Abstract
Objective: An analysis of the air quality of Bogotá by identifying clouds during the period from 2013-2017 and verifying patterns of behavior between cloud formation and the concentration of particulate matter is presented. Materials and methods: The study sample includes data provided by the Bogotá Air Quality Monitoring Network (RMCAB), taking into account the concentration of particulate matter, temperature, precipitation, wind direction and wind speed. The data are compared with Landsat 8 satellite images and different combinations of spectral bands through the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS) ArcGis. Results and discussion: A high model correlation is reflected in a percentage greater than 90%, presenting a greater coincidence with a periodicity of two years during the dry period; it is possible to observe that the concentration of pollutants follows the trend of the wind vector lines, and the concentration has a direct correlation with cloud formation, which is influenced by temperature, wind speed and wind direction. Conclusions: This paper provides an alternative for the measurement of particulate matter and contributes to the collection of information on this research topic.
Highlights
Air pollution is one of the most worrisome environmental problems and is one of the critical challenges faced by modern societies and growing cities, since it is considered responsible for significant adverse effects on human health [1]–[4], animals, natural ecosystems and the environment [5]
The study area is limited to the city of Bogotá in the sectors where there are automatic air quality monitoring stations that measure PM10 (Guaymaral, Usaquén, Suba, Las Ferias, Puente Aranda, Kennedy, Sevillana-Carvajal, Tunal, San Cristóbal, Centro de Alto Rendimiento-CAR, MinAmbiente), and the satellite image area corresponds to the area or grid of resolution (Figure 1)
Places with low cloud formation can present PM10 at high concentration levels, with high temperatures and high values of wind speed directed towards the west
Summary
Air pollution is one of the most worrisome environmental problems and is one of the critical challenges faced by modern societies and growing cities, since it is considered responsible for significant adverse effects on human health [1]–[4], animals, natural ecosystems and the environment [5]. The concentration of particulate matter (PM) affects human health and clouds by preventing the proper formation of precipitation [6] These authors affirm that this effect would have serious potential implications for the availability of water resources and for the global climate due to the effects on precipitation processes because the droplets that make up clouds must initially form around an existing particle, known as the “cloud condensation core”, which depends on the purity of the air. The highest concentrations of air pollution are in cities within developing economies, such as the capital of Colombia, and constantly rising, with an annual median concentration of 60 μg/m3 registered in 2005 [11], [12] Industrial activity in this country is concentrated in the regions with the greatest population in the country, mainly in the cities of Bogotá, Cali and Medellín, where most automobiles operate. According to the 2016 report of the World Health Organization [1] on air pollution, the main cities in Latin America such as Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Bogotá, Lima and Sao Paulo have PM proportions above the recommended values, and Bogotá has been listed as the city with the fourth highest level of atmospheric pollution by PM10 (i.e., particles present in the atmosphere, in solid or liquid state, with sizes between 2.5 μm and 10 μm) [14]
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