ANALYSIS OF CRITERIA AIR POLLUTANT CHANGES OVER THE STATE OF TEXAS USING GIS ANALYSIS

Air pollution in the United States, especially in larger metropolitan areas has been a major concern of Federal, State and to a lesser extent local governments for many years. The United States Environmental Protection Agency established the National Ambient Air Quality Standards which specify primary and secondary standards for air pollution measurements. These standards specify the 7 Criteria Air Pollutants to be monitored. This project attempts to illustrate and compare the yearly historical values for these 7 Criteria Air Pollutants using ESRI ArcGIS 9.2. Final results include maps with the location of monitor sites in 5 states, interpolated raster maps illustrating pollution value levels and changes (increases and decreases) and finally an overall interpolated raster map with the total increase or decrease in air pollutant levels for the state of Texas over a 10 year period