Abstract
The quality of air we breathe is an important public health concern that is often overlooked unless an imminent threat such as a brush fire is present. This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the air quality of South Florida through a quantitative comparison to that of Southern California, two coastal, urban regions with distinctive demographic and geographic features. It is an attempt to understand not only the characteristic health hazards currently in both regions, but also the measures being taken to prevent and control air pollution. This task is performed by creating time-series profiles of air pollutants including, but not limited to, hydrocarbons, ozone and particulate matter, and identifying their sources and formation pathways. These data are obtained by working directly with regional air monitoring stations and public databases, and treated with mathematical tools such as regression analysis. Qualitative inferences are made regarding the potential health concerns that could affect public health in the communities studied, which can be applied to other urban areas in the world.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Song Gao, Dr. Katerina Tsakiri
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-13-2012 1:00 PM
End Date
4-13-2012 5:30 PM
A Tale of Two Cities: Comparison of Air Quality Between Los Angeles and Miami Metropolitan Areas
Alvin Sherman Library
The quality of air we breathe is an important public health concern that is often overlooked unless an imminent threat such as a brush fire is present. This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the air quality of South Florida through a quantitative comparison to that of Southern California, two coastal, urban regions with distinctive demographic and geographic features. It is an attempt to understand not only the characteristic health hazards currently in both regions, but also the measures being taken to prevent and control air pollution. This task is performed by creating time-series profiles of air pollutants including, but not limited to, hydrocarbons, ozone and particulate matter, and identifying their sources and formation pathways. These data are obtained by working directly with regional air monitoring stations and public databases, and treated with mathematical tools such as regression analysis. Qualitative inferences are made regarding the potential health concerns that could affect public health in the communities studied, which can be applied to other urban areas in the world.
