scholarly journals Impact of continental outflow on chemistry of atmospheric aerosols over tropical Bay of Bengal

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 20667-20711 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Srinivas ◽  
A. Kumar ◽  
M. M. Sarin ◽  
A. K. Sudheer

Abstract. The continental outflow from Indo-Gangetic Plain and south-east Asia dominates the widespread dispersal of pollutants over tropical Bay of Bengal (BoB) during the late NE-monsoon (January–March). It is thus pertinent to assess the impact on marine atmospheric boundary layer of BoB. The chemical data, based on analyses of size-segregated (PM2.5 and PM10) aerosols, suggest the dominance of nss-SO42− (range: 1.3 to 28 μg m−3) in PM2.5. Almost all SO42− is of anthropogenic origin and accounts for as much as 65 % of the water-soluble inorganic constituents. The impact of anthropogenic sources is further evident from the widespread depletion of chloride (range: 40 to 100 %) compared to sea-salt composition. The carbonaceous species (EC and OC) contribute nearly 25 % to PM2.5; and significant linear relationship with K+ suggests biomass burning as their dominant source (biofuels and agricultural waste). The enhancement in the fractional solubility of aerosol Fe, as assessed in PM2.5, re-emphasizes the impact of combustion sources (biomass and fossil-fuel) and chemical processing (of dust) during the long-range transport. The high enrichment factors of heavy metals (Pb and Cd) further demonstrate the influence of pollution sources on the chemistry of MABL. The downwind transport of pollutants and exchange across air-sea interface can, thus, have profound impact on the ocean surface biogeochemistry.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanishtha Dubey ◽  
Shubha Verma

<p>The study investigates the chemical composition and source of aerosol origin at a semi-urban (Kharagpur–Kgp) and urban (Kolkata–Kol) region during the period February 2015 to January 2016 and September 2010 to August 2011 respectively. Major water-soluble inorganic aerosols (WSII) were determined using Ion chromatography and carbonaceous aerosols (CA) using OC–EC analyser. A multivariate factor analysis Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used in resolving source of aerosols at the study locations. Seasonal analysis of WSII at Kgp and Kol indicated relative dominance of calcium at both the places followed by sodium, chloride, and magnesium ions. Non-sea salt potassium (nss–K<sup>+</sup>), a biomass burning tracer was found higher at Kol than at Kgp. Sum of secondary aerosols sulphate (SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup>), nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) and ammonium (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>) was higher at Kol than Kgp with relative concentration of SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup> being higher than NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> at Kgp which was vice-versa at Kol. Examination of carbonaceous aerosols showed three times higher concentration of organic carbon (OC) than elemental carbon (EC) with monthly mean of OC/EC ratio > 2, indicating likely formation of secondary organic carbon formation. Seasonal influence of biomass burning inferred from nss–K<sup>+</sup> (OC/EC) ratio relationship indicated dissimilarity in seasonality of biomass burning at Kgp (Kol). PMF resolved sources for Kgp constituted of secondary aerosol emissions, biomass burning, fugitive dust, marine aerosols, crustal dust and emissions from brick kilns while for Kol factors constituted of burning of waste, resuspended paved road dust, coal combustion, sea spray aerosols, vehicular emissions and biomass burning.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 970-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srinivas Bikkina ◽  
Manmohan Sarin

In this paper, we synthesize the size distribution and optical properties of the atmospheric water-soluble fraction of light-absorbing organic carbon (brown carbon; BrC) in the continental outflow from the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) in South Asia to the North Indian Ocean.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1959-1973 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Zhu ◽  
K. Kawamura ◽  
B. Kunwar

Abstract. Biomass burning (BB) largely modifies the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols on the globe. We collected aerosol samples (TSP) at Cape Hedo, on subtropical Okinawa Island, from October 2009 to February 2012 to study anhydrosugars as BB tracers. Levoglucosan was detected as the dominant anhydrosugar followed by its isomers, mannosan and galactosan. We found a clear seasonal trend of levoglucosan and mannosan with winter maxima and summer minima. Positive correlation was found between levoglucosan and nss-K+ (r = 0.38, p < 0.001); the latter is another BB tracer. The analyses of air mass trajectories and fire spots demonstrated that the seasonal variations of anhydrosugars are caused by long-range transport of BB emissions from the Asian continent. We found winter maxima of anhydrosugars, which may be associated with open burning and domestic heating and cooking in northern and northeastern China, Mongolia and Russia and with the enhanced westerly winds. The monthly averaged levoglucosan / mannosan ratios were lower (2.1–4.8) in May–June and higher (13.3–13.9) in November–December. The lower values may be associated with softwood burning in northern China, Korea and southwestern Japan whereas the higher values are probably caused by agricultural waste burning of maize straw in the North China Plain. Anhydrosugars comprised 0.22% of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and 0.13% of organic carbon (OC). The highest values to WSOC (0.37%) and OC (0.25%) were found in winter, again indicating an important BB contribution to Okinawa aerosols in winter. This study provides useful information to better understand the effect of East Asian biomass burning on the air quality in the western North Pacific Rim.


1998 ◽  
pp. l-15
Author(s):  
M. Rashid ◽  
R.F Griffiths

A total of 139 collocated samples of fine and coarse atmospheric aerosols collected from July 1988 to December 1990 in Kuala Lumpur were analysed for their elemental composition,and for their assoctated concentrations in the sampled air. Nine elements i.e As, Br, Co, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb and Zn, were found to be strongly attributed to anthropogenic sources. Their elemental enrichment factors in fine and coarse size fraction were more than 17 times higher than those found in the crustal rock. Whilst, Ca, Fe, K, Mn, and V could be attributed to both anthropogenic and soil related aerosols. Both Al and Cl were exclusively originated from soil and marine in all size fractions respectively. Key Words: Air pollution, aerosol, trace elements, enrichment factors


Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 475-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Szidat ◽  
T M Jenk ◽  
H W Gäggeler ◽  
H-A Synal ◽  
R Fisseha ◽  
...  

Radiocarbon enables a distinction between contemporary and fossil carbon, which can be used for the apportionment of biogenic and anthropogenic sources in environmental studies. In order to apply this approach to carbonaceous atmospheric aerosols, it is necessary to adapt pretreatment procedures to the requirements of 14C measurements. In this work, we followed an approach in which total carbon (TC) is subdivided into fractions of different chemical and physical properties. 14C data of ambient aerosols from Zürich (Switzerland) are presented for the 2 sub-fractions of TC, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC). Furthermore, OC is separated into water-insoluble OC (WINSOC) and water-soluble OC (WSOC). Results demonstrate the importance to differentiate between these fractions for 14C-deduced source apportionment, as the contributions can range between both extremes, nearly exclusively biogenic and anthropogenic.


2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 3563-3573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Hong-Hai Zhang ◽  
Gui-Peng Yang ◽  
Qiu-Lin Liu

Abstract The total suspended particulate (TSP) samples over the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea were collected during two cruises in spring and autumn in 2012. Concentrations of water-soluble ions {Na+, K+, NH4+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, NO3 −, SO42−, and CH3SO3 − [methanesulfonic acid (MSA)]} and trace metals (Al, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, and V) were measured. Mass concentrations of TSP samples ranged from 65.2 to 136 μg m−3 in spring and from 15.9 to 70.3 μg m−3 in autumn, with average values of 100 ± 22.4 and 40.2 ± 17.8 μg m−3, respectively. The aerosol was acidic throughout the sampling periods according to calculation of equivalent concentrations of the cations (NH4+, nss-Ca2+, and nss-K+) and anions (nss-SO42− and NO3 −). Correlation analysis and enrichment factors revealed that the aerosol composition in the coastal marine atmosphere had a feature of a mixture of air masses: that is, crustal, marine, and anthropogenic emissions. Trace metals were enriched by a wide range of 1–103, and enrichment factors for crustal source (EFc) were relatively higher in spring. Species like Cd, Zn, and Pb had an overwhelming contribution from anthropogenic sources. In addition, the concentrations of MSA varied from 0.0075 to 0.17 and from 0.0019 to 0.018 μg m−3 during the spring and autumn cruises, respectively, with means of 0.061 and 0.012 μg m−3, respectively. Based on the observed MSA and nss-SO42− concentrations in spring and autumn, the relative biogenic sulfur contributions to nss-SO42− were estimated to be 8.0% and 3.5% on average, respectively, implying that anthropogenic sources had a dominant contribution to the sulfur budget over the observational area.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1877-1889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Satsangi ◽  
Tripti Pachauri ◽  
Vyoma Singla ◽  
Anita Lakhani ◽  
K. Maharaj Kumari

Author(s):  
H. O. Juwah ◽  
O. Z. Tachere

This research was carried out to evaluate the impact of vehicular traffic, on the soil and grasses growing along major roadsides in Delta state, Nigeria. Soil and Guinea grass samples were collected from three major roads, and a control point in Delta State. The collected samples (plant and soil) were digested according to standard procedures, and their heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Pb and Ni) concentrations were analyzed by using the Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. Results obtained indicated that the soil and grass heavy metals concentrations were significantly (p ≤0.05) higher than the control point, and varied across the sampled locations. It was observed from the resulted that, there was heavy metals accumulation in the soil and plants growing along the roadsides. Irrespective of the sampling location, the concentrations of the heavy metals followed this trend Fe ˃Pb ˃Ni ˃ Cu. As revealed by the results, at Ughelli, the contamination factor was in this order Ni > Cu >Fe >Pb; then at Ozoro road, the contamination factor ranking was Ni >Pb >Fe Cu; while at Irri road, the contamination ranked Ni > Cu > Pb > Fe. This showed that Ni had the highest contamination factor, regardless of the road location. As portrayed by the results, the heavy metals enrichment factors were greater than 1. The results revealed that the heavy metals enrichment factors followed this ranking Ni > Cu > Pb in all the locations sampled. These results indicated that the roadsides soil and Guinea grass received their pollution from anthropogenic sources, and vehicular emissions in particular. The results obtained from this study revealed the urgency of the government to decongest vehicular traffic, to prevent accumulation of toxic heavy metals in the ecosystems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 867-881
Author(s):  
ARIFA SHAFQAT ◽  
ARIFA TAHIR ◽  
WAHEED ULLAH KHAN ◽  
ADEEL MAHMOOD ◽  
GHULAM HASSAN ABBASI

The present study focuses on testing the potential of starch from two different sources: corn and rice, to produce bioplastics, and the impact of natural agricultural waste materials (eggshells and rice hulls) as fillers. Bioplastic samples with different starches, plasticizers and amounts of fillers, in varying combinations, were prepared to determine the feasibility of the produced bioplastics. The physico-chemical properties of the bioplastics, such as moisture content, water absorption, water and alcohol solubility, biodegradability, tensile strength and Young’s modulus, were investigated. FT-IR analysis was also performed. The RTV silicone coating of the samples was tested to induce hydrophobic properties to water-soluble bioplastics. This study demonstrated that the utilization of starches from different sources, various types of plasticizers, as well as filler types and amounts, can have a significant impact on the physico-chemical properties of the bioplastics. Moreover, the bioplastics produced are safe for the environment and biodegradable, so starch-based bioplastics can be a promising environmentally friendly alternative to harmful petroleum-based plastics.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 867 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Barbaro ◽  
R. Zangrando ◽  
T. Kirchgeorg ◽  
A. Bazzano ◽  
S. Illuminati ◽  
...  

Environmental contextOwing to its remoteness, Antarctica is an excellent natural laboratory for conducting studies on the behavior of marine aerosols and for monitoring the impact of global human activities. The aim of this study is to provide an extensive chemical characterization of Antarctic aerosol and to investigate its sources. A distinction among anthropogenic, crustal, and biogenic sources was defined using several chemical markers. AbstractDuring the 2010–11 austral summer, an aerosol sampling campaign was carried out at a coastal Antarctic site (Terra Nova Bay, Victoria Land). In this work, previously published data about water-soluble organic compounds and major and trace elements were merged with novel measurements of major ions, carboxylic acids and persistent organic pollutants (polychlorobiphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated naphthalenes, polybrominated diphenylethers and organochlorine pesticides) in order to provide a chemical characterisation of Antarctic aerosol and to investigate its sources. The persistent organic pollutants were determined using a high-volume sampler, able to collect both particulate and gaseous fractions, whereas remaining compounds were determined by performing an aerosol size fractionation with a PM10 cascade impactor. Ionic species represented 58% (350ng m–3) of the sum of concentrations of all detected compounds (596ng m–3) in our Antarctic PM10 aerosol samples due to natural emission. Trace concentrations of persistent organic pollutants highlighted that the occurrence of these species can be due to long-range atmospheric transport or due to the research base. Factor analysis was applied to the dataset obtained from the samples collected with the PM10 sampler in order to make a distinction between anthropogenic, crustal and biogenic sources using specific chemical markers.


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