Development of a Fuzzy Air Quality Performance Indicator

The ultimate objective is to utilize fuzzy logic in developing environmental indicators for quantifying the environmental performance of industrial activities. Three types of indicators have been introduced in the current study. The first one is Kuwait-AQI, which is an air quality index that represents the air pollution conditions in Kuwait. The index considers five pollutants; O sub(3), PM sub(10), CO, SO sub(2) and NO sub(2), and indicates the pollutant of maximum sub-index value. The second indicator is a fuzzy-based air quality index (Fuzzy-AQI), which is a useful tool that accounts for all pollutant's concentrations rather than having one pollutant dominating the value of the index. The third indicator is a fuzzy air quality performance indicator (FAQPI), which has been proposed as an effective tool for monitoring the environmental performance of process industries. The effectiveness of the proposed indicators is illustrated by examples based on air pollution measurements recorded by three fixed monitoring stations in Kuwait. Furthermore, a simulated industrial air pollution case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the indicators in tracking the environmental performance of an industrial activity as a result of implementing air pollution control projects.