Estudio de la relación entre las condiciones meteorológicas y la calidad del aire en el Distrito Metropolitano de Quito.

Abstract

The city of Quito is highly vulnerable to air pollution due to its location, urban development pattern, and poor fuel quality. In addition, meteorological variables, and the dynamics of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) define a mixing volume that directly impacts air pollution levels. The relationship between meteorological conditions and the height of the CLP on air quality in the DMQ is presented for the period (2007-2019) and subperiod of study (2018-2019), seven monitoring stations: Belisario, Carapungo, Cotocollao, Camal, Guamaní, Los Chillos, and Tumbaco, five air quality variables (CO, NO2, O3, PM2.5, and SO2) and seven meteorological variables (DIR, HR, LLU, RS, T, VEL, and Patm), and the hPBL at 13h00 was calculated as a function of Tv for Tumbaco for 2018-2019. The results indicate that, in Camal and Guamaní the highest levels of air pollution are presented, where PM2.5 is the most harmful pollutant for the public health of the population, due to the increase of vehicular traffic in the city. The meteorological variables of RH, VEL, and DIR can increase the regression relationships for air quality parameters. And the monthly variability of hPBL presents the lowest mean values from January to May (962.43 msns) and the highest values from September to October (1667.55 msns), and this applies a greater influence on the variability of O3, PM2.5, and SO2.