scholarly journals Sources and contributions of wood smoke during winter in London: assessing local and regional influences

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 27459-27530 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Crilley ◽  
W. J. Bloss ◽  
J. Yin ◽  
D. C. S. Beddows ◽  
R. M. Harrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Traffic Emissions ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Wood Smoke ◽  
Biomass Smoke ◽  
Domestic Heating ◽  
Wood Burning

Abstract. Determining the contribution of wood smoke to air pollution in large cities such as London is becoming increasingly important due to the changing nature of domestic heating in urban areas. During winter, biomass burning emissions can exceed the contributions from traffic emissions, and have been identified as a major cause of exceedences of European air quality limits. The aim of this work was to quantify the contribution of biomass burning in London to concentrations of PM2.5 and determine whether local emissions or regional contributions were the main source of biomass smoke. To achieve this, a number of biomass burning chemical tracers were analysed at a site within central London and two sites in surrounding rural areas. Concentrations of levoglucosan, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC) and K+ were generally well correlated across the three sites. At all the sites, biomass burning was found to be a source of OC and EC, with the largest contribution of EC from traffic emissions, while for OC the dominant fraction likely included contributions from secondary organic aerosols, primary biogenic and cooking sources. Source apportionment of the EC and OC using average source ratios from published data was found to give reasonable estimation of the total carbon from non-fossil and fossil fuel sources based upon comparison with estimates derived from 14C analysis. Black carbon (BC) data from 2 and 7 wavelength Aethalometers were also apportioned into the contributions from biomass burning and traffic, based upon the enhanced absorption of wood smoke at UV wavelengths compared to BC. While the source apportionment of BC using this approach found similar trends to that observed for EC, higher percentage contributions of wood burning to BC were estimated. Based on a wood smoke mass conversion factor for levoglucosan, mean wood smoke mass at the sites was found to range from 0.78–1.0 μg m−3 during the campaign in January–February 2012. Measurements on a 160 m tower in London suggested a similar ratio of brown to black carbon (reflecting wood burning and traffic respectively) in regional and London air. Peaks in the levoglucosan and K+ concentrations were observed to coincide with low ambient temperature, consistent with domestic heating as a major contributing local source in London. Overall, the source of biomass smoke in London was concluded to be a background regional source overlaid by contributions from local domestic burning emissions. This could have implications when considering future emission control strategies during winter and may be the focus of future work in order to better determine the contributing local sources.

scholarly journals Sources and contributions of wood smoke during winter in London: assessing local and regional influences

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 3149-3171 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Crilley ◽  
W. J. Bloss ◽  
J. Yin ◽  
D. C. S. Beddows ◽  
R. M. Harrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Wood Smoke ◽  
Biomass Smoke ◽  
Domestic Heating

Abstract. Determining the contribution of wood smoke to air pollution in large cities such as London is becoming increasingly important due to the changing nature of domestic heating in urban areas. During winter, biomass burning emissions have been identified as a major cause of exceedances of European air quality limits. The aim of this work was to quantify the contribution of biomass burning in London to concentrations of PM2.5 and determine whether local emissions or regional contributions were the main source of biomass smoke. To achieve this, a number of biomass burning chemical tracers were analysed at a site within central London and two sites in surrounding rural areas. Concentrations of levoglucosan, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC) and K+ were generally well correlated across the three sites. At all the sites, biomass burning was found to be a source of OC and EC, with the largest contribution of EC from traffic emissions, while for OC the dominant fraction included contributions from secondary organic aerosols, primary biogenic and cooking sources. Source apportionment of the EC and OC was found to give reasonable estimation of the total carbon from non-fossil and fossil fuel sources based upon comparison with estimates derived from 14C analysis. Aethalometer-derived black carbon data were also apportioned into the contributions from biomass burning and traffic and showed trends similar to those observed for EC. Mean wood smoke mass at the sites was estimated to range from 0.78 to 1.0 μg m−3 during the campaign in January–February 2012. Measurements on a 160 m tower in London suggested a similar ratio of brown to black carbon (reflecting wood burning and traffic respectively) in regional and London air. Peaks in the levoglucosan and K+ concentrations were observed to coincide with low ambient temperature, consistent with domestic heating as a major contributing local source in London. Overall, the source of biomass smoke in London was concluded to be a background regional source overlaid by contributions from local domestic burning emissions. This could have implications when considering future emission control strategies during winter and may be the focus of future work in order to better determine the contributing local sources.

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 Source Apportionment of Fine Organic and Inorganic Atmospheric Aerosol in an Urban Background Area in Greece

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manousos Ioannis Manousakas ◽  
Kalliopi Florou ◽  
Spyros N. Pandis
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Organic Aerosols ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Traffic Emissions ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Aerosol Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Potential Risks

Fine particulate matter (PM) originates from various emission sources and physicochemical processes. Quantification of the sources of PM is an important step during the planning of efficient mitigation strategies and the investigation of the potential risks to human health. Usually, source apportionment studies focus either on the organic or on the inorganic fraction of PM. In this study that took place in Patras, Greece, we address both PM fractions by combining measurements from a range of on- and off-line techniques, including elemental composition, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC) measurements, and high-resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from different techniques. Six fine PM2.5 sources were identified based on the off-line measurements: secondary sulfate (34%), biomass burning (15%), exhaust traffic emissions (13%), nonexhaust traffic emissions (12%), mineral dust (10%), and sea salt (5%). The analysis of the AMS spectra quantified five factors: two oxygenated organic aerosols (OOA) factors (an OOA and a marine-related OOA, 52% of the total organic aerosols (OA)), cooking OA (COA, 11%) and two biomass burning OA (BBOA-I and BBOA-II, 37% in total) factors. The results of the two methods were synthesized, showcasing the complementarity of the two methodologies for fine PM source identification. The synthesis suggests that the contribution of biomass burning is quite robust, but that the exhaust traffic emissions are not due to local sources and may also include secondary OA from other sources.

scholarly journals Dynamic light absorption of biomass-burning organic carbon photochemically aged under natural sunlight

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1517-1525 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Zhong ◽  
M. Jang
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Light Absorption ◽  
Dynamic Change ◽  
Wood Smoke ◽  
Integrating Sphere ◽  
Natural Sunlight ◽  
Wood Burning ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Uv Visible

Abstract. Wood-burning aerosol produced under smoldering conditions was photochemically aged with different relative humidity (RH) and NOx conditions using a 104 m3 dual outdoor chamber under natural sunlight. Light absorption of organic carbon (OC) was measured over the course of photooxidation using a UV–visible spectrometer connected to an integrating sphere. At high RH, the color decayed rapidly. NOx slightly prolonged the color of wood smoke, suggesting that NOx promotes the formation of chromophores via secondary processes. Overall, the mass absorption cross section (integrated between 280 and 600 nm) of OC increased by 11–54% (except high RH) in the morning and then gradually decreased by 19–68% in the afternoon. This dynamic change in light absorption of wood-burning OC can be explained by two mechanisms: chromophore formation and sunlight bleaching. To investigate the effect of chemical transformation on light absorption, wood smoke particles were characterized using various spectrometers. The intensity of fluorescence, which is mainly related to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), rapidly decreased with time, indicating the potential bleaching of PAHs. A decline of levoglucosan concentrations evinced the change of primary organic aerosol with time. The aerosol water content measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that wood-burning aerosol became less hygroscopic as photooxidation proceeded. A similar trend in light absorption changes has been observed in ambient smoke aerosol originating from the 2012 County Line wildfire in Florida. We conclude that the biomass-burning OC becomes less light absorbing after 8–9 h sunlight exposure compared to fresh wood-burning OC.

Source apportionment of black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel and biomass burning in metropolitan Milan, Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 252-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirhosein Mousavi ◽  
Mohammad H. Sowlat ◽  
Christopher Lovett ◽  
Martin Rauber ◽  
Soenke Szidat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Fossil Fuel

scholarly journals Wintertime aerosol chemical composition and source apportionment of the organic fraction in the metropolitan area of Paris

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 961-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Crippa ◽  
P. F. DeCarlo ◽  
J. G. Slowik ◽  
C. Mohr ◽  
M. F. Heringa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Organic Fraction ◽  
Organic Mass ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Mass Spectrometers ◽  
Particulate Pollution ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Wood Burning

Abstract. The effect of a post-industrial megacity on local and regional air quality was assessed via a month-long field measurement campaign in the Paris metropolitan area during winter 2010. Here we present source apportionment results from three aerosol mass spectrometers and two aethalometers deployed at three measurement stations within the Paris region. Submicron aerosol composition is dominated by the organic fraction (30–36%) and nitrate (28–29%), with lower contributions from sulfate (14–16%), ammonium (12–14%) and black carbon (7–13%). Organic source apportionment was performed using positive matrix factorization, resulting in a set of organic factors corresponding both to primary emission sources and secondary production. The dominant primary sources are traffic (11–15% of organic mass), biomass burning (13–15%) and cooking (up to 35% during meal hours). Secondary organic aerosol contributes more than 50% to the total organic mass and includes a highly oxidized factor from indeterminate and/or diverse sources and a less oxidized factor related to wood burning emissions. Black carbon was apportioned to traffic and wood burning sources using a model based on wavelength-dependent light absorption of these two combustion sources. The time series of organic and black carbon factors from related sources were strongly correlated. The similarities in aerosol composition, total mass and temporal variation between the three sites suggest that particulate pollution in Paris is dominated by regional factors, and that the emissions from Paris itself have a relatively low impact on its surroundings.

Spatio-temporal trends and source apportionment of fossil fuel and biomass burning black carbon (BC) in the Los Angeles Basin

2018 ◽  
Vol 640-641 ◽  
pp. 1231-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirhosein Mousavi ◽  
Mohammad H. Sowlat ◽  
Sina Hasheminassab ◽  
Andrea Polidori ◽  
Constantinos Sioutas
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Los Angeles Basin ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Source apportionment of black carbon over Delhi: A case study of extreme biomass burning events and Diwali festival

Urban Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 100926
Author(s):  
Vikas Goel ◽  
Naba Hazarika ◽  
Mayank Kumar ◽  
Vikram Singh
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Diwali Festival

scholarly journals Estimating contributions from biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion by means of radiocarbon analysis of carbonaceous aerosols: application to the Valley of Chamonix

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Bonvalot ◽  
Thibaut Tuna ◽  
Yoann Fagault ◽  
Jean-Luc Jaffrezo ◽  
Véronique Jacob ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Ion Source ◽  
Traffic Emissions ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Biogenic Emissions ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Fossil Carbon

Abstract. Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) affects the climate in various ways and has a negative impact on human health. In populated mountain valleys from Alpine regions, emissions from road traffic contribute to carbonaceous aerosols, but residential wood burning can be another source of PM during the winter. We determine the contribution of fossil and non-fossil carbon sources by measuring radiocarbon in aerosols using the recently installed AixMICADAS facility. The accelerator mass spectrometer is coupled to an elemental analyzer (EA) by means of a gas interface system directly connected to the gas ion source. This system provides rapid and accurate radiocarbon measurements for small samples (10–100 µgC) with minimal preparation from the aerosol filters. We show how the contamination induced by the EA protocol can be quantified and corrected for. Several standards and synthetic samples are then used to demonstrate the precision and accuracy of aerosol measurements over the full range of expected 14C/12C ratios ranging from modern carbon to fossil carbon depleted in 14C. Aerosols sampled in Chamonix and Passy (Arve Valley, French Alps) from November 2013 to August 2014 are analyzed for both radiocarbon (124 analyses in total) and levoglucosan, which is commonly used as a specific tracer for biomass burning. NOx concentration, which is expected to be associated with traffic emissions, is also monitored. Based on 14C measurements, we can show that the relative fraction of non-fossil carbon is significantly higher in winter than in summer. In winter, non-fossil carbon represents about 85 % of total carbon, while in summer this proportion is still 75 % considering all samples. The largest total carbon and levoglucosan concentrations are observed for winter aerosols with values up to 50 and 8 µg m−3, respectively. These levels are higher than those observed in many European cities, but are close to those for other polluted Alpine valleys. The non-fossil carbon concentrations are strongly correlated with the levoglucosan concentrations in winter samples, suggesting that almost all of the non-fossil carbon originates from wood combustion used for heating during winter. For summer samples, the joint use of 14C and levoglucosan measurements leads to a new model to quantify separately the contributions of biomass burning and biogenic emissions in the non-fossil fraction. The comparison of the biogenic fraction with polyols (a proxy for primary soil biogenic emissions) and with the temperature suggests a major influence of the secondary biogenic aerosols. Significant correlations are found between the NOx concentration and the fossil carbon concentration for all seasons and sites, confirming the relation between road traffic emissions and fossil carbon. Overall this dual approach combining radiocarbon and levoglucosan analyses strengthens the conclusion concerning the impact of biomass burning. Combining these geochemical data both serves to detect and quantify additional carbon sources. The Arve Valley provides a first illustration of this model to aerosols.

scholarly journals Wintertime aerosol chemical composition and source apportionment of the organic fraction in the metropolitan area of Paris

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 22535-22586 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Crippa ◽  
P. F. DeCarlo ◽  
J. G. Slowik ◽  
C. Mohr ◽  
M. F. Heringa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Organic Fraction ◽  
Organic Mass ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Mass Spectrometers ◽  
Particulate Pollution ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Wood Burning

Abstract. The effect of a post-industrial megacity on local and regional air quality was assessed via a month-long field measurement campaign in the Paris metropolitan area during winter 2010. Here we present source apportionment results from three aerosol mass spectrometers and two aethalometers deployed at three measurement stations within the Paris region. Submicron aerosol composition is dominated by the organic fraction (30–36%) and nitrate (28–29%), with lower contributions from sulfate (14–16%), ammonium (12–14%) and black carbon (7–13%). Organic source apportionment was performed using positive matrix factorization, resulting in a set of organic factors corresponding both to primary emission sources and secondary production. The dominant primary sources are traffic (11–15% of organic mass), biomass burning (13–15 %) and cooking (11–17% and up to 35% during meal hours). Secondary organic aerosol contributes more than 50% to the total organic mass and includes a highly oxidized factor from indeterminate and/or diverse sources and a less oxidized factor related to wood burning emissions. Black carbon was apportioned to traffic and wood burning sources using a model based on wavelength-dependent light absorption of these two combustion sources. The time series of organic and black carbon factors from related sources were strongly correlated. The similarities in aerosol composition, total mass and temporal variation between the three sites suggest that particulate pollution in Paris is dominated by regional factors, and that the emissions from Paris itself have a relatively low impact on its surroundings.

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