A statistical analysis of air pollution data in terms of meteorological conditions

Abstract

The air pollution in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) at a height of about 1 km is considered. Assuming stationarity and horizontal homogeneity of the underlying surface, the turbulent state in the PBL is completely determined by the following external parameters: the Rossby number, one parameter for thermal stratification and two for baroclinicity. The turbulent state in the PBL under the same conditions is also determined completely by the following internal parameters: one for thermal stratification and two for baroclinicity. If the internal or external parameters completely determine the PBL turbulent state, then they should completely determine the diffusion processes in it. That is why for the analysis of pollution data, it is recommended that these representative meteorological parameters should be used rather than selected ones. The external parameters which may be obtained from synoptic data have a definite advantage for statistical processing of air pollution data. This is clearly of importance for forecasting. On the other hand, the connection between pollution and the internal parameters is comparatively well-studied theoretically. That is why for the prediction of pollution, it is necessary to know the dependence between the internal and external parameters, as given by the resistance law. An example of statistical processing of air pollution data in the PBL is treated in terms of the external parameters. In addition, an example is given of a theoretical prediction of pollution using synoptic data.