Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of pollution sources in the southeastern of the Riyadh and its impact on the population/Saudi Arabia

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Arabian Journal of Geosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The rapid growth of Riyadh—capital of Saudi Arabia—is pushing the area to more pollution and incentive for reorganization. The aim of this research is to assess air pollutants in southeast of Riyadh and detect opinion of the population about their environment. The assessment was done by analyzing 405 questionnaires, evaluating thermal band of Landsat 8, and spatial analyzing of particular matter and chemicals in 19 air samples by geostatistical tool in the ArcMap. Most of the inhabitants stated that they are suffering from bad odor, sewage leakage, and dust mainly from a cement factory. The thermal band of Landsat clarified the location of the pollution sources mainly the 1st industrial city, Yammama Cement Factory, and power plant in Farouq area. The ordinary kriging maps showed that the highest concentration of PM10 (>403 μg/m3) lied to the northern and western side of the study area and caused a health issue to most inhabitants.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al-Ahmadi K, Al-Zahrani A (2013) NO2 and cancer incidence in Saudi Arabia. Int. J. Environ. Res Public Health 10:5844–5862. doi:10.3390/ijerph10115844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Muwayhi M. 2012. The effect of gaseous air pollutants and ascorbic acid on some mineral elements content of beans (phaseolus vulgarisl.) plant in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. World Journal of Pharmaceutical research Volume 1, Issue 5, 1475–1485, ISSN: 2277–7105.

  • Bachmaier M, Backes M. 2008. Variogram or semivariogram? Understanding the variances in a variogram. Precision Agriculture. doi:10.1007/s11119–008-9056-2, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.

  • Baker TR, Allen HL, Schoeneberger MM, LW K (1994) Nutritional response of loblolly pine exposed to ozone and simulated acid rain. Can J for Res 24:453–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blezard RG. 1998. The history of calcareous cements in P. C. Hewlett (Ed.), Lea’s chemistry of cement and concrete, 4th ed., Arnold.

  • CDSI 2004. Central Department of Statistic and Information. Census of population and housing report in administrative region. Internal report http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/

  • Cochran W (1977) Sampling techniques. John Wiley

  • Cressie N (1990) The origins of kriging. Math Geol 22(3):239–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobrovolný P (2013) The surface urban heat island in the city of Brno (Czech Republic) derived from land surface temperatures and selected reasons for its spatial variability. Theor Appl Climatol Springer 112:89–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghose M, Paul R, Banerjee R (2005) Assessment of the status of urban air pollution and its impact on human health in the city of Kolkata. Environ Monit Assess 108:151–167 Springer

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iqbal MZ, Shafig M (2001) Periodical effect of cement dust pollution on the growth of some plants. Turk J Botany 25:19–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Kakooei H, Gholami A, Ghasemkhani M, Hosseini M, Panahi D, Pouryaghoub G. 2012. Dust exposure and respiratory health effects in cement production. Acta Medica Iranica, Vol. 50, No. 2

  • Kaya S, Basar U, Karaca M, Seker D (2012) Assessment of urban heat islands using remotely sensed data. Ekoloji 21(84):107–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krige D.G. 1951. A statistical approach to some basic mine valuation problems on the Witwatersrand. J Chem Metall Min Soc S Afr 119-139.

  • Li C, Shen D, Dong J, Yin J, Zhao J, Xue D (2014) Monitoring of urban heat island in Shanghai, China, from 1981 to 2010 with satellite data. Arab J Geosci 7:3961–3971. doi:10.1007/s12517-013-1053-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lo CP, DA Q, JC L (1997) Application of high-resolution thermal infrared remote sensing and GIS to assess the urban heat island effect. Int J Remote Sens 18:287–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moden 2014. Industrial City Directory Website, Accessed in 5 June 201 http://www.modon.gov.sa/en/IndustrialCities/IndustrialCitiesDirectory/IndustrialCities/Pages/Riyadh1st.aspx

  • Oke TR (1987) Boundary layer climates. second edition. Methuen London and New York Pp 262-302

  • Owen T, Carlson T, Gilles R (1998) An assessment of satellite remotely sensed land cover parameters in quantitatively describing the climatic effect of urbanization. IJRS 19:1663–1681

    Google Scholar 

  • Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection (PME). 2011. Surface monthly climatological report during (2007–2011), station No. 40437, Riyadh New. Unpublished report

  • Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection (PME). 2012. online report, accessed in 6 Nov. 2014 http://www.pme.gov.sa/en/en_airpollution.asp,

  • Ramanathan V, Feng Y (2009) Air pollution, greenhouse gases and climate change: global and regional perspectives. Atmos Enviro 43:37–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salama H, Al-Rumaih MM, Al-Dosary MA (2011) Effects of Riyadh cement industry pollutions on some physiological and morphological factors of Datura innoxia Mill. Plant Saudi J Biol Sci 18(3):227–237

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saudi Electricity Company. 2013. Measuring the emissions of air pollutants in power plants in Riyadh, east sector (in Arabic). Internal report, Riyadh

  • Struyk R J. 2005. Housing policy issues in a rich country with high population growth: the case of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Applied Regional Science Conference (ARSC) Vol. 17, No. 2/Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  • USGS 2013. (http://landsat.usgs.gov/Landsat8_Using_Product.php)

  • Venables WN, Ripley BD (2002) Modern applied statistics with S, 4th edn. Springer-Verlag, New York, p. 481

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Voogt JA, Oke (2003) Thermal remote sensing of urban climates. Remote Sens Enviro. 86:370–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weatherspark 2014. Daily online report accessed in 12 Oct. 2014 http://weatherspark.com/averages/32777/Riyadh-Saudi-Arabia

  • Webster R, Oliver MA (2001) Geostatistics for environmental scientists. Statistics in Practice. Wiley, Chichester, p. 265

    Google Scholar 

  • Weng Q (2009) Thermal infrared remote sensing for urban climate and environmental studies: methods, applications, and trends. ISPRS J Photogramm 64:335–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu L, Yin H, Xie XD (2014) Health risk assessment of inhalable particulate matter in Beijing based on the thermal environment. Int. J. Environ. Res Public Health 11:12368–12388. doi:10.3390/ijerph111212368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yammama Cement 2010. online report, accessed in 12 June 2014 http://www.yamamacement.com/default.aspx?lang=1

  • Yin ZE, Xu SY (2007) Changes in land-use and land-cover and their effect on eco-environment in Pudong new area of Shanghai. Resour Environ Yangze Basin 16:430–434

    Google Scholar 

  • Youssef AM, Pradhan B, Tarabees E (2011) Integrated evaluation of urban development suitability based on remote sensing and GIS techniques: contribution from the analytic hierarchy process. Arab J Geosci 4:463–473. doi:10.1007/s12517-009-0118-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Research Center for Humanities, Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for supporting and granting this research. Thanks and gratitude are also given to Dr. Fatima Taktak for her support this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Abeer Salman, Sulafa Hag-Elsafi & Nada Al-Duwarij

  2. Department of Quantitative Analysis, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Manahil Al-Tayib

Authors
  1. Abeer Salman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Manahil Al-Tayib
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sulafa Hag-Elsafi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Nada Al-Duwarij
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abeer Salman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Salman, A., Al-Tayib, M., Hag-Elsafi, S. et al. Assessment of pollution sources in the southeastern of the Riyadh and its impact on the population/Saudi Arabia. Arab J Geosci 9, 328 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2371-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2371-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation