Abstract: Inhalable particulate matter (PM10) is a primary air pollutant closely related to
public health, and an especially serious problem in urban areas. The urban heat island
(UHI) effect has made the urban PM10 pollution situation more complex and severe. In this
study, we established a health risk assessment system utilizing an epidemiological method
taking the thermal environment effects into consideration. We utilized a remote sensing
method to retrieve the PM10 concentration, UHI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). With the correlation between
difference vegetation index (DVI) and PM10 concentration, we utilized the established
model between PM10 and thermal environmental indicators to evaluate the PM10 health
risks based on the epidemiological study. Additionally, with the regulation of UHI, NDVI
and NDWI, we aimed at regulating the PM10 health risks and thermal environment
simultaneously. This study attempted to accomplish concurrent thermal environment
regulation and elimination of PM10 health risks through control of UHI intensity.
The results indicate that urban Beijing has a higher PM10 health risk than rural areas;
PM10 health risk based on the thermal environment is 1.145, which is similar to the health
risk calculated (1.144) from the PM10 concentration inversion; according to the regulation