International journal of environmental research and public health, 2016
Air pollution has been an on-going research focus due to its detrimental impact on human health. ... more Air pollution has been an on-going research focus due to its detrimental impact on human health. However, its specific effects on asthma prevalence in different age groups, genders and races are not well understood. Thus, the present study was designed to examine the association between selected air pollutants and asthma prevalence in different population groups during 2010 in the eastern part of Texas, USA.The pollutants considered were particulate matter (PM2.5 with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) and surface ozone. The population groups were categorized based on age, gender, and race. County-wise asthma hospital discharge data for different age, gender, and racial groups were obtained from Texas Asthma Control Program, Office of Surveillance, Evaluation and Research, Texas Department of State Health Services. The annual means of the air pollutants were obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)'s air quality system data mart ...
Little attention was paid to growing air quality concerns until about a decade earlier in India. ... more Little attention was paid to growing air quality concerns until about a decade earlier in India. Indian Government started continuous monitoring of the urban air quality in Taj corridor area to protect the heritage monuments like Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, the bird sanctuary at Bharatpur National Park and also the human health associated with air pollution. The aim of this study was to address air quality assessment using fuzzy synthetic evaluation model. The model was designed for four air pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, suspended particulate matters and respirable suspended particulate matter). In the present paper, an approach is demonstrated for the determination of fuzzy air quality index by aggregating the four pollutants. The model also considers the weights of individual pollutants during aggregation. The weights of individual pollutants were determined using analytical hierarchical process. The model was applied for air quality assessment in four monitoring stations situated in Taj Trapezium Zone.
Fuzzy-analytical hierarchical process (F-AHP) can be extended to determine fuzzy air quality heal... more Fuzzy-analytical hierarchical process (F-AHP) can be extended to determine fuzzy air quality health index (FAQHI) for deducing health risk associated with local air pollution levels, and subjective parameters. The present work aims at determining FAQHI by considering five air pollutant parameters (SO2, NO2, O3, CO, and PM10) and three subjective parameters (population sensitivity, population density and location sensitivity). Each of the individual pollutants has varying impacts. Hence the combined health effects associated with the pollutants were estimated by aggregating the pollutants with different weights. Global weights for each evaluation alternatives were determined using fuzzy-AHP method. The developed model was applied to determine FAQHI in Howrah City, India from daily-observed concentrations of air pollutants over the three-year period between 2009 and 2011. The FAQHI values obtained through this method in Howrah City range from 1 to 3. Since the permissible value of FAQHI (as calculated for NAAQS) for residential areas is 1.78, higher index values are of public health concern to the exposed individuals. During the period of study, the observed FAQHI values were found to be higher than 1.78 in most of the day in the months of January to March, and October to December. However, the index values were below the recommended limit during rest of the months. In conclusion, FAQHI in Howrah city was above permissible limit in winter months and within acceptable values in summer and rainy months. Diurnal variations of FAQHI showed a similar trend during the three-year period of assessment.
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2014
Groundwater is one of the main sources of drinking water in Ranchi district and hence its vulnera... more Groundwater is one of the main sources of drinking water in Ranchi district and hence its vulnerability assessment to delineate areas that are more susceptible to contamination is very important. In the present study, GISbased fuzzy pattern recognition model was demonstrated for groundwater vulnerability to pollution assessment. The model considers the seven hydrogeological factors [depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography (T), impact of vadose zone (I), and hydraulic conductivity (C)] that affect and control the groundwater contamination. The model was applied for groundwater vulnerability assessment in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India and validated by the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the study area. The performance of the developed model is compared to the standard DRASTIC model. It was observed that GIS-based fuzzy pattern recognition model have better performance than the standard DRASTIC model. Aquifer vulnerability maps produced in the present study can be used for environmental planning and predictive groundwater management. Further, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to evaluate the influence of single parameters on aquifer vulnerability index.
The influence of local climatic factors on ground-level ozone concentrations is an area of increa... more The influence of local climatic factors on ground-level ozone concentrations is an area of increasing interest to air quality management in regards to future climate change. This study presents an analysis on the role of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and NO2 level on ground-level ozone concentrations over the region of Eastern Texas, USA. Ozone concentrations at the ground level depend on the formation and dispersion processes. Formation process mainly depends on the precursor sources, whereas, the dispersion of ozone depends on meteorological factors. Study results showed that the spatial mean of ground-level ozone concentrations was highly dependent on the spatial mean of NO2 concentrations. However, spatial distributions of NO2 and ozone concentrations were not uniformed throughout the study period due to uneven wind speeds and wind directions. Wind speed and wind direction also played a significant role in the dispersion of ozone. Temperature profile in the area rarel...
Journal of environmental science & engineering, 2008
Since most of the equipments are usually installed in rooms or enclosed plants, the effect of an ... more Since most of the equipments are usually installed in rooms or enclosed plants, the effect of an enclosure is important. Absorptive surface of the enclosure can reduce levels to the extent of 5 dB(A) which is quite significant. Effectiveness of enclosures in sound varies with the frequency of sound and the shape, size, laying pattern of sound absorbing material, which is put on the walls of the enclosure. The sound absorbing material accomplishes little shielding if there is no acoustical absorption within it. Acoustical absorbents when applied to the interior surface of the enclosure adsorb some of the energy and the noise level within the enclosure builds up only by the energy not absorbed. This paper elucidates the procedure of developing an enclosure to study its performance in attenuating sound at varying conditions. The results found encouraging and such enclosures can be developed for plant machineries by the plant personnels without getting confused by the claims and rhetori...
Groundwater is the most important natural resource for drinking water to many people around the w... more Groundwater is the most important natural resource for drinking water to many people around the world, especially in rural areas where the supply of treated water is not available. Drinking water resources cannot be optimally used and sustained unless the quality of water is properly assessed. To this end, an attempt has been made to develop a suitable methodology for the assessment of drinking water quality on the basis of 11 physico-chemical parameters. The present study aims to select the fuzzy aggregation approach for estimation of the water quality index of a sample to check the suitability for drinking purposes. Based on expert's opinion and author's judgement, 11 water quality (pollutant) variables (Alkalinity, Dissolved Solids (DS), Hardness, pH, Ca, Mg, Fe, Fluoride, As, Sulphate, Nitrates) are selected for the quality assessment. The output results of proposed methodology are compared with the output obtained from widely used deterministic method (weighted arithmetic mean aggregation) for the suitability of the developed methodology.
Although it is known that air pollution may lead to increased asthma prevalence, no clear scienti... more Although it is known that air pollution may lead to increased asthma prevalence, no clear scientific evidence of direct association between air pollution and asthma rate has been reported. In the present study, a Geographical Information System (GIS) approach was developed to determine the association between asthma hospital discharge rate (ADR) and seasonal exposure to specific ambient air pollutants in eastern Texas, USA, during the period 2009 to 2011. Quarterly asthma data were obtained from Texas State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance of Texas State, USA. Quarterly mean concentrations of fine particular matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were determined from the corresponding measured daily data collected by various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties in the study area. Using Pearson correlation analysis, quarterly average of air pollutant concentrations was compared to quarterly Asthma discharge rate (ADR). The results revealed that the association between quarterly exposure of air pollution and ADR was not statistically significant in the study area. During the study period, a negative correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of ozone and NO2 with the quarterly ADR. However, in most of the cases a positive correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of PM2.5 and the quarterly ADR, indicating a probable association between ambient air pollution exposure and asthma prevalence.
Air pollution monitoring program aims to monitor pollutants concentrations and its possible adver... more Air pollution monitoring program aims to monitor pollutants concentrations and its possible adverse effects at various locations over concerned area on the basis of air quality. Traditional air quality assessment is realized using air quality indices which are determined as mean values of selected air pollutants. Thus, air quality assessment depends on strictly prescribed limits without taking into account specific local conditions (like time of exposure and sensitivity of the people) and synergic relations between air pollutants. The stated limitations can be eliminated using fuzzy logic systems. Therefore, the paper presents a design of a model for air quality assessment based on fuzzy pattern recognition. This paper discusses the use of fuzzy pattern recognition technique in air quality risk assessment for a number of artificial dataset prepared for the present study. To demonstrate the application, common air pollutants like PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NOx, CO, and O 3 are used as air pollutant parameters. Different air pollutants have varying in health impact and hence in air quality, the weightage of each pollutant are different. Thus, the weightage of air pollutant parameter are determined using analytical hierarchical process (AHP).
Community noise is a term used generally to refer to noise exposure outside the industrial work p... more Community noise is a term used generally to refer to noise exposure outside the industrial work place. This paper highlights the procedure of determining the noise environmental quality in residential/ commercial/ sensitive areas situated near the industrial (iron ore mining) complex. The noise environmental qualities (NEQ) for each locality were determine from value function curves developed for each noise impact parameters identified. The study reveals that almost all the areas register noise stress situations as the observed resultant noise environmental quality [NEQ(R)] at all the locations exceeding the desirable noise environmental quality [NEQ(R)] of the corresponding locations. The poor noise environmental quality and its associated harmful consequences demand incorporation of effective noise control mechanism in order to reduce the noise stress significantly.
Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is one of the major environmental problems ... more Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is one of the major environmental problems in urban and industrial areas. The present study demonstrates the integrated approach with GIS and DRASTIC model to derive a groundwater vulnerability to pollution map. The model considers the seven hydrogeological factors [Depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography or slope (T), impact of vadose zone (I) and hydraulic Conductivity(C)] for generating the groundwater vulnerability to pollution map. The model was applied for assessing the groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India. The model was validated by comparing the model output (vulnerability indices) with the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the study area. The reason behind the selection of nitrate is that the major sources of nitrate in groundwater are anthropogenic in nature. Groundwater samples were collected from 30 wells/tube wells distributed in the study area. The samples were analyzed in the laboratory for measuring the nitrate concentrations in groundwater. A sensitivity analysis of the integrated model was performed to evaluate the influence of single parameters on groundwater vulnerability index. New weights were computed for each input parameters to understand the influence of individual hydrogeological factors in vulnerability indices in the study area. Aquifer vulnerability maps generated in this study can be used for environmental planning and groundwater management.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim ... more Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim of this study is to examine the association between air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and ozone (O 3 )) and human health (asthma emergency department visit rate (AEVR) and asthma discharge rate (ADR)) among residents of New York, USA during the period 2005 to 2007. Annual rates of asthma were calculated from population estimates for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and number of asthma hospital discharge and emergency department visits. Population data for New York were taken from US Bureau of Census, and asthma data were obtained from New York State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance report. Data on the concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and ground level ozone were obtained from various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties. Annual means of these concentrations were compared to annual variations in asthma prevalence by using Pearson correlation coefficient. We found different associations between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and surface ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit from 2005 to 2007. A positive correlation coefficient was observed between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , and SO 2 and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency department visit from 2005 to 2007. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 4846 However, the correlation coefficient between annual mean concentrations of ground ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit was found to be negative from 2005 to 2007. Our study suggests that the association between elevated concentrations of PM 2.5 and SO 2 and asthma prevalence among residents of New York State in USA is consistent enough to assume concretely a plausible and significant association.
Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim ... more Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim of this study is to examine the association between air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and ozone (O 3 )) and human health (asthma emergency department visit rate (AEVR) and asthma discharge rate (ADR)) among residents of New York, USA during the period 2005 to 2007. Annual rates of asthma were calculated from population estimates for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and number of asthma hospital discharge and emergency department visits. Population data for New York were taken from US Bureau of Census, and asthma data were obtained from New York State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance report. Data on the concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and ground level ozone were obtained from various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties. Annual means of these concentrations were compared to annual variations in asthma prevalence by using Pearson correlation coefficient. We found different associations between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and surface ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit from 2005 to 2007. A positive correlation coefficient was observed between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , and SO 2 and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency department visit from 2005 to 2007. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 4846 However, the correlation coefficient between annual mean concentrations of ground ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit was found to be negative from 2005 to 2007. Our study suggests that the association between elevated concentrations of PM 2.5 and SO 2 and asthma prevalence among residents of New York State in USA is consistent enough to assume concretely a plausible and significant association.
ABSTRACT Ground‐level ozone (GLO) is produced by a complex chain of atmospheric chemical reaction... more ABSTRACT Ground‐level ozone (GLO) is produced by a complex chain of atmospheric chemical reactions that depend on precursor emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources. GLO concentration in a particular location is also governed by local weather and climatic factors. In this work an attempt was made to explore a Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS–PM) approach to quantify the inter–relationship between local conditions (weather parameters and primary air pollution) and GLO concentrations. PLS path modeling algorithm was introduced and applied to GLO concentration analyses at Gulfport, Mississippi, USA. In the present analysis, three latent variables were selected: PRC (photochemical reaction catalyst), MP (meteorological factor), and OPP (other primary air pollutants). The three latent variables included 14 indicators for the analysis; with PRC having two (extraterrestrial radiation on horizontal surface, and extraterrestrial radiation normal to the sun), MP having nine (temperature, dew point, relative humidity, pressure, visibility, maximum wind speed, average wind speed, precipitation, and wind direction) and OPP having three (NO2, PM2.5, and SO2) parameters. The resulting model revealed that PRC had significant direct impact on GLO concentration but very small overall effect. This is because PRC had significant indirect negative impact on GLO via MP. Thus, when both direct and indirect effects were taken into account, PRC emerged as having the weakest effect on GLO. The third variable (OPP) also had a positive impact on GLO concentration.
There is a need to develop new modelling techniques that assess groundwater vulnerability with le... more There is a need to develop new modelling techniques that assess groundwater vulnerability with less extensive data and which are robust when data are uncertain and incomplete. In this present study, a hierarchical fuzzy system (HFS) model was developed to systematically quantify uncertainties associated with hydro-geological conditions of the site in groundwater vulnerability assessment. The need for hierarchical fuzzy expert systems can occur frequently for higher number of input variables. The HFS model was designed for seven input variables viz. depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography (T), impact of vadose zone (I), and hydraulic conductivity (C). The model was validated by the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater. The HFS model was applied to groundwater vulnerability assessment in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India. Sensitivity analysis of model was also demonstrated and compared the results with that of the existing method (DRASTIC model). It was observed that HFS model are better sensitive to the input parameters in comparison to that of the DRASTIC model. The present study offers a unique tool to policy makers for decision makings in groundwater management.
International journal of environmental research and public health, 2016
Air pollution has been an on-going research focus due to its detrimental impact on human health. ... more Air pollution has been an on-going research focus due to its detrimental impact on human health. However, its specific effects on asthma prevalence in different age groups, genders and races are not well understood. Thus, the present study was designed to examine the association between selected air pollutants and asthma prevalence in different population groups during 2010 in the eastern part of Texas, USA.The pollutants considered were particulate matter (PM2.5 with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) and surface ozone. The population groups were categorized based on age, gender, and race. County-wise asthma hospital discharge data for different age, gender, and racial groups were obtained from Texas Asthma Control Program, Office of Surveillance, Evaluation and Research, Texas Department of State Health Services. The annual means of the air pollutants were obtained from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)'s air quality system data mart ...
Little attention was paid to growing air quality concerns until about a decade earlier in India. ... more Little attention was paid to growing air quality concerns until about a decade earlier in India. Indian Government started continuous monitoring of the urban air quality in Taj corridor area to protect the heritage monuments like Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri, the bird sanctuary at Bharatpur National Park and also the human health associated with air pollution. The aim of this study was to address air quality assessment using fuzzy synthetic evaluation model. The model was designed for four air pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, suspended particulate matters and respirable suspended particulate matter). In the present paper, an approach is demonstrated for the determination of fuzzy air quality index by aggregating the four pollutants. The model also considers the weights of individual pollutants during aggregation. The weights of individual pollutants were determined using analytical hierarchical process. The model was applied for air quality assessment in four monitoring stations situated in Taj Trapezium Zone.
Fuzzy-analytical hierarchical process (F-AHP) can be extended to determine fuzzy air quality heal... more Fuzzy-analytical hierarchical process (F-AHP) can be extended to determine fuzzy air quality health index (FAQHI) for deducing health risk associated with local air pollution levels, and subjective parameters. The present work aims at determining FAQHI by considering five air pollutant parameters (SO2, NO2, O3, CO, and PM10) and three subjective parameters (population sensitivity, population density and location sensitivity). Each of the individual pollutants has varying impacts. Hence the combined health effects associated with the pollutants were estimated by aggregating the pollutants with different weights. Global weights for each evaluation alternatives were determined using fuzzy-AHP method. The developed model was applied to determine FAQHI in Howrah City, India from daily-observed concentrations of air pollutants over the three-year period between 2009 and 2011. The FAQHI values obtained through this method in Howrah City range from 1 to 3. Since the permissible value of FAQHI (as calculated for NAAQS) for residential areas is 1.78, higher index values are of public health concern to the exposed individuals. During the period of study, the observed FAQHI values were found to be higher than 1.78 in most of the day in the months of January to March, and October to December. However, the index values were below the recommended limit during rest of the months. In conclusion, FAQHI in Howrah city was above permissible limit in winter months and within acceptable values in summer and rainy months. Diurnal variations of FAQHI showed a similar trend during the three-year period of assessment.
International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2014
Groundwater is one of the main sources of drinking water in Ranchi district and hence its vulnera... more Groundwater is one of the main sources of drinking water in Ranchi district and hence its vulnerability assessment to delineate areas that are more susceptible to contamination is very important. In the present study, GISbased fuzzy pattern recognition model was demonstrated for groundwater vulnerability to pollution assessment. The model considers the seven hydrogeological factors [depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography (T), impact of vadose zone (I), and hydraulic conductivity (C)] that affect and control the groundwater contamination. The model was applied for groundwater vulnerability assessment in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India and validated by the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the study area. The performance of the developed model is compared to the standard DRASTIC model. It was observed that GIS-based fuzzy pattern recognition model have better performance than the standard DRASTIC model. Aquifer vulnerability maps produced in the present study can be used for environmental planning and predictive groundwater management. Further, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to evaluate the influence of single parameters on aquifer vulnerability index.
The influence of local climatic factors on ground-level ozone concentrations is an area of increa... more The influence of local climatic factors on ground-level ozone concentrations is an area of increasing interest to air quality management in regards to future climate change. This study presents an analysis on the role of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and NO2 level on ground-level ozone concentrations over the region of Eastern Texas, USA. Ozone concentrations at the ground level depend on the formation and dispersion processes. Formation process mainly depends on the precursor sources, whereas, the dispersion of ozone depends on meteorological factors. Study results showed that the spatial mean of ground-level ozone concentrations was highly dependent on the spatial mean of NO2 concentrations. However, spatial distributions of NO2 and ozone concentrations were not uniformed throughout the study period due to uneven wind speeds and wind directions. Wind speed and wind direction also played a significant role in the dispersion of ozone. Temperature profile in the area rarel...
Journal of environmental science & engineering, 2008
Since most of the equipments are usually installed in rooms or enclosed plants, the effect of an ... more Since most of the equipments are usually installed in rooms or enclosed plants, the effect of an enclosure is important. Absorptive surface of the enclosure can reduce levels to the extent of 5 dB(A) which is quite significant. Effectiveness of enclosures in sound varies with the frequency of sound and the shape, size, laying pattern of sound absorbing material, which is put on the walls of the enclosure. The sound absorbing material accomplishes little shielding if there is no acoustical absorption within it. Acoustical absorbents when applied to the interior surface of the enclosure adsorb some of the energy and the noise level within the enclosure builds up only by the energy not absorbed. This paper elucidates the procedure of developing an enclosure to study its performance in attenuating sound at varying conditions. The results found encouraging and such enclosures can be developed for plant machineries by the plant personnels without getting confused by the claims and rhetori...
Groundwater is the most important natural resource for drinking water to many people around the w... more Groundwater is the most important natural resource for drinking water to many people around the world, especially in rural areas where the supply of treated water is not available. Drinking water resources cannot be optimally used and sustained unless the quality of water is properly assessed. To this end, an attempt has been made to develop a suitable methodology for the assessment of drinking water quality on the basis of 11 physico-chemical parameters. The present study aims to select the fuzzy aggregation approach for estimation of the water quality index of a sample to check the suitability for drinking purposes. Based on expert's opinion and author's judgement, 11 water quality (pollutant) variables (Alkalinity, Dissolved Solids (DS), Hardness, pH, Ca, Mg, Fe, Fluoride, As, Sulphate, Nitrates) are selected for the quality assessment. The output results of proposed methodology are compared with the output obtained from widely used deterministic method (weighted arithmetic mean aggregation) for the suitability of the developed methodology.
Although it is known that air pollution may lead to increased asthma prevalence, no clear scienti... more Although it is known that air pollution may lead to increased asthma prevalence, no clear scientific evidence of direct association between air pollution and asthma rate has been reported. In the present study, a Geographical Information System (GIS) approach was developed to determine the association between asthma hospital discharge rate (ADR) and seasonal exposure to specific ambient air pollutants in eastern Texas, USA, during the period 2009 to 2011. Quarterly asthma data were obtained from Texas State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance of Texas State, USA. Quarterly mean concentrations of fine particular matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were determined from the corresponding measured daily data collected by various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties in the study area. Using Pearson correlation analysis, quarterly average of air pollutant concentrations was compared to quarterly Asthma discharge rate (ADR). The results revealed that the association between quarterly exposure of air pollution and ADR was not statistically significant in the study area. During the study period, a negative correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of ozone and NO2 with the quarterly ADR. However, in most of the cases a positive correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of PM2.5 and the quarterly ADR, indicating a probable association between ambient air pollution exposure and asthma prevalence.
Air pollution monitoring program aims to monitor pollutants concentrations and its possible adver... more Air pollution monitoring program aims to monitor pollutants concentrations and its possible adverse effects at various locations over concerned area on the basis of air quality. Traditional air quality assessment is realized using air quality indices which are determined as mean values of selected air pollutants. Thus, air quality assessment depends on strictly prescribed limits without taking into account specific local conditions (like time of exposure and sensitivity of the people) and synergic relations between air pollutants. The stated limitations can be eliminated using fuzzy logic systems. Therefore, the paper presents a design of a model for air quality assessment based on fuzzy pattern recognition. This paper discusses the use of fuzzy pattern recognition technique in air quality risk assessment for a number of artificial dataset prepared for the present study. To demonstrate the application, common air pollutants like PM 10 , PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NOx, CO, and O 3 are used as air pollutant parameters. Different air pollutants have varying in health impact and hence in air quality, the weightage of each pollutant are different. Thus, the weightage of air pollutant parameter are determined using analytical hierarchical process (AHP).
Community noise is a term used generally to refer to noise exposure outside the industrial work p... more Community noise is a term used generally to refer to noise exposure outside the industrial work place. This paper highlights the procedure of determining the noise environmental quality in residential/ commercial/ sensitive areas situated near the industrial (iron ore mining) complex. The noise environmental qualities (NEQ) for each locality were determine from value function curves developed for each noise impact parameters identified. The study reveals that almost all the areas register noise stress situations as the observed resultant noise environmental quality [NEQ(R)] at all the locations exceeding the desirable noise environmental quality [NEQ(R)] of the corresponding locations. The poor noise environmental quality and its associated harmful consequences demand incorporation of effective noise control mechanism in order to reduce the noise stress significantly.
Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is one of the major environmental problems ... more Groundwater pollution due to anthropogenic activities is one of the major environmental problems in urban and industrial areas. The present study demonstrates the integrated approach with GIS and DRASTIC model to derive a groundwater vulnerability to pollution map. The model considers the seven hydrogeological factors [Depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography or slope (T), impact of vadose zone (I) and hydraulic Conductivity(C)] for generating the groundwater vulnerability to pollution map. The model was applied for assessing the groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India. The model was validated by comparing the model output (vulnerability indices) with the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the study area. The reason behind the selection of nitrate is that the major sources of nitrate in groundwater are anthropogenic in nature. Groundwater samples were collected from 30 wells/tube wells distributed in the study area. The samples were analyzed in the laboratory for measuring the nitrate concentrations in groundwater. A sensitivity analysis of the integrated model was performed to evaluate the influence of single parameters on groundwater vulnerability index. New weights were computed for each input parameters to understand the influence of individual hydrogeological factors in vulnerability indices in the study area. Aquifer vulnerability maps generated in this study can be used for environmental planning and groundwater management.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2014
Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim ... more Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim of this study is to examine the association between air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and ozone (O 3 )) and human health (asthma emergency department visit rate (AEVR) and asthma discharge rate (ADR)) among residents of New York, USA during the period 2005 to 2007. Annual rates of asthma were calculated from population estimates for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and number of asthma hospital discharge and emergency department visits. Population data for New York were taken from US Bureau of Census, and asthma data were obtained from New York State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance report. Data on the concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and ground level ozone were obtained from various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties. Annual means of these concentrations were compared to annual variations in asthma prevalence by using Pearson correlation coefficient. We found different associations between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and surface ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit from 2005 to 2007. A positive correlation coefficient was observed between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , and SO 2 and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency department visit from 2005 to 2007. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 4846 However, the correlation coefficient between annual mean concentrations of ground ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit was found to be negative from 2005 to 2007. Our study suggests that the association between elevated concentrations of PM 2.5 and SO 2 and asthma prevalence among residents of New York State in USA is consistent enough to assume concretely a plausible and significant association.
Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim ... more Studies on asthma have shown that air pollution can lead to increased asthma prevalence. The aim of this study is to examine the association between air pollution (fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and ozone (O 3 )) and human health (asthma emergency department visit rate (AEVR) and asthma discharge rate (ADR)) among residents of New York, USA during the period 2005 to 2007. Annual rates of asthma were calculated from population estimates for 2005, 2006, and 2007 and number of asthma hospital discharge and emergency department visits. Population data for New York were taken from US Bureau of Census, and asthma data were obtained from New York State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance report. Data on the concentrations of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and ground level ozone were obtained from various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties. Annual means of these concentrations were compared to annual variations in asthma prevalence by using Pearson correlation coefficient. We found different associations between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , SO 2 and surface ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit from 2005 to 2007. A positive correlation coefficient was observed between the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 , and SO 2 and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency department visit from 2005 to 2007. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2014, 11 4846 However, the correlation coefficient between annual mean concentrations of ground ozone and the annual rates of asthma discharge and asthma emergency visit was found to be negative from 2005 to 2007. Our study suggests that the association between elevated concentrations of PM 2.5 and SO 2 and asthma prevalence among residents of New York State in USA is consistent enough to assume concretely a plausible and significant association.
ABSTRACT Ground‐level ozone (GLO) is produced by a complex chain of atmospheric chemical reaction... more ABSTRACT Ground‐level ozone (GLO) is produced by a complex chain of atmospheric chemical reactions that depend on precursor emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources. GLO concentration in a particular location is also governed by local weather and climatic factors. In this work an attempt was made to explore a Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS–PM) approach to quantify the inter–relationship between local conditions (weather parameters and primary air pollution) and GLO concentrations. PLS path modeling algorithm was introduced and applied to GLO concentration analyses at Gulfport, Mississippi, USA. In the present analysis, three latent variables were selected: PRC (photochemical reaction catalyst), MP (meteorological factor), and OPP (other primary air pollutants). The three latent variables included 14 indicators for the analysis; with PRC having two (extraterrestrial radiation on horizontal surface, and extraterrestrial radiation normal to the sun), MP having nine (temperature, dew point, relative humidity, pressure, visibility, maximum wind speed, average wind speed, precipitation, and wind direction) and OPP having three (NO2, PM2.5, and SO2) parameters. The resulting model revealed that PRC had significant direct impact on GLO concentration but very small overall effect. This is because PRC had significant indirect negative impact on GLO via MP. Thus, when both direct and indirect effects were taken into account, PRC emerged as having the weakest effect on GLO. The third variable (OPP) also had a positive impact on GLO concentration.
There is a need to develop new modelling techniques that assess groundwater vulnerability with le... more There is a need to develop new modelling techniques that assess groundwater vulnerability with less extensive data and which are robust when data are uncertain and incomplete. In this present study, a hierarchical fuzzy system (HFS) model was developed to systematically quantify uncertainties associated with hydro-geological conditions of the site in groundwater vulnerability assessment. The need for hierarchical fuzzy expert systems can occur frequently for higher number of input variables. The HFS model was designed for seven input variables viz. depth to water table (D), net recharge (R), aquifer media (A), soil media (S), topography (T), impact of vadose zone (I), and hydraulic conductivity (C). The model was validated by the observed nitrate concentrations in groundwater. The HFS model was applied to groundwater vulnerability assessment in Ranchi district, Jharkhand, India. Sensitivity analysis of model was also demonstrated and compared the results with that of the existing method (DRASTIC model). It was observed that HFS model are better sensitive to the input parameters in comparison to that of the DRASTIC model. The present study offers a unique tool to policy makers for decision makings in groundwater management.
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Papers by Amit Gorai
association between air pollution and asthma rate has been reported. In the present study, a Geographical Information
System (GIS) approach was developed to determine the association between asthma hospital discharge rate (ADR) and
seasonal exposure to specific ambient air pollutants in eastern Texas, USA, during the period 2009 to 2011. Quarterly
asthma data were obtained from Texas State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance of Texas State,
USA. Quarterly mean concentrations of fine particular matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were
determined from the corresponding measured daily data collected by various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties in the study area. Using Pearson correlation analysis, quarterly average of air pollutant concentrations was compared to quarterly Asthma discharge rate (ADR). The results revealed that the association between quarterly exposure of air pollution and ADR was not statistically significant in the study area. During the study period, a negative correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of ozone and NO2 with the quarterly ADR. However, in most of the cases a positive correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of PM2.5 and the quarterly ADR, indicating a probable association between ambient air pollution exposure and asthma prevalence.
association between air pollution and asthma rate has been reported. In the present study, a Geographical Information
System (GIS) approach was developed to determine the association between asthma hospital discharge rate (ADR) and
seasonal exposure to specific ambient air pollutants in eastern Texas, USA, during the period 2009 to 2011. Quarterly
asthma data were obtained from Texas State Department of Health, National Asthma Survey surveillance of Texas State,
USA. Quarterly mean concentrations of fine particular matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) were
determined from the corresponding measured daily data collected by various air quality monitoring stations distributed in different counties in the study area. Using Pearson correlation analysis, quarterly average of air pollutant concentrations was compared to quarterly Asthma discharge rate (ADR). The results revealed that the association between quarterly exposure of air pollution and ADR was not statistically significant in the study area. During the study period, a negative correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of ozone and NO2 with the quarterly ADR. However, in most of the cases a positive correlation coefficient was observed between the quarterly mean concentration of PM2.5 and the quarterly ADR, indicating a probable association between ambient air pollution exposure and asthma prevalence.