Exploring wind direction and SO2 concentration by circular-linear density estimation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a flexible joint density estimation algorithm for circular-linear variables, applied to analyze wind direction and SO2 levels near a power plant to evaluate pollution control measures over two years.

Contribution

It proposes a novel method for estimating joint densities of circular-linear data and demonstrates its application in environmental pollution analysis.

Findings

Identified changes in wind direction and SO2 levels between years.

Provided insights into the effectiveness of pollution reduction measures.

Validated the usefulness of the density estimation method in environmental studies.

Abstract

The study of environmental problems usually requires the description of variables with different nature and the assessment of relations between them. In this work, an algorithm for flexible estimation of the joint density for a circular-linear variable is proposed. The method is applied for exploring the relation between wind direction and SO2 concentration in a monitoring station close to a power plant located in Galicia (NW-Spain), in order to compare the effectiveness of precautionary measures for pollutants reduction in two different years.