Cairo

-O₃-

Station Characteristics Name : Cairo Country : Egypt GAW Category : Regional Platform : Ground base Location : 30.08ºN   31.28ºE   35m a.m.s.l. Time Zone : +2 Address : Kobry El-Koba, Cairo Egypt P.O.Box:11784 Organization : Egyptian Meteorological Authority EMA Egypt Cairo http://ema.gov.eg/ Description : The air pollution, ozone and radiation measurement stations located at the headquarters of Egyptian Meteorological Authority EMA. It located in Cairo city, the capital of Egypt, far about 12 Km from Cairo International Airport. There are six regional centers: 1-Cairo Regional Center for Communications 2-Cairo Regional Center for forecasts 3-Cairo Regional Center for the solar radiation 4-Cairo Regional Center for ozone 5-Cairo Regional Center for the calibration 6-Cairo Regional Training Center Cairo is the capital city of Egypt, and is the largest city in Africa, and the Arab World. It is the largest metropolitan area in Egypt, and is one of the most populous in the world. Cairo has a population of about 12 million people, according to the 2008 population census. In Cairo, and along the Nile River Valley, the climate is an odd mixture between Mediterranean climate and desert climate , but often with high humidity due to the river valley's effects. Wind storms can be frequent, bringing Saharan dust into the city during the months of March and April. High temperatures in winter range from 13°C to 19°C, while nighttime lows drop to below 8°C, often to 5°C. In summer, the highs rarely surpass 40°C, and lows drop to about 20°C. Rainfall is sparse, but sudden showers do cause harsh flooding. In a city near Cairo called New Cairo, the temperatures often drop below zero during winter. New Cairo's weather is generally cooler than that of Cairo due to its high altitude. Cairo is a rapidly expanding city, which has led to many environmental problems. The air pollution in Cairo is a matter of serious concern. Greater Cairo's volatile aromatic hydrocarbon levels are higher than many other similar cities. Air quality measurements in Cairo have also been recording dangerous levels of lead, carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and suspended particulate matter concentrations due to decades of unregulated vehicle emissions, urban industrial operations, and chaff and trash burning. There are over 2,000,000 cars on the streets of Cairo, 60% of which are over 10 years old, and therefore lack modern emission cutting features like catalytic converters. Cairo has a very poor dispersion factor because of lack of rain and its layout of tall buildings and narrow streets, which create a bowl effect. A mysterious black cloud (as Egyptians refer to it) appears over Cairo every fall and causes serious respiratory diseases and eye irritations for the city's citizens. Tourists who are not familiar with such high levels of pollution must take extra care.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo)