Abstract
This work presents a comprehensive study on concentrations and elemental composition of total suspended atmospheric particulates for a semi-urban site on the Red Sea coast, and on-board a research vessel, which collected off-shore samples along the Red Sea. We conducted one of the most extended measurement campaigns of atmospheric particulates ever for the region, with continuous measurements over 27 months. The overall mean concentrations (± st. dev.) of TSP were 125 ± 197 µg m−3 for the permanent semi-urban site, and 108 ± 193 µg m−3 for the off-shore mobile site. The region is frequently severely impacted by both localised and widespread dust storms, which on occasion, can increase atmospheric particulate concentrations to levels above mg m−3 (> 1000 µg m−3). Median concentrations were not as variable between seasons, indicating a stable, permanent presence of atmospheric particulates independent of the time of year. The primary chemical elements contributing to particulate mass were Na, Ca, S, Al and Fe. We employed Positive Matrix Factorisation (EPA PMF v5.0.14) to identify different major sources of particulates, which were crustal, marine, fuel oil combustion/secondary sulphate and mixed anthropogenic. The crustal source was characterised by tracers Al, Fe, K, Mg and Sn, and was present to some extent in the other identified sources due to the permanent presence of dust particles in the atmosphere. The fuel oil combustion/secondary sulphate source was identifiable by the almost exclusive presence of S, and to a lesser extent V, emitted from oil combustion as primary emissions and also secondary sulphate formation following the release of S to the atmosphere. A mixed anthropogenic source was characterised by Zn, Ni, Cr, Cu and Pb, emitted from traffic, industry, power generation and water desalination. This study highlights that the natural sources of particulates in this desert region give rise to frequent episodes of extremely poor air quality, and this problem is compounded by significant emissions of anthropogenic pollution, which has an impact across the entire Red Sea basin. Further stringent measures should be adopted to improve air quality across the region and prevent long-term damage to the health of the local population and ecosystems.
Highlights
The negative impacts of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) have been the focus of considerable research, given the effects of exposure to air pollution on human health (Pope1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)2004)
Major anthropogenic emission sources are present along the Red Sea coast, from traffic emissions, incineration, power generation, desalination plants and residual oil burning, exacerbating an already polluted atmosphere (Lim et al 2018). This current study aims to expand on the limited knowledge of atmospheric pollution for the Arabian Peninsula by reporting total suspended particulates (TSP) and associated metal concentrations over the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia
Acknowledgements The research in this publication was supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, KAUST, through funding provided to CMD and the Red Sea Research Center
Summary
The negative impacts of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) have been the focus of considerable research, given the effects of exposure to air pollution on human health (Pope1 3 Vol.:(0123456789)2004). Indirect effects will undoubtedly impact the region Such elevated atmospheric dust concentrations have been shown to impact the surface energy budget over the Peninsula and the Red Sea (Kalenderski et al 2013; Osipov et al 2015; Brindley et al 2015). The Red Sea is one of the warmest bodies of water in the world and is already significantly thermally stressed, with rapidly rising temperatures as a result of climate change (Chaidez et al 2017). Any changes in atmospheric particulate concentrations and chemical composition could impact radiative forcing over the Red Sea, which in turn would have a severe impact on the region, having a net cooling or net heating effect over an already climatically vulnerable region of the globe (Jish Prakash et al 2015)
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