Combining Ordinary Kriging with wind directions to identify sources of industrial odors in Portland, Oregon

This study combines Ordinary Kriging, odor monitoring, and wind direction data to demonstrate how these elements can be applied to identify the source of an industrial odor. The specific case study used as an example of how to address this issue was the University Park neighborhood of Portland, Oreg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPloS one Vol. 13; no. 1; p. e0189175
Main Authors Eckmann, Ted C, Wright, Samantha G, Simpson, Logan K, Walker, Joe L, Kolmes, Steven A, Houck, James E, Velasquez, Sandra C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 31.01.2018
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Analysis
Earth Sciences
Engineering and Technology
Environmental studies
Gaussian processes
Kriging interpolation
Logging
Neighborhoods
Odor
Odors
Physical Sciences
Research and Analysis Methods
Simpson, Joe
Social Sciences
Studies
Time of use
Trucks
VOCs
Volatile organic compounds
Weather stations
Wind direction
Wind measurement
Winds
United States
Oregon
United States > US
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Summary:This study combines Ordinary Kriging, odor monitoring, and wind direction data to demonstrate how these elements can be applied to identify the source of an industrial odor. The specific case study used as an example of how to address this issue was the University Park neighborhood of Portland, Oregon (USA) where residents frequently complain about industrial odors, and suspect the main source to be a nearby Daimler Trucks North America LLC manufacturing plant. We collected 19,665 odor observations plus 105,120 wind measurements, using an automated weather station to measure winds in the area at five-minute intervals, logging continuously from December 2014 through November 2015, while we also measured odors at 19 locations, three times per day, using methods from the American Society of the International Association for Testing and Materials. Our results quantify how winds vary with season and time of day when industrial odors were observed versus when they were not observed, while also mapping spatiotemporal patterns in these odors using Ordinary Kriging. Our analyses show that industrial odors were detected most frequently to the northwest of the Daimler plant, mostly when winds blew from the southeast, suggesting Daimler's facility is a likely source for much of this odor.
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Competing Interests: None of the authors currently notice any of the paint odors described by this study in their homes or workplaces. Neither DEQ nor Daimler has funded or participated in any of our research, and none of the authors has any professional, personal, or financial connections with either DEQ or Daimler that would have affected the design of our experiment, analyses, or the writing of this paper. Some of the co-authors on this study have interacted with both DEQ and Daimler at meetings both on the University of Portland campus and elsewhere. The authors have read reports produced by both DEQ and Daimler on the question of these odors, and the datasets we collected through this study have been made available to both DEQ and Daimler. Part of the data collection for this project was funded by Vigor Industrial, LLC. Vigor Industrial, LLC, owns and operates a shipyard in the industrial area on Swan Island in Portland. Vigor Industrial, LLC had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The portion of the data collection for Vigor Industrial, LLC was part of a process to collect data so that they could formalize a good neighbor agreement with the Neighborhood Association in University Park, which has now been done. This good neighbor agreement formalization involved Oregon's DEQ and the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0189175