Evaluation of using satellite-derived aerosol optical depth in land use regression models for fine particulate matter and its elemental composition

This study introduced satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) in land use regression (LUR) modeling to predict ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5 ) and its elemental composition. Twenty-four daily samples were collected from 17 air quality monitoring sites (N = 408) in Taiwan in 2014. A total of 12 annual LUR models were developed for PM_2.5 and 11 elements, including aluminum, calcium, chromium, iron, potassium, manganese, sulfur, silicon, titanium, vanadium, and zinc. After applied AOD and a derived-predictor, AOD percentage, in modeling, the number of models with leave-one-out cross-validation R² > 0.40 significantly increased from 5 to 9, indicating the substantial benefits for the construction of spatial prediction models. Sensitivity analyses of using data stratified by PM_2.5 concentrations revealed that the model performances were further improved in the high pollution season.