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INFLUENCE OF MICROCLIMATE ON PARTICULATED MATTER DISTRIBUTION IN SANTIAGO-CHILE

Organization(s):Colegio Villa María Academy
Country:Chile
Student(s):Dominga Gracia laura Hamilton Bernardita Dominguez Catalina Varas Kimberlig Sonntag Claudia Flores Javiera contreras
Grade Level:Middle School (grades 6-8, ages 11-14)
GLOBE Teacher:Loreto Vergara
Contributors:Lucia Nuñez Aguilera Phd Biomedical Science.
Report Type(s):International Virtual Science Symposium Report
Protocols:
Presentation Video: View Video
Optional Badges:I am a Collaborator, I make an Impact, I work with a STEM Professional, I am a Data Scientist, I am an Engineer
Language(s):
Date Submitted:01/04/2015
location of weather stations VMA and LCSD
This Project was done in a collaborative manner between two schools from the Region Metropolitana (RM) of Chile: Villa Maria Academy (VMA) and Liceo Carmela Silva Donoso (LCSD), located in Las Condes and Ñuñoa respectively. A weather station was installed in both schools, which was equipped with two thermometers, a digital multi-day and a mercury thermometer. From each school, 8th grade students registered maximum and minimum air temperatures every six days for the 2015 fall-winter period. By comparing temperatures for both schools, it was determined a significant difference of 3.2°C in the maximum temperatures for the months May and June. It is worth mentioning that, historically, this period has been characterized by high levels of atmospheric pollution in the RM. Based on that, our hypothesis was that locally significant differences in the temperatures are related to the distribution of particulate matter PM10. To prove this hypothesis, we compared data from both schools. The data of atmospheric pollution belongs to the closest MACAM monitoring stations to each school: “Las Condes” (VMA) and “Parque O’Higgins” (LCSD). When both maximum temperatures and thermic amplitude were compared between both schools, they showed to be significantly different during the period May-June 2015. We concluded that these parameters affect the distribution of particulate matter PM10, therefore, the higher PM10 concentrations was found to be related with a higher/lower temperature as seen in the comparison between LCSD with VMA values.


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Comments

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Olawale Ayodeji Oluwafemi
8 Years Ago
1.Your abstract was very explicit and meaningful. But abstract exceeded 200 words.
2. Your research questions was concise, educative and researchable. I really learnt a lot from your research questions.
3. Limitations were not discussed and possible sources of error and Measurement limitations were not discussed.
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Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee
8 Years Ago - Edited
This is a great GLOBE school project with some collaboration between two schools. The research questions are very interesting. Here are my questions.
(1) You found some max and min temp differences between the two schools. LCSD had higher max temp and lower min temp than VMA. What are the possible reasons for this?
(2) You concluded that there was some association between PM10 and temperature. You did not show any results to support your conclusion. Could you show me the results?
(3) PM10 at Parque was higher than at Las Condes, why?
José Manuel Varas
8 Years Ago
In relation to point 1 and our abstract, we can prepared the scientific report relying on the instructions given in the Student Research Report Format published on the GLOBE web page. About the abstract it says: “Write a brief description of the report (maximum 250 words) that summarizes the purpose of the project, hypothesis, procedures, principal results, and conclusions”.

The point 3 of the comments we did not discussed about the limitations of our work.
For us the main limitation of our research is the inability to determine the exact level of particulate matter PM10 in each school, because we don´t have the right instruments to do it. To overcome this problem, we used the information given by the pollution monitoring stations (RED MACAM) located between 5 and 8 km from each school. This limitations was a constant concern during our research. Besides, it worth mentioning that we presented this issue and discussed about it in the Data Analysis and Discussion sections.
Concerning to the limitations of temperatures measurement obtained.
We think that in order to obtain more accurate data during the study, we should keep the max-min digital thermometer calibrated. This procedure was achieved using de protocols given by the GLOBE program.
Loreto Vergara
8 Years Ago
In relation to point 1 and our abstract, we can prepared the scientific report relying on the instructions given in the Student Research Report Format published on the GLOBE web page. About the abstract it says: “Write a brief description of the report (maximum 250 words) that summarizes the purpose of the project, hypothesis, procedures, principal results, and conclusions”.


The point 3 of the comments we did not discussed about the limitations of our work.
For us the main limitation of our research is the inability to determine the exact level of particulate matter PM10 in each school, because we don´t have the right instruments to do it. To overcome this problem, we used the information given by the pollution monitoring stations (RED MACAM) located between 5 and 8 km from each school. This limitations was a constant concern during our research. Besides, it worth mentioning that we presented this issue and discussed about it in the Data Analysis and Discussion sections.
Concerning to the limitations of temperatures measurement obtained.
We think that in order to obtain more accurate data during the study, we should keep the max-min digital thermometer calibrated. This procedure was achieved using de protocols given by the GLOBE program.
Loreto Vergara
8 Years Ago
This is a great GLOBE school project with some collaboration between two schools. The research questions are very interesting. Here are my questions.
(1) You found some max and min temp differences between the two schools. LCSD had higher max temp and lower min temp than VMA. Why are the possible reasons for this?
A possible explanation for the differences in temperatures could be the urban development that surrounds each school. In the case of LCSD it can generate a heat island.
(2) You concluded that there was some association between PM10 and temperature. You did not show any results to support your conclusion. Could you show me the results?

That is a limitation of our study, because we used the measures of particulate matter in an indirect way. Those measurements are extremely expensive and we didn’t have the appropriate instruments. However, we think that we can stablish a relation between the temperatures and the level of particulate matter, because both schools are geographically located in a similar area compared to the location of the pollution monitoring stations.

(3) PM10 at Parque was higher than at Las Condes, why?

Base on a previous work cited in our report, PM10 is higher in Parque O´Higgins due to the thermal difference with Las Condes Station. It means that it behaves as a heat island for the social and economic differences of its urban development.
Loreto Vergara
8 Years Ago
This is a great GLOBE school project with some collaboration between two schools. The research questions are very interesting. Here are my questions.
(1) You found some max and min temp differences between the two schools. LCSD had higher max temp and lower min temp than VMA. Why are the possible reasons for this?
A possible explanation for the differences in temperatures could be the urban development that surrounds each school. In the case of LCSD it can generate a heat island.
(2) You concluded that there was some association between PM10 and temperature. You did not show any results to support your conclusion. Could you show me the results?

That is a limitation of our study, because we used the measures of particulate matter in an indirect way. Those measurements are extremely expensive and we didn’t have the appropriate instruments. However, we think that we can stablish a relation between the temperatures and the level of particulate matter, because both schools are geographically located in a similar area compared to the location of the pollution monitoring stations.

(3) PM10 at Parque was higher than at Las Condes, why?

Base on a previous work cited in our report, PM10 is higher in Parque O´Higgins due to the thermal difference with Las Condes Station. It means that it behaves as a heat island for the social and economic differences of its urban development.
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Krisanadej Jaroensutasinee
8 Years Ago
Hi Loreto. Thank you for answering my questions. Great answers. I do understand your limitation. Keep doing this great work.
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Olawale Ayodeji Oluwafemi
8 Years Ago
Hello Manuel,
Thanks for your swift response. You have done an outstanding work. I really appreciate your contributions.