Development of a noise-assisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition framework for characterizing PM 2.5 air pollution in Taiwan and its relation to hydro-meteorological factors

Abstract

To better understand air pollution problems, the relationships between PM_2.5 and hydro-meteorological variables are studied using a state-of-the-art multivariate nonlinear and non-stationary filtering method, noise-assisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition (NAMEMD), and the time-dependent intrinsic correlation (TDIC) algorithm. Three characteristic scales (annual, diurnal and semi-diurnal) are shown to be significant to PM2.5 characterization, based on using NAMEMD filtering. Temporal fluctuations of local correlations among PM_2.5 and hydro-meteorological variables are presented. On diurnal and semi-diurnal scales, seasonal variation of the local correlation between temperature and humidity is observed. A combined wind speed and direction analysis can be conducted using the NAMEMD-based algorithm. The pollutant roses that are generated from the reconstructed wind directions reveal the sources of PM_2.5 on different scales. PM_2.5 is found to be related to land breeze at the diurnal scale and to winter monsoons at the annual scale. The scale-dependent wind direction that contributes to the increase of PM_2.5 can be identified.

Keywords: Air pollution; Fine particulate matter; Noise-assisted multivariate empirical mode decomposition (NAMEMD); PM 2.5; Time frequency analysis; Time-dependent intrinsic correlation (TDIC).