Abstract
Traffic is one of the most important sources of high
pollution levels in major cities of Pakistan and therefore the
population is prone to high exposure in the ambient environment.
Formaldehyde (HCHO) emitted by anthropogenic and biogenic
activities is an intermediate product in the oxidation pathways of
non-methane hydrocarbons. This study is designed to monitor the
HCHO concentrations over Islamabad, Pakistan. Mini MAXDOAS (Multi Axis – Differential Optical Absorption
Spectroscopy) instrument was used to perform ground-based
measurements at IESE (Institute of Environmental Sciences and
Engineering), NUST (National University of Sciences and
Technology) Islamabad (33.6416° N, 72.9835° E) Pakistan. The
spectra were acquired for a time period of six months i.e. October
2013-March 2014. Analysis was performed to retrieve HCHO
Differential Slant Column Densities (DSCD). Tropospheric
vertical column densities (VCD) of HCHO over Islamabad were
derived from measured DSCD by using geometric air mass factor
approach. Mean Tropospheric HCHO VCDs were found to be
4.32 × 1016 molecules/cm2
. Satellite observations from Ozone
Monitoring Instrument (OMI) were used for comparison with the
ground-based mini MAX-DOAS observations. Tropospheric
HCHO VCDs derived from mini MAX-DOAS measurement
presented a fair agreement with the satellite observations over
Islamabad, Pakistan. However, satellite observations
underestimate the concentration of HCHO by 1 degree. Further,
wind data was used to find out the possible pollutants transport
corridors over IESE-NUST. Air masses coming from Kashmir
highway and Golra Mor were the main source of HCHO
pollution over monitoring site.
Javeria Abbas, Muhammad Fahim Khokhar, Muhammad Arshad. (2015) MONITORING FORMALDEHYDE CONCENTRATION OVER ISLAMABAD USING GROUND BASED AND SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS, Journal of Space Technology , Volume 5, Issue 1.
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