The effect of selected meteorological factors on the process of "Polish smog" formation

Abstract

The phenomenon of smog, i.e. excessive air pollution in urban areas is well-known and has been widely described in the literature. Typically, two types of smog are distinguished: the acid smog that is called "London smog" and the photochemical smog called "Los Angeles-type smog". The first one is formed in the winter months. In contrast, the photochemical smog arises in the summer months. In recent years in Poland, especially in winter, alarms associated with poor air quality have become very common. Under Polish climatic conditions, the main reason for low air quality corresponds to the exceeded permissible concentrations of suspended particulate matter. The paper analyzes the process of "Polish smog" formation by comparing the recorded concentrations of PM10 suspended particulate matter at four monitoring stations of the Inspectorate of Environmental Protection with weather conditions prevailing at that time. The 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 under different meteorological conditions than other types of smog known from the literature..