Spatiotemporal Variations in the Content of Pollutants in the Moscow Air Basin and Their Emissions

Abstract

The location of Moscow on a plain within higher latitudes when compared to other megacities creates conditions for the chemical transformation of pollutants in the urban atmosphere and their transport and accumulation. Observational data on surface concentrations of NO, NO 2 , CO, CH 4 , O 3 , nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), and aerosols (PM 10 ), which were obtained at the Moscow Ecological Monitoring (MEM) network from 2005 to 2020, have been processed and analyzed. Both temporal and spatial parameters characterizing the dynamics of atmospheric pollution of Moscow’s air basin have been calculated. It is noted that the content of most pollutants in the urban air has decreased due to the renewal of the vehicle fleet; the introduction of restrictions on the entry of freight transport in the city; and the modernization of industrial enterprises, treatment facilities, and the gas transmission system. Significant negative trends have been obtained for NMHCs, CO, NO x , and PM 10 (4.3, 4.0, 2.6, and 1.7% y –1 , respectively). An insignificant negative trend has been obtained for O 3 and no negative trend has been found for CH 4 . Total emissions from urban sources of substances determining the air quality have been calculated. Their values also manifest negative trends. The content of ozone almost did not change within such a long period, which suggests a weak sensitivity of the oxidizing properties of the Moscow atmosphere and the rate of ozone generation to variations in the atmospheric content of nitrogen radicals and their high sensitivity to volatile organic compounds.

Variations of Organic and Inorganic Atmospheric Boundary Layer Gaseous Species by Observations in Moscow and Zvenigorod

“…Diurnal variations in ozone concentration in winter are characterized by daytime and nighttime maxima and morning and evening minima, which are explained by an increase in car traffic in the metropolis, leading to an increase in nitrogen oxide emissions and a decrease in ozone concentration. During the warm period, the diurnal variation of ozone is characterized by a pronounced maximum in the daytime, when the photochemical generation of this gas in the atmosphere is most intense [Elansky et al, 2007[Elansky et al, , 2015[Elansky et al, , 2022.…”

“…With the accumulation of data series of continuous observations of gaseous species concentrations in the atmospheric boundary layer in Moscow and at the ZSS, their analysis will be continued in the future. The data obtained will also be used to estimate emissions of atmospheric pollutants, in particular, according to the methods described in [Berezina et al, 2022;Elansky et al, 2018Elansky et al, , 2022.…”

Atmospheric CH4 and Its Isotopic Composition (δ13C) in Urban Environment in the Example of Moscow, Russia

“…CH 4 inventories tend to underestimate emissions compared to those inferred from direct atmospheric measurements of methane levels due to difficulty in correctly accounting for fugitive CH 4 emissions [9] and the lack of a basic understanding of the locations and temporal patterns of urban CH 4 sources at relevant scales [2]. For example, existing emission estimates for Moscow, inferred from near-surface CH 4 measurements on the Moscow network stations in 2005-2014, show significant inaccuracy of the derived inventories for most chemical compounds [10][11][12]. This strongly supports the need to elaborate new strategies in assessing the urban source strengths for methane and other pollutant species.…”

“…It is located on the plain in the middle latitudes and has the historically formed urban development with the absence of large industrial centers in the immediate vicinity. This leads to the consideration of Moscow as an isolated city [12]. Over the past 30 years, the number of cars in Moscow has increased from 2 to 6 million and industrial production has increased by 10%.…”

“…Thus, Moscow became a financial and administrative center with a composition of anthropogenic emissions similar to cities with the same infrastructure. The main sources of air pollution (motor transport, industrial and communal facilities, housing sector) bring Moscow's air quality close to the megacities of the USA, Japan, and large European towns [12,19,20].…”