Robust Confidence Intervals for PM2.5 Concentration Measurements in the Ecuadorian Park La Carolina In this article, robust confidence intervals for PM2.5 (particles with size less than or equal to 2.5 xcexbcm) concentration measurements performed in La Carolina Park, Quito, Ecuador, have been built. Different techniques have been applied for the construction of the confidence intervals, and routes around the park and through the middle of it have been used to build the confidence intervals and classify this urban park in accordance with categories established by the Quito air quality index. These intervals have been based on the following estimators: the mean and standard deviation, median and median absolute deviation, median and semi interquartile range, atrimmed mean and Winsorized standard error of order a, location and scale estimators based on the Andrewxe2x80x99s wave, biweight location and scale estimators, and estimators based on the bootstrapt method. The results of the classification of the park and its surrounding streets showed that, in terms of air pollution by PM2.5, the park is not at caution levels. The results of the classification of the routes that were followed through the park and its surrounding streets showed that, in terms of air pollution by PM2.5, these routes are at either desirable, acceptable or caution levels. Therefore, this urban park is actually removing or attenuating unwanted PM2.5 concentration measurements.

Increasing the maturity of measurements of essential climate variables (ECVs) at Italian atmospheric WMOGAW observatories by implementing automated data elaboration chains Abstract   In the framework of the National Project of Interest NextData, we developed automatic procedures for the flagging and formatting of trace gases, atmospheric aerosols and meteorological data to be submitted to the World Data Centers (WDCs) of the Global Atmosphere Watch program of the World Meteorological Organization (WMOGAW). In particular, the atmospheric Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) covered in this work are observations of nearsurface trace gas concentrations, aerosol properties and meteorological variables, which are under the umbrella of the World Data Center for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), the World Data Center for Reactive Gases, and the World Data Center for Aerosol (WDCRG and WDCA). We developed an overarching processing chain to create a number of data products (data files and reports) starting from the raw data, finally contributing to increase the maturity of these measurements. To this aim, we implemented specific routines for data filtering, flagging, format harmonization, and creation of data products, useful for detecting instrumental problems, particular atmospheric events and quick data dissemination towards stakeholders or citizens. Currently, the automatic data processing is active for a subset of ECVs at 5 measurement sites in Italy. The system represents a valuable tool to facilitate data originators towards a more efficient data production. Our effort is expected to accelerate the process of data submission to WMOGAW or to other reference data centers or repositories. Moreover, the adoption of automatic procedures for data flagging and data correction allows to keep track of the process that led to the final validated data, and makes data evaluation and revisions more efficient by improving the traceability of the data production process.