Snow cover dust pollution in Murmansk and its suburbs

Abstract

The main goal of the research is to identify the degree of dust pollution in the city of Murmansk in the winter period in connection with the activities of industrial enterprises and transport systems. The study was conducted in the winter of 2018 and 2019 during the expedition of the Department of Environmental Management of the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University. Snow sampling was carried out at different distances from pollution sources in various functional areas of the city, taking into account the number of storeys of the building, the features of the relief, wind direction and the distribution of green spaces. Based on a comparative analysis of the organic matter content in snow water and the composition of solid particles, it is concluded that there is a significant presence of coal dust and hydrocarbons in the composition of solid particles in snow. The main pollutant of snow cover is the Murmansk Commercial Port, which is a source of coal dust resulting from unloading and loading operations. The distribution of dust pollution in the city of Murmansk is significantly affected by the prevailing air masses and the relief.