Estimating Health Effects of Temperature and pm2.5 Using Satellite-Retrieved High-Resolution Exposures

Abstract

Human activities emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants, which would affect the environment and in turn affect human health. Accurate estimate of the health effects requires high resolution exposure data of environmental stressors, such as air temperature (Ta) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The availability of those exposure data, however, is usually limited by sparsely distributed ground-based monitoring network. Therefore, the first chapter estimates Ta at a fine scale on a daily basis by incorporating satellite-based remote sensing data. Satellite can provide a global daily estimate of 1 km × 1 km surface temperature (Ts), which is correlated with Ta. Hence, a statistical calibration approach between Ta and Ts was used to retrieve daily mean Ta at1 km resolution for the Southeastern United States for the years 2000 to 2014. The second chapter investigates the chronic effects of temperature and temperature variability on mortality in New England, by using the satellite-retrieved daily mean Ta estimated from previous studies similar to our first chapter. Our findings indicate that the variability of atmospheric temperature emerges as a key factor of the potential health impacts of climate change. The last chapter examines the association between low-concentration PM2.5 and mortality in New England, by using the satellite-retrieved PM2.5 estimates. Our findings suggest that adverse health effects occur at low levels of fine particles, even for levels not exceeding the newly revised EPA standards.