Description of outdoor air quality in a typical residential area in Kuwait

This paper presents a statistical analysis of the data collected by the air pollution mobile laboratory operated by Kuwait University. The experimenta l work was based on operating the mobile laboratory in the Mansouriya resid ential area for a period of 1 month (May 1994). The site was selected to re present a typical residential area which is impacted mainly by the heavy tr affic into and out of Kuwait city. The levels of carbon monoxide (CO), nitr ogen oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O-3) were selected for a nalysis. These are the pollutants likely to result from traffic movement in any urban area. Sulphur dioxide (SO2) was also monitored during the same p eriod. The measured variables include some meteorological parameters such a s temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, solar radiation, wi nd speed and wind direction, which were also recorded at the same time. The study investigates the atmospheric levels of pollutants in the Mansouriya area and the expected source contributing to these pollutants. The objectiv e of this work was to measure the atmospheric levels of pollution in terms of NO, CO, NO2, SO2 and O-3 and to compare with the international standard limits for urban areas. Another objective of the study was to study the diu rnal variations of these pollutants. The results of this study indicate tha t the levels of air pollutants are within the recommended range for residen tial areas according to US Environmental Protection Agency standards. The d istribution of CO was correlated with heavy traffic movement during rush ho urs. However, SO2 levels also followed a similar pattern. This was attribut ed to heavy diesel operational equipment and trucks at the highway construc tion site near the area of study. The hourly distributions of CO, NO and NO 2 were also compared over the days of the week. The results show that no mo rning peaks were detected for these gases during weekends. Correlation betw een O-3 levels and NO and NO2 was also carried out. The O-3 levels show a p eak at the early morning hours and a major peak during midday. This is attr ibuted to the photochemical reactions during the month of May which is the real start of summer in this area. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.