Dynamics of pollutants accumulation in the snow of an urban agglomeration

Abstract

Snowpack properties allow using snow as a convenient indicator of atmospheric air pollution, precipitation, and eventually soil pollution. There is a high probability of trace elements and organic pollutants accumulation on the snow cover acting as the deposit matrix. In this study, we analyzed the dynamics of the content of metals (Ca, Mn, Fe, Zn, Sr, Pb and Ba) in filtered and unfiltered samples and the content of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (18 basic PAHs) in weekly snow sampling in the city and nearby. The obtained results were collated with the content of the same contaminants in the snow sampled layer by layer at the end of the season (layer thickness was 0.1 m). In result of the study, we concluded that the sampling should be carried out right after the precipitation for the purpose of atmospheric pollution estimation, because most of heavy metals migrate through the snow layers into soil cover and get lost by the end of the season. The organic pollutants, such as PAHs, are also lost. The sampling of snow during the whole season allows identifying the global and local sources of contaminants released into the atmosphere.