Air pollution study using factor analysis and univariate Box-Jenkins modeling for the northwest of Tehran

High amounts of air pollution in crowded urban areas are always considered as one of the major environmental challenges especially in developing countries. Despite the errors in air pollution prediction, the forecasting of future data helps air quality management make decisions promptly and properly. We studied the air quality of the Aqdasiyeh location in Tehran using factor analysis and the Box-Jenkins time series methods. The Air Quality Control Company (AQCC) of the Municipality of Tehran monitors seven daily air quality parameters, including carbon monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Monoxide (NO), Nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$), $NO_x$, ozone ($O_3$), particulate matter ($PM_{10}$) and sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$). We applied the AQCC data for our study. According to the results of the factor analysis, the air quality parameters were divided into two factors. The first factor included CO, $NO_2$, NO, $NO_x$, and $O_3$, and the second was $SO_2$ and $PM_{10}$. Subsequently, the Box- Jenkins time series was applied to the two mentioned factors. The results of the statistical testing and comparison of the factor data with the predicted data indicated Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (0, 0, 1) was appropriate for the first factor, and ARIMA (1, 0, 1) was proper for the second one. The coefficient of determination between the factor data and the predicted data for both models were 0.98 and 0.983 which may indicate the accuracy of the models. The application of these methods could be beneficial for the reduction of developing numbers of mathematical modeling.