Influence of local sources and topography on air quality and rainwater composition in Cubatão and São Paulo, Brazil

Marcelo S. Vieira-Filho, Christopher Lehmann, Adalgiza Fornaro

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Wet deposition was measured in two urban areas of Brazil, Cubatão and São Paulo megacity (MASP), from July 2009 to August 2010. Cubatão is characterized by the large and complex industrial sector and MASP by a large vehicular fleet, and these different sources contributed to 15.5×106 and 25.5×106kgyear-1 of SO2 air emissions, respectively. The rainwater volume-weighted mean (VWM) pH values and [SO42-] in Cubatão and in MASP were 4.8 and 7.1μmolL-1, and 5.3 and 24.5μmolL-1, respectively. Regarding nitrogen content, the difference between reduced and oxidized nitrogen was more pronounced in MASP, where more than 61% of total nitrogen scavenged as NH4+. The wet-only sulfur deposition in Cubatão was 17.0kgSha-1y-1, which was 2.7-fold higher than that in MASP. Although the higher air pollutant emissions occur in MASP, the worst air quality and wet deposition has been observed in Cubatão due to the orographic conditions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)200-208
Number of pages9
JournalAtmospheric Environment
Volume101
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2015

Keywords

  • Megacity
  • Rainwater chemistry
  • Sulfate
  • Sulfur dioxide
  • Urban air pollution

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Science(all)
  • Atmospheric Science

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