A cokriging based approach to reconstruct air pollution maps, processing measurement station concentrations and deterministic model simulations

One of the aims of regional Environmental Authorities is to provide to the citizens information about the quality of the atmosphere over a certain region. To reach this objective Environmental Authorities need suitable tools to interpolate the data coming from monitoring networks to domain locations where no measures are available. In this work a spatial interpolation system has been developed to estimate 8-hour mean daily maximum ozone concentrations and daily mean PM10 concentrations over a domain, starting from measured concentration values. The presented approach is based on a cokriging technique, using the results of a deterministic Chemical Transport Model (CTM) simulation as secondary variable. The developed methodology has been tested over a 60x60 km2 domain located in Northern Italy, including Milan metropolitan area, one of the most polluted areas in Europe. Preprint submitted to Elsevier Science 30 August 2012