The Impact of Stabil Weather Situations on Air Quality in Budapest

Abstract

Atmospheric stability has an unfavourable effect on the air quality due to hindering both vertical and horizontal movements in the air. High pressure weather systems which bring typical stable situation occur frequently in the Carpathian Basin both in summer and in winter. Our results showed that in winter mainly NO2 and PM10 concentrations follow the changes of weather conditions. In stable weather situation when low-level inversion can become persistent their concentration increases significantly while contemporaneously the visibility decreases. In summer beside the increasing PM10 the elevated concentration of ozone – which indicates the development of photochemical smog - is also momentous. We have found strong correlation between ozone concentration and temperature which further supports that the air pollution episodes are frequently related to heat-waves. On the basis of long term data analysis more hot days, longer heat-waves can already be registered in Hungary.