Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico

Air pollution forecasting is essential for understanding environmental patterns and mitigating health risks, especially in urban areas. This study investigates the forecasting of criterion pollutants—<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="in...

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Main Authors: Francisco-Javier Moreno-Vazquez, Felipe Trujillo-Romero, Amanda Enriqueta Violante Gavira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Earth
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/6/1/9
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author Francisco-Javier Moreno-Vazquez
Felipe Trujillo-Romero
Amanda Enriqueta Violante Gavira
author_facet Francisco-Javier Moreno-Vazquez
Felipe Trujillo-Romero
Amanda Enriqueta Violante Gavira
author_sort Francisco-Javier Moreno-Vazquez
collection DOAJ
description Air pollution forecasting is essential for understanding environmental patterns and mitigating health risks, especially in urban areas. This study investigates the forecasting of criterion pollutants—<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>C</mi><mi>O</mi><mo>,</mo><msub><mi>O</mi><mn>3</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><mi>S</mi><msub><mi>O</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><mi>N</mi><msub><mi>O</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><mi>P</mi><msub><mi>M</mi><mrow><mn>2.5</mn></mrow></msub><mo>,</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>P</mi><msub><mi>M</mi><mn>10</mn></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>—across multiple temporal frames (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) in Salamanca, Mexico, utilizing temporal, meteorological, and pollutant data from local monitoring stations. The primary objective is to identify robust models capable of short- and mid-term predictions, despite challenges related to data inconsistencies and missing values. Leveraging the low-code PyCaret framework, a benchmark analysis was conducted to identify the best-performing models for each pollutant. Statistical evaluations, including ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests, were employed to compare model performance across different time frames. The results reveal significant variations in prediction accuracy depending on both the pollutant and temporal windows, with stronger predictive performance observed in the weekly and monthly frames. The research indicates that the incorporation of temporal and environmental variables enhances forecast accuracy and highlights the value of low-code AutoML tools, such as PyCaret, in streamlining model selection and improving overall forecasting efficiency.
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publishDate 2025-02-01
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series Earth
spelling doaj-art-18abdf8c7e5841a6a1091ed168de0c2f2025-08-20T03:43:30ZengMDPI AGEarth2673-48342025-02-0161910.3390/earth6010009Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, MexicoFrancisco-Javier Moreno-Vazquez0Felipe Trujillo-Romero1Amanda Enriqueta Violante Gavira2División de Ingenierías Campus Irapuato—Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36787, MexicoDivisión de Ingenierías Campus Irapuato—Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36787, MexicoDivisión de Ingenierías Campus Irapuato—Salamanca, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato 36787, MexicoAir pollution forecasting is essential for understanding environmental patterns and mitigating health risks, especially in urban areas. This study investigates the forecasting of criterion pollutants—<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>C</mi><mi>O</mi><mo>,</mo><msub><mi>O</mi><mn>3</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><mi>S</mi><msub><mi>O</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><mi>N</mi><msub><mi>O</mi><mn>2</mn></msub><mo>,</mo><mi>P</mi><msub><mi>M</mi><mrow><mn>2.5</mn></mrow></msub><mo>,</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>P</mi><msub><mi>M</mi><mn>10</mn></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>—across multiple temporal frames (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) in Salamanca, Mexico, utilizing temporal, meteorological, and pollutant data from local monitoring stations. The primary objective is to identify robust models capable of short- and mid-term predictions, despite challenges related to data inconsistencies and missing values. Leveraging the low-code PyCaret framework, a benchmark analysis was conducted to identify the best-performing models for each pollutant. Statistical evaluations, including ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests, were employed to compare model performance across different time frames. The results reveal significant variations in prediction accuracy depending on both the pollutant and temporal windows, with stronger predictive performance observed in the weekly and monthly frames. The research indicates that the incorporation of temporal and environmental variables enhances forecast accuracy and highlights the value of low-code AutoML tools, such as PyCaret, in streamlining model selection and improving overall forecasting efficiency.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/6/1/9air pollutionforecastmachine learningair qualityPyCaret
spellingShingle Francisco-Javier Moreno-Vazquez
Felipe Trujillo-Romero
Amanda Enriqueta Violante Gavira
Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico
Earth
air pollution
forecast
machine learning
air quality
PyCaret
title Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico
title_full Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico
title_fullStr Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico
title_full_unstemmed Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico
title_short Optimizing Air Pollution Forecasting Across Temporal Scales: A Case Study in Salamanca, Mexico
title_sort optimizing air pollution forecasting across temporal scales a case study in salamanca mexico
topic air pollution
forecast
machine learning
air quality
PyCaret
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4834/6/1/9
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