Interaction of Air Pollution with Snow and Seasonality Effects

Dear Colleagues,

I invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of Atmosphere focused on the interaction of air pollutants with snow and the seasonality of outdoor and indoor air pollution where winter-specific environmental factors are studied. Air pollution has been shown to cause numerous adverse environmental and health effects. Recent studies have found links not only with cardiovascular and pulmonary disease but also neurological disorders and carcinogenesis.

Between the time when air pollutants are released and when exposure occurs, air pollutants in gaseous and particulate forms can undergo various physical and chemical transformations. A large body of research has been dedicated to investigating these transformations. The studies focus on the multiple aspects of the question: from gas-phase atmospheric chemistry to aerosol dynamics. The interaction of air pollutants with environmental surfaces such as vegetation, soil, exposed rock, water surfaces, and snow is an important determiner of air pollutants’ fate. The interactions of air pollutants with snow lead to temporary or permanent removal of air pollutants from the atmosphere and the introduction of pollutants into the air. The same processes can also alter the chemical nature and distribution of air pollutants across the gas and particulate phases within a range of aerosol particle sizes.

Interactions with environmental surfaces may change the abundance and distribution of air pollutants significantly. These changes may, in turn, alter environmental and health effects caused by the resulting mix of air pollutants in ways that are still poorly understood.

Among the various types of environmental surfaces, snow and ice crystal surfaces have historically attracted comparatively less research attention, in part due to the difficulties of conducting both laboratory and field studies at subfreezing temperatures. Nevertheless, during the last few years, snow and ice research has intensified thanks to newly developed experimental and field approaches, and rapidly increasing research activity in the seasonally or permanently colder regions of the world, including Canada, China, and Scandinavia. It is now clear that snow plays an important role in the fate of air pollutants, from exhaust-derived contaminants to microplastics.

This Special Issue focuses on all aspects of the interaction of air pollution with snow and the effects of seasonality on outdoor and indoor air pollution. We invite you to consider submitting articles reporting on field and laboratory-based observational and modeling studies, environmental monitoring, exposure and epidemiological research, and work that is either regionally or globally relevant. Both outdoor and indoor air effects are of interest, as well as urban, rural, industrial, remote, and other locations. Other aspects of air pollution interactions with snow not listed above are very welcome.

Dr. Yevgen Nazarenko
Prof. Dr. Parisa A. Ariya
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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