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Seasonal Variation Analysis of Air Pollutants in Accra-Ghana
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  • Victoria Owusu Tawiah,
  • Daniel Westervelt,
  • Thompson Annor,
  • Allison Hughes,
  • Benjamin Lamptey
Victoria Owusu Tawiah
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

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Daniel Westervelt
Columbia University
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Thompson Annor
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
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Allison Hughes
University of Ghana
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Benjamin Lamptey
University of Leeds
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Abstract

Meteorology is a major driving force to poor urban air quality. This is due to its ability to influence the emissions, transport, formation, and deposition of air pollutants. In this study, the relationship between meteorological parameters including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction and ambient air pollutants concentrations such as PM2.5 in the capital city of Ghana was carried out for a continuous period of 12 months from March 2020 to February 2021. Clear seasonality was observed for PM2.5, meteorological parameters and the air quality index. Maximum concentrations of PM2.5 were recorded in winter leading to poor air quality. Wind speed and relative humidity reversely correlated with the air pollutant while temperature showed a positive correlation with PM2.5. north-easterly winds led to highest concentrations during the winter season while south-westerly winds prevail over Accra in summer. The results from air quality index (AQI) indicated that severely poor air prevails during the winter period. These results justify the crucial role of meteorological parameters in air pollution formation with large variations in different seasons. These findings can be employed to enhance the understanding of processes that lead to air pollution and improve the accuracy of air quality forecast under different meteorological conditions.