scholarly journals Temporal Variation and Concentration Weighted Trajectory Analysis of Lead in PM10 Aerosols at a Site in Central Delhi, India

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhash Chandra ◽  
Monika J. Kulshrestha ◽  
Ruchi Singh

Ambient levels of lead (Pb) in PM10 were studied at a site in Central Delhi for the period of one year during day and night. The annual mean concentration of lead has been observed as 625 and 1051 ng/m3 during day and night time, respectively. The seasonal averaged concentrations of Pb have followed the order winter > postmonsoon > summer > monsoon. Highest levels of lead have been observed in winter with 31% samples exceeding the CPCB-NAAQS value as 1000 ng/m3. Lead levels during winter have been found to be 5.7 times higher than in monsoon, which might be attributed to prevailing meteorological conditions and more biomass burning. The low levels of Pb during summer might be attributed to its higher dispersion in the atmosphere. A sharp rise of Pb during postmonsoon might be linked to the local nonpoint sources, more biomass burning, and shifting of boundary layer. However, the higher concentrations of lead were observed during night time in all the seasons of the year as compared to those of the day time. To identify the potential source regions of Pb, Concentration Weighted Trajectories (CWT) have been plotted which showed higher influence of local sources during winter and postmonsoon while showing distant sources during summer.

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 89
Author(s):  
Cristina Buigues ◽  
Ana Queralt ◽  
Jose Antonio De Velasco ◽  
Antonio Salvador-Sanz ◽  
Catriona Jennings ◽  
...  

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) persists as the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation (CVPR) has an interdisciplinary focus, and includes not only in physiological components, but it also addresses psycho-social factors. Methods: The study analysed the Spanish psycho-social data collected during the EUROACTION study. In Spain, two hospitals were randomised in the Valencia community. Coronary patients were prospectively and consecutively identified in both hospitals. The intervention hospital carried out a 16-week CVPR programme, which aimed to assess illness perceptions and establish healthy behaviours in patients and their partners. Results: Illness perceptions were significantly and inversely associated with anxiety and depression. Low levels of anxiety were associated with better self-management of total cholesterol (p = 0.004) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p = 0.004). There was concordance at one year among patients and partners who participated in the programme related to anxiety (p < 0.001), fruit consumption (p < 0.001), and vegetable consumption (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The EUROACTION study emphasised the importance of assessing psycho-social factors in a CVPR programme and the inclusion of family as support in patients’ changes in behaviour.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zou ◽  
Xue Jiao Deng ◽  
Tao Deng ◽  
Chang Qin Yin ◽  
Fei Li

Isoprene has a potentially large effect on ozone (O3) formation in the subtropical, highly polluted city of Guangzhou. Online measurements of isoprene in Guangzhou city are scarce; thus, isoprene levels were monitored for one year at the Guangzhou Panyu Atmospheric Composition Station (GPACS), a suburban site in Guangzhou, using an online gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC–FID) system to investigate the characterization and reactivity of isoprene and its effect on the O3 peak profile in different seasons. The results showed that the daily average mixing ratios of isoprene at GPACS were 0.40, 2.20, 1.40, and 0.13 mixing ratio by volume (ppbv) in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. These values were considerably higher than the mixing ratios of isoprene in the numerous other subtropical and temperate cities around the world. Furthermore, isoprene ranked first with regard to O3 formation potential (OFP) and propylene-equivalent mixing ratio among 56 measured non–methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs). The ratios of isoprene to cis-2-butene, an exhaust tracer, were determined to estimate the fractions of biogenic and anthropogenic emissions. The results revealed a much greater contribution from biogenic than anthropogenic factors during the daytime in all four seasons. In addition, night-time isoprene emissions were mostly associated with vehicles in winter, and the residual isoprene that remained after photochemical loss during the daytime also persisted into the night. The high levels of isoprene in summer and autumn may cause the strong and broad peaks of the O3 profile because of its association with the most favorable meteorological conditions (e.g., high temperature and intense solar radiation) and the highest OH mixing ratio, which could affect human health by exposing people to a high O3 mixing ratio for prolonged periods. The lower mixing ratios of isoprene resulted in a weak and sharp peak in the O3 profile in both spring and winter. The high level of isoprene in the subtropical zone could accentuate its large impact on atmospheric oxidant capacity and air quality in Guangzhou city.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spiro Jorga ◽  
Kalliopi Florou ◽  
Christos Kaltsonoudis ◽  
John Kodros ◽  
Christina Vasilakopoulou ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;Biomass burning including residential heating, agricultural fires, prescribed burning, and wildfires is a major source of gaseous and particulate pollutants in the atmosphere. Although, important changes in the size distributions and the chemical composition of the biomass burning aerosol during daytime chemistry have been observed, the corresponding changes at nighttime or in winter where photochemistry is slow, have received relatively little attention. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that nightime chemistry in biomass burning plumes can be rapid in urban areas using a dual smog chamber system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ambient urban air during winter nighttime periods with high concentrations of ambient biomass burning organic aerosol is used as the starting point. Ozone was added in the perturbed chamber to simulate mixing with background air (and subsequent NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; production and aging) while the second chamber was used as a reference. Following the injection of ozone rapid organic aerosol (OA) formation was observed in all experiments leading to increases of the OA concentration by 20-70%. The oxygen to carbon ratio of the OA increased by 50% on average and the mass spectra of the produced OA was quite similar to that of the oxidized OA mass spectra reported during winter in urban areas. Good correlation was also observed with the produced mass spectra from nocturnal aging of laboratory biomass burning emissions showing the strong contribution of biomass burning emissions in the SOA formation during cold nights with high biomass burning activities. Concentrations of NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; radicals as high as 25 ppt were measured in the perturbed chamber with an accompanying production of 0.2-1.2 &amp;#956;g m&lt;sup&gt;-3&lt;/sup&gt; of organic nitrate. These results strongly indicate that the OA in biomass burning plumes can evolve rapidly even during wintertime periods with low photochemical activity.&lt;/p&gt;


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (21) ◽  
pp. 13591-13610
Author(s):  
Han Han ◽  
Yue Wu ◽  
Jane Liu ◽  
Tianliang Zhao ◽  
Bingliang Zhuang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Atmospheric black carbon (BC) in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can largely impact regional and global climate. Still, studies on the inter-annual variation in atmospheric BC over the TP and associated variation in BC sources and controlling factors are rather limited. In this study, we characterize the variations in atmospheric BC over the TP surface layer through analysis of 20-year (1995–2014) simulations from a global chemical transport model, GEOS-Chem. The results show that surface BC concentrations over the TP vary largely in space and by season, reflecting complicated interplays of BC sources from different origins. Of all areas in the TP, surface BC concentrations are highest over the eastern and southern TP, where surface BC is susceptible to BC transport from East Asia and South Asia, respectively. Applying a backward-trajectory method that combines BC concentrations from GEOS-Chem and trajectories from the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model, we assess the contributions of worldwide source regions to surface BC in the TP. We estimate that on the 20-year average, 77 % of surface BC in the TP comes from South Asia (43 %) and East Asia (35 %). Regarding seasonal variation in non-local influences, South Asia and East Asia are dominant source regions in winter and summer, respectively, in terms of the amount of BC imported. However, in terms of affected areas in the TP, South Asia is the dominant contributor throughout the year. Inter-annually, surface BC over the TP is largely modulated by atmospheric transport of BC from non-local regions year-round and by biomass burning in South Asia, mostly in spring. We find that the extremely strong biomass burning in South Asia in the spring of 1999 greatly enhanced surface BC concentrations in the TP (31 % relative to the climatology). We find that the strength of the Asian monsoon correlates significantly with the inter-annual variation in the amount of BC transported to the TP from non-local regions. In summer, a stronger East Asian summer monsoon and a stronger South Asian summer monsoon tend to, respectively, lead to more BC transport from central China and north-eastern South Asia to the TP. In winter, BC transport from central China is enhanced in years with a strong East Asian winter monsoon or a strong Siberian High. A stronger Siberian High can also bring more BC from northern South Asia to the TP. This study underscores the impacts of atmospheric transport and biomass burning on the inter-annual variation in surface BC over the TP. It reveals a close connection between the Asian monsoon and atmospheric transport of BC from non-local regions to the TP.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spiro Jorga ◽  
Kalliopi Florou ◽  
Christos Kaltsonoudis ◽  
John Kodros ◽  
Christina Vasilakopoulou ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 25969-25999 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bougiatioti ◽  
I. Stavroulas ◽  
E. Kostenidou ◽  
P. Zarmpas ◽  
C. Theodosi ◽  
...  

Abstract. The aerosol chemical composition in air masses affected by wildfires from the Greek islands of Chios, Euboea and Andros, the Dalmatian Coast and Sicily, during late summer of 2012 was characterized at the remote background site of Finokalia, Crete. Air masses were transported several hundreds of kilometers, arriving at the measurement station after approximately half a day of transport, mostly during night-time. The chemical composition of the particulate matter was studied by different high temporal resolution instruments, including an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) and a seven-wavelength aethalometer. Despite the large distance from emission and long atmospheric processing, a clear biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) profile containing characteristic markers is derived from BC measurements and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis of the ACSM mass spectra. The ratio of fresh to aged BBOA decreases with increasing atmospheric processing time and BBOA components appear to be converted to oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA). Given that the smoke was mainly transported overnight, it appears that the processing can take place in the dark. These results show that a significant fraction of the BBOA loses its characteristic AMS signature and is transformed to OOA in less than a day. This implies that biomass burning can contribute almost half of the organic aerosol mass in the area during summertime.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 815-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Ridder ◽  
C. Gerbig ◽  
J. Notholt ◽  
M. Rex ◽  
O. Schrems ◽  
...  

Abstract. Carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3) have been measured in the Western Pacific (43° N to 35° S) during a ship campaign with Research Vessel Sonne in fall 2009. Observations have been performed using ship-based solar absorption Fourier Transform infrared spectrometry, flask sampling, balloon sounding, and in-situ Fourier Transform infrared analysis. The results obtained are compared to the GEOS-Chem global 3-D chemistry transport model for atmospheric composition. In general, a very good agreement is found between the GEOS-Chem model and all instruments. The CO and O3 distributions show a comparable variability suggesting an impact from the same source regions. Tagged-CO simulations implemented in the GEOS-Chem model make it possible to differentiate between different source processes and source regions. The source regions are verified with HYSPLIT backward trajectory calculations. In the Northern Hemisphere fossil fuel combustion in Asia is the dominant source. European and North American fossil fuel combustion also contribute to Northern Hemispheric CO pollution. In the Southern Hemisphere contributions from biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion are dominant; African biomass burning has a significant impact on Western Pacific CO pollution. Furthermore, in the tropical Western Pacific enhanced upper tropospheric CO within the tropical tropopause layer mainly originates from Indonesian fossil fuel combustion and can be transported into the stratosphere. The source regions of the measured O3 pollution are simulated with a tagged-O3 simulation implemented in the GEOS-Chem model. Similar source regions compared to the tagged-CO simulations are identified by the model. In the Northern Hemisphere contributions from Asia, Europe, and North America are significant. In the Southern Hemisphere emissions from South America, south-east Africa, and Oceania significantly contribute to the measured O3 pollution.


The Condor ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolaas V. Webb ◽  
Daniel T. Blumstein

Abstract Many studies have demonstrated that birds behave differently in areas with different levels of human disturbance. Studies frequently characterize sites as having an overall level of human disturbance, and compare how birds respond at sites with high and low levels of disturbance. Doing so assumes that disturbance has a fairly constant effect on animals throughout a site. We measured the distance at which individual Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis) moved away from an approaching observer along a stretch of beach on both sides of the Santa Monica Pier, a heavily visited tourist attraction in southern California. We found that these flight initiation distances decreased in areas where more people visited the beach, and specifically in a small area near the pier. We found that flight initiation distance changed very rapidly within a short distance from the pier. Our results indicate that anthropogenic features may leave a “behavioral footprint.” Identifying the scale of such behavioral footprints should be an important goal of studies that seek to reduce anthropogenic impacts on birds. La Variación del Disturbio Humano Afecta Diferencialmente la Percepción del Riesgo de Depredación en Gaviotas Larus occidentalis Resumen. Muchos estudios han demostrado que las aves se comportan de modo diferente en áreas con distintos niveles de disturbio humano. Los estudios frecuentemente caracterizan sitios con base en su nivel general de disturbio y comparan las respuestas de las aves entre lugares con niveles altos y bajos de disturbio. Al hacer esto, se supone que el disturbio tiene un efecto aproximadamente constante sobre los animales a través de un sitio dado. En este estudio medimos la distancia a la cual gaviotas de la especie Larus occidentalis se desplazaron alejándose de un observador a lo largo de un tramo de playa en ambos lados del embarcadero de Santa Monica, una atracción turística muy visitada ubicada en el sur de California. Encontramos que las distancias al observador a las que las aves iniciaron el vuelo disminuyeron en áreas donde más personas visitaron la playa, y específicamente en un área cercana al embarcadero. Las distancias a las que las gaviotas iniciaron el vuelo cambiaron muy rá pidamente en una distancia muy corta desde el puerto, hasta alcanzar una distancia constante. Nuestros resultados indican que las estructuras antropogénicas podrian dejar una “huella comportamental”. Identificar la escala de dichas huellas debería ser un objetivo importante de estudios que tengan como fin reducir el impacto antrópico sobre las aves.


1963 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 126-131
Author(s):  
C. R. Lynds

The concern has been expressed many times by Dr. Bowen and others that a significant portion of the seeing deterioration may occur in levels of the atmosphere very near the ground, within a few tenths of meters of the ground. When I refer to the quality of seeing I am refering to the image size one observes in a telescope of very large aperture and I will assume that this is equivalent to image motion as observed in telescopes of very small aperture. I will not attempt a further justification for this concern; however this is the basis for the studies we are just beginning at Kitt Peak, where we will attempt to quantitatively show whether or not there is need for concern about the very low levels of the atmosphere. So we begin with the thesis that much of the poor seeing observed at a site, the enlargement of photographic or visual images as observed through a large telescope, is due to refractive inhomogeneities in the lower levels of the atmosphere, within less than 100 m above the telescope. We presume that these inhomogeneities are of local origin and that their distribution and motion is determined primarily by site topography, wind direction and velocity. The few experiments we have made thus far at Kitt Peak have been designed to ascertain quantitatively the importance of these factors. Our approach has been to make observations of the large-aperture seeing with simultaneous observations of the thermal structure of the air accessible to us immediately above the telescope.


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