Wind direction

Air quality index

Internal medicine

Geology

Meteorology

Wind speed

Organic chemistry

Chemistry

Emergency medicine

Morning

Geography

Weekend effect

Air pollutants

Environmental science

Air pollution

Medicine

Pollutant

Atmospheric sciences

Scientific Reports

We investigated temporal variations of ambient air pollutants and the influences of meteorological parameters on their concentrations using a robust method; convergent cross mapping; in Tehran (2012–2017). Tehran citizens were consistently exposed to annual PM 2.5 , PM 10 and NO 2 approximately 3.0–4.5, 3.5–4.5 and 1.5–2.5 times higher than the World Health Organization air quality guideline levels during the period. Except for O 3 , all air pollutants demonstrated the lowest and highest concentrations in summertime and wintertime, respectively. The highest O 3 concentrations were found on weekend (weekend effect), whereas other ambient air pollutants had statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05) daily variations in which higher concentrations were observed on weekdays compared to weekend (holiday effect). Hourly O 3 concentration reached its peak at 3.00 p.m., though other air pollutants displayed two peaks; morning and late night. Approximately 45% to 65% of AQI values were in the subcategory of unhealthy for sensitive groups and PM 2.5 was the responsible air pollutant in Tehran. Amongst meteorological factors, temperature was the key influencing factor for PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentrations, while nebulosity and solar radiation exerted major influences on ambient SO 2 and O 3 concentrations. Additionally, there is a moderate coupling between wind speed and NO 2 and CO concentrations.

Temporal variations of ambient air pollutants and meteorological influences on their concentrations in Tehran during 2012–2017