The article presents the results of investigations on the dynamics of the height, snow storage, and chemical composition of snow cover within the megapolis (Moscow) limits and conditionally background territories of the Solnechnogorskii raion (district) of Moscow oblast (Educational and Experimental Soil and Ecological Center “Chashnikovo” of Lomonosov Moscow State University) for the winter–spring period of 2023–2024. The research objects included the watershed adjacent area of the Klyazma River in the conditionally background conditions and two types of soil lysimeters from the Faculty of Soil Science of Moscow State University located within Moscow limits. The first type of lysimeters was characterized by various soil cultivation types at the continuous functioning in the conditions of mown meadow phytocenoses. The second type of lysimeters filled with repacked soil were installed under different land use types (bare fallow, long-term fallow land, overgrowing long-term fallow, and spruce, mixed, and broadleaved plantings) formed on a uniform mineral matrix represented by mantel loams. Snow cover dynamics was characterized by similar patterns both in the natural and urban conditions: maximum snow storage falls on February, followed by a reduction in spring. Minimum snow storage was established in lysimeter areas with spruce plantings, whereas maximum, for forestless sites, including grass long-term fallow and sites with lysimeters in the conditions of different soil cultivation. In the city conditions, significantly higher concentrations of certain alkali and alkaline earth elements (sodium, calcium, and strontium), as well as zinc and copper, were recorded. The concentrations of highly mobile anions, particularly chlorides, in melt water of the megapolis surpassed those in natural conditions 2–3-fold. This is consistent with the higher pH and electrical conductivity values for melt water in the megapolis conditions. Type of phytocenosis had a key effect on spatial distribution of snow and its components. Coniferous and mixed plantings retained more snow, which reduced the migration of lysimetric waters, whereas broadleaved and open areas experienced more intensive snow input and vertical migration of lysimetric water.
Vartanov et al. (Sun,) studied this question.