The Effect of Selected Meteorological Factors on the Process of “Polish Smog” Formation
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Lodz University of Technology, Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, ul. Wólczańska 213, 90-924 Łódź, Poland
Publication date: 2020-01-01
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Justyna Czerwińska
Lodz University of Technology, Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, ul. Wólczańska 213, 90-924 Łódź, Poland
J. Ecol. Eng. 2020; 21(1):180-187
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ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of smog, i.e. excessive air pollution in urban areas is known and has been widely described in the literature. Typically, two types of smog are distinguished: acid smog that is called “London smog” and photochemical smog called “Los Angeles-type smog”. The first one is formed in the winter months. In contrast, photochemical smog arises in the summer months. In recent years in Poland, especially in winter, alarms associated with bad air quality are very common. In Polish conditions, the main reason for low air quality are exceeded permissible concentrations of suspended particulate matter. The paper analyzes the process of “Polish smog” formation by comparing recorded concentrations of PM10 suspended particulate matter at four monitoring stations of the Inspectorate of Environmental Protection with weather conditions prevailing at that time. Data from the monitoring stations located in four Polish cities: Krakow, Zabrze, Lodz and Gdansk were analyzed. The analysis covered the years 2014-2017. The results of this analysis showed that “Polish smog” arises in different meteorological conditions than other types of smog known from the literature.