FORECAST AND ASSESSMENT OF THE AREA OF SOIL POLLUTION RESULTING FROM WIND TRANSPORT OF PARTICLES FROM THE UNDERLYING SURFACE

Abstract

Wind erosion of soils is the second factor in the spread of pollutants after water filtration. The existing mathematicalmodels for estimating the spatial transport of polluted particles by atmospheric air are complex and are not used in practice due to theneed to consider a large number of factors. This work adapts well-known mathematical and empirical models to describe the full cycleof wind erosion, including separation of particles from the soil column under the influence of wind at critical speeds; the rise of particlesinto the atmosphere to the height of their horizontal transport; sedimentation of particles from the air stream at different distances fromthe source; the likelihood of soil contamination with lead when particles of different radii fall out. The calculations carried out wereexperimentally confirmed when assessing pollution of the territories adjacent to the reconstructed state aviation airfield in Voronezh.During the reconstruction of the fuel and lubricants warehouse, with the extraction of underground 60-ton kerosene storage tanks, therewas moved a huge amount of soil, which had been filtering dangerous pollutants for decades. According to calculations, the distanceof contaminated particles transfer by ordinary wind (at a speed of up to 20 m/s) from an unorganized dust source can reach 6.5 km. The maximum contamination of soils with lead is possible at a distance of up to 500 m from the dust source in the direction of theprevailing wind. The model allows, in the first approximation, without complex mathematical calculations, to estimate the area of soilpollution due to the transfer of contaminated particles from an unorganized dust source of environmentally hazardous objects underthe worst combination of climatic and geographical conditions.