Spatiotemporal analysis of urban air pollution in Al Ain City
Tareefa AlSUMAITI, M. M. YAGOUB, Khalid HUSSEIN, Ameena S. Al-SUMAITI, Naeema AlHOSANI
Abstract. Air pollution in desert cities emerges from the interaction of natural dust intrusions, rapid urbanization, and car-dependent mobility, yet high-resolution assessments of short-term variability remain scarce. Daily mean concentrations of six pollutants (PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, SO₂, CO, NO₂, O₃) were analyzed using 2024 measurements obtained from four air quality monitoring stations in Al Ain (Al Ain Street, Al Tawia, Islamic Institute, and Zakher). After quality control, spatial patterns were characterized using descriptive statistics and heatmaps, and co-variation was assessed with Pearson correlations; concentrations were benchmarked against WHO (2021) and MOCCAE (2006) standards. Particulate matter exceeded WHO (2021) guidelines at all sites (maximum station annual means: PM₁₀ = 111.6 µg/m³; PM₂.₅ = 29.6 µg/m³), underscoring chronic exposure in a dust-influenced environment. Traffic-proximal Al Ain Street showed the highest NO₂ (30.98 µg/m³) and CO (0.42 mg/m³), while peripheral stations exhibited elevated O₃ (~63 µg/m³), consistent with strong photochemistry and reduced NO titration. Correlations revealed near-unity NO₂–CO coupling (r > 0.99; shared combustion) and a strong PM₁₀–PM₂.₅ relationship (r = 0.72; dust dominance). Findings motivate targeted mitigation: curbside emission and dust control in urban cores, precursor management for suburban ozone, and expanded monitoring to support public-health action.
Keywords
Air Quality, Spatiotemporal Variability, Pollutant Correlation, Al Ain City
Published online 6/20/2026, 10 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Tareefa AlSUMAITI, M. M. YAGOUB, Khalid HUSSEIN, Ameena S. Al-SUMAITI, Naeema AlHOSANI, Spatiotemporal analysis of urban air pollution in Al Ain City, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 67, pp 869-878, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904176-119
The article was published as article 119 of the book Climate Action and Sustainability
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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