The effect of temperature and humidity of air on the concentration of particulate matter - PM2.5 and PM10

Particulate matters accepted as air quality markers are also indicators of the health risk of the population, especially children, because of their increased susceptibility to the quality of the air they breathe. Understanding the correlations between the concentration of particulate matter in the outdoor air and meteorological conditions will help to take steps to reduce pollution and reduce the risk of threats to health and life. For many years, scientists from all over the world have been looking for relationship between the impact of meteorological conditions on the concentration of particulate matter. Despite this, it is still not known whether the relationships will be similar in all locations. Furthermore, there is no agreement among scientists on the direction and strength of the correlation between temperature, humidity, and particulate matter concentrations. The article presents an attempt to link the impact of meteorological conditions on particulate matter concentrations depending on the classification of the area into air quality index in the particulate matter (AQI_PM) category. Three locations with a specific air quality index were included: extremely poor, moderate & fair and good. The research was carried out at nine locations near educational facilities. Four measurement series were carried out for each location. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship with an assumed significance level of 0.05. A research hypothesis was adopted: The correlation between particulate matter and meteorological conditions is different in locations with different AQI_PM. The results obtained clearly show that the relationships between meteorological conditions and the concentration of particulate matter depend on the classification of the area into a specific category of the air quality index. The strongest correlation occurs in the fair & moderate AQI_PM area. In relation to temperature, there is a negative correlation, and in relation to humidity, positive. In the extremely poor AQI_PM area, no relationship was observed between humidity and particulate matter concentration. In the good AQI_PM area, the correlation in relation to temperature was very weak, in relation to humidity, weak.