scholarly journals Reconstructing Elemental Carbon Long-Term Trend in the Po Valley (Italy) from Fog Water Samples

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 580
Author(s):  
Stefania Gilardoni ◽  
Leone Tarozzi ◽  
Silvia Sandrini ◽  
Pierina Ielpo ◽  
Daniele Contini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Elemental Carbon ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Reduction Rate ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Fog Water ◽  
Po Valley

Elemental carbon (EC), a ubiquitous component of fine atmospheric aerosol derived from incomplete combustion, is an important player for both climate change and air quality deterioration. Several policy measures have been implemented over the last decades to reduce EC emissions from anthropogenic sources, but still, long-term EC measurements to verify the efficacy of such measurements are limited. In this study, we analyze the concentration of EC suspended in fog water samples, collected over the period 1997–2016 in a rural background site of the southern Po Valley. The comparison between EC in fog water and EC atmospheric aerosol concentration measured since 2012 allowed us to reconstruct EC atmospheric concentration from fog water chemical composition dating back to 1997. The results agree with the EC atmospheric observations performed at the European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) station of Ispra in the northern part of the Po Valley since 2002, and confirm that the Po Valley is a pollution hotspot, not only in urban areas, but also in rural locations. The reconstructed trend over the period 1997–2016 indicates that EC concentration during the winter season has decreased on average by 4% per year, in agreement with the emission reduction rate, confirming the effectiveness of air quality measures implemented during the past 20 years.

scholarly journals Air Quality during New Year’s Eve: A Biomonitoring Study with Moss

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 975
Author(s):  
Paweł Świsłowski ◽  
Zbigniew Ziembik ◽  
Małgorzata Rajfur
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Point Sources ◽  
Accumulation Factor ◽  
Active Biomonitoring ◽  
Aerosol Pollution ◽  
New Year’S Eve ◽  
Short And Long Term

Mosses are one of the best bioindicators in the assessment of atmospheric aerosol pollution by heavy metals. Studies using mosses allow both short- and long-term air quality monitoring. The increasing contamination of the environment (including air) is causing a search for new, cheap and effective methods of monitoring its condition. Once such method is the use of mosses in active biomonitoring. The aim of the study was to assess the atmospheric aerosol pollution with selected heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg and Pb) from the smoke of fireworks used during New Year’s Eve in the years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. In studies a biomonitoring moss-bag method with moss Pleurozium schreberi (Willd. ex Brid.) Mitt. genus Pleurozium was used. The research was conducted in the town Prószków (5 km in south direction from Opole, opolskie voivodship, Poland). The moss was exposed 14 days before 31 December (from 17 to 30 of December), on New Year’s Eve (31 December and 1 January) and 2 weeks after the New Year (from 2–15 January). Higher concentrations of analysed elements were determined in samples exposed during New Year’s Eve. Increases in concentrations were demonstrated by analysis of the Relative Accumulation Factor (RAF). The results indicate that the use of fireworks during New Year’s Eve causes an increase in air pollution with heavy metals. In addition, it was shown that the COVID-19 induced restrictions during New Year’s Eve 2020 resulted in a reduction of heavy metal content in moss samples and thus in lower atmospheric aerosol pollution with these analytes. The study confirmed moss usefulness in monitoring of atmospheric aerosol pollution from point sources.

First year of real-time VOC measurements at the SIRTA facility (Paris region, France): diurnal and seasonal variabilities, impact of lockdowns on air quality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leïla Simon ◽  
Valérie Gros ◽  
Jean-Eudes Petit ◽  
François Truong ◽  
Roland Sarda-Esteve ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Seasonal Variability ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
First Year ◽  
Good Representation ◽  
Atmospheric Measurements ◽  
Paris Region ◽  
The Impact

<p>Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) have direct influences on air quality and climate. They also play a key role in atmospheric chemistry, as they are precursors of secondary pollutants, such as ozone (O<sub>3</sub>) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA).</p><p>Long-term datasets of in-situ atmospheric measurements are crucial to characterize the variability of atmospheric chemical composition. Online and continuous measurements of O<sub>3</sub>, NO<sub>x</sub> and aerosols have been achieved at the SIRTA-ACTRIS facility (Paris region, France), since 2012. Regarding VOCs, they have been measured there for several years thanks to bi-weekly samplings followed by offline Gas Chromatography analysis. However, this method doesn’t provide a good representation of the temporal variability of VOC concentrations. To tackle this issue, online VOC measurements using a Proton-Transfer-Reaction Quadrupole Mass-Spectrometer (PTR-Q-MS) have been started in January 2020.</p><p>The dataset acquired during the first year of online VOC measurements is analyzed, which gives insights on VOC seasonal variability. The additional long-term datasets obtained from co-located measurements (O<sub>3</sub>, NO<sub>x</sub>, aerosol physical and chemical properties, meteorological parameters) are also used for the sake of this study.</p><p>Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the year 2020 notably comprised a total lockdown in France in Spring, and a lighter one in Autumn. Therefore, a focus can be made on the impact of these lockdowns on the VOC variability and sources. To this end, the diurnal cycles of VOCs considered markers for anthropogenic sources are carefully investigated. Results notably indicate that markers for traffic and wood burning sources behave quite differently during the Spring lockdown in comparison to the other periods. A source apportionment analysis using positive matrix factorization allows to further document the seasonal variability of VOC sources and the impacts on air quality associated with the lockdown measures.</p>

scholarly journals Sources of organic aerosols in Europe: a modeling study using CAMx with modified volatility basis set scheme

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (24) ◽  
pp. 15247-15270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhui Jiang ◽  
Sebnem Aksoyoglu ◽  
Imad El-Haddad ◽  
Giancarlo Ciarelli ◽  
Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Agricultural Waste ◽  
Organic Aerosols ◽  
Basis Set ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Wood Burning ◽  
Gasoline Vehicles

Abstract. Source apportionment of organic aerosols (OAs) is of great importance to better understand the health impact and climate effects of particulate matter air pollution. Air quality models are used as potential tools to identify OA components and sources at high spatial and temporal resolution; however, they generally underestimate OA concentrations, and comparisons of their outputs with an extended set of measurements are still rare due to the lack of long-term experimental data. In this study, we addressed such challenges at the European level. Using the regional Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) and a volatility basis set (VBS) scheme which was optimized based on recent chamber experiments with wood burning and diesel vehicle emissions, and which contains more source-specific sets compared to previous studies, we calculated the contribution of OA components and defined their sources over a whole-year period (2011). We modeled separately the primary and secondary OA contributions from old and new diesel and gasoline vehicles, biomass burning (mostly residential wood burning and agricultural waste burning excluding wildfires), other anthropogenic sources (mainly shipping, industry and energy production) and biogenic sources. An important feature of this study is that we evaluated the model results with measurements over a longer period than in previous studies, which strengthens our confidence in our modeled source apportionment results. Comparison against positive matrix factorization (PMF) analyses of aerosol mass spectrometric measurements at nine European sites suggested that the modified VBS scheme improved the model performance for total OA as well as the OA components, including hydrocarbon-like (HOA), biomass burning (BBOA) and oxygenated components (OOA). By using the modified VBS scheme, the mean bias of OOA was reduced from −1.3 to −0.4 µg m−3 corresponding to a reduction of mean fractional bias from −45 % to −20 %. The winter OOA simulation, which was largely underestimated in previous studies, was improved by 29 % to 42 % among the evaluated sites compared to the default parameterization. Wood burning was the dominant OA source in winter (61 %), while biogenic emissions contributed ∼ 55 % to OA during summer in Europe on average. In both seasons, other anthropogenic sources comprised the second largest component (9 % in winter and 19 % in summer as domain average), while the average contributions of diesel and gasoline vehicles were rather small (∼ 5 %) except for the metropolitan areas where the highest contribution reached 31 %. The results indicate the need to improve the emission inventory to include currently missing and highly uncertain local emissions, as well as further improvement of VBS parameterization for winter biomass burning. Although this study focused on Europe, it can be applied in any other part of the globe. This study highlights the ability of long-term measurements and source apportionment modeling to validate and improve emission inventories, and identify sources not yet properly included in existing inventories.

scholarly journals Sources of organic aerosols in Europe: A modelling study using CAMx with modified volatility basis set scheme

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhui Jiang ◽  
Sebnem Aksoyoglu ◽  
Imad El-Haddad ◽  
Giancarlo Ciarelli ◽  
Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Basis Set ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Air Quality Model ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Wood Burning ◽  
Gasoline Vehicles

Abstract. Source apportionment of organic aerosols (OA) is of great importance to better understand the health impact and climate effects of particulate matter air pollution. Air quality models act as potential tools to identify OA components and sources at high spatial and temporal resolution, however, they generally underestimate OA concentrations, and comparisons of their outputs with an extended set of measurements are still rare due to the lack of long-term experimental data. In this study, we addressed such challenges at the European level. Using the regional air quality model Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) and a volatility basis set (VBS) scheme which was optimized based on recent chamber experiments with wood burning and diesel vehicle emissions, and contained more source-specific sets compared to previous studies, we calculated the contribution of OA components and defined their sources over a whole-year period (2011). We modelled separately the primary and secondary OA contributions from old and new diesel and gasoline vehicles, biomass burning (mostly residential wood burning and agricultural waste burning excluding wildfires), other anthropogenic sources (mainly shipping, industry and energy production) and biogenic sources. An important feature of this study is that we evaluated the model results with measurements over a longer period than in the previous studies which strengthens our confidence in our modelled source apportionment results. Comparison against positive matrix factorization (PMF) analyses of aerosol mass spectrometric measurements at nine European sites suggested that the modified VBS scheme improved the model performance for total OA as well as the OA components, including hydrocarbon-like (HOA), biomass burning (BBOA) and oxygenated components (OOA). By using the modified VBS scheme, the mean bias of OOA was reduced from −1.3 μg m−3 to −0.4 μg m−3 corresponding to a reduction of mean fractional bias from −45 % to −20 %. The winter OOA simulation, which was largely underestimated in previous studies, was improved by 29 %–42 % among the evaluated sites compared to the default parameterization. Wood burning was the dominant OA source in winter (61 %) while biogenic emissions contributed ~55 % to OA during summer in Europe on average. In both seasons, the other anthropogenic sources comprised the second largest component (9 % in winter and 19 % in summer as domain average), while the average contributions of diesel and gasoline vehicles were rather small (~5 %) except for the metropolitan areas where the highest contribution reached 31 %. The results indicate the need to improve the emission inventory to include currently missing and highly uncertain local emissions, as well as further improvement of VBS parameterization for winter biomass burning. Although this study focused on Europe, it can be applied in any other part of the globe. This study highlights the ability of long-term measurements and source apportionment modelling to validate and improve emission inventories, and identify sources not yet properly included in existing inventories.

scholarly journals Ambient Air Quality, Pollutant Behavior, and Distribution Pattern in Rabigh City Using an Air Dispersion Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Aljahdali Mohammed Othman
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Atmospheric Pollution ◽  
Industrial Development ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Heavy Traffic ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Meteorological Conditions ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources

The rise in industrial development and modern technology is one of the major causes of atmospheric pollution, which negatively affects human health. In this study, meteorological conditions and atmospheric pollution dispersion in Rabigh city and its catchments were analyzed using measured data and an air quality dispersion model. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model was used to simulate the dispersion of atmospheric pollutants. A dataset from 2018 was analyzed to clarify the seasonal distributions of atmospheric pollutant concentrations in Rabigh and other areas (Thuwal and Khulais). A significant variation in atmospheric pollutants was recorded across the seasons, which may be caused by changes in meteorological conditions. Variations in other anthropogenic sources related to high population density or heavy traffic in the nearby road may also be involved in these fluctuations. Predictions indicated that pollutants would impact the Thuwal area (>50 μg m−3) and Khulais (>35 μg m−3) during the winter season and affect Thuwal (>20 μg m−3) and Rabigh (>20 μg m−3) during the fall season. The concentrations of pollutants were mostly negatively correlated with wind speed, except for carbon monoxide. We established variations in the seasonal concentration of pollutants and the effect of meteorological conditions on atmospheric pollutants for the year 2018 in the study area. Policymakers and stakeholders must provide solutions to mitigate the environmental effect of atmospheric pollution in Rabigh city, Thuwal, and Khulais for the health of inhabitants.

scholarly journals Supplementary material to "Transport of Po Valley aerosol pollution to the northwestern Alps – Part 2: Long-term impact on air quality"

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henri Diémoz ◽  
Gian Paolo Gobbi ◽  
Tiziana Magri ◽  
Giordano Pession ◽  
Sara Pittavino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Aerosol Pollution ◽  
Supplementary Material ◽  
Long Term Impact

scholarly journals Solubility properties of surfactants in atmospheric aerosol and cloud/fog water samples

2003 ◽  
Vol 108 (D21) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Decesari ◽  
M. C. Facchini ◽  
M. Mircea ◽  
F. Cavalli ◽  
S. Fuzzi
Keyword(s):  
Water Samples ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosol ◽  
Fog Water

scholarly journals Pollution Characteristics of Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10) and Constituent Carbonaceous Aerosols in a South Asian Future Megacity

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 8864
Author(s):  
Afifa Aslam ◽  
Muhammad Ibrahim ◽  
Imran Shahid ◽  
Abid Mahmood ◽  
Muhammad Kashif Irshad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Pollution Index ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10

The future megacity of Faisalabad is of prime interest when considering environmental health because of its bulky population and abundant industrial and anthropogenic sources of coarse particles (PM10) and fine airborne particulate matter (PM2.5). The current study was aimed to investigate the concentration level of PM2.5 and PM10, also the characterization of carbonaceous aerosols including organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and total carbon (TC) in PM2.5 and PM10 samples collected from five different sectors (residential, health, commercial, industrial, and vehicular zone). The data presented here are the first of their kind in this sprawling city having industries and agricultural activities side by side. Results of the study revealed that the mass concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 is at an elevated level throughout Faisalabad, with ambient PM2.5 and PM10 points that constantly exceeded the 24-h standards of US-EPA, and National Environment Quality Standards (NEQS) which poses harmful effects on the quality of air and health. The total carbon concentration varied between 21.33 and 206.84 μg/m3, and 26.08 and 211.15 μg/m3 with an average of 119.16 ± 64.91 μg/m3 and 124.71 ± 64.38 μg/m3 for PM2.5 in summer and winter seasons, respectively. For PM10, the concentration of TC varied from 34.52 to 289.21 μg/m3 with an average of 181.50 ± 87.38 μg/m3 (for summer season) and it ranged between 44.04 and 300.02 μg/m3 with an average of 191.04 ± 87.98 μg/m3 (winter season), respectively. No significant difference between particulate concentration and weather parameters was observed. Similarly, results of air quality index (AQI) and pollution index (PI) stated that the air quality of Faisalabad ranges from poor to severely pollute. In terms of AQI, moderate pollution was recorded on sampling sites in the following order; Ittehad Welfare Dispensary > Saleemi Chowk > Kashmir Road > Pepsi Factory, while at Nazria Pakistan Square and Allied Hospital, higher AQI values were recorded. The analysis and results presented in this study can be used by policy-makers to apply rigorous strategies that decrease air pollution and the associated health effects in Faisalabad.

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