Atmospheric particulate matter concentration and annual variability in an urban area of NW Spain

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) refers fine solid and liquid particles suspended in air, strongly dependent of anthropogenic air emissions in urban areas. High PM levels have been measured in several cities around the world. Several important industrial facilities exist in the urban area of A Coruna, NW of Spain. They emit important PM to the air. A network of air quality monitoring stations exists and it allowed knowing the hourly PM₁₀ concentration in the air. PM₁₀ is used to denote particles of diameter under 10 μm. Such data is used to know the seasonal and yearly content on PM₁₀ in the air between 2005 and 2008 in the urban area. The data provided shows small variability in the air PM₁₀ concentration among stations and seasonal periods. Slightly higher PM₁₀ concentrations and variability can be observed during spring and summer due to climatic factors, above all in rural and industrial settings located in the outskirts of the city.