Two case studies of air pollution from Oman and Kuwait

Abstract

The paper reports a study of air quality data in a suburban industrial area in the Sultanate of Oman and an urban residential area in Kuwait. In Oman, the monitoring was conducted at the Oman liquid natural gas plant (OLNG) at Qalhat near Sur, on the east coast of Oman. In Kuwait, the sampling site was within Kuwait University, an area affected by heavy road traffic routes. The pollutants included methane, non‐methane hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and dust. The study aimed to (1) to measure the atmospheric levels of these pollutants and then compare their trends and behaviours in these two studied areas, (2) to understand the diurnal and monthly variations of these pollutants, and (3) to carry out the regression analysis and other statistical analysis to see the relationships between pollutants released from the two sites. The results showed higher levels of pollution in the urban residential area of Kuwait than in a suburban industrial area in Oman.

Keywords:

• Air pollution
• Traffic
• Kuwait University
• Oman LNG

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful the Oman LNG. Special thanks go to Amor Nasser Al‐Matani (Deputy General Manager) and Abdulsalam AlMurshidi (Corporate Affairs Manager).