Abstract
The paper deals with issues related to analyzing the spread of air pollution and pollutants in large urban agglomerations, specifically, the search for causality between meteorological conditions and the concentrations of particular substances. The pollutants SO2 and PM10 were selected for analysis, which, in addition to NOx, CO, CO2 and PM2.5, contribute to smog, especially during the heating seasons. This analysis is particularly important because Polish environmental standards are more lenient than those in western EU states. Industrial activity, transport and heating systems based on coal-burning are still a big problem in Poland, and each year their gaseous and particulate emissions exceed air-quality limits. This paper presents a statistical analysis of data recorded at the air-quality monitoring station on Kossuth Street in Katowice concerning the heating seasons from 2013–2016. The verification of proposed parabolic models containing concentrations from previous time periods and statistically significant meteorological conditions was conducted for individual heating seasons as well for the whole set of data, which included the influence of wind speed and temperature. The models obtained proved that the selected form of a model is statistically significant, and its use may produce satisfactory forecast results and permit various environmental applications. The specified model might be used both for forecasting (verification and possibly updating coefficients to increase forecast accuracy) and analyzing the factors influencing pollution values. Such statistical analysis may be helpful in assessing the impact of measures adopted to reduce air pollution, particularly in large Polish cities.
Highlights
Air pollution is one of the world’s most noticeable consequences of urbanization and transportation development
A good example of such social action is the establishment of Polish Smog Alert, an initiative associating movements concerned about poor air quality in Poland
As well as Rybnik, can be counted among the cities where local authorities have taken intensive action to reduce air pollution, an example of which might be a total ban on burning coal and wood in households in Kraków that has been in force since September 2019
Summary
Air pollution is one of the world’s most noticeable consequences of urbanization and transportation development. A good example of such social action is the establishment of Polish Smog Alert, an initiative associating movements concerned about poor air quality in Poland. As well as Rybnik, can be counted among the cities where local authorities have taken intensive action to reduce air pollution, an example of which might be a total ban on burning coal and wood in households in Kraków that has been in force since September 2019. The proposed statistical analysis of the models and their coefficients and correlation to parameters such as temperature or wind speed permits the evaluation of changes concerning air pollution values in light of actions taken and independent natural factors. ANnuaBmloyextricmicaaolAldm,nefiolaBrsdlsoyetx-tloiscmradoledmrecollsdoeslusre models NumericNal,ufmirsetr-iocradl,ehricglhoesur-roerdmeordcelolssure models Numerical, hLiagrhgeer--socradleerecdldosyusriemmuoladteiolsn models
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