Development of longitudinal datasets (2000-2020) with high spatiotemporal resolution for air pollution exposure assessment in Canada.

Journal: Data in brief
Published Date: May 30, 2025

Abstract

We developed datasets intended to aid and inform, health and epidemiological studies in Canada by providing highly resolved spatiotemporal concentrations for regulated air pollutants (fine particulate matter PM, nitrogen dioxide NO, and ozone O) across Canada. Daily estimates were generated at various spatial resolutions for the years 2000 through 2020. The datasets are based on simulations of the US EPA's Community Multiscale (CMAQ) model at 12 km horizontal resolution. In an effort to increase the accuracy and spatial resolution of the exposure estimates, especially in complex urban environments, we used statistical and machine learning methods to downscale CMAQ outputs to finer resolutions. Downscaling relies on raw CMAQ results, high-resolution land-use datasets, existing concentrations datasets, and observations from the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) network. Widely used machine learning (ML) algorithms like random forest and gradient boosting were chosen and proved to be promising. Generated datasets at various spatial resolutions (census divisions, postal codes, gridded 12 km, or 1 km) showed adequate statistical performance and clear representations of spatial features associated with pollutant emissions.

Authors

  • Anas Alhusban
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Yasar Burak Oztaner
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Markey Johnson
    Air Sectors Assessment and Exposure Science Division, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Mastaneh Rezasefat
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Negin Hojjatzadeh
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Israa Moussa
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Mahsa Soleimani
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Saeed Nadi
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada. Electronic address: saeed.nadi@carleton.ca.
  • Shunliu Zhao
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Hwashin Shin
    Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Joyce J Y Zhang
    Air Sectors Assessment and Exposure Science Division, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
  • Amir Hakami
    Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

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