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UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FACULTY OF PHYSICS Guest
2024-11-22 2:15 |
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Conference: Bucharest University Faculty of Physics 2024 Meeting
Section: Atmosphere and Earth Science; Environment Protection
Title:
Atmospheric Pollution in South-Eastern Romania is dominated by anthropogenic activities
Authors:
Bianca Mihalache (1), Sabina Stefan (1,2), Gabriela Iorga (3,1)
*
Affiliation:
1) University of Bucharest, Faculty of Physics, Magurele, 077125 Bucharest, Romania
2) Academy of Romanian Scientists, 050044 Bucharest, Romania
3) University of Bucharest, Faculty of Chemistry, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
E-mail
mhl.bianca10@gmail.com
Keywords:
air quality, statistical analysis, urban area, temporal pattern, temporal trend
Abstract:
Atmospheric pollution degrades air quality and also exerts significant influences on climate patterns and human health. Meteorological observations suggest that the South-Eastern Romania (SERO) region is experiencing recent climate changes. Therefore, it became of high interest to investigate the spatial variations in key trace gases (NO2, CO, SO2, O3, VOCs) and particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) over this area. Present study focuses on assessing pollutant levels and their variations across urban, suburban, and rural sites within SERO, in order to see the main source categories and temporal and spatial patterns of pollutants across the region.
A dataset spanning 2019 to 2021 was investigated for each site within this region, incorporating ground-based measurements from the Romanian National Air Quality Network and remote-sensing data from the Sentinel 5P TROPOMI instrument. Additionally, data from the Pandonia Global Network (PGN) Pandora instrument was added for the analysis for one of the surveyed sites. Meteorological parameters were integrated from various ERA5 datasets from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Results of the temporal and spatial analyses, including univariate and bivariate local indicators of spatial association (LISA) cluster mapping, point to the interplay between local and regional pollution sources, socioeconomic factors, and development levels of sites. Evidence of trans-regional pollution between different areas within the SERO region was found. Principal component analysis indicates the dominance of anthropogenic sources over natural sources at all locations. Study suggests the atmospheric pollution is related to more than just the identification of pollution sources. It implies the necessity to take into account additional metadata. The study offer insights to policymakers helping them in formulating targeted measures to mitigate pollutant emissions within the SERO region.
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