Distribution and transformation of air pollution in the atmospheric boundary layer of the southern basin of lake Baikal, potential risks for the lake ecosystem

This article analyses the results of the in-situ automatic recording of the concentrations of pollutants in the atmospheric boundary layer at the Listvyanka monitoring station (southern basin of Lake Baikal). During the northwesterly transport, poorly scattered plumes of air emissions from large regional thermal power plants (the cities of Irkutsk and Angarsk) are often recorded in this area, carrying large amounts of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides as well as coarse aerosol (PM10). In the process of transport, nitrogen oxides are the first to be rapidly oxidized by ozone. This contributes to an increase in the acidity of atmospheric precipitation at Lake Baikal and in nitrate deposition in the water area. Spatial scale and potential risks of regional transport of air pollution for the ecosystem of the lake require further research.