Characterising the Seasonal Variations and Spatial Distribution of Ambient PM10 in Urban Ankara, Turkey

The urban airshed of Turkey is under the influence of both traffic and heating emissions. Periodic monitoring and management of air pollution is a must for an up-to-date exposure assessment for effective health and environmental management. The main objective of this paper is to assess the spatial and temporal variability of particulate matter (PM 10 ) in urban areas of Turkey using the metropolitan area of Ankara as a case study, exploring the seasonal variation of PM 10 concentrations resulting from indoor heating and transport. This study employed spatiotemporal kriging with external drift to examine the space-time variability and distribution of PM 10 concentrations in Ankara for year 2015. The measurements of PM 10 in and around metropolitan Ankara were carried out at nine stations. Measurements for the period December 2014 – November 2015 were used and averaged using a 6-h interval for each season: Winter (Dec, Jan, Feb), Spring (Mar, Apr, May), Summer (Jun, Jul, Aug) and Autumn (Sep, Oct, Nov). Population distribution, used as a proxy for indoor heating, and proximity to roads were used as auxiliary variables for kriging analysis. PM 10 concentration levels were observed to be highest during autumn and winter. Summer was identified as the “ cleanest ” period although, in some regions of the city, pollution levels remained high. The southeast region of metropolitan Ankara was identified to be the most polluted region of the city after the city centre.