SNOW POLLUTION REGRESSION MODEL FOR KARABASH CITY OF RUSSIA.

Land-use regression (LUR) models are successfully used in Europe and United States of America in recent 10-15 years for atmospheric air pollution description. The models provide getting the air pollution maps on a large area with high spatial resolution (~ 10 m) and relatively small financial and time costs. The paper is devoted to assessment of the land-use regression (LUR) method applicability for description of snow cover's pollution. Snow may be used as a good indicator of air pollution in many Russian regions where snow lies about 4-6 months a year and accumulates all substances coming from atmosphere. The assessment was done for Karabash city, which is one of the most polluted Russian cities due to long activity of «Karabashmed» copper smelting plant. The study showed that the LUR method can be successfully applied for description the dust deposition density from atmosphere and further use as a part of environmental monitoring systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]