Open AccessSeasonal and Temporal Variations of Criteria Air Pollutants and the Influence of Meteorological Parameters on the Concentration of Pollutants in Ambient Air in Lahore, Pakistan
Author(s) -
Amtul Bari Tabinda,
Saleha Munir,
Abdullah Yasar,
Asad Ilyas
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
pakistan journal of scientific and industrial research. series a: physical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.136
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2223-2559
pISSN - 2221-6413
DOI - 10.52763/pjsir.phys.sci.59.1.2016.34.42
Subject(s) - nox , environmental science , pollutant , atmospheric sciences , wind speed , air pollutants , air pollution , meteorology , environmental chemistry , chemistry , geography , organic chemistry , combustion , geology
Criteria air pollutants have their significance for causing health threats and damage to theenvironment. The study was conducted to assess the seasonal and temporal variations of criteria air pollutantsand evaluating the correlations of criteria air pollutants with meteorological parameters in the city ofLahore, Pakistan for a period of one year from April 2010 to March 2011. The concentrations of criteriaair pollutants were determined at fixed monitoring stations equipped with HORIBA analyzers. The annualaverage concentrations (µg/m3) of PM2.5, O3, SO2, CO and NOx (NO+NO2) for this study period were118.94±57.46, 46.0±24.2, 39.9±8.9, 1940±1300 and 130.9±81.0 (61.8±46.2+57.3±22.19), respectively.PM2.5, SO2, CO and NOx had maximum concentrations during winter whereas O3 had maximum concentrationduring summer. Minimum concentrations of PM2.5, SO2 and NOx were found during monsoon as comparedto other seasons due to rainfall which scavenged these pollutants. The O3 showed positive correlation withtemperature and solar radiation but negative correlation with wind speed. All other criteria air pollutantsshowed negative correlation with wind speed, temperature and solar radiation. A significant (P<0.01)correlation was found between NOx and CO (r = 0.779) which showed that NOx and CO arise from commonsource that could be the vehicular emission. PM2.5 was significantly correlated (P<0.01) with NOx (r = 0.524)and CO (r = 0.519), respectively. High traffic intensity and traffic jams were responsible for increased airpollutants level especially the PM2.5, NOx and CO.