AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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Development of a Low-cost Air Pollution Monitoring Network in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Daniel Westervelt, Anant Majumdar, R. SUBRAMANIAN, Carl Malings, Dovas Saulys, Columbia University
Abstract Number: 694 Working Group: Air Quality Sensors: Low-cost != Low Complexity
Abstract As many as 700,000 premature deaths annually are linked to air pollution in Africa, though surface measurements are scarce. Improvements in the accuracy of these estimates will require additional surface monitoring efforts, which ultimately can influence energy and emissions policy change to improve health outcomes. Over the last decade, the issue of severe air pollution has captured worldwide attention in countries such as India and China, leading to increased awareness and the beginnings of air quality improvements. However, similar focus has not occurred for most countries in Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, where pollution issues are still quite severe. Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is a sprawling megacity of more than 11 million inhabitants in Central Africa. In March of 2018, PurpleAir sensors were calibrated and deployed at the US Embassy in Kinshasa. We present 1 year of data collected between April 2018 and April 2019 at both indoor and outdoor locations. The annual mean ambient outdoor PM2.5 concentration at the US Embassy Kinshasa is 48.9 µg m-3, a factor of 4 above the US Environmental Protection Agency annual standard, indicating extremely poor air quality. Overall, PM2.5 is elevated in the months of June through October, and significantly lower in the other months. Peak concentrations occur in June through August, when rain is infrequent. Ambient outdoor daily mean concentrations can reach levels over 100 µg m-3. Indoor concentrations are lower but correlate well with the outdoor ambient PM2.5 as expected. This project represents the first ever measurements of air pollution in Kinshasa. Future work includes further placement of sensors and measurements of gas-phase pollutants such as O3, NOx, and SO2. Developing the long-term, dense urban network of air pollution monitors will provide much-needed estimates of neighborhood-scale exposures to air pollutants.