Introductory Overview of the Key Urban
Air Pollution Problems Facing Urban
Areas in Iran and Tehran
Ahmad Abrishamchi, PhD
Prof. Water Resources and Environmental Engineering
Department of Civil Engineering
Chairholder, UNESCO Chair in Water and Environment
Management for Sustainable Cities
Sharif University of Technology
Tehran, Iran
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SOME QUICK FACTS ON IRAN
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of
area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi)
 Population of around 77 million
 Home to one of the world's oldest civilizations.
Iran is home to one of the world's oldest major
civilizations. The first Iranian dynasty formed
during the Elamite kingdom in 2800 BC. formed
in ~2800 BC

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IRAN


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Area:
Population:
1.648 million km2
77 million
No of provinces:
31

Average Rainfall:
271 mm
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Neighboring Countries:
Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Iraq
Turkmenistan,
Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Turkey
Arab States in
Persian Gulf
Language:
Persian, Azerbaijani,
Kurdish, …
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POPULATION GROWTH
2021
100
2001
66.0
1961
24.3
Unit: Million inhabitants
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Topographic Map
Climate Map
Continental
Mediterranean
Hot-Summer
Mediterranean
Cold
desert
Cold
semi-arid
Hot
Desert
Hot Semi arid
Hot Desert
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PRECIPITATION IN IRAN
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http://www.atozmapsdata.com
ENERGY
CONSUMPTION
IN IRAN
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source: IFCO & EIA
8 MEGACITIES WITH MAJOR AIR
POLLUTION PROBLEMS
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MAJOR NATURALLY CAUSED POLLUTION EPISODES

Desert Dust Intrusion
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visibleearth.nasa.gov
(Rasouli A. A. et al, 2009 )
MAJOR NATURALLY CAUSED POLLUTION EPISODES
Inversion Episodes
Several episodes in cold season

Tehran view from mountains
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AIR POLLUTION IN TEHRAN
Air pollution is one of the major problems in
Tehran.
 The population of Tehran Municipality has grown
from about 0.7 million in the year 1941 to about
7,230,000 in 2005.
 Including surrounding areas and the commuting
workforce, the metropolitan area by now exceeds
12 million inhabitants.
 The population growth rate of Tehran has been
0.6 % in 2001 to 2005.

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The metropolitan area is surrounded on the
north and east side by the Alborz Mountains, one
of the highest mountain ranges in Iran with its
peaks above 5,000 m.
 Average elevation of the city= 1,300 m,
 The city (Municipality of Tehran) covers and area
of approximately 22 km North-South and about
35 km East-West - embedded in a 60 by 60 km
primary model domain.
 The city area is divided into 22 districts.
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TEHRAN AIR POLLUTION
Population of > 8 million and surpassing ~14 million
in the wider metropolitan area
 Particular geographical situation
 Variable climate through the year

Mountains Chain: Alborz
Deserts
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TEHRAN POLLUTION STATISTICS

Death of about 23000 was attributed to air
pollutants in Iran

Cost of ~ $7 billion in 2001

Cost of ~ $11 billion in 2009
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(Source: The World Bank report)
AIR POLLUTANTS SITUATION IN TEHRAN
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PM as a major cause of unhealthy days
(Source: AQCC)
CONTRIBUTION OF MAJOR SOURCES TO
EMISSION IN TEHRAN
Mobile Sources
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Sources (JICA & Bayat et al., 2010)
These values needs to be refined
URBAN POLLUTION AREAS OF
IMPROVEMENTS AND ISSUES
Large number of personal vehicles
 New vehicles emission standards
 Maintenance of used vehicles (Smog Check, Catalysts,
and Particulate filters maintenance)
 Some old vehicles in the fleet
 Motorcycles

Personal LDV’s age distribution in Tehran
(about 3 millions)
Age (year)
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
>25
Percent (%)
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31
6
2
1
4
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URBAN POLLUTION AREAS OF
IMPROVEMENTS AND ISSUES

Plans for new vehicles emission standards (not fully enforced)
Year
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
LDV & HDV
Euro 2
Euro 3
Euro 4
Motorcycles ECE40-10
Euro 1
Euro 2
Euro 3
Used vehicles
Chassis dynamometer smog test every 2 year
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URBAN POLLUTION AREAS OF
IMPROVEMENTS AND ISSUES
Fuel Quality
 Stationary sources (monitoring and enforcing
emission standards)
 Traffic Management
 Public transportation enhancement
 Urban travel demand management and
carpooling
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Dust Sources in Iran
Source: Evaluation of dust sources in Iran through remote
sensing and synoptic analysis
Omid Esmaili, Massoud Tajrishy, and Peyman Daneshkar
Arasteh

Iran, like most other countries in the Middle
East, is affected by multiple dust storms each
year, especially in the eastern, western and
central regions, including Tehran.
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IRAN MAIN DUST EMISSION SOURCES
1. Dasht-e-Kavir desert (48,000 km2) including a
large intermittent salt lake, Daryacheh-ye
Namak (1807 km2).
2. Another active source is a large salt/dry lake
(Hamun-e- Jaz Murian, 1087 km2).
3. Hamoons: Ephemeral lakes and swamps, that
makes the natural border between Iran and
Afghanistan
4. The Al-Hawizeh/Al-Azim marshes straddling the
Iran-Iraq border.
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Transboundary Waters between Iran and other Neighbors
Armenia
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Turkmenistan
Caspian
Sea
Atrak
Harirud
Syria
Afghanistan
Iraq
IRAN
Hirmand
(Helmand)
Pakistan
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THE HAMOON SYSTEM
The political boundary between Iran and
Afghanistan
 The Hamoons are classified as freshwater
wetlands.
 When these Hamoons are converted into dry
lands in the arid months of the year (April to
September), the playa and tiny sediments are
exposed to the atmosphere.
 Simultaneously, some intense low-level jets like
the Sistan-120 day wind blow over the basin
dominantly in the north-east to south-west
direction.
 The velocity of these jets can be reached about
110 to 120 km/hr.
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Hamoon Lakes
-The river system discharges
into an inland depression which,
when sufficient water is
available, forms the Hamoun
Lakes.
-During periods of very high
flows the lakes spill into the
Shile river and to the Goud-eZereh.
Goudi Zireh
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Iran’s Registered Ramsar Sites including Hamoon Wetlands since 1975
Thank you
for your attention
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Hamoon Lakes : Source of Income for People
Fishery once the Lake is full of water
Agriculture is important for people life.
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Wetlands with water (1 May 2005)
Wetlands without water (1 Dec. 2005)
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Hamoon Lakes: once full of water, a fantastic environment
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Destiny of a fishery boat on the dried Hamoon Lake!
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HAMOON WETLANDS
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The wetlands are
registered in Ramsar
and UNESCO
Biosphere Reserve
conventions; but in
1990, they were put
on the Montreux
Record, a list of
Ramsar sites under
direct and serious
threat of irreversible
damage.
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Wind Direction in Sistan Basin & Lower Hirmand River Basin
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Afghanistan
Hamouns
dry bed
Iran
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Pakistan
Hamoon Lakes Drying Out
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SAND STORM SATELLITE IMAGES OF SAND
STORMS
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CONTRIBUTION OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN DUST
SOURCE AREAS TO PM10 LEVELS IN TEHRAN
Source: Contribution of the Middle Eastern dust source areas to
PM10 levels in urban receptors: Case study of Tehran, Iran
Raheleh Givehchi, Mohammad Arhami*, Massoud Tajrishy
Department of Civil Engineering, Sharif University of Technology,
Tehran, Iran
Inhabitants in Tehran are generally exposed to
high levels of urban background PM due to the:
 large number of anthropogenic sources and the
unique geographic characteristics of a city
surrounded by a high altitude mountain chain on
its boundary, downstream of the prevailing wind.
 The hourly pollutant concentrations during 20092010 at 8 urban stations throughout the city of
Tehran operated by Air Quality Control
Company.
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DUST ORIGINS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO
PM10 LEVELS
Vast deserts in the Middle East
 The vast deserts in the Middle East are mainly
located on the western and southwestern part of
this region, and the prevailing winds also blow
from the west and southwest.
 This means the main dust origins affecting
Tehran are expected to be located in these
regions.
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DUST ORIGINS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO
PM10 LEVELS, CONT’D
Source apportionment
In order to apportion the contribution of each
desert area, the whole area identified as a
potential origin was divided into 5 rectangular
regions based on the countries’ and Sahara’s
borders as shown in Fig. 7a.
 The regions include the following countries:
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Region 1- Oman and United Arab Emirates,
Region 2- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait,
Region 3- Yemen,
Region 4- Iraq and the eastern part of Syria, and
Region 5- the western part of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and
the West.
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Dust come mainly from the sub-regions C and D
in regions 4 and 5 (Fig.10).
 These sub-regions include the areas in northern
Iraq and eastern Syria.
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Urmia Lake Drying Out
A New Environmental Disaster
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INTRODUCTION-LAKE URMIA
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Ref.: Nazardoust (2011)
Area = 5000 to 6000 km2 (Rank
31)
Volume = 45 km3 (Rank 47)
Depth = 6 to 13 m
Length = 140 km
Width = 15 to 50 km
Salinity = 150 to 340 gL-1
Ref.: Hassani (2010)
The Second hyper-saline lake after the
Dead Sea
IMPORTANCE
Ramsar site, Biosphere reserve, National park,
Important birds area, No hunting area
 Hyper saline
 144 Plant species
 23 species of Mammals
 More than 115 Birds species
 About 15 mainly fresh water wetlands
 3 Provinces with about 5 Milliones Inhabitants
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Data from Karbassi et al. (2010)
Ref.: Topex/Pozeidon and Jason 1 Altimetry (Worldslake.org)
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HYSPLIT4 (HYBRID SINGLE PARTICLE LAGRANGIAN INTEGRATED
TRAJECTORY MODEL) SIMULATION
RESULTS FOR
AUGUST 2012
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Dust trajectories will
get altitude up to
1000 m over the
ground surface and
will
distribute
northward to more
than latitude of 41 N.
It means the situation
of Lake Urmia is not a
national problem and
it will affect a region
with a radius of more
than 250 km
Urban Air Pollution Control
From a Larger Perspective
Nexus of Energy, Water and Land Use: A Blue
Print for Sustainable Urban Systems
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SUSTAINABLE URBAN SYSTEMS
(REF. JOHN C. CRITTENDEN, PH.D
PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF CIVIL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY)
We need to recreate the anthrosphere to exist
within the means of nature.
 That is, use renewable resources that nature
provides and generate waste nature can
assimilate without overwhelming natural cycles.
 This will require us to examine the interactions
between the natural, engineered, social and
economic systems.

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CONCLUSION/ EXPECTATIONS
Urban air pollution in Megacities is a serious
challenge in Iran, so our main expectations
from this Symposium are:
 Expanding the participants knowledge and
becoming familiar with the state of the science
research in the fields of Air Pollution
 Learning from experiences in managing air
pollution in US
 Becoming familiar with procedure of different
aspects of air pollution management and
educational system in US
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Developing knowledge transfer programs and
networking capacities: student exchange, visiting
profs, joint research, technology transfer,
seminars, conferences, panel meetings,
establishment of joint programs and scientific
committees, and etc.
 I finally hope that this Symposium will
provide a forum for Iranian and American
scientists to discuss best practices for combating
urban air pollution
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Iranian Delegation is grateful to:
 International Visitors Leadership Program
 National Academy of Science
 American Association for Advancement of
Science, AAAS
 World Learning
 The distinguished American scientists (speakers)
 UCIrvine and USC Administration and
Professors
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Dr. Glenn Schweitzer, Dr. Norman Neureiter,
Mr. Larry Moody, Mr. Neal Lendenmann and
colleagues, Ms. Lindsey Marburger, Prof.
Najmedin Meshkati and Prof. Sorooshian, whom
we are proud of,… and many other American
friends
 All places we visited and all persons we met in
this 3-week program.
 The International Visitors Councils of
Washington D.C, Raleigh, Pittsburg, Los Angeles
 Sharif University of Technology
 Prof. Hassan Vafai, for his leadership in
promoting our relationship and connection with
American scientists and NAS and AAAS
 Last, but not the least My Colleagues Prof.
Mohammad Arhami and Prof. Vahid Hosseini,
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OVERVIEW OF THE URBAN AIR
POLLUTION PROGRAM
AHMAD ABRISHAMCHI, PHD
PROF. WATER RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
CHAIRHOLDER, UNESCO CHAIR IN WATER AND ENVIRONMENT
MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE CITIES
SHARIF UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
TEHRAN, IRAN
URBAN AIR POLLUTION PROGRAM
1. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Provide a forum for Iranian and American
professionals to discuss best practices for
combating urban air pollution;
 Explore mechanisms for monitoring and
eliminating pollutants;
 Examine U.S. environmental protection
programs, laws, and regulatory enforcement;
 Consider long-term strategies used by cities that
have significantly reduced air pollution levels;
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GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, CONT’D
Examine the impact of air pollution on public
health and the ecology;
 To get an overview of required research activities
to overcome urban and industrial air pollution
 To expand international contacts for Iranian
scientists
 Explore university programs that address
environmental pollution issues; and
 Participate in a symposium on urban air
pollution organized by the National Academy of
Sciences at their Beckman Center in Irvine,
California.
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2. SUBJECTS AND TOPICS OF INTEREST
Monitoring of air pollutants
 Health effects of air pollution
 Experience of selected cities in cleaning up air
pollution problems
 Pollution control at the source
 Problems associated with dust storms near urban
areas
 Air pollution from urban areas and climate
change
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SUBJECTS AND TOPICS OF INTEREST, CONT’D
Climate change: greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory
 Regulatory approaches and enforcement
mechanisms
 Emission Estimations
 Advanced modeling of air pollutant levels
 University education programs to address
environmental pollution issues
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3. POINTS OF INTEREST
Universities and research centers: state of the art
research, labs and equipment,
 Major air pollution consulting and modeling
firms, corporations, and centers
 Federal and local authorities on air pollution
 Air pollution monitoring networks
 Manufacturer of air pollution monitoring and
measurement instruments and control devices
 (Thermo Analytics, Teledyne Technologies Inc.)
 Examples of mobile and stationary pollution
control devices

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4. PRINCIPLES AND VALUES
Trust (confidence, faith; credit; faithfulness),
Solidarity, Cooperation, …
 Participants Nomination Criteria (diversity and
coverage: expertise, geographic coverage, senior
scientists, young researchers, gender,…),
commitment,…

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5. EXPECTATIONS
Expand the participants knowledge and
becoming familiar with the state of the science
research in the fields of Air Pollution
 Learn from experiences in managing air pollution
in US
 Becoming familiar with procedure of different
aspects of air pollution management and
educational system in US

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EXPECTATIONS, CONT’D

Developing knowledge transfer programs and
networking capacities: student exchange, visiting
profs, joint research, technology transfer,
seminars, conferences, panel meetings,
establishment of joint programs and scientific
committees, and etc.
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6. ORGANIZERS AND SPONSORS
World Learning
 American Association for Advancement of
Science, AAAS
 National Academy of Science
In cooperation with USC and UCIrvine

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SOME PHOTOS OF TEHRAN
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