Extreme value analysis of air pollution data and their comparison between two large urban regions of South America

Author(s)

Martins, Leila Droprinchinski ^{[1, 2]} ; Hei Wikuats, Caroline Fernanda ^[2] ; Capucim, Mauricio Nonato ^[2] ; de Almeida, Daniela S. ^[2] ; da Costa, Silvano Cesar ^[3] ; Albuquerque, Taciana ^[4] ; Barreto Carvalho, Vanessa Silveira ^[5] ; de Freitas, Edmilson Dias ^[6] ; Andrade, Maria de Fatima ^[6] ; Martins, Jorge Alberto ^{[1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Lund Univ, Lund - Sweden

^[2] Fed Univ Technol, Av Dos Pioneiros 3131, BR-86047125 Londrina, Parana - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia, BR-86051990 Londrina - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Minas Gerais, Dept Sanit & Environm Engn, Sch Engn, Belo Horizonte, MG - Brazil

^[5] Univ Fed Itajuba, Av BPS 1303, BR-37500903 Itajuba - Brazil

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Atmospher Sci, Rua Matao 1226, Cidade Univ, BR-05508090 Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: WEATHER AND CLIMATE EXTREMES; v. 18, p. 44-54, DEC 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 6

Abstract

Sixteen years of hourly atmospheric pollutant data (1996-2011) in the Metropolitan Area of Sao Paulo (MASP), and seven years (2005-2011) of data measured in the Metropolitan Area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), were analyzed in order to study the extreme pollution events and their return period. In addition, the objective was to compare the air quality between the two largest Brazilian urban areas and provide information for decision makers, government agencies and civil society. Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) and Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) were applied to investigate the behavior of pollutants in these two regions. Although GEV and GPD are different approaches, they presented similar results. The probability of higher concentrations for CO, NO, NO2, PM10 and PM2.5 was more frequent during the winter, and O-3 episodes occur most frequently during summer in the MASP. On the other hand, there is no seasonally defined behavior in MARJ for pollutants, with O-3 presenting the shortest return period for high concentrations. In general, Ibirapuera and Campos Elisios stations present the highest probabilities of extreme events with high concentrations in MASP and MARJ, respectively. When the regions are compared, MASP presented higher probabilities of extreme events for all analyzed pollutants, except for NO; while O-3 and PM2.5 are those with most frequent probabilities of presenting extreme episodes, in comparison other pollutants. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/58104-8 - Narrowing the uncertainties on aerosol and climate changes in São Paulo State: NUANCES-SPS
• Grantee: Maria de Fátima Andrade
• Support Opportunities: Research Program on Global Climate Change - Thematic Grants