Integrating Tehran metropolitan air pollution into the current transport system and sprawl growth: an emphasis on urban performance and accessibility

Abstract Air pollution is one of the most challenging issues for urban environment and environmental management. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of Tehran metropolitan's performance and accessibility on urban transportation and air pollution as sprawl grows. Tehran, with a population of 15.98 million people, has many environmental issues, including air pollution. Secondary data were collected from the Tehran Air Quality Control Company as well as Landsat satellite imagery (OLI). The raw data of intra-city and suburban traffic counts for spatial analysis of movements, combined with the raw data of measuring stations, were then used as a sample in the ArcGIS software environment for three selected days in 2013, 2014, and 2016. Following geometric and radiometric correction, programming methods and a multivariate regression algorithm were applied to the images, yielding results in the form of additional stations. According to the results obtained (about 3.29 m) root-mean-square error (RMSE), the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) model was used in air pollution maps for better assessment. The findings suggest that Tehran is not the only source of air pollution and that TMA performance and accessibility play a significant role in the amount of air pollution. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation (more than 75%) between air pollution maps and transportation flow maps on specific days (February 23, 2013, February 26, 2015, and December 28, 2016). Finally, the analysis of this situation in three circles showed that the highest volume of traffic was done in the city of Tehran (CBD), suburban area (Suburban), and suburban area (Exurban), respectively, and the pattern of distribution and spatial accumulation of pollution has also been a function of this situation.