M.Sc. THESIS DEFENCE - Tsz Kin Siu
Tsz Kin Siu
DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY
TITLE: ADVANCING AIR POLLUTION MONITORING ASSESSMENT IN EASTERN CANADA WITH EMERGING METHODS
ABSTRACT: Surface air pollution monitoring networks in eastern Canada, including Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces, have limited coverage and high deployment and maintenance costs. The Quebec City-Windsor corridor is Canada鈥檚 most densely populated region with the highest traffic and industrial activities, while the Atlantic provinces have high population proportions of vulnerable people. Without adequate monitoring, the exposure and population health risk assessment of air pollution lacks precision. New measurement technologies and methods enable high-resolution monitoring in under-monitored communities. Low-cost air quality sensors enhance the density of surface monitoring. This study assessed the spatial distributions of low-cost sensors and regulatory monitoring stations for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in eastern Canada with locally adaptive kernel density estimation (KDE), and found persistent monitoring gaps and disparities in monitoring coverage in communities with social deprivation. A new remote sensing satellite instrument, Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO), provides raster observations of tropospheric column nitrogen dioxide (NO2) on a daytime hourly basis. Examining its high spatiotemporal resolution data, this study identified previously unrecognized NO2 hotspots, monitoring gaps in eight highly polluted and densely populated municipalities, and variations in temporal NO2 patterns. Linking the remote sensing to in-situ surface-level observations, with ancillary data of meteorology, land use, land cover, and urban environment, this study applied land use regression and hotspot mapping for air pollution monitoring gap assessment in a hyperlocal context. Saint John, New Brunswick, an industrial city with sulphur dioxide (SO2) pollution, was selected as a case study for intra-urban pollutant modelling. In summary, this thesis highlights current air pollution monitoring gaps in eastern Canada and informs future policy planning in monitoring expansion, resource management, and health surveillance in under-monitored communities. It also demonstrates the use of novel geospatial data and methods in studying air pollution and motivates future research.
EXAMINING COMMITTEE:
Dr. Amanda, Giang University of British Columbia (External Examiner)
Dr. Kelvin Fong, George Washington University (Co-Supervisor)
Dr. Daniel Rainham, 黄色直播 (Co-Supervisor)
Dr. Rachel Chang, 黄色直播 (Reader)
Dr. Christopher Greene, 黄色直播 (Reader)
Dr. Owen Sherwood, 黄色直播 (Departmental Chair)
Time
Location
Milligan Room, 8007 LSC, 黄色直播