AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Mobile Measurements of 10 nm to 10 µm Particles and Black Carbon in Amman, Jordan
BRANDON BOOR, Vanessa Nogueira dos Santos, Huthaifa Abedallah Ahmad, Tareq Hussein, University of Helsinki
Abstract Number: 288 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract Amman is the capital and most populous city in Jordan, with a population in excess of 2 million. The city is experiencing a period of rapid growth, urbanization, and industrial development. There is limited research on air pollution in Amman and infrastructure for routine air quality monitoring does not exist. To improve understanding of human exposure to urban aerosols, we conducted the first mobile aerosol measurement campaign in Amman from May-June 2014. We employed a combination of portable instrumentation to record geo-located particle number (PN) and mass (PM) concentrations, including two condensation particle counters (CPCs, 0.01 and 0.02 µm cutoffs), an optical particle counter (OPC, 0.3-25 µm, six size fractions), a laser photometer (PM1, PM2.5, PM4, PM10), and an aethalometer (black carbon, BC). Concurrent stationary measurements were made with an OPC at an urban background site at the University of Jordan campus. Five walking and three in-vehicle tracks in different regions of Amman and it’s neighboring city, Zarqa, were studied. PN, PM, and BC concentrations showed strong spatial variability along each track. Mean concentrations across the five walking paths were: PN[0.01-0.02 µm]=3.2x10$^(4) cm$^(-3), PN[0.02-0.3 µm]=5x10$^(4) cm$^(-3), PN[0.3-1 µm]=49 cm$^(-3), PN[1-2.5 µm]=2.7 cm$^(-3), PN[2.5-10 µm]=1.2 cm$^(-3), PM2.5=70 µg m$^(-3), PM10=107 µg m$^(-3), and BC=9.95 µg m$^(-3). On average, mean PN concentrations along the walking paths, as measured with the mobile OPC, were 1.3-2.6 times greater than those measured with the stationary OPC at the urban background site.