Space–time variograms and a functional form for total air pollution measurements

Abstract

A space–time functional form for some contaminants is obtained and used for estimating total air pollution (TAP) in the district of Milan, Italy, during selected high-risk days of 1999. This functional form is determined through a space–time product–sum variogram model for TAP measurements and the dual form of kriging, i.e., radial basis functions. Data for nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) and carbon monoxide (CO) collected in Milan district, Italy are used to generate a combined indicator of traffic pollution, called TAP. In a previous study the weightings were obtained by multiple principal component analyses of the daily concentration levels. It was found that the first component explains approximately 70% of the total variance for each day and this component is treated as samples defined over space and time. A systematic pattern, which follows the corridor along which survey stations, characterized by heavy traffic are located, has been observed for TAP throughout Milan district, for all days considered. Note that the pollution data set is just an illustration for the new statistical method proposed.