DOI: 10.5176/2251-189X_SEES25
Authors: Mohamed Al-Sahali, Hisham Ettouney, Fatemah Al-Baroud & Aisha Al-Baroud
Abstract: This study focuses on evaluation of seasonal variations in air pollutants in Jahra, Kuwait. Pollutant measurements were made at 5 minutes interval over a period of 5 years. During the study period, data analysis was made for pollutant distribution in January, April, July and October. The measured pollutants included SO2, NOx, PM10, CO, non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and O3. Monitored meteorological parameters included wind speed, wind direction, ambient temperature and solar intensity. Averages for the wind roses in January, April, July, and October were generated for each year. The results are consistent with previous literature where the dominant wind is obtained in the north western direction. In addition, large fluctuations were obtained in the wind rose patterns during April and October more than in January and July. The hourly averages for each pollutant during the study period displayed similar patterns to those found in previous literature, where two maximums occurred for NOx and CO during the traffic rush hours. Comparison of measured averages against US EPA standards shows that most of the measured values are lower than the EPA standards.
Keywords: air pollution measurements, seasonal variations, EPA limits, wind rose, arid environment
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