[ad_1]
Artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite technologies reveal that the South East of England is the most polluted region in Britain.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine used satellite data to provide accurate estimates of air pollution concentrations across the country.
The model offers measurements provided on a daily basis with a 1 × 1 km grid throughout the national territory.
These data highlighted various regional pollution hotspots, as well as highlighting pollution peaks in urban and industrial areas.
However, on a positive note, the data also revealed an overall decline in air pollution over the past decade.
Currently, scientists rely on ground-based monitors to measure air pollution, however, the researchers said using satellite data to measure air pollution could revolutionize our understanding of related health risks by linking maps. national exposure to health databases.
Using machine learning algorithms, the researchers combined the data sets to produce estimates of the ground-level concentration of particulate matter (PM2.5).
The team intends to combine this data with local medical records to reveal a granular picture of the association between air pollution and health outcomes across Britain.
Dr Rochelle Schneider, first author of the study, said: ‘This research uses the power of artificial intelligence to advance environmental modeling and address public health challenges.
“This impressive set of air pollution data represents records of PM2.5 for 4,018 days in a spatial domain of 234,429 grid cells. This provides a remarkable total of 950 million data points that fully quantify the level of air pollution. across Great Britain over an eleven year period.
Professor Antonio Gasparrini, the senior author of the study, added: ‘This study demonstrates how cutting-edge techniques based on artificial intelligence and satellite technologies can benefit public health research.
“The result reveals the changing patterns of air pollution in Britain and over time in extraordinary detail. We now hope to use this information to better understand how pollution is affecting the nation’s health, so that we can take steps to minimize. The large amount of data produced will provide a fundamental tool for public health researchers studying the effects of air pollution.
Photo credit – Pixabay
Source link