Characterization of Ambient Air Quality in Selected Urban Areas in Uganda: A Low-Cost Approach

Nancy Lozano Gracia, Engineer Bainomugisha, Maria Edisa Soppelsa and Deo Okure
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Nancy Lozano-Gracia

No 9512, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Many cities and urban centers around the world experience high air pollution episodes attributable to increased anthropogenic alterations of natural environmental systems. World Health Organization estimates indicate strong exceedances of prescribed limits in developing countries. However, the evidence on local pollution measures is limited for such cities and Uganda is no exception. Informed by the practical realities of air quality monitoring, this paper employs a low-cost approach using passive and active monitors to obtain characterization of pollution levels based on particulate matter 2.5, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone over a six-month period (starting in December 2018) for selected urban centers in three of the four macro-regions in Uganda. This is the first attempt to comprehensively assess pollution levels at a near-national level in Uganda. A combination of distributed stationary monitors and mobile monitors installed on motorcycle taxis (boda-boda) was employed in selected parishes to obtain spatiotemporal variations in the pollutant concentrations. The results suggest that seasonal particulate levels heavily depend on precipitation patterns with a strong inverse relation, which further corroborates the need for longer monitoring periods to reflect actual seasonal variations. Informed by the observed level of data completeness and quality in all the monitoring scenarios, the paper highlights the practicability and potential of a low-cost approach to air quality monitoring and the potential to use this information to inform citizens.

Keywords: Pollution Management&Control; Air Quality&Clean Air; Brown Issues and Health; Health Care Services Industry; Intelligent Transport Systems; Social Risk Management; Disaster Management; Hazard Risk Management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-01-20
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-hea and nep-ure
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