TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION: A COMPARISON OF AIR QUALITY AT PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI RECEPTOR SITES

1. (Jenin) ARIJ NL,‘03 NH,‘04 • Location of Sampling Stations • Bethlehem (ARIJ): permanent site • Hebrew University Field Campaigns • Green Line (approx. path) • Sites at Gaza (& Jenin) in near future NL: AUG - SEP ’03 NH: MAY - JUN ‘04 WINDROSES AIR MASS TRAJECTORIES TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION: A COMPARISON OF AIR QUALITY AT PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI RECEPTOR SITES The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem (HU): Daniel Pedersen, David Asaf, Eran Tas,Valeri Matveev, Mordechai Peleg, Menachem Luria pedersen@pob.huji.ac.il www.huji.ac.il Applied Research Institute Jerusalem, Bethlehem (ARIJ): Ghassan Darwish, Abeer Safar, Khaldoun Rishmawi, Jad Isaac www.arij.org INTRODUCTION The political situation in the Middle East poses a particular challenge for the development of comprehensive approaches to regional problems. Air pollution is a trans-boundary problem even for countries that are thousands of km across, let alone for political entities that are narrower than 100 km. Pollutants from Europe have a significant impact on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, while emissions on the coastal plain of Israel may reach far inland to the Fertile Crescent. Effective solutions must therefore be developed on a regional basis. Our main objective was to establish a network of identical stations for long-term monitoring at Palestinian and Israeli receptor sites, in order to characterize air quality in both areas and track the transboundary evolution of air pollutants as they are transported through the region. The stations are also compatible with the extensive monitoring network spread throughout Israel, allowing for seamless data integration. Together we have established the first air quality station in the Palestinian Autonomous Areas (PA), with joint measurements and data analyses shared among Israeli and Arab air quality scientists. Training has been completed for the establishment of two more sites in Gaza and Jenin in the near future, and we are seeking funding to extend the project to include Jordan. • METHODS • Air quality measured at Palestinian and Israeli sites • NO & NOX, SO2, O3, CO • Meteorology Supported by modeling information • meso-scale windmaps (RAMS) • global air-mass trajectories (NOAA HYSPLIT) • The first PALESTINIAN air quality monitoring station: • permanent station established at ARIJ • represents residential conditions in Bethlehem • continuous measurements since August 2003 • Two parallel HEBREW U. summertime field campaigns • two rural locations on Israeli side of Green Line • Netiv Halamed Hei (NL, August 2003) on a • busy secondary road, transport dominated • Nehusha (NH, May-June 2004), regional • background site, 5km from the nearest road RESULTS The regional wind patterns were similar during both field campaigns, as reflected in the windroses of the RAMS windamps. The long range transport patterns were also similar, as shown by representative air mass trajectories, crossing the coastline from the Northwest after spending two days over the sea. During a subset of the time, the trajectories had a stronger northern component, which is expected to carry more pollutants to NL and NH from the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. These conditions represent the common case where emissions in Israel are transported eastward across the PA and then into Jordan. SO2: Average levels did not vary among locations or campaigns. Midweek levels were higher at ARIJ than at NL, while weekend levels were similar. Levels were higher at mid-day than at night, especially during ’03. Nitrogen Oxides: NO levels, representing local emissions, were low on average compared with NOX, and exhibited morning rush hour peaks. Transportation emissions dominated NL, and combined with emissions from the coast to yield high NOX levels after noon. Evening decomposition of O3 further increased average night-time levels above 55 ppb. TIMELINES OF NOX & SO2 EVENTS 30 MINUTE AVERAGES OF POLLUTANT LEVELS O3: Levels were highest at NH, due to the lower concentrations of NOX, which titrated the O3 at the other sites, especially at NL during the night. The diurnal variations at all sites were similar, and 30-min averages showed peaks between 13:00-15:00 Timelines of elevated SO2 and NOX events can help identify the source types of the pollution arriving at the receptor sites. NOX is associated with all forms of combustion, while SO2 comes mostly from industrial emissions. Therefore, elevated NOX levels without a corresponding SO2 peak may be attributed to transportation, while concurrent peaks of NOX and SO2 indicate emissions from industry. The ARIJ site showed a combined influence from these types of sources; NL was dominated by transportation sources, while NH showed significant impacts from industrial sites. Weekend differences in NO levels among the sites, are affected by traffic patterns. In NL, during the Jewish Sabbath NO was lower than in Bethlehem, whereas the opposite trend was observed for the Christian and Moslem day of rest. DAY-OF-WEEK AVERAGE LEVELS OZONE CONCENTRATION TIMELINES As the information is collected, it will be provided online for public use atwww.met.sjsu.edu/usaid/ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We would like to thank the I.D.F. Liaison Offices at Erez and Tel Aviv. Erez Weinroth provided the RAMS simulations. Ran Avni worked on the field campaigns, and Varda Berlin provided administrative and logistical assistance. Additional air quality data was generously provided by the Ministry of Environment, www.sviva.gov.il This project is funded by the Middle East Regional Cooperation program of the US AID: www7.nationalacademies.org/dsc/USAID_MERC_Program.html