VARIATION OF ROADSIDE AIR POLLUTANT CONCENTRATIONS IN RELATION TO TRAFFIC VOLUME AND METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN JAMBI CITY

This study examines roadside air pollutant variation in relation to traffic volume and meteorological conditions on Jl. RE Marta Dinata, Jambi City. An observational descriptive-analytical approach used 21 observations collected from 16:00 to 18:00 WIB during 10–16 October 2024. Traffic volume was counted directly, whereas air pollutants and meteorological data were obtained from application-based sources. Analyses included vehicle count, PM10, PM2.5, NO₂, CO, temperature, humidity, and wind speed, using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation. Vehicle counts ranged from 959 to 3,051 units per observation, with motorcycles comprising 67.2% of total volume. Mean concentrations were 23.21 ± 10.23 µg/m³ for PM10, 19.81 ± 8.16 µg/m³ for PM2.5, 2.15 ± 0.95 µg/m³ for NO₂, and 435.03 ± 52.97 µg/m³ for CO. Traffic volume was not significantly correlated with pollutants (|r| = 0.128–0.397; p > 0.05). Of 16 correlations, three were significant: temperature–NO₂ (r = −0.674; p = 0.001), humidity–NO₂ (r = 0.592; p = 0.005), and wind speed–CO (r = −0.569; p = 0.007). After Bonferroni correction (α = 0.003), only temperature–NO₂ remained significant. The highest particulate concentrations occurred at the lowest traffic volume, on Sunday, 13 October 2024. These findings indicate that roadside pollutant variation was not solely driven by instantaneous traffic volume; atmospheric dispersion and non-traffic sources should be considered in Jambi’s urban air-quality management.