Winter Season SO_2 Measurements in Bursa and Comparison with Rural and Urban Area Values

Authors: YÜCEL TAŞDEMİR

Abstract: Sulfur dioxide (SO_2) is known to be one of the combustion end products of sulfur containing fossil fuels. In particular, cities with heavy industrial activities have high levels of SO_2 concentrations. In this study, SO_2 measurements were carried out in the city center of Bursa and on the campus of Uludağ University, which is a semi-rural area. Unlike the campus, the city center is highly populated and its vicinity is heavily industrialized. Daily SO_2 values were obtained by computing the averages of the half hourly integrated measurements. Sulfur dioxide samples were collected in January, February and March in order to represent the winter season. Data were gathered during 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. Data from the first three years represent the city of Bursa while the data from 1999 represent the Uludağ University campus. The average of the data from 1996, 1997 and 1998 gave an SO_2 concentration of 189.5 \pm 48.3 \mu g/m^3. On the other hand, the average the data from 1999 gave a concentration of 18.1 \pm 7.9 \mu g/m^3. These values were compared to each other, to the standards, and to the other measured values from Turkey and the rest of the world.

Keywords: Air pollution, Sulfur dioxide, Bursa, Urban area, Rural area.

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