Development of Air Quality Index Tool Based on Python Script and Geographic Information Systems

The issue of air pollution in urban settings continues to grow critical in multiple major urban centers and across the globe. Multiple cities experience the adverse health impacts of urban air pollution at present. Iraq recognizes Kirkuk city to be its leading hub for petroleum production. Numerous environmental pollution increases have occurred simultaneously with the recent soaring development of this city. The research conducted measurements on major pollutants, including SO2, NO2, CO, and PM2.5, PM10, within Kirkuk city. For this research period (September 2023 to February 2024), the studied area incorporated 25 sampling sites where their specific locations were pinpointed using Global Positioning System (GPS). Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with different sensors were used for data collection, besides ground stations. As well as the wind speed at each point was measured. Air pollution distribution patterns across Kirkuk city were displayed using Geographic Information System (GIS). Two models were developed using Python coding integrated with ArcGIS Pro based on a trained dataset. The measurement months for Kirkuk city's Air Quality Index (AQI) included six months during which five main pollutants were used for calculations by the Air Box Model and AQI Model. The Inverse Distance Weighted IDW interpolation process was used to extract the tested data from the ground truth dataset. Health evaluation maps in Kirkuk city were determined as unhealthy air quality based on the validated average AQI (101–200). The calculated data of AQI was validated by the tested data obtained from ground stations. High accuracies were obtained by the validation process (about 90%–93%). The developed tools identify the pollutant concentrations in Kirkuk City in a high-resolution distribution pattern.