Improving PM2.5 modelling results through development of the new hourly temporal emission profile – a case study of Poland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Kryza ◽  
Małgorzata Werner ◽  
Justyna Dudek
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Emission Profile ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
European Environmental Agency ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10

<p>High concentrations of atmospheric aerosols with aerodynamic diameter below 2.5 mm (PM2.5) are frequently observed in several Central European countries during the heating season (October – March). Poland belongs to a group of EU countries with the highest concentrations of PM2.5, according to the European Environmental Agency. Large exposure to atmospheric pollutants leads to significant number of premature deaths attributable to adverse air quality in Poland.</p><p>Coal combustion for residential heating is one of the main sources of PM2.5 in Poland. The quality of this fuel is often unknown, and this increases the uncertainty of national emission inventories and makes the modelling of PM2.5 concentrations challenging. Second, daily temporal emission profile (i.e. hours of the day when emission is released to the atmosphere) in residential heating sector is also rather uncertain. In this work, we developed a daily temporal emission profile using available measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from the 2017-2018 heating season. The profile was compared with the existing profile proposed within the INERIS project. New profile has longer peak of afternoon and night time emission, if compared to INERIS, and the morning peak is significantly lower. It means that more emission is released to the atmosphere during unfavorable meteorological conditions such as calm winds and temperature inversions, which are frequently observed during the afternoon and night.</p><p>We have run two simulations using the EMEP4PL model with new and old (INERIS) emission profile. The simulations covered three heating seasons of 2015-2016, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Application of the new emission profile results in increased model – measurements correlation and reduced model bias.</p>

scholarly journals The On-Line Integrated Mesoscale Chemistry Model BOLCHEM

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Rita Cesari ◽  
Tony Christian Landi ◽  
Massimo D’Isidoro ◽  
Mihaela Mircea ◽  
Felicita Russo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Integration Step ◽  
Chemistry Transport Model ◽  
European Environmental Agency ◽  
On Line ◽  
One Year ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10 ◽  
Monitoring Service

This work presents the on-line coupled meteorology–chemistry transport model BOLCHEM, based on the hydrostatic meteorological BOLAM model, the gas chemistry module SAPRC90, and the aerosol dynamic module AERO3. It includes parameterizations to describe natural source emissions, dry and wet removal processes, as well as the transport and dispersion of air pollutants. The equations for different processes are solved on the same grid during the same integration step, by means of a time-split scheme. This paper describes the model and its performance at horizontal resolution of 0.2∘× 0.2∘ over Europe and 0.1∘× 0.1∘ in a nested configuration over Italy, for one year run (December 2009–November 2010). The model has been evaluated against the AIRBASE data of the European Environmental Agency. The basic statistics for higher resolution simulations of O3, NO2 and particulate matter concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10) have been compared with those from Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) ensemble median. In summer, for O3 we found a correlation coefficient R of 0.72 and mean bias of 2.15 over European domain and a correlation coefficient R of 0.67 and mean bias of 2.36 over Italian domain. PM10 and PM2.5 are better reproduced in the winter, the latter with a correlation coefficient R of 0.66 and the mean bias MB of 0.35 over Italian domain.

scholarly journals Seasonality of the Airborne Ambient Soot Predominant Emission Sources Determined by Raman Microspectroscopy and Thermo-Optical Method

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 768
Author(s):  
Natalia Zioła ◽  
Kamila Banasik ◽  
Mariola Jabłońska ◽  
Janusz Janeczek ◽  
Barbara Błaszczak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Combustion ◽  
Carbonaceous Material ◽  
Optical Transmittance ◽  
Diesel Soot ◽  
Raman Microspectroscopy ◽  
Heating Season ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Long Time ◽  
June July ◽  
Measurement Campaigns

Raman microspectroscopy and thermo-optical-transmittance (TOT) method were used to study airborne ambient soot collected at the suburban air monitoring station in southern Poland during the residential heating (January-February) and non-heating (June–July) seasons of 2017. Carbonaceous material constituted on average 47.2 wt.% of PM2.5 during the heating season and 26.9 wt.% in the non-heating season. Average concentrations of OC (37.5 ± 11.0 μg/m3) and EC (5.3 ± 1.1 μg/m3) during the heating season were significantly higher than those in the non-heating season (OC = 2.65 ± 0.78 μg/m3, and EC = 0.39 ± 0.18 μg/m3). OC was a chief contributor to the TC mass concentration regardless of the season. All Raman parameters indicated coal combustion and biomass burning were the predominant sources of soot in the heating season. Diesel soot, which is structurally less ordered than soot from other sources, was dominant during the non-heating season. The D1 and G bands area ratio (D1A/GA) was the most sensitive Raman parameter that discriminated between various soot sources, with D1A/GA > 1 for diesel soot, and less than 1 for soot from coal and wood burning. Due to high daily variability of both TOT and Raman spectroscopy data, single-day measurements can be inconclusive regarding the soot source apportionment. Long-time measurement campaigns are recommended.

scholarly journals Development, characterization and first deployment of an improved online reactive oxygen species analyzer

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhou ◽  
Emily A. Bruns ◽  
Peter Zotter ◽  
Giulia Stefenelli ◽  
André S. H. Prévôt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Oxygen Species ◽  
Detection Limit ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Half Life ◽  
Matrix Effects ◽  
Reactive Oxygen ◽  
Oxygen Species ◽  
Wood Combustion ◽  
Storage Duration ◽  
High Concentrations

Abstract. Inhalation of atmospheric particles is linked to human diseases. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) present in these atmospheric aerosols may play an important role. However, the ROS content in aerosols and their formation pathways are still largely unknown. Here, we have developed an online and offline ROS analyzer using a 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin (DCFH) based assay. The ROS analyzer was calibrated with H2O2 and its sensitivity was characterized using a suite of model organic compounds. The instrument detection limit determined as 3 times the noise is 1.3 nmol L−1 for offline analysis and 2 nmol m−3 of sampled air when the instrument is operated online at a fluorescence response time of approximately 8 min, while the offline method detection limit is 18 nmol L−1. Potential interferences from gas-phase O3 and NO2 as well as matrix effects of particulate SO42− and NO3− were tested, but not observed. Fe3+ had no influence on the ROS signal, while soluble Fe2+ reduced it if present at high concentrations in the extracts. Both online and offline methods were applied to identify the ROS content of different aerosol types, i.e., ambient aerosols as well as fresh and aged aerosols from wood combustion emissions. The stability of the ROS was assessed by comparing the ROS concentration measured by the same instrumentation online in situ with offline measurements. We also analyzed the evolution of ROS in specific samples by conducting the analysis after storage times of up to 4 months. The ROS were observed to decay with increasing storage duration. From their decay behavior, ROS in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can be separated into short- and long-lived fractions. The half-life of the short-lived fraction was 1.7 ± 0.4 h, while the half-life of the long-lived fraction could not be determined with our uncertainties. All these measurements showed consistently that on average 60 ± 20 % of the ROS were very reactive and disappeared during the filter storage time. This demonstrates the importance of a fast online measurement of ROS.

Night-time chemistry of biomass burning plumes in urban areas: A dual mobile chamber study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spiro Jorga ◽  
Kalliopi Florou ◽  
Christos Kaltsonoudis ◽  
John Kodros ◽  
Christina Vasilakopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Mass Spectra ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Photochemical Activity ◽  
Organic Nitrate ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
High Concentrations

<p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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<sub>3</sub> 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<sub>3</sub> radicals as high as 25 ppt were measured in the perturbed chamber with an accompanying production of 0.2-1.2 μg m<sup>-3</sup> 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.</p>

scholarly journals Characteristics, seasonality and sources of carbonaceous and ionic components in the tropical Indian aerosols

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 3937-3976 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. Pavuluri ◽  
K. Kawamura ◽  
S. G. Aggarwal ◽  
T. Swaminathan
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Atmospheric Transport ◽  
Indian Subcontinent ◽  
Ionic Species ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosols ◽  
Mass Fractions ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Ionic Components

Abstract. To better characterize South and Southeast Asian aerosols, PM10 samples collected from tropical Chennai, India (13.04° N; 80.17° E) were analyzed for carbonaceous and water-soluble ionic components. Concentration ranges of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) were 2.4–14 μg m−3 and 3.2–15.6 μg m−3 in winter samples whereas they were 1.1–2.5 μg m−3 and 4.1–17.6 μg m−3 in summer samples, respectively. Concentration of secondary organic carbon (SOC) retrieved from EC-tracer method was 4.6 ± 2.8 μg m−3 in winter and 4.3 ± 2.8 μg m−3 in summer. SO42- (8.8 ± 2.5 μg m−3 and 4.1 ± 2.7 μg m−3 in winter and summer, respectively) was found as the most abundant ionic species (57% on average, n = 49), followed by NH4+ (15%) > NO3− > Cl− > K+> Na+ > Ca2+ > MSA− > Mg2+. The mass fractions of EC, organic matter (OM) and ionic species varied seasonally, following the air mass trajectories and corresponding source strength. Based on mass concentration ratios of selected components and relations of EC and OC to marker species, we found that biofuel/biomass burning is the major source of atmospheric aerosols in South and Southeast Asia. The high concentrations of SOC and WSOC/OC ratios (ave. 0.45; n = 49) as well as good correlations between SOC and WSOC suggest that the secondary production of organic aerosols during long-range atmospheric transport is also significant in this region. This study provides the baseline data of carbonaceous aerosols for southern part of the Indian subcontinent.

scholarly journals A new mobile and portable scanning lidar for profiling the lower troposphere

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.-W. Chiang ◽  
S. K. Das ◽  
H.-W. Chiang ◽  
J.-B. Nee ◽  
S.-H. Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Stimulated Raman Scattering ◽  
Layer Structure ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Sea Breeze ◽  
Industrial Area ◽  
Atmospheric Pollutants ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Scanning Lidar

Abstract. An in-house developed mobile and portable three-dimensional scanning lidar system is discussed in this work. The system uses a stimulated Raman-scattering technique for the continuous observation of atmospheric aerosols, clouds and trace gases. This system has a fast scanning technique with a high-speed data acquisition, and permits the real-time measurement of atmospheric pollutants with the temporal resolution of 1 min. This scanning lidar system provides typical horizontal coverage of about 8–10 km while scanning; however, in zenith mode, good quality backscattered signals can be from 20 km, depending upon the laser power and sky conditions. This versatile lidar system has also overcome the drawbacks which are popular in the traditional scanning lidar systems such as complicated operation, overlap height between laser beam and telescope field of view In this system, the optical damage is reduced by using an integral coaxial transmitter and receiver. Some of the initial results obtained from the scanning lidar system are also presented. This study shows that boundary-layer structure and land–sea breeze circulation can be resolved from the developed scanning lidar system. The application of this lidar system to measure the pollutants over an industrial area is also discussed.

scholarly journals Study of Surface Morphology, Elemental Composition and Origin of Atmospheric Aerosols (PM2.5 and PM10) over Agra, India

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1685-1700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atar Singh Pipal ◽  
Rohi Jan ◽  
P.G. Satsangi ◽  
Suresh Tiwari ◽  
Ajay Taneja
Keyword(s):  
Surface Morphology ◽  
Elemental Composition ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10

scholarly journals Nontuberculous Mycobacteria Prevalence in Aerosol and Spiders’ Webs in Karst Caves: Low Risk for Speleotherapy

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 2573
Author(s):  
Dana Hubelova ◽  
Vit Ulmann ◽  
Pavel Mikuska ◽  
Roman Licbinsky ◽  
Lukas Alexa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Nontuberculous Mycobacteria ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Spider Web ◽  
Safe Environment ◽  
Cave System ◽  
Residential Heating ◽  
Pm2.5 And Pm10 ◽  
Pm10 Mass ◽  
Nearby City

A total of 152 aerosol and spider web samples were collected: 96 spider’s webs in karst areas in 4 European countries (Czech Republic, France, Italy, and Slovakia), specifically from the surface environment (n = 44), photic zones of caves (n = 26), and inside (aphotic zones) of caves (n = 26), 56 Particulate Matter (PM) samples from the Sloupsko-Sosuvsky Cave System (speleotherapy facility; n = 21) and from aerosol collected from the nearby city of Brno (n = 35) in the Czech Republic. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) were isolated from 13 (13.5%) spider’s webs: 5 isolates of saprophytic NTM (Mycobacterium gordonae, M. kumamotonense, M. terrae, and M. terrae complex) and 6 isolates of potentially pathogenic NTM (M. avium ssp. hominissuis, M. fortuitum, M. intracellulare, M. peregrinum and M. triplex). NTM were not isolated from PM collected from cave with the speleotherapy facility although mycobacterial DNA was detected in 8 (14.3%) samples. Temperature (8.2 °C, range 8.0–8.4 °C) and relative humidity (94.7%, range 93.6–96.6%) of air in this cave were relatively constant. The average PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentration was 5.49 µg m−3 and 11.1 µg m−3. Analysed anions (i.e., F−, Cl−, NO2−, SO42−, PO43− and NO3−) originating largely from the burning of wood and coal for residential heating in nearby villages in the surrounding area. The air in the caves with speleotherapy facilities should be monitored with respect to NTM, PM and anions to ensure a safe environment.

scholarly journals Development, characterization and first deployment of an improved online reactive oxygen species analyzer

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhou ◽  
Emily A. Bruns ◽  
Peter Zotter ◽  
Giulia Stefenelli ◽  
André S. H. Prévôt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reactive Oxygen Species ◽  
Detection Limit ◽  
Atmospheric Aerosols ◽  
Matrix Effects ◽  
Reactive Oxygen ◽  
Oxygen Species ◽  
Wood Combustion ◽  
Ambient Aerosols ◽  
Storage Duration ◽  
High Concentrations

Abstract. Inhalation of atmospheric particles is linked to human diseases. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) present in these atmospheric aerosols may play an important role. However, the ROS content in aerosols and their formation pathways are still largely unknown. Here, we have developed an online and offline ROS analyzer using a 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescin (DCFH) based assay. The sensitivity of the ROS analyzer was characterized using a suite of model organic compounds. The instrument detection limit determined as three times the noise is 1.3 nmol L−1 for offline analysis and 2 nmol m−3 of sampled air when the instrument is operated online at a fluorescence response time of approximately 8 min, while the offline method detection limit is 9 nmol L−1 to 13 nmol L−1. Potential interferences from gas phase O3 and NOx, matrix effects of particulate SO42− and NO3− were tested, but not observed. Fe3+ had no influence on the ROS signal while soluble Fe2+ reduced it if present at high concentrations in the extracts. Both online and offline methods were applied to identify the ROS content of different aerosol types, i.e., ambient aerosols as well as fresh and aged aerosols from wood combustion emissions. The stability of the ROS was assessed by comparing the ROS concentration measured by the same instrumentation online in-situ with offline measurements. We also analyzed the evolution of ROS in specific samples by conducting the analysis after storage times of up to four months. The ROS were observed to decay with increasing storage duration. From their decay behavior, ROS in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) can be separated into short- and long-lived fractions, with an average half-life of ~ 1.7 h and ~ 432 d, respectively. All these measurements showed consistently that, on average 60 ± 20 % of the ROS were very reactive and disappeared during the filter storage time. This demonstrates the importance of a fast online measurement of ROS.

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