Integrated view on the modern atmospheric air pollution conditions in Ukraine

According to the materials of report at the meeting of the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine, July 12, 2023

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of modern atmospheric air pollution conditions over Ukraine based on the integrated use of ground-based observations, remote sensing, and numerical atmospheric modeling including aerosol effects. Ground-based monitoring data were used for detecting average air pollution in cities, the frequency of threshold level exceedance, and comparing tendencies with national inventories. By applying meteorological data, the dependencies of air pollution on atmospheric transport were estimated for every monitoring site (129 in total) in urban areas. In comparison to point measurements, remote sensing data provides a detailed view covering the entire Ukrainian territory. Using the automatic near-real-time system for the Sentinel-5P satellite, which was developed at the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute, we are able to analyze spatial and temporal features in remote regions and detect the consequences of emissions including those from wildfires, dust storms, industrial objects, transboundary pollution, and war-originated sources. Numerical modeling makes it possible not only to simulate past air pollution distribution but also to create air quality forecasts. Nowadays, we are using high-performance computing by running the online-integrated Enviro-HIRLAM model to study pollution effects (mainly direct and indirect aerosol effects) on meteorological processes. All these data sources together provide the only possible way to implement an integrated view of air pollution.