Influence of air temperature inversions on the air pollution dispersion conditions in Krakow

• Authors: Anita Bokwa
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

PL

Krakow is one of the most polluted cities in Poland. Its natural ventilation is limited due to the location of the city in a river valley. Air temperature inversions are an important element of the local climate in Krakow and a factor strongly influencing air pollution dispersion conditions. Traditional, multi-annual (1972-1996) measurements of air temperature, from three rural stations, and 1-year (03.2009-02.2010) intensive automatic measurements from two rural stations, one urban station and from a mast top 115 m above the ground were used. In the night time, inversions are less frequent in the urban than in the rural area, but still the frequency is over 30% from spring till autumn. In the studied 100-meter air stratum, no crossover effect was found. The relatively high frequency of air temperature inversions in the urban area of Krakow is a significant mesoclimatic difference in comparison with cities located in flat areas. It is also a factor seriously decreasing the natural ventilation and air pollution dispersion conditions.

Keywords

PL

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Prace Geograficzne
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 126

Dates

published

2011

online

2011-09-18

Contributors

author

Anita Bokwa