title: Estimating Population Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter in the Conterminous U.S. using Shape Function-based Spatiotemporal Interpolation Method: A County Level Analysis.
abstract: This paper investigates spatiotemporal interpolation methods for the application of air pollution assessment. The air pollutant of interest in this paper is fine particulate matter PM2.5. The choice of the time scale is investigated when applying the shape function-based method. It is found that the measurement scale of the time dimension has an impact on the quality of interpolation results. Based upon the result of 10-fold cross validation, the most effective time scale out of four experimental ones was selected for the PM2.5interpolation. The paper also estimates the population exposure to the ambient air pollution of PM2.5at the county-level in the contiguous U.S. in 2009. The interpolated county-level PM2.5has been linked to 2009 population data and the population with a risky PM2.5exposure has been estimated. The risky PM2.5exposure means the PM2.5concentration exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The geographic distribution of the counties with a risky PM2.5exposure is visualized. This work is essential to understanding the associations between ambient air pollution exposure and population health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geography, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Xingyou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Holt
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Piltner
keywords: air pollution exposure; fine particulate matter; spatiotemporal interpolation; time scale