Atmospheric levels of PM10 in relation to meteorological elements. Case study: Moldova Region, Romania

Abstract

The major goal of our research was to find statistically relevant mathematical correlations between PM 10 levels in the atmosphere and the meteorological complex over the Moldova - Romania region. The period of analysis was from 2009 to 2020. We worked on daily data on PM10 levels and meteorological parameters from a network of 25 monitoring stations. The correlations between PM10 levels and air temperature, solar radiation, wind and precipitation were negative. The correlations between PM10 concentrations, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity were positive. However, over the medium term (12 years), the overall climatological correlations between PM10 concentrations and meteorological elements (assessed using Pearson coefficients) had values below ±0.5. This suggests that PM10 levels are not primarily influenced by meteorological elements but rather are closely associated with daily and annual patterns of socioeconomic activities. At time intervals of a few days up to 1-2 weeks, in certain favorable geographical situations, the correlative links between PM10 levels and meteorological elements can become strong and relevant (the Pearson index has in these temporal and spatial contexts values above or below 0.9 units).

Keywords

• pm10
• air quality
• quality indices
• moldova – romania region