Abstract
The historical analysis of particulate matter (PM) concentration proved that pro-clean-air legislation and grassroots movement have a positive impact on air quality in Krakow. However, when the temperature drops in late autumn, winter, and early spring, the problem of smog still occurs in the city. In a 24-hours averaging period, the concentration of PM10 has exceeded EU norms in 10 days in pandemic March 2021. It is estimated that 50% of the carbon fraction in PM10 measured in Krakow comes from domestic heating. This is mostly caused by the migration of air pollutants from neighboring municipalities (where the use of fossil fuels for heating is allowed) to Krakow (where this type of households heating is forbidden). In this paper, we analyzed PM10 concentrations in Krakow and neighboring municipalities. Moreover, we showed the main migration directions of air pollutants in connection with wind direction. We used statistical analysis to examine the relations between PM10 concentrations and other physical characteristics of the atmosphere. It includes measurements of pressure, temperature, and humidity. We were collecting data during early spring 2021 when car transportation was limited due to the COVID-19 lockdown in Poland. Car transportation in Krakow is responsible for up to 20% of the PM10 carbon fraction concentration. It allowed for observation of air pollutions from solid fuel heating with minimum traffic-generated pollution background. The Airly© low-cost sensors (LCS) network was used for this study.
Highlights
The problem of air pollution in Krakow has a long history
We demonstrated the relation between relative comfort zone temperature (Jendritzky et al, 2001) and the level of PM10 concentration from solid fuel heating in neighboring municipalities
Based on correlation analysis between PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 we decided to use in this study only PM10 measurements as a good representative of air pollutions from solid fuel heating with a correlation coefficient with PM2.5 equals 0.997 and with PM1 equals 0.996
Summary
The problem of air pollution in Krakow has a long history. In the 1970s and 1980s, industry, mainly metallurgy, was one of the main air pollution factors. Reduced car traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed us to observe the influx of pollutants from fossil fuels heating to the city of Krakow from nearby towns. According to the Central Statistical Office of Poland's official data, every fifth inhabitant of large provincial cities (including Krakow) changed their work to remote work during the pandemic in 2021 (Statistics Poland, 2021b). Krakow's universities conducted remote learning throughout the entire period of the pandemic (Kołodziej, 2021). The most severe lockdown was the first one introduced on 24th March 2020, in which domestic movements for people in Poland were prohibited, except for commuting to the necessary workplaces, grocery shops, hospitals, and pharmacies. Restrictions resumed, but the lockdown was less severe than that announced in March. On 19th April 2021, the lockdown ended and the restrictions were gradually loosened (Serwis Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, 2021)
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