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Model Analysis of PM10 Concentration Variations Over a Mineral Products Industrial Area in Saraburi, Thailand

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Abstract

Air pollution associated with particulate matters is a serious problem in the mineral products industrial area (MPIA) in Saraburi, central Thailand. PM10 concentrations monitored at Nah Phra Laan station located in the MPIA show that PM10 levels exhibit strong seasonal variations; the number of days in 2005 that PM10 concentrations exceeded the daily National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 120 μg/m3 were 58%, 29%, and 12% in the winter, rainy, and summer seasons, respectively. In this paper, the Hybrid Particle And Concentration Transport (HYPACT) model with meteorological fields from the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) was applied to Saraburi to investigate the impacts of meteorological parameters upon seasonal variations in PM10 concentration. Analysis of model results shows that daily average PM10 concentrations exceeding 200 μg/m3 are found in the downwind direction of emission sources and their horizontal gradients are strong. Hourly PM10 concentrations exhibit obvious diurnal variation with maximum values in wintertime at around 2000–2100 local standard time in association with low ventilation with light wind speed and weak vertical mixing, while in the rainy season, they are generally higher in the daytime than in the nighttime, as that mixing height in cloudy days is low in daytime whereas emission rates are high during working time.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (grant no. 2007CB407303), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 40533018), and the Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment (JGSEE), King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi. Special thanks are offered to the Pollution Control Department and Thai Meteorological Department for data support and the Institute of Atmospheric Physic for the computer resource and working facilities. We also thank Dr. Kasemsan Manomaiphiboon (JGSEE) for some useful technical comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok, 10140, Thailand

    Sittichai Pimonsree & Prungchan Wongwises

  2. Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Nonthaburi, 11130, Thailand

    Rudklao Pan-Aram

  3. State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, People’s Republic of China

    Meigen Zhang

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  1. Sittichai Pimonsree
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  2. Prungchan Wongwises
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  4. Meigen Zhang
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Correspondence to Sittichai Pimonsree.

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Pimonsree, S., Wongwises, P., Pan-Aram, R. et al. Model Analysis of PM10 Concentration Variations Over a Mineral Products Industrial Area in Saraburi, Thailand. Water Air Soil Pollut 201, 239–251 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9941-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-008-9941-3

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