Napier and Hastings are two similar sized towns situated within the Hawkes Bay of New Zealand. These communities have traditionally suffered from elevated PM10 concentration during the winter, largely due to emissions from domestic home heating.
Airshed Model Evaluation
To evaluate the effectiveness of our airshed model, Mote deployed 12 Dustmote monitors across the Napier/Hastings region during the winter period (May-August).
Peak 24-hour average concentrations (midnight to midnight) were calculated and subsequently compared with the airshed model prediction shown below.
The diagram reveals that the peak concentrations predicted by the model compared reasonably well with monitored data within the urban areas, however the model tended to under predict the peak concentrations along some airshed boundaries. This information can be used to refine the model in order to better match with monitored data.