Documentation / Online Handbook
| Air Quality |   |
| Moscow |
Description of the Problem
Moscow and the Moscow region suburban zone (within the radius of 60-70 km from the city borders) constitutes the Moscow agglomeration. Today more than 340,000 enterprises are located in Moscow, 3,000 of which are industrial enterprises, 39,000 dwelling houses, twelve heat power stations, and fifty-three district heating stations. Since the beginning of the 1980s, the air pollution level in Moscow has reached a critical level. You can find Moscow in the list of Russian towns with the maximum occasional concentrations of pollutions exceeding the Permitted Limit Concentration (PLC) by more than ten times (nitrogen dioxide, phenol, ammonia).
The atmospheric conditions have been constituting the main ecological problem for ten years. Heat power enterprises, oil refining and petroleum chemical enterprises, transport and municipal services are the main constant sources of pollution. Only stationary sources pollute the environment with a minimum of 500 various harmful contaminations. Traffic makes the most significant contribution to the pollution of Moscow’s environment; its share in the total exhausts from stationary and movable sources reached 90 % in 1996 (which is a result of industrial exhausts reduction and the traffic emissions growth).
The legislative basis for the air quality is the Russian Federation Law "Protection of Air," and state standards for atmosphere protection. The step-by-step introduction of an ecologically optimal structure of industry and the development of ecologically safe technologies, implemented together, form one idea of sustainable development.
Moscow is working on the programmes "Ecologically Clean Power" and "Ecological Safety of Transport" directed toward depollution of the air by 2010.
Data Sources
The MosTsGMS is the basic organisation controlling air pollution. The MosTsGMS stationary posts observe the atmospheric air condition. In 1996 sixteen posts were in operation (thirty-six posts in 1980). The stationary posts take samples to determine the concentration of four basic components (particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides) and some specific pollutions (phenols, sulphates, hydrogen sulphide, formaldehyde, ammonia, soot, cianic hydrogen, benzapyrene, hydrocarbons, heavy metals, etc.).
In addition to the observation executed by the stationary posts, the MosTsGMS and Moscow Centre of Sanitary Epidemiological Supervisor use the movable auto laboratories to investigate the air pollution level directly beside the industrial enterprises and along the main highways.
The chemical laboratories perform about 90,000 analyses of samples taken by the stationary posts and 40,000 analyses of samples taken by the movable laboratories. Analyses of these observations show that the general pollution of the air basin is growing and exceeds the legal permitted level of pollution. In the first case, it is connected with an increase of the exhaust pollution of motor vehicles. The use of motor vehicles continues to grow and causes accelerated pollution of the Moscow atmosphere with carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbon, formaldehyde, and other components.
The traffic exhausts estimation is based on the mathematical modelling method, which is based in turn on the relations between the amount and quality of fuel, the type of motors used, and the intensity and speed of the flow of traffic.
Characteristics of atmospheric pollution are to be determined simultaneously with meteorological characteristics necessary for their interpretation. The database regarding inventorisation of the stationary sources of exhausts in the atmosphere contains emissions characteristics of 3.5 thousand enterprises. Updating this information takes place every five years (under technical modernisation, or reconstruction more frequently). Classified information about the harmful components of exhausts from industrial enterprises was received in the beginning of the 1980s. Five air monitoring stations work under automatic mode.
Methods
Classification and estimation of the atmospheric pollution are based on statistical indices (average arithmetic value of concentration, maximum level of concentration, and coefficient of variation). All statistical characteristics are calculated for averaging in terms of time and space. The permitted limit concentrations within the correspondent period of averaging is the main criteria of the air quality. They were carried out by the RF Ministry of Public Health.
The emissions standard is fixed for each enterprise (the permitted limit of exhaust), providing the normative quality of air within the adjoining territories. In case the actual exhausts exceed the limit, the order of the step-by-step reduction of emissions should be introduced.
The theoretical basis for the emissions standards in Russia is the model of turbulent diffusion. In such cases, the exhaust limit normatives are determined for the enterprise maximum capacity and unfavourable meteorological conditions.
Results
There are maps of distribution of industrial pollution on the basis of a network of 2 x 2 km (emissions density) and maps of distribution of the background concentrations of polluting compounds (maps of NOx, CO, SO2, and particulate matter).
Maps of snow pollution reflect the composition of the atmospheric fall-out. Snow samples are taken at the end of the winter and the results are shown in the dust load maps. The winter dust load reflects the dust per unit of space within a unit of time. The high levels of dust load are to be strictly correlated with allocation of the industrial subjects and transport junctions.
The complex index of the urban atmosphere pollution shows the quantitative characteristic of the atmosphere pollution level caused by all compositions present in the urban atmosphere. Zones with the highest level of pollution can be determined from mathematical simulation of the dispersion of exhaust based on the polluting components’ emissions by various enterprises.
Uses
City administration, enterprises, scientific, research and design institutes, public information.
| Results | Analysis and evaluation methods | Data | ||||||
| inventory maps / cadastral register | complex summarising / interpolation maps | reference area / resolution scale | analogue-digital results / systems | calculation steps and spatial depiction | main parameter | other necessary data | Temporal distribution of data collection | survey unit scale |
| SO2 - pollution levels | Moscow city 1:50000 | digital map | Measured pollution, represented in isolines. | SO2 | Limiting Permitted Concentration (LPC) |
measurements at the air quality network stations: registration: continuously every 4 hours. Time periods 1980-1993. |
19 representative measurement points. | |
| NO2 pollution levels | Moscow city 1:50000 | digital map | Measured pollution, represented in isolines. | NO2 | Limiting Permitted Concentration (LPC) |
measurements at the air quality network stations: registration: continuously every 4 hours. Time periods 1985-1993. |
19 representative measurement points. | |
| CO pollution levels | Moscow city 1:50000 | digital map | Measured pollution, represented in isolines. | CO | Limiting Permitted Concentration (LPC) |
measurements at the air quality network stations: registration: continuously every 4 hours. Time periods 1985-1993. |
19 representative measurement points. | |
| Phenol pollution levels | Moscow city 1:50000 | digital map | Measured pollution, represented in isolines. | Phenol | Limiting Permitted Concentration (LPC) |
measurements at the air quality network stations: registration: continuously every 4 hours. Time periods 1985-1993. |
19 representative measurement points. | |
| Particulate matter pollution levels | Moscow city 1:50000 | digital map | Measured pollution, represented in isolines. | Particulate matter | Limiting Permitted Concentration (LPC). |
measurements at the air quality network stations: registration: continuously every 4 hours. Time periods 1985-1993. |
19 representative measurement points. | |
| Summary emissions (density of emissions) | Moscow city 1:50000 | digital map | Analysis / Choice of the most important polluters (emission in grids). | Summary emissions (density of emissions). | Emissions (tn/year) | Time periods 1976-1997 |
980 grids representing all data from the emission cadastres industry, and traffic, actualised every 5 years, model system 1x1 km². |
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