Spatiotemporal Assessment of Air Quality and Heat Island Effect Due to Industrial Activities and Urbanization in Southern Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the air and thermal pollution in the southern suburbs of Riyadh, where people are suffering from poor air quality due to the rapid development of the industrial facilities in the area. The study involved the distribution of questionnaires to 405 residents living in that area in order to obtain their opinions about air pollution. In addition, land surface temperature and 12 components of air were measured at 18 points. In addition, the air quality data from 2016 to 2020 for Al Khaldya and Southern Ring Road air stations were assessed. Al Misfat (Oil Refinery) and the Second Industry City are significant contributors to air pollution and also result in the urban heat island effect from high temperature due to factories and industrial activities. However, all the measured components of air quality are lower than the standard limits except the element particulate matter (PM)10, which exceeds the standard limits in several parts of the study area and during several months of the year. This can surely have a negative impact on the health of residents. At the same time, this study found that the preventive measures taken to stop the spread of COVID-19 infections have led to a positive impact in the area in terms of improvement in air quality.