Page 69 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 7

CPS2031 Javier Linkolk L. et al.

Self-organizing ensemble of LSTM to enhance
the air pollution estimation in Santiago of Chile
3
1,2
1
Javier Linkolk López-Gonzales , Rodrigo Salas Fuentes , Cristian Ubal ,
4
4
Orietta Nicolis , Romina Torres
1 Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Estadística, Universidad de Valparaíso
2 Facultad de Ingeniería y Arquitectura, Universidad Peruana Unión
3 Escuela de Ingeniería C. Biomédica, Universidad de Valparaíso
4 Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Andrés Bello

Abstract
In highly populated and / or industrialized cities, they are affected by high
levels of pollutant concentration in the air, which seriously affects the health
of their inhabitants. In this article we propose a new ensemble technique of
Long-Short Term Memory networks based on self-organizing maps to
enhance the estimation if PM2.5 concentration in urban Santiago, Chile.
Simulation results with time series collected in one of the Station shows very
promising results.

Keywords
Air pollution; Ensemble of Artificial Neural Networks; Long-Short Term
Memory; Self-Organizing Maps

1. Introduction
In recent years, the presence of haze has been frequent in the southern
areas of Chile, mainly in Santiago. The main factor of air pollution is fine
particulate matter (PM2.5, PM 2.5μm in diameter). This was presented for the
first time as an indicator for the ambient air quality standard by the American
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1997 [1].
It was detected that the surface of these particles is linked to several toxic
products, such as organic compounds, elements and bacteria [2]. Because they
are so small, they only micrometers in size, and it is easy for them to cross the
respiratory system and enter the lung or even enter the blood, which can cause
asthma, respiratory inflammation and cancer [3]. Some studies reported
correlations between PM2.5 and death ([4], [5], [6]). Taking into account the
influence of PM2.5, the World Health Organization recognized PM2.5 as
carcinogens for the first time in October 2013.
In this sense, improving air quality is one of the major environmental
challenges of this century [7]. Many cities in Latin American countries are
heavily polluted with PM2.5 and PM10, affecting human health and life quality.
In Chile's capital, the Santiago Metropolitan Area (SMA), PM 2.5
concentrations systematically exceed values defined by World Health

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