Combination of data-driven models and interpolation technique to develop of PM10 map for Hanoi, Vietnam

The degradation of air quality is the most concerned issue of our society due to its harmful impacts on human health, especially in cities with rapid urbanization and population growth like Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. This study aims at developing a new approach that combines data-driven models and interpolation technique to develop the PM₁₀ concentration maps from meteorological factors for the central area of Hanoi. Data-driven models that relate the PM₁₀ concentration with the meteorological factors at the air quality monitoring stations in the study area were developed using the Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithms. Models' performance comparison showed that ANN models yielded better goodness-of-fit indices than MLR models at all stations in the study area with average coefficient of correlation (r) and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency Index (NSE) of 0.51 and 0.34 for the former, and 0.7 and 0.49 for the latter. These indices indicates that the ANN-based data-driven models outperformed the MLR-based models. Thus, the ANN-based models and the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation technique were then combined for mapping the monthly PM₁₀ concentration with a spatial resolution of 1 km from global meteorological data. With this combination, the PM₁₀ concentration maps account for both local PM₁₀ concentration and impacts of spatio-temporal variations of meteorological factors on the PM₁₀ concentration. This study provides a promising method to predict the PM concentration with a high spatio-temporal resolution from meteorological data.