Marron Institute Air Quality Work in Mexico City

Marron Institute Air Quality Initiative Director Dr. Kevin Cromar and a team of NYU graduate students -- including Tim Borbet, Andre Machado, and Caitlyn DellaTorre -- visited Mexico City in early October to continue the ongoing collaboration with Mexico City´s Environment Ministry (SEDEMA) aimed at helping improve air quality in one of the largest megalopolises on the planet.

The visit included a full day to fine tune the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) modeling, which determines the sources of air pollution at three different locations across Mexico City. The team also saw the successful culmination of efforts to support SEDEMA in obtaining Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling capability, which can be used for policy evaluation and forecasting. Additionally, the team reported on the results of a survey on public attitudes towards air quality in Mexico City, as well as insights regarding utilization and effectiveness of the current Air Quality Index (AQI) system.

Finally, Dr. Cromar pitched a further project to Tanya Müller, SEDEMA´s Secretary, to develop an innovative AQI system based on health indicators. Using health incidence data, Kevin´s team can determine the most unhealthy air pollutants and develop an AQI system based on the air quality´s impact on public health. The project is in the funding stage, using resources both from the Marron Institute and SEDEMA, and will most likely begin in March 2016. 

Tile image courtesy of Kasper Christiansen.