title: Developing the interaction matrix technique as a tool assessing the impact of traffic on air quality.
abstract: This paper develops a technique which can be used as a preliminary tool for assessing air quality related to urban traffic. It combines a Geographic Information System (GIS) with an interaction matrix-type methodology based on a system analysis approach. The matrix identifies and quantifies interactions between all selected variables involved in a system as well as their interaction with the system as a whole. This matrix is used to determine the weightings to apply to spatial datasets within a GIS to develop a pollution vulnerability map. The focus of the paper is to introduce and assess a more versatile coding of the interaction matrix with respect to previously used coding. A case study is presented in which the modified interaction methodology is applied to data for a busy urban location. The resulting vulnerability map, in terms of pollution vulnerable hot spots, was compared to a pollution map derived from an advanced dispersion model. The interaction matrix technique with GIS can be used as a tool complementary to sophisticated numerical modelling and has potential as an analytical tool to evaluate multidisciplinary systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, UK.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mavroulidou
authors.forename: Susan J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Emma E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Hellawell
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000397:Air Pollution; D004777:Environment; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D006113:United Kingdom; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions