Regional Monitoring of Natural Environment 2002, No 3, 87-93
DYNAMICS OF SUSPENDED DUST CONCENTRATION ON THE BASIS OF RESULTS OBTAINED AT THE ŚWIĘTOKRZYSKA ACADEMY MONITORING STATION IN THE YEARS 1994–2000
Marek Jóźwiak, Hubert Wróblewski
Summary
Air pollution is understood as the presence of solid, liquid and gaseous substances, in the bottom layer of the atmosphere, alien to its natural composition, which occur in quantities hazardous for man’s health, harmful for plants, animals and exerting an unfavourable influence on climate and on the way of the utilization of definite elements of the environment. The exact knowledge of the kind, causes, sizes and dynamics of the pollutants is the basis for concerted efforts aimed at the restoration and further maintenance of clean atmospheric air. Dust is one of the main components of atmospheric air pollution. In dependence of the kind and size distribution, dust may freely fall in the air or become suspended for a long time.
The aim of the present study is to present the dynamics of suspended dust on the basis of results obtained at the Monitoring Station of Świętokrzyskiej Academy in the years 1994-2000. The investigations carried out so far (Jóźwiak 2001, Jóźwiak, Kowalkowski 2002, Kowalkowski et al. 2002, Kozłowski 2001) showed that the natural environment of Świętokrzyski National Park is in the stage of multidirectional advanced and increasing evolutionary transformations. The direct sources of part of air dust pollution, measured at the Święty Krzyż Monitoring Station, are power stations, households, heating plants, industrial institutions and transportation. Registration of suspended dust concentrations derived from distant transport is due to the location of the Station 500 m above sea level and the direction of polluted air masses.
The average suspended dust concentration for the years 1994-2000 is 27.72 μg•m-3 with annual fluctuations from 38.46 μg•m-3 in the year 1994 and 28.49 μg•m-3 in the year 1998, to 25.48 μg•m-3 in the year 1995 and 24.13 μg•m-3 in the year 2000 (Fig. 4). The highest annual dust concentration was recorded in winter, spring and autumn (Fig. 5). Out of the analyzed natural factors, air temperature and relative moisture as well as rainfalls and wind speed exert effect on the change of dust concentration (Figs. 6-10).
