TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL ASSESSMENTS OF CARBON MONOXIDE COLUMNS OVER IRAQ USING ECMWF DATASET

Abstract

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the poisonous gas of a potential health hazard. Since the continuous measurements of this unsafe gas are not available in Iraq, this research is an attempt to study the distribution of columns gas over Iraq. The data which used in this study is Total Column of Carbon Monoxide (TCCO) in unit kilogram per square meter from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Data are representative of all Iraqi areas and the surrounding regions. The study area consists of 961 grid points. MATLAB program was used to calculate and plot spatial analysis data. The analyzed data of the southern and the middle parts of Iraq (Baghdad and Basra) were in consistence with the general seasonal cycle of TCCO in the Northern Hemisphere. They exhibit a significant enhancement in winter and spring and small values of TCCO in summer. The typical seasonal TCCO variations over the Rutba station are less noticeable, where there is an obvious decrease in TCCO in all seasons. This remarkable feature suggests that the Mosul and Rutba stations may be blanketed by regional pollution, while Basra area (South Baghdad and Iraq region) may be influenced by TCCO plumes transported either vertically or horizontally, which can be considered industry region or from biomass burning.

Keywords

• Total Carbon Monoxide Columns TCCO
• ECMWF Dataset
• air pollution
• environment