English abstract
Air pollution induced by any industrial area, can cause very serious environmental impacts for all of the living things. The impact could be enhanced if the industrial area exists under certain atmospheric characteristics which favor accumulation of air pollution. This kind of atmosphere usually does not tend to disperse or ventilate the local air naturally. An example of industrial area that causes air pollution is Sohar Industrial Area (SIA) in Sultanate of Oman.
The main objective of the study was to investigate the contribution of atmospheric processes to the degradation of the air quality in Sohar Industrial Area.
Two approaches were used in this study. The First approach was related to the statistical analysis to explain the atmospheric characteristics such as stagnation, ventilation, and recirculation using five years hourly wind data. The second approach was related to utilize weather model simulation to simulate mesoscale circulation such as sea breeze and its contribution to the air quality processes. High resolution numerical weather prediction model at 2.8 km (COSMO) was used. In addition, the vertical extent of the air pollutants was investigated by analyzing the depth of the planetary boundary layer (PBL).
The study showed good results about how the atmospheric processes might contribute to the degradation of the air quality in Sohar Industrial Area. The statistical analysis showed that the atmospheric dilution potential of Sohar industrial Area was prone to stagnation and recirculation more than ventilation. In fact, there was no single case during the period of the study showed any ventilation in Sohar industrial Area. The overall occurrence percentage of stagnation, recirculation, and ventilation were 91.6% of the time, 99.3% of the time, and 0% of the time, respectively. The simulation showed that there was a seasonal variation in the contribution of atmospheric processes to the degradation of the air quality in Sohar industrial Area.
