Episodes of high SO2 concentration in The Netherlands

In episodes of high daily mean SO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere there is a very extensive concentration field over The Netherlands caused by influx from both the Ruhr area and Central Europe. The meteorological conditions for such episodes range from very stable to stable with a boundary layer height between 100 and 450 m, wind speed at 200 m between 0 and 18 m s⁻¹ and at 20 m between 0 and 9 m s⁻¹. The last figures indicate that transport, as well as transport combined with stagnation, causes the high concentrations. The episodes nearly all occur in December, January and February, with easterly winds. In two thirds of the cases a local snow cover is present. This cover is more extensive in the east, so probably in all cases there is reduced dry deposition of SO₂. The turbulence is very low with hardly any vertical dispersion at higher altitudes, except around noon. In consequence of the wind direction variations over a day and the wind direction shear, the daily horizontal dispersion is normal or larger than normal. Therefore the contribution of a local high point source in The Netherlands to the ground level concentration will be small during air pollution episodes in winter.