GIS Mapping of Atmospheric Pollution Using Solid Residue Analysis in Snow Geochemical Surveys: A Case Study of Irkutsk City and the Southern Baikal Region

The subject of this study is the analysis of the informativeness of various methods for mapping air pollution based on data obtained from snow geochemical studies. This text discusses the shortcomings of conventional maps of chemical element concentrations in the solid residue of snow. It compares such maps and maps of daily pollutant deposition and seasonal concentrations, calculated by considering the area and depth of test pits and the mass of the solid residue on filters. These cartographic materials supplement the previously conducted interpretation of snow geochemical studies' results in one of Irkutsk's isolated areas. It demonstrates that cartographic materials reflecting the amounts of incoming pollutants per unit of time per unit area are more accurate in assessing the ecological situation, as they allow for a more complete and correct characterization of the geoecological environment. The study aims to optimize the fastest and cheapest methodology for snow geochemical research, based on X-ray fluorescence analysis of the solid phase of the snow cover. It has been shown that geostatistical processing of the results of chemical-analytical studies is equally significant for obtaining reliable cartographic material as correctly conducted field and laboratory work. The effects of geochemical anomaly inversion in areas with high dust loads are presented for the first time. Additionally, based on previously obtained field data, new geoecological information has been generated that allows for a more complete and qualitative visualization and subsequently explains the nature of atmospheric pollution in one of the areas of the Baikal region with a complex nature of anthropogenic load, which has drawn the constant attention of residents and environmental control authorities for years. General methodological conclusions permit the finalization of the rapid assessment methodology for atmospheric pollution based on sampling seasonal snow and X-ray fluorescence analysis of snow dust, which, in the authors' opinion, should become one of the fundamental components of the system for assessing the background state and environmental monitoring of Arctic geosystems before and during their economic development, thereby replacing traditional methods of instant monitoring of atmospheric air quality.