Impact of Variations in Meteorological Parameters on Carbon Monoxide

R. Anjali

Abstract

Meteorological parameters such as relative humidity (RH), atmospheric pressure (P), air temperature (T), wind direction (WD), rainfall (RF) etc. have impact on concentration of air pollutants like CO2, Carbon Monoxide (CO), Surface Ozone, Mathane, nitrogen oxides etc. We attempted investigating variations in CO associated with different meteorological parameters such as RH, P, T, WD and RF at a tropical coastal station, Thiruvananthapuram (8o 29’ N, 76o 57’ E) in South India. Ambient CO at this tropical coastal station had been monitored continuously since 2003 using an IR analyzer (Monitor Europe Model 9830B). An Automatic Weather Station (AWS) functional adjacent to the CO measurement site recorded the meteorological parameters (relative humidity (%), diurnal pressure (mb), air temperature (oC), wind direction (0-360o off N)) and rainfall (mm). As CO is high during winter, CO and meteorological data in winter months during 2005 to 2007 were only considered for the present study. Correlation and multiple regression analyses were carried out for examining the possible dependence of CO on meteorology. Statistical analyses indicated that CO changes significantly with RH and P by high positive correlation and with T by strong negative correlation. Correlation analyses also yielded negative relation between CO and WD. A weak-negative correlation between CO and RF indicated an insignificant link. Multiple Regression Analysis model used indicates a 66.6% dependence of CO variation on meteorological parameters in winter.

Abstract

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