Temporal Variations in Chemical Composition of Snow Cover in Moscow

• Main Authors: Irina D. Eremina, Jessica Yu. Vasil’chuk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lomonosov Moscow State University 2019-12-01
• Series: Geography, Environment, Sustainability
• Subjects: snow cover chemistry; snow pollution; ionic composition; precipitation acidity; urban ecology
• Online Access: https://ges.rgo.ru/jour/article/view/910

This article summarizes the data of the chemical composition and the acidity of the seasonal snow precipitation for the cold periods 1999-2006 (n=180), 2010-2013 (n=82) and 2018-2019 (n=18) in different parts of Moscow. Major ions content was measured, such as SO42-, НСO3-, Cl-, NO3-, Са2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+ and NH4+, also pH and sum of ions (mg/L) were measured. During the 2018-2019 season, snowpack samples were taken twice at 4 sites in Moscow: two in the North-East Administrative Okrug (NEAO) near the road and in the park at the distance of 3 km from each other, and two in the South- Western Administrative Okrug (SWAO) and in the Western Administrative Okrug (WAO) near the road and in the park at the distance of 6 km from each other. Samples were taken with a break of 5 days to determine the dynamics of the chemical composition within the beginning of the snow-melting. In each pair of sampling sites there was one that is located in the park and one located near the road. This experiment showed a slight variability of the chemical composition of snow during 5 days under the influence of the new snowfall. In general, there is a trend of changing the composition of snow from calcium carbonate to calcium chloride, which is mainly connected to the use of anti-icing reagents; for the same reason, the areas that are closer to the roads are the most polluted.