Effects of forest areas on air quality; Aras Basin and its environment

Background: in the study, the aras basin and its environment, one of the most important hydrological basins ofturkey, was evaluated. in survey area, to determine the change of air quality, it was benefited from 23,770 pieces ofhourly measured so2 (sulfur dioxide) and pm10 (particulate matter) concentration values for the december, januaryand february of 2009–2010 in which the pollution is at peak, by forming database in geographical informationsystem (gis), spatial analyze maps were attained. by comparing; maps showing attained numeral air quality andmaps showing the spread of forest lands in the region, it was tried to determine the relation and interactionbetween air quality and forest lands.results: the results indicated that the air quality index (aqi) values were the lowest for the forest land in themonths which mean that the forest land was the most convenient place for health. the increase the aqi, airpollution also increases. the results indicated that the air quality index changed from 1 to 4 within the region. inthe forest areas, the aqi values for the months were the lowest. this indicated that the most suitable places forhealth are the places with a high forest coverage rates (76,50; 66,46 and 96,78%). there was no forest area withinthe region where the aqi values were the highest, so the risk was maximum, for the months.conclusions: authorities should create new afforestation areas and rehabilitate degraded forest lands to limit airpollution by increasing the quality of urban life.