STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF AIR POLLUTION IN ZARQA CITY - JORDANSANA’A ODATAbstract In the current study changes in air pollutant concentration were examined including an annual average particulate matter (PM10) concentration, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Reports and pollution data from all sources that assessed pollution level in the region between May 2014 and May 2016 were collected in the town of Zarqa. Three variables with total variance of 85% were derived. The influence of local meteorological conditions is evaluated using factor analysis. The first element indicates the highest variation (45%) primarily charged by relative humidity, wind speed and PM10. This factor may suggest a mixed source including air-borne pollution from dust and soil, PM10 levels directly related to wind speed and relative humidity. The second factor of 22.3 % is high loading of SO2 and the typical temperature of vehicle emissions, electric power plants, combustion of fuel in the industry and refining. The third factor is predominantly loaded by NO2 and wind direction. Since wind direction in Zarqa is mostly from the west, it is realized that high levels of NO2 were emitted from the various activities in the cities (Motor, domestic and industrial heating). The key results of this study show that the monitoring of the levels of gaseous contaminants were small and the annual average concentrations were within the Jordanian ambient air standards no. 1140/2006 except for the PM10, where they exceeded Jordanian annual standards and may be attributed to the dust storms as well as to emissions from local sources, including engines. |