title: Estimating ground-level PM2.5 in China using satellite remote sensing.
abstract: Estimating ground-level PM2.5 from satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) using a spatial statistical model is a promising new method to evaluate the spatial and temporal characteristics of PM2.5 exposure in a large geographic region. However, studies outside North America have been limited due to the lack of ground PM2.5 measurements to calibrate the model. Taking advantage of the newly established national monitoring network, we developed a national-scale geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to estimate daily PM2.5 concentrations in China with fused satellite AOD as the primary predictor. The results showed that the meteorological and land use information can greatly improve model performance. The overall cross-validation (CV) R(2) is 0.64 and root mean squared prediction error (RMSE) is 32.98 μg/m(3). The mean prediction error (MPE) of the predicted annual PM2.5 is 8.28 μg/m(3). Our predicted annual PM2.5 concentrations indicated that over 96% of the Chinese population lives in areas that exceed the Chinese National Ambient Air Quality Standard (CNAAQS) Level 2 standard. Our results also confirmed satellite-derived AOD in conjunction with meteorological fields and land use information can be successfully applied to extend the ground PM2.5 monitoring network in China.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Xianlin Campus , Box 624, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210023, China.
authors.forename: Zongwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xuefei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis; D002138:Calibration; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005843:Geography; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055620:Optical Phenomena; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017215:Satellite Communications; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D052638:Particulate Matter