Transboundary Air Pollution in the Krakow Agglomeration Using the HYSPLIT Model

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the measurement data of PM10 particulate matter in the Krakow agglomeration. It develops a model of the backward trajectory of air masses to determine whether and to what extent natural phenomena, such as forest fires outside Poland, affect the level of air pollution.
The article describes the process of pollutant dispersion in the Earth’s atmosphere and the principles of air monitoring in the Krakow agglomeration. The study uses 2022 measurement data from ten monitoring stations of the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection in the Krakow agglomeration. Two periods of increased PM10 particulate matter were selected. On the basis of the HYSPLIT software, which uses backward air trajectories, the influx of transboundary pollution was simulated. Then, by analyzing the FIRMS fire information system, an attempt was made to document that the pollution sources considered were of natural origin and that human activity did not in any way determine the emissions and their magnitude.