Portraying Emissions At A Local Or Regional Scale Using Gps Technologies: An Urban Planning Opportunity

No Thumbnail Available

Links to Files

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2012

Type of Work

Department

City and Regional Planning

Program

Master of City and Regional Planning

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

This item is made available by Morgan State University for personal, educational, and research purposes in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Other uses may require permission from the copyright owner.

Abstract

Air pollution from vehicular travel is a growing concern - specifically from road freight transport travel. This study explores the use of GPS technologies to monitor randomly selected light- and heavy-duty truck emissions through a pre-defined region in Central Maryland. The research uses data collected from the GPS device to calculate instantaneous acceleration rates and instantaneous air pollutant - specifically Hydrocarbons (HC) - emission rates. Then, using GIS mapping techniques combined with Java©-based programming code, the research displays each of the instantaneous data points calculated with its corresponding latitude-longitude coordinates. The comparison between these output maps and land use maps displays how freight transport related air pollution affects different land use designations on a local or regional scale. The results, in the form of maps, provide a new tool that shows a wealth of information regarding greater understanding of freight transport travel, and the levels of air pollution in and around a locale/region.