AIR POLLUTION MONITORING IN SLOVAKIA Presentation of results from the second measuring campaign in the Bratislava region zone Report elaborated by reVite, SHMU Analyses performed by Vito - Belgium and SHMU - Bratislava Project coordinator SHMU: Lubor Kozakovic April 2005 Cooperation project between the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU-Slovak Republic), the Flemish Environmental Agency (VMM-Belgium), the Flemish Institution for Technological Research (Vito-Belgium) and Environmental Data Processing Company (reVite-Slovak Republic) CONTENT 1. SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 3 2. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 3 3. METHOD............................................................................................................................................ 6 4. PROCESSING THE RESULTS ......................................................................................................... 7 4.1 Evaluation of the correspondence between passive and active measurements ................................. 8 4.2 Evaluation of the spatial and temporal representativeness of the data for the sampling period...... 11 4.3 Meteorological condition within the period from the climatological point of view........................ 14 5. EVALUATION OF THE RESULTS................................................................................................ 15 6. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 16 7. ANNEXES ........................................................................................................................................ 21 2 1. SUMMARY In January 2003, the bilateral project between the Flemish Environmental Agency (VMM) and The Flemish Institute for technological research (VITO) on one side and the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) and the reVite company on the other side was started. This report presents the results obtained during the second monitoring campaign in the Bratislava region zone in November 2004. The main objective was to obtain information on spatial distribution of NO2, SO2 and benzene concentrations in the Bratislava region zone where only a little information on Air Quality (AQ) was available, mostly from model calculations. Preliminary results from the measuring campaign showed that this area does not belong to very high polluted ones and with regards to the measured components none of the areas belong to the category of ‘air quality management area’. In addition to modelling, the presented results also provide objective information and indicate spatial distribution of SO2, NO2 and benzene concentration throughout the whole zone. In this way, the study helps the regional policy maker to assess the impact on air quality in different places from new potential emission sources. Moreover, the photo documentation and the classification according to the EoI criterion represent additional information, which is helpful for deeper analyses of relations between emissions and AQ. All this information and other documentation related to this project are available at the website: http://www.shmu.sk/?page=28. 2. INTRODUCTION The Air Quality Project in the Slovak Republic - Monitoring of air pollution and audit of quality system, is being realised in the frame of a bilateral programme between the governments of Flanders and the Slovak Republic. The main objective of the project is to help the Slovak Republic in the process of harmonization with the EU air quality legislation requirements. According to the Framework Directive “Council Directive 96/62/EC on Air Quality Management and Assessment”, the Member States are obliged to provide an assessment of ambient air quality throughout the territories of the Member States. General requirements concerning AQ are aimed to ensure implementation of necessary measures in order to comply with the limit values. Since January 1st 2003, the Slovak Republic has fully transposed the EU AQ legislation, which came into force under the Clean Air Act No. 478/2002 Coll. and the Decree No. 705 about Air Quality. 3 Regular measurements are carried out at 28 automated monitoring stations. This network is called the National Urban AQ Monitoring Network and the following pollutants were monitored at most stations in the year 2004: SO2, NOx, NO2, CO, O3, PM10, Pb, Benzene, PM2.5, As, Ni, Cd. The AQ assessment performed on the basis of automated measurements could be understood as fundamental for the assessment of areas where the AQ level exceeds the limit values or the limit values plus the margin of tolerance. Passive long scale measurements, such as those that were performed in this campaign, provide supplementary information that is valuable mainly because it indicates spatial distribution of particular pollutants in the whole area. As a result, regular and supplementary measurements of SO2, NO2 and benzene are very important for complex AQ assessment in the zones and agglomerations and for delimitation of areas where the appropriate measures have to be applied. There is a little bit different situation with the evaluation of air pollution by PM10 because of various sources of PM10 (traffic, industry, agriculture, etc.), mixture of different types of sources (points, mobile and area sources) and the uncertainty regarding quantification of their emissions. Therefore, in many cases it is the expert’s assessment and the model interpolations that play a more significant role. Similar to other parts in Europe, the PM10 is nowadays the most discussed pollutant. The aim is to better understand and quantify different sources, such as long-range transport, local background and local hot spot sources, such as traffic. Apportionment and quantification of PM10 sources is crucial for the application of effective measures at particular locations that are necessary for improving the AQ. The reason why it is mentioned here is that the pollution by PM10 represents a major problem in the whole country and the issue is much more complicated than, for example, the pollution by NO2. From all 8 zones in the Slovak Republic, “the Bratislava region zone” is the only one where the air pollution level has not exceeded the limit values for PM10. On the other hand, the spatial distribution of PM10, NO2 and SO2 concentrations were mainly evaluated on the basis of model calculations. This campaign fully complies with the requirement of the FW Directive to perform the AQ assessment throughout the zone, and it also provides broader applications related to the possibility of tuning model estimations. It enables the municipalities and monitoring managers to select proper sites for installing new automated monitoring stations, which should be done in this zone by the end of year 2005. Delimitation of the zones in Slovakia was performed on an administration principle. The zones are identical with the higher territorial units, regions. According to the new Clean Air Act, the municipal policy makers are responsible for the elaboration of action plans and programmes and for the implementation of necessary measures to ensure that the air 4 pollution achieves acceptable levels, meaning that it will not exceed the limit values. The Table 1a (Annex 1) provides the general overview of AQ management areas in SR for each zone/agglomeration and the pollutants for which the action plans have already been or will have to be elaborated. So far, we have not been able to quantify the contribution of natural PM10 sources, winter sanding, or the particulates that are reemitted from the ground. Correction factor 1.3 is applied to all automated PM10 measurements in the whole Slovakia. The second measuring campaign was focused primarily on the evaluation of spatial distribution of NO2, SO2 and benzene concentrations, mainly at most frequented roads in different towns and villages in the Bratislava region zone. Bratislava Region zone Bratislava region zone spreads over an area of 1685 km2 and the number of inhabitants is approximately 1,65 million. Little Carpathian Mountains extend from Bratislava in the north east direction dividing the lowland into the Danube Plain and the Bor Lowlands across the whole area at the altitude of 130-514 meters. Wind patterns in this area are affected mainly by these slopes, which are located perpendicularly to the generally prevailing North West wind direction. So far, the industrial sources, the traffic and/ or other specific local emission sources have not affected this zone very much. That is why this is still the only zone in the Slovak Republic, where the regular measurements have not been carried out by the SHMU yet. The only automated monitoring station in this area is operated by the Slovnaft refinery in a small village Rovinka located close to the city Bratislava (appr. 5 km). For comparison of passive and automated measurements, the mobile stations Slovnaft and Poddunajske Biskupice, which are located in Bratislava city but very close to this zone, were also taken into account (at maps they are numbered as points 1 and 2). Because all of these stations are operated by petrochemical refinery Slovnaft, Ltd., for some statistical analyses it was useful to consider also the measurements from the city stations. 5 3. METHOD In total, 78 sites were selected for