The article suggests the directions for development of the system of environmental monitoring of atmospheric air quality in the Russian Federation, namely: an increase in the number of stationary control posts for atmospheric pollution in each specific city; expansion of the list of cities where constant measurements of pollutant concentrations are conducted; expansion of the list of controlled impurities through the introduction of automated air quality monitoring systems, the development of computational methods for monitoring air quality, including not only information on pollution levels in terms of compliance with hygienic standards, but also assessment of pollution levels from the perspective of environmental risk to the health of the population. There is a great sensitivity of plants to the low quality of atmospheric air in comparison with the sensitivity of animals and humans. The air quality standards for vegetation are given.

The article deals with possible applications of modern geographic information systems for optimized distribution of stations of atmospheric air quality monitoring. Due to the fact that estimation of atmospheric pollutant concentrations is a reason for decisions to improve air quality, costly measures to protect the atmosphere and monitoring effectiveness of these actions, atmospheric air quality indicators, and therefore the proper distribution of monitoring stations, are of great importance. Results of model calculations of atmospheric air pollution, which have been recently developed in our country, in combination with GIS solutions, should be used for optimized distribution of stations of atmospheric air quality monitoring. One of the major factors of objective estimation of urban atmospheric air quality is proper reference of industrial and transport pollutant emission sources to the city’s topographic base (both in citywide and local coordinate systems), as well as distribution of stations of atmospheric air quality monitoring and selection of high-priority pollutants for a particular city district. Some recommendations for monitoring stations distribution and pollutants selection based on the GIS analysis of spatial distribution of maximum ground level concentrations of pollutants are given.