Jawad Abdulkadhim Alaboudi et al./ Elixir Environ. & Forestry 99 (2016) 43109-43112 43109
Introduction
People are exposed to many sources of non-ionizing radio
frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMF) including radio
and TV transmitters, telecommunications links, and satellite
communications as well as mobile phones and their supporting
transmitters base stations. There is a great concern expressed
about possible health effects associated with exposure to such
non-ionizing EMF radiations. International guidelines have
been issued to protect professional workers and the public
from short-term high level EMF exposure (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).
To avoid the excessive exposure in a certain area,
environmental geographical maps for EMF exposure level and
distribution to be known. During the last years employment of
GIS extended from topographical surveys to environmental
applications, GIS has been created in order to show some
thematic maps, which represent the distribution of EMF
pollution (6).
The using of GIS for the evaluation of EMF effects from
Iraqi 132KV electrical transmission system was introduced in
2011 (7). Samples of 132KV high voltage transmission lines
are selected for calculation of magnetic and electric field
levels and compared with ICNIRP (International Commission
on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) standard limits. GIS
maps are introduced for visually highlight the unsafe zones in
proximity of lines.
Materials and Method
Fields measurements have been implemented in the Iraqi
capital city (Baghdad) which was selected as a sample of the
study area. The study area was converted into a virtual mesh
by subdividing into smaller square areas, the mesh density
varied according to the required accuracy as more dense
required when high gradient EMF exposure level is expected.
The measurements are implemented in the interception points
of the mesh lines to produce a regular distribution of data.
EMF field strength measurements are made using a
calibrated spectrum analyzer type (SPECTRAN HF-6065)
with (hyper LOG) measuring antenna type (AARONIA 7060).
Geographical locations in decimal degree are measured using
Garmin GPS type (GPS62st), the required statistical analysis
for measurements is implemented using IBM SPSS Version
20.
The inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation spatial tool
has been used for EMF exposure level calculation in unknown
areas. IDW is the process of estimating an unknown value by
using values that are already known.IDW method is widely
used in GIS atmosphere analysis applications, the reason
behind that is less distortion with high accuracy maps obtained
when enough measuring points are available (8).
Data analysis
The EMF radiation exposure metrics have been
considered as: the electric-field strength E (V/m), the power
density S (W/m
2
), furthermore, exposure ratios (ER) and
average contributions(AC) and maximum contributions(MC)
are defined. The exposure ratio ER of an EMF radiation
exposure is defined as the ratio between the maximum
measured electric field value for the considered exposure type
over the total locations and the corresponding ICNIRP
reference level (L
E
):
(1)
With the maximum value over N locations when considering
all data, Ei (V/m) is the field strength of an EMF radiation
exposure type at location i, respectively, L
E
the corresponding
ICNIRP reference levels for electric-field strength in (V/m), a
ratio smaller than 100 % means that ICNIRP reference levels
are satisfied. The exposure ratio can also be defined with
respect to power densities (ERs).
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received: 19 August 2016;
Received in revised form:
2 October 2016;
Accepted: 12 October 2016;
Keywords
GIS,
Environmental pollution,
Exposure,
EMF Radiations and Mapping.
Using Geographical Information System for Electromagnetic Fields
Environmental Pollution Mapping (Applied Study in Baghdad City)
Jawad Abdulkadhim Alaboudi , Mohamad T. Hamza, Alaa M. Hammadi and Adnan H. Afaj
Environment and water Directorate, Ministry of Science and Technology.
ABSTRACT
The development of new technology increases the exposure level to non-ionizing EMF
radiations. Recent development of spatial data management in the framework of GIS has
created a new trend of environmental mapping. In this work, maps for different EMF
sources have been developed for the Baghdad city using Arc Map GIS version 10, the
utilization of such spatial analysis maps is very important for future planning and EMF
exposure assessment studies. Statistical analysis for measurement data was made using
IBM SPSS Version 20. The maximum contribution of EMF exposure was referred to FM
radio stations and GSM mobile base station due to high power transmitters and large
number of base stations, maximum EMF strength caused by FM radio stations was 10.2
(V/m) and the average exposure level 3.578 (V/m). High-level exposure values unveil the
necessity of imposing new recommendations and limits concerning stations site selection
and reducing exposure levels in residential areas as low as possible.
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Elixir Environ. & Forestry 99 (2016) 43109-43112
Environment and Forestry
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