GENERAL ASSESSMENT OF PM10 AND SO2 IN AĞRI

Abstract

The quantity of air pollutants has been increasing dramatically because of the high-energy consumption and usage of transportation systems triggered by the industrial revolution. In addition, the development of technology, high demand for conventional sources, unplanned urbanization, and rapid growth of population are some of the most important factors for the increase of particulate matter (PM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) in the last 20 years in Turkey. Ağrı, which is a rural province having more high plateau areas and agricultural lands than residential areas, is less affected by these factors compared to developed cities. In this work, variations of PM10 and SO2 concentrations were evaluated from January to December of 2018. Overall, it was found that SO2 concentrations were well below the regulations, and the majority of the air pollution in Ağrı was due to PM10. Also, Concentrations of PM10 were higher than expected due to the location of the station. Hourly PM10 and SO2 concentrations ranged as 9.4-179.7 and 1.4-39.4 µg/m³, with average values of 52.1 and 8.3 µg/m³, respectively. According to the Turkish Aerosol Quality Index (AQI) daily PM10 concentrations were 51% in the “good” class, 44% in the “moderate” class, and 5% in the “sensitive” class. While SO2 measurement values were 100% in the “good” class in 2018. According to the results obtained in this work, it is recommended that more efforts are done to decrease emissions of PM10 throughout the year, and particularly during the heating season.