air quality before, during, and after dust ... (5233).pdfair quality before, during, and after dust...

Plant Archives Vol. 19 No. 2, 2019 pp. 3671-3678 e-ISSN:2581-6063 (online), ISSN:0972-5210

AIR QUALITY BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER DUST STORMS INBAGHDAD, IRAQ

Hazim H. Hussain Al-Saleem, Nagham T. Ibraheem and Omar L. Khaleed

Atmospheric Sciences Department, College of Science, Mustansiriyah University, Iraq.

AbstractDust storms in Iraq have increased dramatically over the last two decades. The Iraqi Ministry of Environment recording 122dust storms and 283 dusty days in 2014.This research came to study the beaver of air quality values in Baghdad before,during, and after four dust storms occurrence in 2011,by using two different line, the first related to the some chemicalgaseous pollutant concentrations and the second related to the concentration of the particulate matter. The results showedthat the concentrations of the chemical gaseous pollutants: SO2, NO2 and CO decreased on the day of the dust storm fromthe day before and the day after it. For example, on the day before the dust storm which occur on 19/1/2011,the concentrationswas :(CO=1.5427)(NO2 =0.0364)(SO2 = 0.0314) while in the day of the storm : (CO=0.7369) (NO2=0.0260) (SO2=0.0303) and in theday after it : (CO=1.3225)(NO2=0.0377)(SO2=0.0457).It was found that the behavior of these gases during the dust storms isdue to the impact of wind speed.Key words : dust storm, air quality, Baghdad, pollutant gases.

IntroductionDust storms in Iraq have increased over the past 20

years, It is believed that over the next 10 years, Iraq maywitness 300 dusty days and dust storms during the year(Daly and Zannetti,2007).

Dust storms carry two types of solid pollutants: sandparticles (grint) solid substances that are more than 500min diameter and rapidly return to the surface of the earth,and dust particles that are smaller than sand, ranging indiameter from 25 to 200 m and which are two types,(fall dust) and return to earth after they are launched bygravity, (suspended dust) Its particles remain suspendedby air for a while and then dropped by gravity accordingto its size (Hussain, 2014).

Dust storms passing through Iraq occur for tworeasons: the first because of the northern winds resultingfrom the cyclone based on North Africa to eastern Europeand lead to the formation of monsoons passing by Iraqand southern Iran and Pakistan, The second is the frontaldust storms in the sedimentary plain extending from centralIraq to western and central Iran, and in severe casesmay reach northern Iran and the southern coast of theCaspian Sea (Hamidi and Reza ,2013).

Baghdad suffers from the effects of dust almostevery year because it is in the course of the frontal stormsof the sedimentary plain coming from the Saudi desert,(sources of dust storms). In recent years, the greatfrequency of SDS has led efforts to give more attentionto this problem. Most scientific studies focus on airoperations, dust sources, transition paths and changes inconcentrations of pollutants (Daly and Zannetti, 2007).

Dust is generally composed of a group of particles,which are divided into three groups (0.5-1.8 m), whicharise as a result of human activities (2-8 m) and arecaused by dust storms (10-20 m) Is being studied(PM10) (Ning, Zhong et al., 1996 ), Complex analyzesof temporal and spatial changes for PM10 levels suggestthat dust particles reach their highest values 12 hoursbefore PM10 reaches peak and remain for 36 hours(Yang, 2002).

This research come to study the manner of somepollutant gases as one of the most dangerous gases onhuman health and the environment. These gases are(NO2) (CO) (SO2).NO2 is dangerous to the environmentbecause it contributes to the formation of acid rain in thewet environment, as well as causes heart disease andlung disease and reduces the immunity of the body and

3672 Hazim H. Hussain Al-Saleem et al.

increases the incidence of cancer, and the most prominentsources of transport vehicles and electric generatingstations (Warneck, 1999) . While the source of CO is theoxidation of methane due to the decomposition of organicmatter as well as caused by vital events in the seas andon land, and the danger to the human being as it combineswith blood hemoglobin and cause death without warning(Tiwary and Collis, 2010 ). The eruption of volcanoes isone of the sources of SO2, as well as particles resultingfrom the spray of sulfur springs, resulting in exposure tobreathing difficulties such as asthma, lung disease andcough (Jacobson, 2002) , It is known that SO2 is asubstance that is used to treat all mucous membranes inthe human body that are exposed to contact, especiallyfor people with respiratory problems and accelerate thedevelopment of chronic respiratory diseases (Saide andPablo, 2011 ) . produced by fuel combustion in oil refineriesand power generation units. Many studies show that theconcentration of polluting chemical gases before the duststorm is relatively high because of a strong temperaturereversal over the city. But the concentration of thesegases during the dust storm is generally reduced due tostrong winds while the concentration of PM10 isincreased (Fang, YunXie et al., 2003 ) . Many of pollutingchemical gases are absorbed by liquid surfaces such asprecipitation or solid surfaces such as soil and vegetation,These gases are absorbed by dust particles in theatmosphere during the dust storm and then drifting bygravity to the surface of the earth by the so-called drydeposition, note that the deposition occurs for particlesthat have more than 1m radius ( Hemond and Fechner-Levy, 2000 ) . After the dust storm passes, the percentageof polluting gases begins to rise while the aerosolsconcentration decreases .

Some studies also suggest that dust storms containfour stages: accumulation of pollutants in the atmosphere,discharge of pollutants, addition of pure dust, dustdischarge. Polluted gases and atmospheric plankton showthe same four phases, and it is observed that theconcentration of the aerosols changes inversely with theconcentration of gaseous pollutants (Guo and Rahn , 2004) .

Materials and MethodsChemical gaseous pollutant concentrations and

particulate matter concentration Data were obtainedfrom the Iraqi Ministry of Environment for the city ofBaghdad for four storms, (19/1/2011) (22/3/2011) (5/4/2011) (4/7/2011) as shown in Fig. (1-2-3-4) andmeteorological data ( wind speed components ) obtainedfrom European Center for Meteorological Weather

Fig. 1: Meteosat 8 visible image for dust storm occur in 19/1/2011 in Iraq.



Forecasting ( ECMWF).

Results and DiscussionData were taken for the dust storms selected for the

storm day, one day before and one day later. The datataken are observational data showing the concentration

Air quality before, during, and after Dust storms in Baghdad, Iraq 3673


of the aerosols as well as the concentration of (NO2)(CO) (SO2) as well as the temperature and wind speed.Drawing the relationships between the variables, therelationship between the concentration of the aerosolsand the polluted gases was plotted as well as therelationship between the concentration of the aerosolsand the temperature and wind speed for the same daysand the result as shown in Fig.(5-a,b,c,d).

Fig.s (5-a,b,c,d) shows the form that the concentration

of polluting gases is high one day before the dust storm,but when it arrives, the concentration of gas is reducedto the lowest value and then rise again in the day afterthe dust storm and this applies to all Contaminated gases.We also find that the temperature decreases during thedust storm and rises again after the storm, and this isbecause the aerosol is a barrier that works to reduce theamount of solar radiation reaching the surface of the earthand reduce the temperature, Also, the wind speedincreases during the dust storm, increasing theconcentration of the aerosol. These winds work todisperse the polluting gases, so the concentration is lessconcentrated during the dust storm, and when it passesless wind speed increases concentration of gases, this

means that the wind speed is the main reason to dispersionof polluted gases concentration, for this reason we studiedthe effect of horizontal and vertical wind components onthe concentration of polluted gases by contour maps ofwind components before, during and after the dust stormas in Fig.s (6-a,b,c,d).

The Fig.s shows the absence of the effect ofhorizontal and vertical wind speed components on theconcentration of polluted gases and their values change

Du st Sto rm Da ys

1 8 1 9 2 0

pm

10 co

ncen

tratio

n (?

g/m

3 )

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 0

14 0

NO

2 coc

entra

tion (p

pm)

0 .015

0 .020

0 .025

0 .030

0 .035

0 .040

0 .045

0 .050

0 .055pm10 NO 2

Du st St or m D a ys

18 19 20

pm

10

con

cen

tration (

? g/m3 )

0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40

CO

con

cen

tration (p

pm

)

0. 2

0. 4

0. 6

0. 8

1. 0

1. 2

1. 4

1. 6pm1 0 CO

D us t St or m Da ys

1 8 1 9 2 0

pm1

0 conc

entration

(? g/m

3 )0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40

Tem

pe

ratu

re (C

)

0

4

8

12

16

20

Wind

spe

ed (m

/s)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6p m 10 T Wind

D u st Sto r m D ay s

18 19 2 0

pm

10 c

onc

entra

tion

(? g/m

3 )

0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40

SO

2 co

nce

ntration

(pp

m)

0 .0 0

0 .0 1

0 .0 2

0 .0 3

0 .0 4

0 .0 5

pm 1 0 S O 2

Fig. 5a: dust storm in 19/1/2011

D u st S to r m D a y s

2 1 2 2 2 3

pm1

0 con

se

ntra

tion

(? m/m

3)

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

1 0 0

1 2 0

1 4 0

CO

co

nce

ntra

tion

(pp

m)

0 .2

0 .4

0 .6

0 .8

1 .0

1 .2

1 .4

1 .6 p m 1 0 c o

D u st St o rm D ay s

21 22 23

pm

10

con

ce

ntratio

n (? g/m

3)

0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40

NO

2 coc

entra

tion (p

pm

)

0 .015

0 .020

0 .025

0 .030

0 .035

0 .040

0 .045

0 .050

0 .055pm10 no 2

D u st S to r m Da y s

21 2 2 23

pm

10

con

ce

ntratio

n (

?g

/m3)

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 0

14 0

SO

2 co

nce

ntra

tion

(pp

m)

0.0 0

0.0 1

0.0 2

0.0 3

0.0 4

0.0 5pm 10 so2

Dus t St or m Da ys

21 22 23

pm1

0 conce

ntra

tion (

?g/m

3)

0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40

Tem

perature (C

)20

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

36

38

Win

d spee

d (m/s)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6pm10 T W

Fig. 5b: dust storm in 22/3/2011

Du st St o rm Da y s

4 5 6

pm1

0 c

onc

entra

tion (

? g/m3

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

CO

co

nce

ntration

(pp

m)

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6p m10 co

D us t St or m Da ys

4 5 6

pm

10 con

cen

tration

(? g/m

3)

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 0

14 0

NO

2 co

ncen

tration (pp

m)

0 .015

0 .020

0 .025

0 .030

0 .035

0 .040

0 .045

0 .050

0 .055pm10 no2

D u st S to r m D a y s

4 5 6

pm1

0 con

ce

ntration

(? g/m

3)

0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40

SO

2 co

nc

entra

tion

(ppm

)

0 .00

0 .01

0 .02

0 .03

0 .04

0 .05pm 10 s o2

Du st St or m Days

4 5 6

pm

10 c

oncen

tratio

n (? g

? m?

?

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 0

14 0

T (C)

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Wind

spee

d (m/s)

1

2

3

4

5

6pm 1 0 T W

Fig. 5c: dust storm in 5/4/2011randomly with the concentrations of gases before, duringand after the dust storm, reaches maximum values onthe day before or after the dust storm while decreased inthe storm eliminating their impact on dispersing pollutedgases and reducing their concentration. While wind

speed is proportional to the concentration of the aerosols(pm10), it is at its highest values during the dust stormand less before and after the storm and this seems clearfrom the figs. (5-a,b,c,d).

The difference is the concentration of pollutants


D u s t S to r m D a y s

3 4 5

pm

10

con

ce

ntra

tion

(?

g/m

3)

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 0

14 0

CO

con

ce

ntra

tion

(pp

m)

0 .2

0 .4

0 .6

0 .8

1 .0

1 .2

1 .4

1 .6p m10 c o

D u s t S to r m D a ys

3 4 5

pm

10 c

oce

ntra

tion (

? g/m3)

0

20

40

60

80

1 00

1 20

1 40N

O2 co

nc

en

tratio

n (p

pm

)

0.0 15

0.0 20

0.0 25

0.0 30

0.0 35

0.0 40

0.0 45

0.0 50

0.0 55p m1 0 NO 2

D us t Sto r m Da y s

3 4 5

pm10

con

cen

tratio

n (

? g/m3)

0

2 0

4 0

6 0

8 0

10 0

12 0

14 0

SO

2 c

onc

en

tration

(ppm

)0.0 0

0.0 1

0.0 2

0.0 3

0.0 4

0.0 5pm10 SO2

Du st St or m Day s

3 4 5

pm10

coce

ntration

(?

g/m3

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Tem

peratu

re (C

)3 0

3 2

3 4

3 6

3 8

4 0

Wind

spee

d (m/s)0

1

2

3

4

5

pm10 T w

Fig. 5d: dust storm in 4/7/2011

Before the dust storm During the dust storm After the dust storm

Fig. 6a: Wind speed components for 19/1/2011 Dust Storm.



Fig. 6b: Wind speed components for 22/3/2011 Dust Storm.


Fig. 6c: Wind speed components for 5/4/2011 Dust Storm.during the seasons as shown in Fig. 7.

The Fig. shows that the concentration of pollutinggases is greater during winter than in the summer, this

applies to all polluting gases as shown in Figs. (A, B, C),that means that the concentration of polluting gases isinversely proportional with temperature as shown in Fig.(E). The concentration of the aerosols in the dust storm



Fig. 6d: Wind speed components for 4/7/2011 Dust Storm.

changes during the seasons depending on the source ofthe storm and the areas passing through it as shown infig. (D). This is due to the low wind speed in winterwhich works for the highest dispersion of contaminantsFig. (F), where the numbers on X-axis refers to thefollowing: 1 (before dust storm), 2 (during dust storm), 3(after dust storm).

ConclusionsBefore the dust storm, the concentration of polluting

gases is high in the atmosphere due to traffic and industrialactivities, while the concentration of the aerosol isrelatively low.

During the dust storm, the concentration of theaerosol increases due to weather system conditions inthe study area (low pressure system and blowing wind)and the concentration of polluting gases decreases dueto the increasing in the speed of the wind that dispersesthe pollutants, These polluting gases are absorbed by thedust particles present in the atmosphere during the duststorm and are then deposited to the earth’s surface bygravity, which reduces the concentration of these gasesin the atmosphere. Also the temperature decreasesbecause the dust acts to block the solar radiation reaching

the earth’s surface.After the dust storm passes, the concentration of the

aerosol is reduced and the concentration of air pollutantsincreases due to the low wind speed, which leads to theaccumulation of these pollutants near the surface of theearth, and the temperature rises again.

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Before, Dur ing& Af ter Dus t Storm

1 2 3

NO2 concentration (ppm) 0.015

0.020

0.025

0.030

0.035

0.040

0.045

0.050

0.055Jan.MarchApr ilJuly

B

Before, During& After Dust Storm

1 2 3

CO concentration (ppm)

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8Jan.MarchApr ilJuly

A

Before , During & After Dust Sto rm

1 2 3

pm10 concentration (? g/m

3)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140Jan. March April July

D

Before, During & Af ter Dus t Storm

1 2 3

SO2 concentration (ppm

)

0.00

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05Jan.MarchAprilJuly

C

Before, D uring & Af ter Dus t Sto rm

1 2 3

Wind speed (m

/s)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6Ja n. March April Ju ly

F

Before, During & Af ter Dust Sto rm

1 2 3

Temperature (C)

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40Jan. March Apr il July

E

Fig. 7: Aerosol concentrations and contaminants before, during and after the storm.

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