Student Research Reports

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Air pollution is a growing concern across the globe, in fact according to the World Health Organisation, air pollution is one of the greatest risks to health. This project is focused on measuring nitrogen dioxide, a gaseous traffic-related pollutant that is emitted from vehicle exhausts in combination with gathering GLOBE protocol atmosphere data and traffic count data from around schools. Four schools from a mix of urban, suburban, and rural areas received 3 nitrogen dioxide (NO2) diffusion tubes each to place outside at their school for a period of 4 weeks. The tubes were placed: near a main road; at a car park/drop off location; and one in a relatively sheltered area away from traffic. The purpose of this project is to investigate local variations in nitrogen dioxide levels around schools, to demonstrate the link between traffic volume and recorded nitrogen dioxide concentrations, and to understand what other parameters influence nitrogen dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. The students observed that the NO2 levels recorded are variable between schools and between different locations at each school. Students identified a strong correlation between the number of vehicles counted and the measured NO2 concentrations where the most heavily trafficked area corresponds to the highest recorded NO2 concentration. A correlation between air temperature and sky visibility/cloud cover and measured NO2 could not be identified. However, it was noted that more data is needed to explore this topic further. Having discovered the effects of traffic on air quality around schools, the students wanted to bring change, be agents of change and think like an engineer. They suggested ways on how to reduce NO2 levels both at local and national level.