The existence of extensive records for the impact of night sky brightness on the animals’ behavior in their natural environment shows the need to investigate the level of artificially induced night sky glow (light pollution) in the protected areas.

The results of multi-night sky brightness measurements carried out at the selected sites in Polish mountain areas under various atmospheric conditions are presented. Conducted measurements show a strong impact of the artificial sky glow on the night sky brightness, which is the essence of light pollution. The influence of both distant urban centers, as well as local tourist resorts on the size of studied phenomenon in the mountain areas, which causes both ecological and touristic degradation of these areas was stated. In a few studied areas the level of night sky brightness greatly exceeds the natural one and is comparable to such levels measured inside the cities. It was found that only the southern part of the Polish Carpathians can be considered an area free of light pollution.

The aim of the study is to present the FAPPS (Forecasting of Air Pollution Propagation System) based on the CALPUFF puff dispersion model, used for short-term air quality forecasting in Krakow and Lesser Poland. The article presents two methods of operational air quality forecasting in Krakow. The quality of forecasts was assessed on the basis of PM10 concentrations measured at eight air quality monitoring stations in 2019 in Krakow. Apart from the standard quantitative forecast, a qualitative forecast was presented, specifying the percentage shares of the city area with PM10 concentrations in six concentration classes. For both methods, it was shown how the adjustment of the emissions in the FAPPS system to changes in emissions related to the systemic elimination of coal furnaces in Krakow influenced the quality of forecasts. For standard forecasts, after the emission change on June 7, 2019, the average RMSE value decreased from 23.9 μg/m3 to 14.9 μg/m3, the average FB value changed from -0.200 to -0.063, and the share of correct forecasts increased from 0.74 to 0.91. For qualitative forecasts, for the entire year 2019 and separately for the periods from January to March and October to December, Hit Rate values of 5.43, 2.18 and 3.48 were obtained, the False Alarm Ratios were 0.28, 0.24 and 0,26, and the Probability of Detection values were 0.66, 0.75, and 0.74. The presented results show that the FAPPS system is a useful tool for modelling air pollution in urbanized and industrialized areas with complex terrain