IMPROVEMENT OF THE DIMENSION OF AN AIR QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK BY MEANS OF MULTIVARIATE STATISTICAL METHODS

Two multivariate statistical methods (principal component analysis and cluster analysis) have been used in this work to assess potential redundancies in stations and measurements of the air quality monitoring network of the Region de Murcia (Spain). The results show that there are no redundancies, not even in areas with more stations than required by the legislation. This highlights that current criteria for assigning stations to a particular area (based on population numbers) must be complemented with criteria that consider, among others, its industrial or touristic activity. The described methodology is applicable to other existing networks.