Distant evaluation of the influence of air pollution on remote areas

Abstract

This paper presents a back-trajectory approach to evaluating and forecasting the influence of different atmospheric emissions on the environment of Russia’s remote and hard-to-reach regions. Air-mass trajectories are derived from the HYSPLIT4 model, which is presented on the NOAA Atmospheric Research Laboratory website. Mean concentrations of anthropogenic heavy metals (HMs) in the air, snow, and rainfall and their total fluxes onto the surface for the 2000s are calculated for the Nenetskii, Gydanskii, and Ust’Lenskii State Nature reserves on the coast of the Russian Arctic Ocean. Data on anthropogenic atmospheric emissions of heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cr, and As) and their annual fluxes for Russian cities and regions are provided by the State Roshydromet Service. The mean deposition velocities of anthropogenic HMs transported on submicron aerosol particles are calculated from the literature data and weather information taking into account climatic distinctions. Spatial distributions of potential anthropogenic HM source functions are presented on maps. These maps are used to estimate the impact of existing and designed pollution sources, including extended ones (forest and grass fires), and to determine the most important sources for the Russian Arctic. Seasonal and spatial variations in the anthropogenic impact through the atmosphere on the Russian Arctic coast are analyzed.