Characterization of particle number concentrations and PM2.5 in a school : influence of outdoor air pollution on indoor air

Background, Aim and Scope The impact of air pollution on school children’s health is currently one of the key foci of international and national agencies. Of particular concern are ultrafine particles which are emitted in large quantities, contain large concentrations of toxins and are deposited deeply in the respiratory tract. Materials and methods In this study, an intensive sampling campaign of indoor and outdoor airborne particulate matter was carried out in a primary school in February 2006 to investigate indoor and outdoor particle number (PN) and mass concentrations (PM2.5), and particle size distribution, and to evaluate the influence of outdoor air pollution on the indoor air. Results For outdoor PN and PM2.5, early morning and late afternoon peaks were observed on weekdays, which are consistent with traffic rush hours, indicating the predominant effect of vehicular emissions. However, the temporal variations of outdoor PM2.5 and PN concentrations occasionally showed extremely high peaks, mainly due to human activities such as cigarette smoking and the operation of mower near the sampling site. The indoor PM2.5 level was mainly affected by the outdoor PM2.5 (r = 0.68, p<0.01), whereas the indoor PN concentration had some association with outdoor PN values (r = 0.66, p<0.01) even though the indoor PN concentration was occasionally influenced by indoor sources, such as cooking, cleaning and floor polishing activities. Correlation analysis indicated that the outdoor PM2.5 was inversely correlated with the indoor to outdoor PM2.5 ratio (I/O ratio) (r = -0.49, p<0.01), while the indoor PN had a weak correlation with the I/O ratio for PN (r = 0.34, p<0.01). Discussion and Conclusions The results showed that occupancy did not cause any major changes to the modal structure of particle number and size distribution, even though the I/O ratio was different for different size classes. The I/O curves had a maximum value for particles with diameters of 100 – 400 nm under both occupied and unoccupied scenarios, whereas no significant difference in I/O ratio for PM2.5 was observed between occupied and unoccupied conditions. Inspection of the size-resolved I/O ratios in the preschool centre and the classroom suggested that the I/O ratio in the preschool centre was the highest for accumulation mode particles at 600 nm after school hours, whereas the average I/O ratios of both nucleation mode and accumulation mode particles in the classroom were much lower than those of Aitken mode particles. Recommendations and Perspectives The findings obtained in this study are useful for epidemiological studies to estimate the total personal exposure of children, and to develop appropriate control strategies for minimizing the adverse health effects on school children.

Exposure to particle number, surface area and PM concentrations in pizzerias

The aim of this work was to quantify exposure to particles emitted by wood-fired ovens in pizzerias. Overall, 15 microenvironments were chosen and analyzed in a 14-month experimental campaign. Particle number concentration and distribution were measured simultaneously using a Condensation Particle Counter (CPC), a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS), an Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS). The surface area and mass distributions and concentrations, as well as the estimation of lung deposition surface area and PM1 were evaluated using the SMPS-APS system with dosimetric models, by taking into account the presence of aggregates on the basis of the Idealized Aggregate (IA) theory. The fraction of inhaled particles deposited in the respiratory system and different fractions of particulate matter were also measured by means of a Nanoparticle Surface Area Monitor (NSAM) and a photometer (DustTrak DRX), respectively. In this way, supplementary data were obtained during the monitoring of trends inside the pizzerias. We found that surface area and PM1 particle concentrations in pizzerias can be very high, especially when compared to other critical microenvironments, such as the transport hubs. During pizza cooking under normal ventilation conditions, concentrations were found up to 74, 70 and 23 times higher than background levels for number, surface area and PM1, respectively. A key parameter is the oven shape factor, defined as the ratio between the size of the face opening in respect

Development of a composite line source emission model for traffic interrupted microenvironments and its application in particle number emissions at a bus station

A composite line source emission (CLSE) model was developed to specifically quantify exposure levels and describe the spatial variability of vehicle emissions in traffic interrupted microenvironments. This model took into account the complexity of vehicle movements in the queue, as well as different emission rates relevant to various driving conditions (cruise, decelerate, idle and accelerate), and it utilised multi-representative segments to capture the accurate emission distribution for real vehicle flow. Hence, this model was able to quickly quantify the time spent in each segment within the considered zone, as well as the composition and position of the requisite segments based on the vehicle fleet information, which not only helped to quantify the enhanced emissions at critical locations, but it also helped to define the emission source distribution of the disrupted steady flow for further dispersion modelling. The model then was applied to estimate particle number emissions at a bi-directional bus station used by diesel and compressed natural gas fuelled buses. It was found that the acceleration distance was of critical importance when estimating particle number emission, since the highest emissions occurred in sections where most of the buses were accelerating and no significant increases were observed at locations where they idled. It was also shown that emissions at the front end of the platform were 43 times greater than at the rear of the platform. Although the CLSE model is intended to be applied in traffic management and transport analysis systems for the evaluation of exposure, as well as the simulation of vehicle emissions in traffic interrupted microenvironments, the bus station model can also be used for the input of initial source definitions in future dispersion models.

Freeway traffic estimation in Beijing based on particle filter

Short-term traffic flow data is characterized by rapid and dramatic fluctuations. It reflects the nature of the frequent congestion in the lane, which shows a strong nonlinear feature. Traffic state estimation based on the data gained by electronic sensors is critical for much intelligent traffic management and the traffic control. In this paper, a solution to freeway traffic estimation in Beijing is proposed using a particle filter, based on macroscopic traffic flow model, which estimates both traffic density and speed.Particle filter is a nonlinear prediction method, which has obvious advantages for traffic flows prediction. However, with the increase of sampling period, the volatility of the traffic state curve will be much dramatic. Therefore, the prediction accuracy will be affected and difficulty of forecasting is raised. In this paper, particle filter model is applied to estimate the short-term traffic flow. Numerical study is conducted based on the Beijing freeway data with the sampling period of 2 min. The relatively high accuracy of the results indicates the superiority of the proposed model.

Group segmentation during object tracking using optical flow discontinuities

Within a surveillance video, occlusions are commonplace, and accurately resolving these occlusions is key when seeking to accurately track objects. The challenge of accurately segmenting objects is further complicated by the fact that within many real-world surveillance environments, the objects appear very similar. For example, footage of pedestrians in a city environment will consist of many people wearing dark suits. In this paper, we propose a novel technique to segment groups and resolve occlusions using optical flow discontinuities. We demonstrate that the ratio of continuous to discontinuous pixels within a region can be used to locate the overlapping edges, and incorporate this into an object tracking framework. Results on a portion of the ETISEO database show that the proposed algorithm results in improved tracking performance overall, and improved tracking within occlusions.

Tracking employees’ twists and turns : a mixed methods approach to assessing change in the psychological contract

The psychological contract has emerged over the past 60 years as a key analytical device for both academics and practitioners to conceptualise and explain the employment relationship. However, despite the recognised import of this field, some authors suggest it has fallen into a ‘methodological rut’ and is neglecting to empirically assess basic theoretical tenets of the concept – such as the temporal and individualised, subjective nature of the construct. This paper describes the research design of a longitudinal, mixed methods study to explore development and change in the psychological contract and outline how the use of individual growth modelling can be a powerful tool in analysing the type of quantitative data collected. Finally, by briefly outlining the benefits of this approach, the paper seeks to offer an alternative methodology to explore the dynamic and intra-individual processes within the psychological contract domain.

Fixed-wing attitude estimation using temporal tracking of the horizon and optical flow

In this paper, a method has been developed for estimating pitch angle, roll angle and aircraft body rates based on horizon detection and temporal tracking using a forward-looking camera, without assistance from other sensors. Using an image processing front-end, we select several lines in an image that may or may not correspond to the true horizon. The optical flow at each candidate line is calculated, which may be used to measure the body rates of the aircraft. Using an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the aircraft state is propagated using a motion model and a candidate horizon line is associated using a statistical test based on the optical flow measurements and the location of the horizon. Once associated, the selected horizon line, along with the associated optical flow, is used as a measurement to the EKF. To test the accuracy of the algorithm, two flights were conducted, one using a highly dynamic Uninhabited Airborne Vehicle (UAV) in clear flight conditions and the other in a human-piloted Cessna 172 in conditions where the horizon was partially obscured by terrain, haze and smoke. The UAV flight resulted in pitch and roll error standard deviations of 0.42◦ and 0.71◦ respectively when compared with a truth attitude source. The Cessna flight resulted in pitch and roll error standard deviations of 1.79◦ and 1.75◦ respectively. The benefits of selecting and tracking the horizon using a motion model and optical flow rather than naively relying on the image processing front-end is also demonstrated.

Cooperative multi-AUV tracking of phytoplankton blooms based on ocean model predictions

In recent years, ocean scientists have started to employ many new forms of technology as integral pieces in oceanographic data collection for the study and prediction of complex and dynamic ocean phenomena. One area of technological advancement in ocean sampling if the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) as mobile sensor plat- forms. Currently, most AUV deployments execute a lawnmower- type pattern or repeated transects for surveys and sampling missions. An advantage of these missions is that the regularity of the trajectory design generally makes it easier to extract the exact path of the vehicle via post-processing. However, if the deployment region for the pattern is poorly selected, the AUV can entirely miss collecting data during an event of specific interest. Here, we consider an innovative technology toolchain to assist in determining the deployment location and executed paths for AUVs to maximize scientific information gain about dynamically evolving ocean phenomena. In particular, we provide an assessment of computed paths based on ocean model predictions designed to put AUVs in the right place at the right time to gather data related to the understanding of algal and phytoplankton blooms.

Robust tracking control of autonomous underwater vehicles in the presence of disturbance inputs

An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is expected to operate in an ocean in the presence of poorly known disturbance forces and moments. The uncertainties of the environment makes it difficult to apply open-loop control scheme for the motion planning of the vehicle. The objective of this paper is to develop a robust feedback trajectory tracking control scheme for an AUV that can track a prescribed trajectory amidst such disturbances. We solve a general problem of feedback trajectory tracking of an AUV in SE(3). The feedback control scheme is derived using Lyapunov-type analysis. The results obtained from numerical simulations confirm the asymptotic tracking properties of the feedback control law. We apply the feedback control scheme to different mission scenarios, with the disturbances being initial errors in the state of the AUV.

Trajectory design for autonomous underwater vehicles based on ocean model predictions for feature tracking

Trajectory design for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) is of great importance to the oceanographic research community. Intelligent planning is required to maneuver a vehicle to high-valued locations for data collection. We consider the use of ocean model predictions to determine the locations to be visited by an AUV, which then provides near-real time, in situ measurements back to the model to increase the skill of future predictions. The motion planning problem of steering the vehicle between the computed waypoints is not considered here. Our focus is on the algorithm to determine relevant points of interest for a chosen oceanographic feature. This represents a first approach to an end to end autonomous prediction and tasking system for aquatic, mobile sensor networks. We design a sampling plan and present experimental results with AUV retasking in the Southern California Bight (SCB) off the coast of Los Angeles.

A distributed protocol for object tracking in wireless multimedia sensor networks

We consider the problem of object tracking in a wireless multimedia sensor network (we mainly focus on the camera component in this work). The vast majority of current object tracking techniques, either centralised or distributed, assume unlimited energy, meaning these techniques don't translate well when applied within the constraints of low-power distributed systems. In this paper we develop and analyse a highly-scalable, distributed strategy to object tracking in wireless camera networks with limited resources. In the proposed system, cameras transmit descriptions of objects to a subset of neighbours, determined using a predictive forwarding strategy. The received descriptions are then matched at the next camera on the objects path using a probability maximisation process with locally generated descriptions. We show, via simulation, that our predictive forwarding and probabilistic matching strategy can significantly reduce the number of object-misses, ID-switches and ID-losses; it can also reduce the number of required transmissions over a simple broadcast scenario by up to 67%. We show that our system performs well under realistic assumptions about matching objects appearance using colour.

The impact of sulphur content of diesel fuel on ultrafine particle formation

Early this year the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage commissioned a desktop literature review with a focus on ultrafine particles including analysis of health impacts of the particles as well as the impact of sulphur content of diesel fuel on ultrafine particle emission. This paper summarizes the findings of the report on the link between the sulphur content of diesel fuels and the number of ultrafine particles in diesel emissions. The literature search on this topic resulted in over 150 publications. The majority of these publications, although investigating different aspects of the influence of fuel sulphur level on diesel vehicle emissions, were not directly concerned with ultrafine particle emissions. A specific focus of the paper is on: ----- ----- summary of state of knowledge established by the review, and ----- ----- summary of recommendations on the research priorities for Australia to address the information gaps for this issue, and on the appropriate management responses.

Distributed object tracking with robot and disjoint camera networks

We describe a novel two stage approach to object localization and tracking using a network of wireless cameras and a mobile robot. In the first stage, a robot travels through the camera network while updating its position in a global coordinate frame which it broadcasts to the cameras. The cameras use this information, along with image plane location of the robot, to compute a mapping from their image planes to the global coordinate frame. This is combined with an occupancy map generated by the robot during the mapping process to track the objects. We present results with a nine node indoor camera network to demonstrate that this approach is feasible and offers acceptable level of accuracy in terms of object locations.

A methodology for object identification and tracking in construction based on spatial modeling and image matching techniques

Understanding the motion characteristics of on-site objects is desirable for the analysis of construction work zones, especially in problems related to safety and productivity studies. This article presents a methodology for rapid object identification and tracking. The proposed methodology contains algorithms for spatial modeling and image matching. A high-frame-rate range sensor was utilized for spatial data acquisition. The experimental results indicated that an occupancy grid spatial modeling algorithm could quickly build a suitable work zone model from the acquired data. The results also showed that an image matching algorithm is able to find the most similar object from a model database and from spatial models obtained from previous scans. It is then possible to use the matched information to successfully identify and track objects.

Modeling object identification and tracking errors on image-based safety assessment of earthmoving operations

Object identification and tracking have become critical for automated on-site construction safety assessment. The primary objective of this paper is to present the development of a testbed to analyze the impact of object identification and tracking errors caused by data collection devices and algorithms used for safety assessment. The testbed models workspaces for earthmoving operations and simulates safety-related violations, including speed limit violations, access violations to dangerous areas, and close proximity violations between heavy machinery. Three different cases were analyzed based on actual earthmoving operations conducted at a limestone quarry. Using the testbed, the impacts of device and algorithm errors were investigated for safety planning purposes.