WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development
Print ISSN: 1790-5079, E-ISSN: 2224-3496
Volume 13, 2017
Assessment of Air Quality in the Portuguese Tamega e Sousa Region
Authors: , ,
Abstract: This paper, presents the evaluation of the air quality in several regions of Portugal, with special focus on the region of Tˆamega e Sousa where ESTG/P.Porto is located. The ANOVA and MANOVA techniques are applied to study the differences between air quality from 2009 to 2012 in Portugal. The data used in this analysis includes altitude, area, expenditure of environmental measures on protection of air quality and climate, expenditure on protection of biodiversity and landscape, burned area, number of forest fires, extractive and manufacturing industries, per municipality and per year. A air quality indicator with five levels is proposed based on information gathered by the project QualAr about concentrations of the pollutants: CO, NO2, O3, PM10 and SO2. The results point to significant differences in the air quality both for the different regions and the years considered. Furthermore, for identifying the factors that influence the air quality in 2012 a multivariate regression model was used. The results show statistical evidences that air quality in 2011, number of forest fires in 2012 and 2010, number of manufacturing industries per km2 in 2012 and number of forest fires in 2010 are the variables that present a larger contribution to the quality of the air in 2012.
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Pages: 129-136
WSEAS Transactions on Environment and Development, ISSN / E-ISSN: 1790-5079 / 2224-3496, Volume 13, 2017, Art. #15