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Results of the analysis of interannual, seasonal, and diurnal variations in the ratios of the mixture of CH4, CO2, CO, benzene, and δ13C–CH4 in the surface air of Moscow based on the measurements at the station of the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS), in 2018–2020 are presented. The annual maximum concentration of CH4, CO2, and CO (>2.2, 430, and 0.20 ppm, respectively) occurs in the winter months due to the seasonal increase in the anthropogenic load from the main sources of urban pollution: motor transport and thermal power plants and a decrease in the role of vertical air mixing. The greatest contribution of local and remote microbial sources to the CH4 concentration is noted in the summer months against the background of low δ13C–CH4 values (–50 to –60‰). In all seasons, CH4, CO2, and CO ground level peaks lasting up to several hours are due to the transport from industrial sites in the E–SE sector. The calculated mean emission ratios in urban air were CH4/benzene = 0.52–0.54 ppm/ppb, CH4/СО = 0.56–0.75 ppm/ppm, CO2/benzene = 77–93 ppm/ppb, CO2/СО = 81–131 ppm/ppm, and CO/benzene = 0.65–1.11 ppm/ppb. These ratios characterize the predominant contribution of emissions from motor transport and the heat and power equipment and can be used to refine the absolute values of emissions, including those on the basis of existing inventories of sources of anthropogenic air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of acoustic-gravity waves (waveforms, time durations, amplitudes, azimuths and horizontal phase speeds) from the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Hapai volcano detected at different infrasound stations of the Infrasound Monitoring System and at a network of low-frequency microbarographs in the Moscow region are studied. Using the correlation analysis of the signals at different locations, six arrivals of signals from the volcano, which made up to two revolutions around the Earth, were detected. The Lamb mode of acoustic gravity waves from the volcano eruption is identified and the effect of this mode on generation of tsunami waves and variation of aerosol concentration is studied. The energy released from an underwater volcano into the atmosphere is estimated from the parameters of the Lamb wave and compared with the energy released from the most powerful nuclear bomb of 58 Mt TNT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the atmospheric composition during different periods of 2020 in Moscow which were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic preventing measures as well as corresponding pollutant emission reduction, are investigated. Surface concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), aerosol fraction (PM10), and meteorological parameters during different periods of 2020 were compared with similar data for the previous five years. The analysis of ground-based measurements, as well as of high-resolution satellite distributions of CO and NO2 indicated that the concentration of major pollutants and its spatial distribution in the Moscow region were significantly affected by both restrictive measures and abnormal meteorological conditions in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of an intensive complex experiment carried out from March 25 to May 3, 2020, to study the composition and time variability of urban aerosol in the atmosphere in the center of Moscow include data on daily mean concentrations of both РМ10 and РМ2.5 particles and 65 chemical elements. The concentrations of all components did not exceed the maximum permissible concentration (MPC) for residential areas. The exception was increased РМ10 concentrations recorded on March 27–29, when air masses from neighboring regions with biomass fires arrived in the city. The coefficients of correlation between values of the concentrations and enrichment factors of the elements confirmed the anthropogenic/local origin of some heavy metals (Cd, Sb, Pb, Se, Th) and the terrigenous/global origin of elements such as Mn, Mg, Zn, Co, Fe, Al, and Cr. The elements S, P, K, Na, Ca, Ni, Cu, Mo, Sn, W, Bi, and U, for which no significant correlation between their concentrations and enrichment factors has been found, apparently, have a mixed origin from both natural and anthropogenic sources competing with each other from day to day. The first studies of the weekly cycle of the relative elemental composition of surface aerosol in Moscow have shown the leading role of meteorological conditions (in particular, air pressure and humidity) in variations of aerosol pollution levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of measurements of CO total content (CO TC) at stations of the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAP RAS), in Moscow and Moscow oblast. Also CO in-situ data obtained from automated stations of the Mosecomonitoring network, satellite monitoring results and information on the parameters of the atmospheric boundary layer in Moscow and the surrounding regions are analyzed. The long-term variability of CO TC and meteorological parameters is investigated, the carbon monoxide accumulation characteristics in calm days in the atmospheric boundary layer are obtained. A decrease in the average annual values ​​of TC CO in 2000–2018 was found in Moscow (–2.56 ± 0.52%/year) and at the Zvenigorod Scientific Station (ZSS) (‒1.15 ± 0.37%/year). However, the rate of decrease in both sites is different in different seasons and periods. After about 2007–2008, the rate of CO TC reduction decreased at both sites. In 2008–2018, at the ZSS, an increase in CO TC was recorded in the summer and autumn months at a rate of about 0.7%/year. An increase in the wind speed in the atmospheric boundary layer of Moscow in different periods of 2000–2018 at a rate of 0.4–1.6%/year has been determined. At the same time, no statistically significant changes in wind speed were found in Kaluga oblast. The recurrence of calm days in Moscow in 2006–2017 decreased (–7.06 ± 3.96%/year) with a decrease in the anthropogenic part of the CO content in the same period (–6.72 ± 3.48%/year). The results indicate the influence of the climatic (meteorological) factor on air quality in Moscow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the concentrations of the main gas components of the surface air in Moscow, Russia during summer 2010. It states that the summer 2010 in Moscow was characterized with hot weather resulting to forest and peat wildfires which was caused by a blocking anticyclone of a strange high intensity. It mentions that during the atmosphere blocking, concentration of all the gaseous pollutants increased. It adds that the measured gaseous pollutants including carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), ozone (O3) gained varied rates of intensity. Moreover, the intensive automobile traffic in the morning rush hours and in the evening contributed to the increase of concentrations to most main pollutants in the surface air.

The article presents findings of experimental observations of the atmospheric composition over the Moscow in Russia megapolis carried out by using a mobile railroad laboratory. It informs that the experiment measures the radiative and meteorological parameters and the surface concentrations of key gas components and aerosol. The ata analysis report reveals the sources of pollution, character, and degree of the influence of the city on the regional atmosphere. It mentions that with an increase in the population in Moscow, the numbers of industry reconstruction, and heavy growth of automobile transport have increased and causing large amount of emission of pollutants and intensification of oxidizing properties in the atmospheric air.