Comparative assessment of ambient air quality in Rabia area for years 2001 and 2004 in the State of Kuwait

The hourly air pollutants concentrations were measured continuously by fixed ambient air stations located over the polyclinics in Rabia area in Capital Governorate in the State of Kuwait. The focus of this investigation is to determine the pollution levels of [SO.sub.2], [NO.sub.2] and [O.sub.3] in year 2001 and 2004 to assess the pollution trends. The recorded data are used in identification of the most probable sources of these pollutants. The pollutants levels were compared to evaluate exceedances of Kuwait Environmental Authority Standards. The diurnal patterns were also analyzed for different seasons for two years 2001 and 2004. Weekdays and weekend variation on Ozone pollution has been thoroughly investigated. It is observed that [SO.sub.2], [NO.sub.2] and [O.sub.3] levels were higher in year 2001 as compare to year 2004 due to the application of various mitigation strategies such as relocation of car auction market and transport depot, which were located in the northwestern side of Rabia area with distance of 2 km. The traffic volume all over the country has increased by substantial amount increasing NOx and ozone precursor emissions, which showed the complex balance of [NO.sub.x] and [O.sub.3]. The [O.sub.3] levels of the daytime hours from April to September period has shown high buildup on weekend as compare to weekdays due to the least traffic density on the roads. Key words: Ambient air pollution, weekdays/weekend effect, seasonal variation, ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide
INTRODUCTION The air pollution causes persistent smog and health risk to the inhabitants of developing countries such as the state of Kuwait. Since the concept of pollution has existed for [...]