Are Developments in Technology Improving Air Quality?

Wed, Mar 02, 2016 21:50 CET

The London fog episode of the 1950s and the thousands of premature deaths that followed catalysed a series of attempts to improve air quality. According to author Philip K. Hopke, there have been continued efforts to determine sources of air pollution over the last 50 years. Moreover, according to a recent paper published in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (JA&WMA), developments in pollutant-measurement technologies continue to improve today.

According to Hopke, the most effective way to measure air quality is to quantitatively determine sources of air pollution. As such, there is now a “substantial capability to provide useful insights into the sources of pollutants and their atmospheric processing." In his paper, “Review of receptor modeling methods for source apportionment,” Hopke discusses a multitude of mathematical data analysis methods, emphasizing both the increasing maturity and the easy accessibility of these models.

Ultimately, according to Editor-in-Chief of Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, Dr. S. Trivikrama Rao, “Receptor modeling methods are now being routinely applied to air monitoring data for identifying and apportioning air pollutants. Hopke reviewed these methods in terms of their evolution, application, current state-of-the-science, and looks ahead to what's next.” Hopke, while pleased with the expansion of atmospheric data analysis methods, emphasizes a continued need for improvements in the field.

The Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional organization that enhances knowledge and expertise by providing a neutral forum for information exchange, professional development, networking opportunities, public education, and outreach to more than 5,000 environmental professionals in 65 countries. A&WMA promotes global environmental responsibility and increases the effectiveness of organizations to make critical decisions that benefit society.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS

When referencing the article: Please include Journal title, Author, published by Taylor & Francis and the following statement::

* Read the full article online: http://tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10962247.2016.1140693

Visit our newsroom at: http://newsroom.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/

-----------------------------------------
About Taylor & Francis Group
-----------------------------------------

Taylor & Francis Group partners with researchers, scholarly societies, universities and libraries worldwide to bring knowledge to life. As one of the world’s leading publishers of scholarly journals, books, ebooks and reference works our content spans all areas of Humanities, Social Sciences, Behavioural Sciences, Science, and Technology and Medicine.

From our network of offices in Oxford, New York, Philadelphia, Boca Raton, Boston, Melbourne, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Stockholm, New Delhi and Johannesburg, Taylor & Francis staff provide local expertise and support to our editors, societies and authors and tailored, efficient customer service to our library colleagues.

For more information please contact:

Kylie Dougherty, Journals Marketing Assistant

Email: kylie.dougherty@taylorandfrancisgroup.com