Abstract
Trajectory cluster analysis and concentration weighted trajectory (CWT) approach have been applied to investigate the origins of PM10 air pollution recorded at a rural background site in North-eastern Poland (Diabla Góra). Air mass back-trajectories used in this study have been computed with the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model for a 10-year period of 2006–2015. A cluster analysis grouped back-trajectories into 7 clusters. Most of the trajectories correspond to fast and moderately moving westerly and northerly flows (45% and 25% of the cases, respectively). However, significantly higher PM10 concentrations were observed for slow moving easterly (11%) and southerly (20%) air masses. The CWT analysis shows that high PM10 levels are observed at Diabla Góra site when air masses are originated and passed over the heavily industrialized areas in Central-Eastern Europe located to the south and south-east of the site.
Highlights
Variability of air pollutant concentrations recorded at a specific site, depending on the species, may vary on time scales from minutes to decades
In scarce previous studies performed for this region, probable sources of particulate matter (PM) air pollution were identified by trajectory classification into wind sectors at urban site for Zagreb, Croatia [8] as well as back-trajectory analysis for selected days with the highest PM concentrations observed in Polish urban areas [9]
The aim of the present paper is to investigate potential source areas of air pollution contributing to PM10 levels recorded at a Central-European rural background site during the long-term period of 2006–2015
Summary
Variability of air pollutant concentrations recorded at a specific site, depending on the species, may vary on time scales from minutes to decades. Back-trajectory analysis comprises a number of methods to identify transport pathways of air masses affecting a study site as well as to determine potential source areas of air pollution. In order to analyse the association between trajectories and concentrations of various species in air arriving at a site, a number of methods to carry out trajectory classifications has been applied. In scarce previous studies performed for this region, probable sources of particulate matter (PM) air pollution were identified by trajectory classification into wind sectors at urban site for Zagreb, Croatia [8] as well as back-trajectory analysis for selected days with the highest PM concentrations observed in Polish urban areas [9]. Dvorska et al [15] applied PSCF method in order to identify potential source areas of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at rural background site in Kosetice (Czech Republic)
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