Air pollution detection using MODIS data

Jan Harbula* b Veronika Kopackov ab

Dpt. Of Geoinformatics,
Palacky University in Olomouc, Tr. Svobody 26, Olomouc, Czech Rep.
b
czech Geological Survey, Klarov 3, Prague 1, Czech Republic;
"Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Applied Geoinformatics and
Cartography Czech Republic
*jan.harbula Jgeology.cz; phone *42025708943 8; fax: +42025 7531376; www.geology.cz

ABSTRACT
The tia1ity of the environment has a great impact on public health while air quality is a major factor that is
especially relevant for respiratory diseases. PM 10 (particulate matter below 10 p) particles are among the
iiiost dangerous pollutants, which enter the lower respiratory tract and cause serious health problems.
Obtaining i eliable air pollution data is limited to a number of giound measuiing stations and their spatial
location. We used an a1teinative approach and cieated statistical models that employed i eirotely sensed
imageries. To establish empii ical ie1atioiiships, we used multi-temporal (2006-2009) MODIS aerosol optical
thickncss data (product MOD04, Level 2) anal the PM10 ground mass concentrations. Thc north-western part
of the Czech Republic (naively the Karlovarsky and the fJstecky regions) was chosen as a test site, as all the
different types of cultural landscape (forest-economical, agricultural, mining, and urban) can be found within
one MODIS scene. This study was focused on the various aspects as follows (i) analysis of MODIS AOT /
stationary PM 10 time-series trend between 2006-2009, (ii) establishing a linear relationship between PM 10
and AOT values liar each station and (iii) evaluation of a spatial relationship of the annual mean AE
(&iigstriiin Exponent) and PM 10 values.
Keywords: MODIS, time-series, multi-teinpoial analysis, aeiosol optical thickness, PM10, air pollution,
empirical models

1. INTRODUCTION
Air pollrttion is still a significant problem influencing the cnvironmcnt around each of Its. Many stutlies
demonstrating the direct (or indirect) impacts of air pollution on public health have been published. To be
more specific, some authors point out the fact that the concentration of particulate matter below 10
naicroiiaeters in diameter (PM 10) laas a stronger relationship to specific respiratory diseases among children
such as: pncrtmonia, acute bronchiolitis and the category which includes bronchitis, emphysema anal othcr
chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases'. According to other authors, increased PM 10 values affect patients
with asthma. For instance, the statistics on emergency visits shows that the health of these patients is affected
rarest when the Increase in the PM 1 0 conceistratioia occiirrecl two days before the visits*.
The opportunities to obtain air pollution concentration data are limited and depend on the spatial distribution
(e.g., locations and a network density) of ground measuring stations. The monitoring networks are not
extensive enough to allow reliable estimation or naodeliiag of alr pollution at a laigla resolutiola, especially in
areas without monitoring stations. One option is to use various spatial modeling methods, such as spatial
interpolation techniques'. The interpolation method achieving best result for modeling PM10 as well as NO,
and Oj is universal krlging, In contrast to regression napping or ordinary kriging'.
*jaw.harbiila ageology.cz; phone +420257089438; fax: +420257531376; www.geology.cz
Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications II,
edited by Ulrich Michel, Daniel L. Civco, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8181, 81811 E O 2011 SPIE
CCC code: 0277-786X/11 /$18 - doi: 10.1117/12.898107
Proc. of SPIE Vol. 81 81 81811 E1

An altcrnatix c approach for air qualm forccasting consists in thc statistical or empirical modcl, which employ
reiiiotelv sensed iiiiageries Satellite data contain information that can be correlated with atmospheric
pollution and PM 1 0 concentrations. PM2. 5 and PM 1 0 airborne particles are the two most frequently
monitored indicators and numerous studies using these particles to assess the air quality have already been
published"""' An explicit formulation of the relationship between satellite AOT retrievals and PM was
developed to evaluate air quality in the United States and Canada and in Metropolitan Delhi. India'.

The potential for retrieving indirect estimates of ground pollution using aerosol optical thickness (AOT)
data has been demonstrated on a local scale: over Hong Kong, China, over Ispra, Italy' and regional
scale: over the United States and France'. AOT represents the extinction of incoming solar radiation by
aerosols over the whole atmospheric column. This parameter depends mainly on the aerosol
concentration, and vertical profile of the aerosol extinction coefficient. which is a function of the
aerosol size distribution, complex refractive index (depending on the aerosol chemical composition) and
liygroscopic growth factor (depending on the hydrophilic and/or hydrophobic properties of particles) .
The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) can be retrieved well from numerous sensors such as the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) , Polarisation and Directionality of the Earth's
Reflectances (POLDER) or Multi angle Imaging Spectro-Radioireter (MISR)%, and can be readilv
measured from a ground-based Sunphotometer in the framework of the AERONET (AErosol RObotic
NETwork) nctwork'
MODIS has cxccllcnt temporal resolution: thcrcforc MODIS data have bcen succcssfullx utilizcd for indircct
estimation of ground pollution using thc aerosol optical thickncss (AOT) . Thc major goal of this study is

to establish an empirical relationship between the daily mean PM10 ground mass concentrations and
multi- temporal MODIS aerosol optical thickness data over the north-western territorv of the Czech
Republic (namely the Karlovarski and the Ustecki regions) to study temporal trends at the stations for each
individual vcar in thc 2006-2009 pcriod. This part of the Czech Rcpublic contains four diffcrcnt typcs of
cultural landscape (forest-economical, agricultural, mining, and urban): therefore we also studied whether
there was a stable spatial trend iii the pollution levels within the study area.

2. DATA
We used MODI S AOT retrievals to obtain larger-scale information. MODIS is a spectroradiometer taken
on board the TERRA and AQUA platforms. Level 2 products MOD04 were chosen for our analysis. The
MODIS operational algorithm derives aerosol optical thickness at wavelengths of 470 rim tbanJ 1. BI) and
660 nm (band 3. B3) at 10 km resolution: additionally, anothcr band is dcriv cd at 550 rim (band !. B-!) for
B 1 and B3 using the Angstriim exponent value. Furthermore, to assess the data quali9, three additional
.Scicntific Data .Sct flag (SDS) files (the &ngstrom Exponent Land, the Quality Assurance and the Cloud
Mask) has c also bccn uscd. Data for the spring-summer (a rclatis clv warm and dry period) from April to
October, the seasons with more stable and drier weather, were downloaded for 2005-2009 (see Fig. I). Prior
to the processing, cloud masks were used to detemiiiie the cloud cover for each MODIS scene and only the
datn with iclatii clj low cloud covci age ivcrc sclcctcd for further analysis. Alter this sclcctioii, about 312

MODIS scenes remained: the image acquisition time over the area varied approximately from g to i i .

GMT.
PM concentration data from ground measuring stations were obtained (available on-line, the websites of the
Czech Hx drometeorological Institute') for the dates corresponding to the MODIS data acquisitions

Based on the European classification, ground measuring stations are divided into several Eyres according
to their environmental characteristics. The highest priority in the classification is assigned to a locality
type There are three Apes of stations sorted by a locality type: background, industrial and traffic'.
This

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