQI rating is A which is very good, ( ) AQI is B which is good, ( 9) AQI is C which is moderate, ( 99) AQI isd which is poor and ( or above) AQI is E which is very poor, showing critical values. The above standards adopted in a study on Vehicular Emissions and Air Quality Standards in Nigeria by Abam and Unachukwu [] and these standards are well fit with the results of this study. TABLE I: AIR QUALITY INDEX FOR PRIORITY POLLUTANTS AQI Category CO (ppm) NO (ppm) SO (ppm) Very good ( -).. Good ( -) Moderate ( 9) Poor ( 99) Very Poor( or over) >9. >. >. On each route, one month data was collected and the average values of CO concentration observed is presented in Fig. ( to ), Fig. (Kovalam to ) and Fig. ( to ). The concentration of CO measured for the route to is levels varied from. to ppm. It shows that the vehicle pollution

3 International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol., No., August of CO is higher in this route. Similarly the concentration of CO measured for the Route and the maximum and minimum values are. to ppm and. to 8 ppm respectively. The concentration of CO in route at location and Route at Vappery and Chennai Central Railway station was higher than USEPA ambient air quality standards the reason is higher traffic levels. As per the norms of Pollution Control Board (PCB), the CO level should not exceed 8 ppm in industrial areas,. ppm in residential areas and. ppm in sensitive areas. Thus, in all the three routes measured CO concentrations are above the standards of USEPA and PCB in important areas. CO Concentration in PPM Fig.. Concentration of CO observed in route ( to Tamabaram) 7 CIT respectively. The SO concentration at stations Ambattur Estate, Railway Station and was higher than the USEPA limit and nearly percent of the locations are within the boundary of USEPA ambient air quality standards the reason could be nearing highway traffic capacity level. As per the norms of PCB, the SO level should not exceed.7 ppm. Thus, in all the three routes measured SO concentrations are above the standards of USEPA and PCB in important areas. SO Concentration in PPM Fig.. Concentration of SO observed in route ( to Tamabaram) SO Concentration in PPM Fig. 7. Concentration of SO observed in route (Kovalam to ) CIT. Fig.. Concentration of CO observed in route (Kovalam to ) r Fig.. Concentration of CO observed in route ( to ) Fig. to Fig. 8 shows the concentration of SO measured for the Route to respectively. The concentration of SO measured for the route to is levels varied from. to.7 ppm. It shows that the vehicle pollution of SO is higher in this route. Similarly the concentration of SO measured for the Route and the maximum and minimum values are. to. ppm and.9 to. ppm KHM Hospita Egmore SO Concentration in PPM.... r Fig. 8. Concentration of SO observed in route ( to ) Fig. 9 to Fig. shows the concentration of NO measured for the Route to respectively. The concentration of NO measured for the route to is levels varied from. to.7 ppm. It shows that the vehicle pollution of NO is higher in this route. Similarly the concentration of NO measured for the Route and the minimum and maximum values are. to. ppm and. to.7 ppm respectively.the NO concentration at stations ate, Railway Station, Gandhi Nagar and was higher than the USEPA limit and nearly percent of the locations are higher than the KHM Hospita Egmore

4 International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol., No., August boundary of USEPA ambient air quality standards the reason could be nearing highway traffic capacity level. As per the norms of PCB, the NOlevel should not exceed. ppm. Thus, in all the three routes measured NOconcentrations are above the standards of USEPA and PCB in important areas. ) ) to control pollution. It can be used to monitor industrial pollution by placing near the chimneys and through virtual control It is cost effective compared to other methods... VI. CONCLUSIONS. NO Concentration in PPM. Currentair quality is better than a decade ago. However, Chennai still has been facing serious air pollution problems. As seen in Chennai, black and white smoke from truck and public buses exhaust still occurs. This is attributed to the rapid economic and industrial growth, combined with a lack of implementation of air quality and requires the PCB to adapt or extend the current PCB s air quality monitoring systems and also facilitate the problem of analyzing and monitoring air pollution in Chennai. The traditional air quality monitoring system, controlled by the PCB, is extremely expensive. Analytical measuring equipment is costly and time consuming, and can seldom be used for air quality reporting in real time. The PCB has been forecasting and reporting real time air quality levels through the Internet in the form of maps. However, the air quality index of each monitoring site is just shown by rather coarse levels; good, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous. The air quality report should be more in detail, including information such as air quality interpolated maps, relating to other information for better understanding the air quality level. For these reasons, this work is aimed to build up an easy monitoring system using low cost portable gas sensing systems solid state gas sensors so as to carry out air pollution monitoring over an extensive area and to be able to report real time air quality data through Wireless Internet GIS. To facilitate the problem of analyzing and monitoring air pollution and also to assist in establishing priorities and measurements of air pollution in the Chennai city this method is proven to be much useful. Fig. 9. Concentration of NO observed in route ( to Tamabaram) CIT.... NO Concentration in PPM. Fig.. Concentration of NO observed in route (Kovalam to ) r KHM Hospita Egmore NO Concentration in PPM.. A. Future Scope of Study In this study only one mobile setup is being made but this can be extended to number of stations by buying more gas sensors, and all the data s from different stations can be brought into a single receiver station and same can be uploaded into the internet. This study can also be extended for monitoring various industrial air pollutants and a technical alert system can be setup for PCB to monitor major industries causing pollution. This study may be extended further for the following; Fig.. Concentration of NO observed in route ( to Chennai Central) Hence the developed tool kit can be used for measuring mobile emission and the kit can be used in other routes and the pollution level through the internet can be made available for public purposes. If the same system is implemented by the government, it is easy for the public to know about pollution levels particularly hazardous gas emission from the industries. The following are the advantages: ) Old methods are more time consuming. ) Public can know the pollution data without any aid of technical persons. ) It is real-time based system when compared to other methods. ) It is useful for Pollution Control Board to view pollution data and to rectify or take necessary steps To monitor air pollution levels for different environmental conditions. To monitor pollution level from industrial chimneys To monitor pollution level from industrial sewage REFERENCES [] L. Khouban, Ali A. Alesheikh, and Abbas A. Ghaiyoomi, Managing Air Quality Information in Tehran Using GIS, pp. Available: pf.htm

5 International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, Vol., No., August [] K. Fedra, Urban Environmental Management: Monitoring, GIS and Modeling, Computers, Environment and Urban systems, vol, pp -7, (999). [] O. Pummakarnchana, N. Tripathi, J. Dutta, Air Pollution Monitoring and GIS Modeling: a New use of Nanotechnology Based Solid State Gas Sensors, Science and Technology of Advanced materials, vol., pp., June. [] Highlights of the recommendations of The State Level Committee on Road Connectivity & Traffic Improvements in Chennai, August 8, pp, [online]. Available: df [] H. M. G. Charlot, M. Kanagaraj and R. Narayanan, Air Pollution Modeling for Chennai City using GIS as a tool, pp. Available: f.htm [] F. I. Abam and G.O. Unachukwu, Vehicular Emissions and Air Quality Standards in Nigeria, European Journal of Scientific Research, vol. no., pp.-, 9. [7] P. A. Burrough, PA and RA McDonnell, Principles of Geographic Information Systems, Oxford, 998. [8] USEPA. 99. Guide to Environmental Issues, Doc. No /B-9-. United StatesEnvironmentalProtection Agency, Washington, DC, USA. Dr. P. Partheeban, is currently working as Professor and Dean (Academic) at St. Peter s College of Engineering and Technology,, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. He has completed his B.E. Civil Engineering in 99 from Kongu Engineering College and completed M.E. Urban Engineering from College of Engineering, ersity. He completed his Ph.D. from National Institute of Technology, Trichy on Transportation Engineering in. He has been serving different institutions for the past years at various levels and involved in teaching, student counseling and establishing of laboratories in Civil Engineering Department. He has visited the United States of America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and China in connection with presentation of papers in the international conference. Under his guidance, one candidate has completed Ph.D. and six students are pursuing Ph.D. in Civil Engineering. He has published a book titled Engineering Mechanics for engineering students. As a teacher for engineering students, received award from ISTE as best faculty teacher for the student chapter and also received Air India BOLT award. To his credit he had organized Seminars, Conferences and short term training programme for engineering faculties sponsored by AICTE, DST, CSIR, DRDO and ICSSR. He had published research work papers more than in the national/international journal and conferences. He has developed GIS software for Transportation Planning and management. Prof. H. Prasad Raju, presently working as Assoc. Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering of St. Peter s University, Chennai, India, was graduated in B.E. Civil Engineering in 99 from Sardar Vallabhai National Institute of Technology (formerly known as Sardar Vallabhai Regional College of Engineering & Technology, South Gujarat University), Suratand completed M.E. Environmental Engineering in 99 from Government College of Technology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. Now he is pursuing Ph.D. from St. Peter s University, Chennai. He has been serving various institutions for the past years at different levels, involved in teaching, student counseling, and prepared lab manuals for Strength of Materials and Fluid Mechanics and Machinery and established Survey Lab in Civil Engineering department. He has years industrial experience in the field of Pollution Treatment and years in Construction of buildings as well. He has organized national conference and short term training programme for students and faculties sponsored by CSIR, ICMR and AICTE. He has published papers in the national/international journals and conferences. He has guided students for project thesis in different areas of civil engineering at undergraduate level. He is the member of IEI, ISTE and FIV. Dr. R. Rani Hemamalini, has been serving in the field of teaching for the past years at various levels. Presently she is working as a Professor and Head, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at St. Peter s College of Engineering and Technology,, Chennai. Her area of research includes Process controls and Instrumentation, Embedded System, VLSI. She has been involved in establishing laboratories in Electrical, Electronics, and Instrumentation & Communication Engineering departments. She was received Boyscast fellowship award from DST and also received Air India BOLT (Broad Outlook Learned Teacher) award from Air India. She visited United States of America, Singapore and China in connection with presentation of papers in the international conferences through travel grants received from AICTE, CICS and DST. Under her guidance candidates completed their Ph.D. and guiding 8 Ph.D. students presently. She carried one DST sponsored project and two AICTE sponsored projects related to control engineering with total cost of Rs. lakhs. She has published more than papers in the national/international journal and conferences. She is member of the Institute of Engineers (India), ISA, ISTE and IEEE. 7