Author(s)

ALESSANDRA CHIAPPINI, SIMONE VIRGILI, MARTINA TOMMASI, MARCO BALDINI, GIORGIO PASSERINI

Abstract

Air pollution research increasingly requires interdisciplinary approaches capable of connecting environmental modelling, geospatial analysis and public health needs. This study explores the application of a GIS-based air pollution mapping framework to support exposure-oriented planning in an industrial area, with specific reference to the municipality of Falconara Marittima, Italy. The case study addresses PM₁₀ emissions associated with a petrochemical plant in a context where environmental authorities and public health stakeholders are interested in improving the spatial characterization of population exposure. The work builds on a geospatial workflow originally developed for air-quality mapping and adapts it to a health-oriented application. Site-specific atmospheric dispersion outputs were integrated within a GIS environment and combined with ancillary spatial layers, including land use, residential areas and georeferenced population data derived from the regional healthcare registry. This multilayer approach enabled the transformation of modelled concentration fields into spatial information suitable for distinguishing areas potentially affected by industrial emissions from areas mainly representative of background conditions. Rather than providing a full epidemiological assessment, the study focuses on the operational role of geospatial analysis in supporting the design of subsequent human biomonitoring activities. Modelled PM₁₀ concentration patterns were processed through spatial interpolation, iso-concentration mapping and criterion-based refinement of the exposure domain, allowing residential receptors to be interpreted in relation to the industrial emission footprint. The application demonstrates how GIS-based exposure mapping can act as an interface between atmospheric dispersion modelling and public-health-oriented study design. By translating environmental model outputs into spatially explicit exposure zones, the approach supports the identification of potentially exposed and control populations and locations while preserving flexibility for further methodological development.

Keywords

GeoHealth, exposure mapping, industrial PM₁₀, public health risk and monitoring, GIS