Under the regional project RAS/0/076 on “Investigating
Atmospheric Particulate Matter and Pollution Source Contributions in Urban
Environments Using Nuclear Analytical Techniques” funded by the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Hanan Sa’adeh and Master student Sara Aburugia
represented the University of Jordan at the “2nd Coordination Meeting of
Project RAS0076”, at the IAEA Headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, from 2 to 6 July 2018.
As a project counterpart of RAS0076 in Jordan, Dr Sa’adeh delivered an oral presentation addressing the progress and prospects of the project at national level, and highlighting the main results achieved and the challenges encountered.
During the meeting that was attended by 7 member states of
ARASIA (Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, and UAE), Dr. David Cohen,
the international expert, introduced the participants about database development
based on the experience of RCA (Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research,
Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology for Asia and
the Pacific), and also illustrated the main features of MABI (Muti-wavelength Absorption
Black Carbon Instrument), black carbon calculations, and positive matrix
factorization (PMF).
Based on RAS0076 findings and achievements, the work plan for a
new project RAS0078 "Characterizations, source apportionment of air
pollution and long-range transport within the ARASIA regional network" for
the period 2019-2021 was thoroughly discussed, and the participants agreed on
the Project Design and the Logical Framework Matrix (LFM).
Additionally, one day of the meeting was dedicated for
visiting the IAEA Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory (NSIL) in Seibersdorf,
where Dr. Roman Padilla Alvarez, the IAEA technical officer for RAS0076
Project, demonstrated the available instrumentation that can be beneficial for
the participating countries.