Abstract—Heavy metals pollution and their toxic levels in
soils is one of the major problems associated with the
environment. Like other large cities, Ahwaz, in Southwest of
Iran, is exposed to all kinds of environmental pollutions which
pose serious problems for human health. A total of 50 soil
samples were taken randomly from the surface soils in Ahwaz
and the elements of cadmium and lead were measured.
Geostatistic and non geostatistic methods were used to
determine the spatial distribution. The probability maps
were produced using Geographic Information System methods.
On the other hand, the Radial Basis Functions is the best
interpolation method for Cd and Pb with absoluteerrorof0.209.
About 90percentof study area had more cadmium pollution
than standard levels while Pb contamination in about 33
percent of the study area is more than standard levels.
Index Terms—Ahwaz, environmental pollution, geostatistics,
heavy metals.
Abbas Hani is with the Department of Soil Science, Saveh Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Saveh, Iran (email: abbas_hani@iau-saveh.ac.ir).
Narges Sinaei and Ali Gholami are with Department of Soil Science,
Khozestan Science and Researh Branch, Islamic Azad University,
Khozestan, Iran (email: Sinaei_n@yahoo.com, ali.gholami54@gmail.com).
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Cite:Abbas Hani, Narges Sinaei, and Ali Gholami, "Spatial Variability of Heavy Metals in the Soils of Ahwaz Using Geostatistical Methods," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 294-298, 2014.