Tackling Air Pollution in Krakow

Abstract

Abstract. Data used in order to determine the level of pollutants present in the air in Krakow came from three air quality monitoring stations located in Bulwarowa street, Bujaka street and Krasińskiego avenue. Based on these data, an analysis was performed concerning air quality in Krakow in 2010-2016. Also, a correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relation between air quality parameters and meteorological parameters, such as: wind, precipitation, temperature. An analysis of the results obtained showed that two factors are critical for the variability of air pollution in Krakow. The first of them is low-stack emissions from coal stoves and boilers. The other factor is the type of atmospheric circulation. It has been determined that the worst air quality occurs in the heating season as the prevailing circulation is anticyclonic (high-pressure) characterised by low temperature, lack or small amount of precipitation, weak wind and thermal inversion. The paper presents preventive measures aimed at reducing the amount of pollutants in Krakow. It has been found that in order to reduce the level of air pollution in Krakow, especially in the heating season, it is necessary to intensify operations aimed at eliminating coal and wood stoves and boilers.

The Origin of Dust Particles in Atmospheric Air in Krakow (Poland) (Atmospheric Background)

“…The NO 2 concentration level may be a premise concerning the influence of car emissions on share of soot particles from the combustion of fuels. However, there is no clear correlation in Krakow between the car pollutant levels and the season of the year but greater values of NO 2 is observed in the winter season [37]. This observation supports findings of other studies that have identified traffic emissions as a source of high concentration of dust in other cities around the world [20,[38][39][40][41][42].…”

Assessment of the Variability of Air Pollutant Concentrations at Industrial, Traffic and Urban Background Stations in Krakow (Poland) Using Statistical Methods

“…In works [56,57] the correlation analyses and the dependent samples t-test was used, with respect to PM 10 concentration data, in suitability analysis of established in 2016 and 2017 air quality monitoring stations in Krakow (after a significant expansion made in 2015-2017 in the field of PM 10 concentration measurements). Using statistical methods, the impact of meteorological factors on air quality in Krakow was also assessed [58][59][60][61][62][63][64] and source apportionment analyzes were performed based on the principal component analysis (PCA) [24,[65][66][67] or the positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor model [68][69][70][71]. Previously, a comprehensive source apportionment analysis for measurements from January-February 2005 was performed by the JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability using seven multivariate receptor models [72,73].…”

“…A dozen or so years ago, the combustion of solid fuels (mainly coal) in small furnaces and boilers (related to residential heating) and industrial energy production had the dominant contribution to the high levels of PM 10 in the air in the winter months [72,73]. Thanks to the large-scale elimination of stoves and boilers fired with solid fuels carried out in recent years and replacing them with more ecological energy sources and reducing the emission of pollutants into the air from local industrial plants, emissions from road transport have started to play an increasingly important role for the air pollution in Krakow with regard to fine dust (including engine emission of soot), as well as dust drifted by wind from the road surface and during construction works in dry periods [63,84,[94][95][96].…”

A Study of PM 10, PM 2.5 Concentrations in the Atmospheric Air in Kraków, Poland

“…The location of Kraków in a basin and the high level of air corridors [15], which further hinder ventilation, only strengthen the underlying issue. Air pollution causes a number of negative health effects within the society [20,21,22]. The most vulnerable groups are sick people, children, pregnant women and the elderly [23,24].…”