Analysis of Air Pollutants Data from Continuous Ambient Monitoring Stations in Urban Areas — A Case Study

摘要

Air pollutants and meteorological data were collected over a period of 5 years (2011 to 2015) from stationary monitoring stations in two urban districts of Kuwait to determine compliance with regulatory requirements of the Kuwait Environment Public Authority (KEPA), as to assist local authorities to plan pollution control strategies. The data included four air quality parameters namely, ozone (O_3), nitrogen dioxide (NO_2), sulfur dioxide (SO_2), and particulate matter (PM_(10)) concentrations, as well as meteorological parameters, such as wind speed and direction. The urban districts studied were zone 1: Jahra (residential) and zone 3: Fahaheel, ( residential / industrial). The data collected were analyzed using the "OpenAir" software R package and results were compared to the regulatory limits. Results revealed that, in general, the residential district had lower levels of air pollutants as compared to the industrial/residential district. The levels were generally highest at the sites categorized as traffic, while the variability between different seasons were sparse. According to the correlation analysis, there was a high correlation between SO_2 and O_3 (R~2=0.979) and for NO_2 and PM_(10), (R~2= 0.989). The spatial variation in NO_2 concentrations within each area was smaller than the variation in ozone concentrations. Number of exceedances of regulatory limits were determined in every case.