Air pollution monitoring in urban areas due to heavy transportation and industries: A case study of Rawalpindi and Islamabad

The present study deals with the air pollution caused by industry and transportation in urban areas of pakistan. rawalpindi and islamabad,the twin cities of pakistan were considered for this purpose. the concentrations of major air pollutants were taken from different location according their standard time period using air quality monitoring station. five major air pollutants were considered i.e.,no2,so2,co,o3 and pm 2.5. the average mean values for all pollutants were taken on monthly and four monthly bases. the concentrations of no2 and pm 2.5 were exceeding the permissible limits as define by environmental protection agency of pakistan. other pollutants concentrations were within the standard limits. geographic information system was used as a tool for the representation and analysis of environmental impacts of air pollution. passquill and smith dispersion model was used to calculate the buffer zones. some mitigation measures were also recommended to assess the environmental and health impacts because of pm2.5 and no2.