Soccer games and record-breaking PM2.5 pollution events in Santiago, Chile

In wintertime, high concentrations of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are commonly observed in the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile. Hourly peaks can be very strong, up to 10 times above average levels, but have barely been studied so far. Based on atmospheric composition measurement...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric chemistry and physics 2020-04, Vol.20 (8), p.4681-4694
Main Authors: Lapere, Rémy, Menut, Laurent, Mailler, Sylvain, Huneeus, Nicolás
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Air quality
Atmospheric chemistry
Atmospheric composition
Atmospheric models
Automation
Beta rays
Boundary conditions
Cooking
Decontamination
Emergencies
Emergency management
Emergency plans
Emergency preparedness
Emissions
Games
Humidity
Metropolitan areas
Particulate emissions
Particulate matter
Pollution
Simulation
Soccer
Suspended particulate matter
Time series
Traffic planning
Vehicle emissions
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Summary:In wintertime, high concentrations of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are commonly observed in the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile. Hourly peaks can be very strong, up to 10 times above average levels, but have barely been studied so far. Based on atmospheric composition measurements and chemistry-transport modeling (WRF-CHIMERE), the chemical signature of sporadic skyrocketing wintertime PM2.5 peaks is analyzed. This signature and the timing of such extreme events trace their origin back to massive barbecue cooking by Santiago's inhabitants during international soccer games. The peaks end up evacuated outside Santiago after a few hours but trigger emergency plans for the next day. Decontamination plans in Santiago focus on decreasing emissions from traffic, industry, and residential heating. Thanks to the air quality network of Santiago, this study shows that cultural habits such as barbecue cooking also need to be taken into account. For short-term forecast and emergency management, cultural events such as soccer games seem a good proxy to prognose possible PM2.5 peak events. Not only can this result have an informative value for the Chilean authorities but also a similar methodology could be reproduced for other cases throughout the world in order to estimate the burden on air quality of cultural habits.
ISSN:1680-7316
1680-7324
DOI:10.5194/acp-20-4681-2020