Exposure visualisation of ultrafine particle counts in a transport microenvironment

Abstract

An increasing number of studies indicate that short-term peak exposures, such as those seen in the transport microenvironment, pose particular health threats. Short-term exposure can only be sufficiently characterised using portable, fast-response monitoring instrumentation with detailed summaries of individual activity. In this paper, we present an exposure visualisation system that addresses this issue—it allows the simultaneous presentation of mobile video imagery synchronised with measured real-time ultrafine particle count exposure of an individual. The combined data can be examined in detail for the contribution of the surrounding environment and the individual's activities to their peak and overall exposure. The exposure visualisation system is demonstrated and evaluated around the DAPPLE study site in Central London using different modes of transport (walking, cycling, bus, car and taxi). The video images, synchronised with the exposure profile, highlight the extent to which ultrafine particle exposure is associated with traffic density and proximity to pollutant source. The extremely rapid decline in concentration with increasing distance away from the pollutant source, such as from the main street to the backstreets, is clearly evident. The visualisation technique allows these data to be presented to both technical audiences and laypersons thus making it an effective environmental risk communication tool. Some exposure peaks however are not obviously associated with any event recorded on video—in these cases it will be necessary to use advanced dispersion modelling techniques to investigate meteorological conditions and other variables influencing in-street conditions to identify their possible causes.