Analysis of Air Pollution Monitoring System in Lithuania

Abstract

According to the European Environment Agency data, air pollution is a major cause of early human death due to environmental factors. It is quite clear that this problem is most topical in cities, which have many sources of pollution (industry and transport), and are densely populated. Industry and transport are the main sources of pollution in cities. The transport sector currently accounts for around 40–50% of NOx and 10–15% of PM emissions. When choosing the location of air quality monitoring stations, it is important to take into account many factors, which depend on the purpose of the measurements (station purpose), the source of pollutants and other environmental factors. When installing industrial, urban and rural background air quality monitoring stations, the factors that determine the optimal location of the station are usually clear and unchanging. A bigger problem is with the selection of air quality monitoring station location, because they are designed to measure the impact of transport pollution on ambient air quality, as traffic intensity, congestion and changes need to be taken into account. In total 18 state air quality monitoring stations are installed in Lithuania, 5 of which are designed to monitor the impact of transport pollution on ambient air quality. Comparing the number of air quality monitoring stations in Lithuania to other Western European countries, it is possible to single out the insufficient number of these stations and some air quality monitoring stations are located in sub-optimal locations. The purpose of this article is to perform the analysis and relation of the locations and recorded data of Lithuanian stationary state air quality monitoring stations. The article analyses the layout of Lithuanian air quality monitoring stations, their density and recorded data. By analysing the data of Lithuanian air quality stations, it is determined whether the stations are currently installed in optimal locations. The number, density, location and recorded data of air quality monitoring stations in Lithuania are compared to examples from other countries.