Effects of Landscape Patterns on the Concentration and Recovery Time of PM2.5 in South Korea

Abstract

Landscape and urban planning efforts aimed at mitigating the risk of PM2.5 exposure have been hindered by the difficulties in identifying the effects of landscape factors on air pollutants. To identify interactions between PM2.5 and landscape elements, this study explored the contributions of landscape variables at multiple scales to the mean hourly PM2.5 concentration and the duration of high PM2.5 levels in South Korea. We found that the hourly mean PM2.5 concentration was significantly correlated with landscape variables that explained the spatial processes contributing to fluctuations in air pollutants on a regional level while controlling the spatial autocorrelation of regression residuals. On the other hand, a constant, high PM2.5 level was related to landscape patterns that explained relatively independent spatial processes on local levels; these processes include vegetation’s ability to reduce PM2.5 dispersion rates and the influence of transient human activities in local buildings or heavy traffic on roadways on the emission of air pollutants. Our results highlight that urban planners looking to establish design priorities and leverage landscape factors that could reduce the negative impact of PM2.5 on citizens’ health should consider both the more general PM2.5 patterns that exist at regional levels as well as local fluctuations in PM2.5.