The spatial analysis of air pollution with trace elements using snow sampling

Air pollution is one of the main factors that affects human health. It may affect our health in many ways both long and short term. Exposure time of air pollution increases the risk of respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia, lung cancer, and causes cardiovascular diseases. Air pollution affects different groups of individuals in various ways. An objective of this study was to investigate the level of pollution in snow blanket in Jelgava city after exposition of 7 days and to determine the cause of pollution in different parts of Jelgava city. In Jelgava city, 60 sampling plots were established, which cover the whole city area and describe the main streets, industrial districts and areas with private houses. In each sampling plot in February 2018, 1.0-1.5 kg of snow was collected and the depth of snow in sampling time was 7-12 cm. The snow samples were taken from entire snow depth, because it represents the level of air pollution between the period of permanent snow blanket and time when sample was taken. The chemical elements were analysed in 180 snow samples from city and in 3 samples from natural forest. The concentration of chemical elements was calculated in melting snow water and HNO3 solution. The concentrations were determined by using an inductively connected plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) method. The pollutant groups were distributed by using data of chemical elements and cluster analysis. The relatively clean, medium polluted and polluted areas were distributed by using ArcGIS software depending on the chemical elements characteristic of the sources of pollution. The results show the negative impact of transport corridors and private building on air quality.