Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Air Pollution Background Monitoring over the Former Soviet Union: Fifteen Years of Observations

Sergey G. Paramonov Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, Moscow, Russia

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Print Publication:
01 Oct 1998
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1998)037<1179:APBMOT>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
1179–1189
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Abstract

Regular air pollution observations in background areas over the former Soviet Union (FSU) were started in the 1980s. The air background monitoring network consisted of 16 stations working under the Integrated Monitoring (IM) Program. Several air pollutants were monitored at the stations, among them sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, aerosols of sulfate, dust, trace metals, selected pesticides, 3,4-benzopyrene, and ozone. Measurements of sulfur and nitrogen compounds were also continuously taken within the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) at 13 stations located along the western border of the FSU.

The data obtained by the IM and EMEP networks for 1980–95 are the focus of this paper. Western and central regions of the FSU were the most polluted areas. Concentrations for the most part of observed pollutants in Siberia are two–three times less than in the European part of the FSU. At most of the stations, a decrease of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, trace metals, and pesticides concentrations in the air has been observed during the 1980s–90s.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Sergey G. Paramonov, Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, Glebovskaya str., 20b, 107258 Moscow, Russia.

Abstract

Regular air pollution observations in background areas over the former Soviet Union (FSU) were started in the 1980s. The air background monitoring network consisted of 16 stations working under the Integrated Monitoring (IM) Program. Several air pollutants were monitored at the stations, among them sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, aerosols of sulfate, dust, trace metals, selected pesticides, 3,4-benzopyrene, and ozone. Measurements of sulfur and nitrogen compounds were also continuously taken within the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) at 13 stations located along the western border of the FSU.

The data obtained by the IM and EMEP networks for 1980–95 are the focus of this paper. Western and central regions of the FSU were the most polluted areas. Concentrations for the most part of observed pollutants in Siberia are two–three times less than in the European part of the FSU. At most of the stations, a decrease of sulfur and nitrogen compounds, trace metals, and pesticides concentrations in the air has been observed during the 1980s–90s.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Sergey G. Paramonov, Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, Glebovskaya str., 20b, 107258 Moscow, Russia.

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Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

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