Hoarfrost and rime chemistry in Poland—An introductory analysis from meteorological perspective

Hoarfrost and rime analysis was based on the collection of samples between 2003 and 2006 from 8 sites, which represent both lowland (northern) and mountainous (southern) parts of Poland. On the other hand 4 of these sites belong to “urban” and 4 to “rural” category. pH, conductivity, SO42−, NO3−, Cl−, H+, NH4+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+ have been determined in order to study the chemistry of hoarfrost and rime. Higher total inorganic ionic content (TIC) in hoarfrost and rime (2.46 meq·l−1 and 1.23 meq·l−1 respectively) was observed when compared with precipitation (0.37 meq·l−1). Large variability of TIC and chemical composition of individual samples were typical at each of the measurement sites depending on emission patterns, atmospheric conditions and local terrain topography. Higher concentrations of both hoarfrost and rime occurred in southern (mountainous) rather than in northern (lowland) part of Poland which can be explained by worse pollutant dispersion conditions in the south. The surprisingly low hoarfrost concentrations in urban coastal stations in the area of the Bay of Gdansk were attributed to the cleaning effect of nocturnal breeze-type circulation, best pronounced in cool part of the year. Due to relatively high pollutant concentration and long duration, hoarfrost and rime are at least significant factors in environmental processes in different ecosystems in Poland.