Fifty years to the air pollution observations

Presented are the stages of the formation and development of the system of monitoring and studying the atmospheric pollution in the cities for the 50-year period (since 1963). In this time period, important information on the quality of the air has been collected by monitoring network and has been published in yearly Roshydromet editions. Using the observational data, the trend is assessed of variations of the air pollution level in the largest cities of Russia for the long-term period. Demonstrated is the need in taking account of climatic conditions of the spread of atmospheric pollutants coming to the atmosphere with anthropogenic emissions for the decision-making on the air protection. Stated are the results of recent studies of the atmospheric chemical activity and effects of the air temperature and total solar radiation on the formation of secondary pollutants.