Air quality data management system― an integration of data acquisition, deposition and analysis

摘要

The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) classifies Las Vegas Valley, Nevada as a "un-attainment" region for air pollution. Due to its unique geographical location, weather pattern and heavy human activities around the valley, monoxide (CO), ozone (O_3) and particulate matters (PM10, PM2.5) have been closely monitored and reported to the public for years. The current data collection system has become a bottleneck for increased demand on the countywide monitoring program. Upon the request from the Department of Air Quality Management of Clark County (DAQM), the Nevada Center for Advanced Computational Methods (NCACM) developed and implemented a multi-tier data management system to replace the existing one. According to the nature of the project, data acquisition, deposition, analysis and presentation tiers are constructed. The development of the new management system is being incorporated into a larger scale emergency response system developed by the NCACM for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area (LVMA). Technical issues on real-time data acquisition, updating frequency, database management and web-based data manipulation are discussed in this paper. Currently the implemented data acquisition and monitoring system offers the DAQM staff a significantly improved tool for intensive data monitoring and analysis, while the near-real time web-based data presentation system supplies the local community with a better awareness on air quality around the valley.