Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Particulate Matters Concentration and Their Influence on Ambient Air Quality in Urban Regions of Khuzestan Province, Iran

Background: One of the most concerning pollutants in urban areas across the globe is particulate matter suspended in the Earth’s atmosphere. The main objective of the current investigation is to explore the spatial and temporal patterns of ambient air particles (PM_10 and PM_2.5) and PM_2.5/ PM_10 ratio in different urban areas of Khuzestan Province. Methods: In this way, the required data were gathered from the environmental protection organization based on hourly mean concentrations of PM_10 and PM_2.5 of six air pollution- monitoring sites for 5 years. Results: Results indicated that the average concentrations of PM_10, PM_2.5, and PM_2.5/PM_10 are about 134.14±39.23 µg/m³, 44.51±13.44 µg/m³ and 0.33±0.07, respectively. The examinations revealed a reductive trend on annual values of PMs in terms of temporal variations. A detailed investigation of the annual mean concentrations of PMs and PM_2.5/PM_10 in terms of spatial variations demonstrated the largest values for Naderi-Ahvaz and Abadan stations. Furthermore, the measured AQI was larger than 100 and the Exceedance Factor (EF) values of PM_10 and PM_2.5 ranged between 1.51-2.73 and 0.77-1.41. The statistical analysis obtained from linear regression revealed a significant positive relation between AQI and PM_2.5 and PM_10 with correlation coefficients (R²) of 0.8259 and 0.7934, respectively. Conclusion: Although the analysis and measurement revealed a reductive trend in the annual mean concentrations of PM_2.5 and PM_10, the measured AQI and EF values are still far from the llution. Therefore, it is highly necessary to follow the air pollution protocols to control PM air pollution in Khuzestan Province.