The Weather Research and Forecasting-Chemistry (WRFChem) model was used to develop an operational air quality forecast system for the Metropolitan Area of Lima-Callao (MALC), Peru, that is affected by high particulate matter concentrations episodes. In this work, we describe the implementation of an operational air quality-forecasting platform to be used in the elaboration of public policies by decision makers, and as a research tool to evaluate the formation and transport of air pollutants in the MALC. To examine the skills of this new system, an air pollution event in April 2016 exhibiting unusually elevated PM2.5 concentrations was simulated and compared against in situ air quality measurements. In addition, a Model Output Statistic (MOS) algorithm has been developed to improve outputs of inhalable particulate matter (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from the WRF-Chem model. ...

Automobile emissions in urban cities, such as Peru, are significant; however, there are no published studies of the effects of these emissions on PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) formation. This study aims to analyze the contributions of vehicle aerosol emissions to the surface mass concentration of PM2.5 in the Metropolitan Area of Lima and Callao (MALC), one of the most polluted cities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) known to have high concentrations of PM2.5. In February 2018, we performed two numerical simulations (control and sensitivity) using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). We considered both trace gasses and aerosol emissions from on-road traffic for the baseline simulation (hereinafter referred to as “control”); gasses without particulate emissions from vehicles were considered for the sensitivity simulation (hereinafter ...

La cuantificación de las concentraciones de los contaminantes criterio ha comprobado que el problema en la ciudad de Lima radica en las altas concentraciones de material particulado, siendo de mayor interés el material particulado menor de 2,5 micrómetros (PM2,5). Con la finalidad de identificar los elementos químicos del PM2,5, se realizaron dos campañas de muestreo del 13 de abril al 03 de mayo del 2015, se muestreó en Ate y Villa María del Triunfo. Y del 18 de mayo al 07 de junio del 2015 en Puente Piedra y San Juan de Lurigancho, con el equipo Muestreador de bajo volumen, marca Thermo Scientific, modelo Partisol. La caracterización química -morfológica del material particulado se realizó con un microscopio electrónico de barrido de la marca SEMFE QUANTA 200 con un espectrofotómetro EDS acoplado. Los resultados indicaron la presencia de elementos químicos tales como sili...

El SENAMHI viene desarrollando exitosas campañas de sensibilización para que las personas estén mejor preparadas frente a los efectos dañinos de la radiación ultravioleta (RUV), en particular informando sobre el índice ultravioleta (UVI por sus siglas en inglés) que es un valor numérico que expresa en forma sencilla el peligro a exponerse a quemadura solar por la irradiancia solar en el rango ultravioleta. El pronóstico de este índice es una de las actividades operativas que se realiza a nivel mundial por casi todos los servicios meteorológicos del mundo y el SENAMHI lo viene realizando desde hace varios años aunque en forma limitada y restringida a 10 ciudades del país. Desde nuestro punto de vista, esta limitación se debe a dos razones: la primera es que se vincula el pronóstico estrictamente a los puntos de observación en superficie y la segunda porque no se utilizan h...

“El SENAMHI viene desarrollando exitosas campañas de sensibilización para que las personas estén mejor preparadas frente a los efectos dañinos de la radiación ultravioleta (RUV), en particular informando sobre el índice ultravioleta (UVI por sus siglas en inglés) que es un valor numérico que expresa en forma sencilla el peligro a exponerse a quemadura solar por la irradiancia solar en el rango ultravioleta. El pronóstico de este índice es una de las actividades operativas que se realiza a nivel mundial por casi todos los servicios meteorológicos del mundo y el SENAMHI lo viene realizando desde hace varios años aunque en forma limitada y restringida a 10 ciudades del país. Desde nuestro punto de vista, esta limitación se debe a dos razones: la primera es que se vincula el pronóstico estrictamente a los puntos de observación en superficie y la segunda porque no se utiliza...

En este estudio se presenta la metodología para el diseño de un sistema de vigilancia de la calidad del aire, compuesto por una red de monitoreo en la ciudad de Piura. Dicha metodología considera los parámetros establecidos en el método ECO/OPS así como los factores propios de la zona como accesibilidad, seguridad y servicios. También se aplicó el modelo químico WRF-Chem para la simulación de los contaminantes (material particulado PM10, PM2,5). Asimismo, se realizó un diagnóstico de la calidad del aire utilizando métodos activos de los contaminantes de partículas PM10 y PM2,5, los cuales excedieron a su correspondiente estándar de calidad ambiental para el aire (ECA). En base a los resultados obtenidos se propone la implementación de tres estaciones automáticas para el monitoreo de la calidad del aire y tres estaciones meteorológicas automáticas: dos estaciones en el ...

En el presente trabajo se evaluó el funcionamiento del modelo BRAMS/TEB (BRAMS versión 4.0) (Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modelling System/Town Energy Budget), haciendo una comparación entre los valores simulados y observados de los gases de dióxido de azufre (SO2), dióxido de nitrógeno (NO2) y ozono (O3) de la estación de calidad del aire de Ate Vitarte (Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología del Perú, del 14 al 18 de abril del 2010. Los datos de entrada para las condiciones iniciales y de contorno del modelo BRAMS/TEB provenien de NCEP/NCAR (Reanálisis de la National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research), cuya resolución espacial y temporal es de 2,5º y de 6 horas respectivamente; las variables meteorológicas que se utilizaron fueron: viento zonal y meridional, humedad relativa, altura geopotencial y t...

Until June 12, 2020, there were 6,308 deaths and 220,749 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases in Peru. In Lima, the total number of COVID-19 deaths in all metropolitan areas was 2,382. The case-fatality rate at the national level was 2.58% and 1.93% in Lima. Higher PM2.5 levels are associated with higher number of cases and deaths of COVID-19. The case-fatality rate (Deaths/cases*100) did not increase with the increase in PM2.5 levels. A higher number of food markets was associated with higher incidence and mortality of COVID-19 (p < 0.01 for both); these associations persisted when cases (r = 0.49; p < 0.01) and deaths (r = 0.58; p < 0.01) were adjusted by the population density. The association of PM2.5 with cases of COVID-19 was maintained after controlling analysis by age, sex and number of food markers.

The present study is intended to get to know thelevels of perimeter diurnal environmental noise of fourhospitals in the city of Lima. The measurement mode usedat each hospital was A-weighting, with an integration timeof five minutes per recording. It was measured in the FASTmode with calibrations made at the beginning and end ofthe measurement day. Statistical analysis consisted of themean comparison T test which was applied at all the hospi-tals considered in the study. At the four hospitals, at all thehours of measurement and both on working days and non-working days (Sunday), LAeq mean values are higher than83 dBA. On working days, two periods of maximum noisefrom 08:00 to 10:00 in the morning and from 17:00 to 19:00in the afternoon coincide with the start and end of workinghours. The perimeter diurnal environmental noise levelsdetermined at the vicinity of four hospitals show higherv...

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originated in the People’s Republic of China in December 2019. Thereafter, a global logarithmic expansion of cases occurred. Some countries have a higher rate of infections despite the early implementation of quarantine. Air pollution might be related to high susceptibility to the virus and associated case fatality rates (deaths/cases*100). Lima, Peru, has the second highest incidence of COVID-19 in Latin America and also has one the highest levels of air pollution in the region. Methods: This study investigated the association of levels of PM2.5 exposure in previous years (2010–2016) in 24 districts of Lima with cases, deaths and case fatality rates for COVID-19. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate this association controlled by age, sex, population density and number of food markets per district. The study period was from ...

This study was conducted at three sites of different characteristics in São Paulo State: São Paulo (SPA), Piracicaba (PRB) and Mata Atlântica Forest (MAT). PM10, n-alkanes, pristane and phytane, PAHs, water-soluble ions and biomass burning tracers like levoglucosan and retene, were determined in quartz fiber filters. Samplings occurred on May 8th to August 8th, 2007 at the MAT site; on August 15th to 29th in 2007 and November 10th to 29th in 2008 at the PRB site and, March 13th to April 4th in 2007 and August 7th to 29th in 2008 at the SPA site.Aliphatic compounds emitted biogenically were less abundant at the urban sites than at the forest site, and its distribution showed the influence of tropical vascular plants. Air mass transport from biomass burning regions is likely to impact the sites with specific molecular markers.The concentrations of all species were variable and dependent...

This study describes and compares the key structural units present in water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) fraction of atmospheric aerosols collected in different South American (Colombia – Medellín and Bogotá, Peru – Lima, Argentina – Buenos Aires, and Brazil – Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Velho, during moderate (MBB) and intense (IBB) biomass burning) and Western European (Portugal – Aveiro and Lisbon) locations. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy was employed to assess the relative distribution of non-exchangeable proton functional groups in aerosol WSOC of diverse origin, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge in South America. The relative contribution of the proton functional groups was in the order H-C > H–C–C= > H-C-O > Ar-H, except in Porto Velho during MBB, Medellín, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires, for which the relative contribu...

A total of 188,859 meteorological-PM10 data validated before (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) were used. In order to predict PM10 in two districts of South Lima in Peru, hourly, daily, monthly and seasonal variations of the data were analyzed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and linear/nonlinear modeling were applied. The results showed the highest annual average PM10 for San Juan de Mirafores (SJM) (PM10-SJM: 78.7 µg/m3) and the lowest in Santiago de Surco (SS) (PM10 -SS: 40.2 µg/m3). The PCA showed the infuence of relative humidity (RH)-atmospheric pressure (AP)temperature (T)/dew point (DP)-wind speed (WS)-wind direction (WD) combinations. Cool months with higher humidity and atmospheric instability decreased PM10 values in SJM and warm months increased it, favored by thermal inversion (TI). Dust resuspension, vehicular transport and stationary sources contributed m...