ALMAS FILDZAH, ARIE DIPAREZA SYAFEI, ABDU FADLI ASSOMADI, RACHMAT BOEDISANTOSO, AGUS SLAMET AND JONI HERMANA
Abstract
Surabaya is the second largest metropolitan city in Indonesia after Jakarta and has 4.5 million vehicles. The number of vehicles increase every year, causing increases in concentrations of TSP (Total Suspended Particulates), PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 (Particulate Matter with aerodynamic sizes of less than 10µm, 2.5µm, and 1µm, respectively). Being exposed to these particulates continuously is very dangerous for pedestrians âhealth. In this study, concentrations of TSP, PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 were measured for 15 hours on six major roads in Surabaya. We also investigated the effect of vegetation on pedestrian particulate exposure. The measurement results showed that the concentrations of the particulates increased in the morning and evening. The highest concentrations recorded were taken on Gemblongan Street on a weekday. They were 103.2 µg/m3 for PM1, 219.8 µg/m3 for PM2.5, 503.73 µg/m3 for PM10, and 503.73 µg/m3 for TSP. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that particulate concentrations were significantly affected by the number of vehicles during the weekend and week days as well as the temperature. However, particulate concentration patterns were obviously higher during peak hours, especially in the morning. Vegetation was observed to reduce particulate exposure to pedestrian users. However, since the testing was limited to one plant species, future research could investigate plant morphology, e.g., leaf structure, that is more effective in reducing coarse and fine particulate concentrations.