In recent years, the world has become increasingly concerned with air
pollution. Particularly in the global north, countries are implementing systems
to monitor air pollution on a large scale to aid decision-making, focusing on
urban areas. Such efforts are essential but costly and are difficult to
implement expediently. In this paper, we demonstrate that we can estimate air
pollution using open-source information about the structural properties of
roads within the United Kingdom. Our approach makes it possible to implement an
inexpensive method of estimating air pollution in the United Kingdom to an
accuracy level that can underpin policymakers' decisions while providing an
estimate in all regions in the UK, not just urban areas.
Impact Statement. We show that a linear regression model using a single
structural property -- length of the track and unclassified road network within
0.5\% of districts within England and Wales -- can accurately estimate which
regions of the UK are the most polluted. The model presents a low-cost yet
effective alternative to more expensive models such as the one currently used
by DEFRA in the UK. The model has apparent practical uses for policymakers who
want to pursue clean-air initiatives but lack the capital to invest in
comprehensive monitoring networks. Its low implementation cost, accessible
model design, and worldwide coverage of the dataset provide a basis for
implementing systems to estimate air pollution levels in low-income countries.Comment: Main File 19 pages, 10 Figures, 4 Tables. Supplementary File 17
pages, 13 figures, 14 tables. Edited to fix TeX issue