Spatial Distribution of PM10 and NO2 in Ambient Air Quality in Cape Town CBD, South Africa

Abstract

Fixed air quality monitoring stations generally monitor the air quality in developing countries. However, this practice, in addition to being costly, inherently contains drawbacks associated with the inability to capture the spatial distribution of air pollutants. Against this limitation, it is necessary to employ flexible and dynamic monitoring techniques that are fundamental and influential in comprehending the spatial distribution of pollutants. Because of this, in recent times, the application of GIS as a monitoring technique has proved to be more efficient than using fixed monitoring stations. Therefore, to this end, the current study mapped the spatial distribution of PM10 and NO2 pollutants in Cape Town CBD using the GIS technique. Subsequently, the GIS monitoring technique revealed that both pollutants had high spatial distribution between 2017 and 2018, irrespective of the season. Furthermore, high exposure concentrations of PM10 were generally observed across the CBD in contrast to NO2 exposure levels, which were relatively low. To contextualize the findings, compared with other studies, the current research discovered that spatial distribution of air pollution is associated with meteorological conditions, such as wind speed and temperature, that traditional techniques of monitoring exposure can’t capture.

Keywords

• air quality, pm10, no2, spatial distribution, seasonal variation, geographic information system