Comprehensive national database of tree effects on air quality and human health in the United States

Satoshi Hirabayashi; David J. Nowak

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.04.068

Treesearch

Comprehensive national database of tree effects on air quality and human health in the United States

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Satoshi Hirabayashi, David J. Nowak

Year:

2016

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Northern Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.04.068

Source:

Environmental Pollution. 215: 48-57.

Download (PDF 1.33 MB)

Download (PDF 1.33 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/52699.pdf

Abstract

Trees remove air pollutants through dry deposition processes depending upon forest structure, meteorology, and air quality that vary across space and time. Employing nationally available forest, weather, air pollution and human population data for 2010, computer simulations were performed for deciduous and evergreen trees with varying leaf area index for rural and urban areas in every county in the conterminous United States. The results populated a national database of annual air pollutant removal, concentration changes, and reductions in adverse health incidences and costs for NO₂, O₃, PM_2.5 and SO₂. The developed database enabled a first order approximation of air quality and associated human health benefits provided by trees with any forest configurations anywhere in the conterminous United States over time.

Keywords

Air quality, Dry deposition, Human health, National database, Forest

Citation

Hirabayashi, Satoshi; Nowak, David J. 2016. Comprehensive national database of tree effects on air quality and human health in the United States. Environmental Pollution. 215: 48-57.