Browsing by Subject "back-trajectory"

The impacts of dust aerosols on human health and climate change are increasing as the particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations and frequency of Sand and Dust Storm (SDS) episodes have shown an increasing trend in recent studies, especially for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this thesis, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) concentrations were measured during May 2018–March 2019 in the urban atmosphere of Amman, Jordan. The PM sampling was 24-hours every 6 days. The overall mean PM10 mass concentration was 64±39 μg/m3 with the median (+interquartile range) value of 49.2+53.5 μg/m3, the PM2.5 mass concentration varied between 15 μg/m3 and 190 μg/m3 with an annual average 47±32 μg/m3 and with the median (+interquartile range) value of 35.8+26.3 μg/m3. The PM2.5 / PM10 ratio was 0.8±0.2. According to the Jordanian Air Quality standards, the annual mean PM10 needs to be below a limit value of 120 μg/m3, which was true in this work. However, the PM2.5 mass concentration was three times higher the corresponding limit value (65 μg/m3). However, both exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality annual guideline of 20 μg/m3 for PM10 and 10 μg/m3 for PM2.5. The results show that the observed PM10 mass concentrations in Jordan were lower than what was reported in other cities in the Middle East but were higher when compared to other Mediterranean cities. During the measurement period, Jordan was affected by Sand and Dust Storms (SDS), which were observed on 14 sampling days. The source origins of these SDS were traced back to North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant. The 24-hour PM10 concentrations during these SDS episodes ranged between 108.1 μg/m3 and 187.3 μg/m3. In the future, measurements with a higher time resolution (one sample per day) are recommended for a more precise seasonal trend interpretation.