(58o) Has Syrian War Impacted the Atmospheric Pollutants?

Vertical Density Column (concentration) of NO₂ over the atmosphere of the Syrian Arab Republic during the 2005-2016 years period was studied to identify the impact of the Syrian War on its atmosphere. The concentration values of NO₂ were retrieved from the satellite data collected on the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on the board of Aura Satellite and analyzed through NCAR Command Language. This study investigates the impact of the war in the Syrian Arab Republic on NO₂, VOCs and O₃ concentrations before and during the war. It was observed that during the period of 2005-2011, average concentration of NO₂ experienced a gradually increasing trend due to the rise of the Syrian population, vehicle's use and industrial growth. Particularly, an acceptable correlation was observed between the oil production in Syria and the NO₂ column. From 2011 to 2012 when was the starting period of the war (street protests), the NO₂ column was constant. The war impact on the amount of NO₂ can be noticed by a sharp decrease of nitrogen dioxide column starting from 2012, the turning point of the Syrian war when the vigorous armed interactions have begun. The main effect of war can be explained by the considerable reduction of the population caused by the refugee migration, disruption of power and chemical plants and explosions due to the major chemical attacks. We are now currently analyzing the impact of the war on VOCs and ozone concentrations to better understand the influence of the war on the atmospheric chemistry of Syria. The results will be presented to AIChE 2018 Spring meeting.