Visual air quality assessment: Denver case study

Abstract

Studies of visual air quality in the Denver metropolitan region during summer 1979 and winter 1979–1980 are described and results reported. The major objective of the studies was to investigate relationships among four types of variables important to urban visual air quality: (1) individuals' judgements of overall visual air quality; (2) perceptual cues used in making judgments of visual air quality; (3) measurable physical characteristics of the visual environment and (4) concentrations of visibility-reducing pollutants and their precursors. During August 1979 and mid-December 1979 to January 1980, simultaneous measurements of observational and environmental data were made daily at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. Observational data included ratings of overall air quality and related perceptual cues (e.g., distance, clarity, color, border) by multiple observers. Environmental data included routine hourly pollutant and meteorological measurements from several fixed locations within the city, as well as aerosol light scattering and absorption measures from one location. Statistical analyses indicated that (1) multiple perceptual cues are required to explain variation in judgments of overall visual air quality and (2) routine measurements of the physical environment appear to be inadequate predictors of either judgments of overall visual air quality or related perceptual cues.