International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—Air quality and meteorological factors are closely linked through atmospheric chemical reactions and dynamic processes. Limited studies areconducted to determine the interactions between meteorological factors and air pollutants in an arid environment. The present study aims to investigate the association of air pollutants (PM  ₁₀  , O ₃  , NO₂, an d SO₂) with meteor ological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, temperature and rainfall) in the Holy City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Wind speed was positively correlated with O3 (   r   =0.34) and PM10 (  r  =0.17) and negatively cor related with NOx ( r =-0.38), CO (r=-0.  39), and SO₂ (r=-0.04). Temperature was p   ositively correlated with most of the pollutant, except NO ( r =-0.05) and SO₂ (r=-0.07). The effect of rainfall was either negative or insign ificant on most of the pollutants. The analysis is further elaborated by graphical presentations, such as polar plots, correlation plots and advanced scatter plots.

Index Terms—Airpollution, meteorological parameters, Makkah, NO  ₂  , PM ₁₀ , O₃.  

The authors are with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, KSA (e-mail: t_habeebullah@yahoo.com, saidmunir@yahoo.co.uk, abed196498@yahoo.com, e_morsy1@yahoo.com, seroji@uqu.edu.sa, ateffathy2006@yahoo.com).

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Cite:Turki M. Habeebullah, Said Munir, Abdel Hameed A. A. Awad, Essam A. Morsy, Abdulaziz R. Seroji, and Atif M. F. Mohammed, "The Interaction between Air Quality and Meteorological Factors in an Arid Environment of Makkah, Saudi Arabia," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 576-580, 2015.