This project analyzed air quality monitored data in 2014, and the results showed a 1.32% PSI>100 ratio and a total poor quality station-day was 288 with 102 PM10 and 186 O3 station-days with both lower as comparing with last year’s 1.53% PSI>100 ratio and 332 station-days. Four events in 2014 are preliminary determined as foreign pollution influences, and five events in 2014 are preliminary determined as typhoon influences. Major oversea and national PM10, PM2.5, and O3 pollutants concentrations contributing to national monitoring stations’ readings; however, the average of these pollutant concentrations were lower than last 5 average years’ readings and was similar to the pollutants’ readings in 2013. Nonetheless, with long-term air quality concentrations and weather forecast suggested that winter in Taiwan in 2014 was relativity warm with lesser frequency of precipitation, causing the pollutants difficult to settle and cumulated more readily in the atmosphere. Thus, this autumn and winter season, the project results suggested to oversee foreign pollutant transmission, control local fugitive dust, and prevent regional pollutants from accumulation.
Through the use of backward trajectories, ISC (Industrial Source Complex) dispersion model, monthly average of surrounding sampling stations concentrations trend to analyze air quality in the selected high PM2.5 concentrations areas in 2013, the results showed the air quality was correlated with emission influence form northern industrial areas and traffic emissions in municipal areas. Moreover, the results showed the pollutant concentrations matched the local activities and discovered the concentrations were likewise affected by wind speed. With lower wind speed favoring accumulation, the concentrations were tended to be high. In addition, the methods of measuring ozone concentrations were indistinguishable to the methods used in Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea, which illustrated regional ozone concentrations had been incrementing each year. Along with international research and scientific evidence indicated the ozone concentrations s were affected by climate change, thus, suggested ozone concentrations reduction policy formulating shall consider climate change’s impairing effect.
Regarded PM2.5, the statistic concentrations obtained from 30 FRM stations and FRM-like automatic PM2.5 sampling stations from January to October in 2014 were used to analyze daily concentrations to explore potential early alert events and to provide advice based on PM2.5 concentration distribution. Furthermore, this project also conducted Aerosol Optical Depth(AOD) to inverse and to imitate PM2.5 concentrations since AOD profile information was crucial to PM2.5 monitoring improvement. Therefore, this project created a AOD-to-PM2.5 conversion formula and tested on Taipei PM2.5 distribution with high-resolution satellite to assess its feasibility.
This project consolidated other foreign countries’ air quality index and citizen health protection advice to assess Taiwan’s new national quality index through expert consultation conference and successfully obtained 2014 world bank’s approval for establishing Taiwan cities’ annual PM10 average concentration profile. Furthermore, the project referenced foreign countries’ poor air quality contingency measures and revised the SOP of contingency measures for poor air quality by incorporating PM2.5 notification recommendations, control measures with seasonal valuable aerial filming, and interviews of Yun-Lin citizen’s review on Cho-Shui River and other local air pollution source to obtain first-hand information in late October. Lastly, the project not only updated EPA’s websites, but also designed the website for PM2.5 control and completed other relevant major tasks such as conferences administrative and technical support. The conferences held throughout the year included information exchange workshop for Hsin-Chu County, Hsin-Chu City and Miao-Li County Environmental Protection Bureaus, meetings with emissions inventory workgroup, Air Pollution Control Plan and Protocols conference for local Environmental Protection Bureaus. Emission reduction manual, air pollution implementation for first 6 months of 2014, and “The Annual Assessment Report of the Air Pollution Control in Taiwan for 2013” are also compiled in the project, and all reach a great success.
