American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 36th Annual Conference
October 16 - October 20, 2017
Raleigh Convention Center
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Abstract View


Air Quality in East Africa: Measurements with Portable and Low-cost Sensors

R. SUBRAMANIAN, Nestor Gomez, Rebecca Tanzer, Naomi Zimmerman, Nathan Williams, Paulina Jaramillo, Carnegie Mellon University

     Abstract Number: 636
     Working Group: Urban Aerosols

Abstract
Seven million people prematurely die every year due to air pollution worldwide (WHO, 2014), including an estimated 400,000 in Rwanda and Tanzania. However, only limited air quality data is available for these countries, partly due to the high cost of traditional reference monitors. We have developed a new low-cost air quality monitor, the Real-time Affordable Multi-Pollutant (RAMP) sensor package, which measures carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, ozone, and carbon dioxide, with performance comparable to reference monitors. Two RAMP sensors coupled with Met-One Neighborhood PM (NPM, to measure fine particulate mass, PM2.5) monitors were recently deployed in Kigali, Rwanda. Over a three-week period in April, PM2.5 was similar (within instrumental uncertainty) at the side of a major road and at a residential location 3 km away, averaging around 27 μg/m3. However, CO was higher at the roadside location (583±22 ppb) than at the residential location (492±14 ppb.) Preliminary analysis indicates PM2.5 was reasonably correlated with CO at both sites (r2 ~0.5), indicating the influence of primary combustion emissions. We plan to expand the Kigali network to five RAMPs this summer to provide more information on the spatial and temporal variability. We also conducted exploratory measurements with a RAMP and a Met-One Aerocet-831 PM monitor in two villages in rural Tanzania, where the Aerocet reported ambient PM2.5 mass ranging from 10-70 μg/m3 and PM10 from 20-360 μg/m3. The Aerocet size-resolved data and onsite observations suggest dust and cooking emissions contribute to elevated PM levels even in this remote, unelectrified region. These results indicate air pollution patterns that are different than in developed countries and highlight the need for more robust air quality monitoring in East African countries.