Contribution of residential wood burning to wintertime air pollution in an urban area

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Kaltsonoudis ◽  
Kalliopi Florou ◽  
John Kodros ◽  
Spiro Jorga ◽  
Christina Vasilakopoulou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Proton Transfer Reaction ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Brown Carbon ◽  
Aerosol Absorption ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Wood Burning

<p>Τhe composition of wintertime urban air in Patras, Greece was investigated during early 2020 focusing on the role of biomass burning. A high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and a Proton Transfer-Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) were deployed. Additionally continuous measurements of the aerosol size distribution from 10 nm to 10 μm were performed, as well as measurements of the size-resolved aerosol composition using a Micro-Orifice Uniform-Deposit Impactor, black carbon (BC) concentrations using an SP2, aerosol absorption, brown carbon concentrations, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). A number of low-cost sensors for particles and vapors was also deployed in the city.</p><p>               The PM<sub>2.5 </sub>concentration peaked during the early evening reaching up to 150 µg m<sup>-3</sup>. PM<sub>1</sub> aerosol (23 µg m<sup>-3</sup> on average) was mainly composed of organics (69%) with the rest being BC (11%), sulphate (10%), nitrate (5%), ammonium (4%) and chloride (1%). Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) of the measurements of the AMS indicated that biomass burning due to residential heating was the dominant source of PM<sub>1 </sub>during the campaign accounting for 53% of the total OA with the rest being the oxygenated organic aerosol (ΟΟΑ) at 25%, the cooking OA (COA) at 12% and the traffic related hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) at 10%.</p><p>               The biomass burning contribution was also evident in several volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detected by the PTR-MS. Biogenic species such as isoprene and the monoterpenes showed clear relation to wood burning, while most of the aromatic compounds were related both to traffic and wood burning. The latter was also true for other gas species measured such as CO, NO<sub>x </sub>etc. Biomass burning was also a major contributor to the ROS measured as well as the brown carbon.</p>

scholarly journals Secondary organic aerosol formation and primary organic aerosol oxidation from biomass-burning smoke in a flow reactor during FLAME-3

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 11551-11571 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Ortega ◽  
D. A. Day ◽  
M. J. Cubison ◽  
W. H. Brune ◽  
D. Bon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Proton Transfer Reaction ◽  
Oxidation Products ◽  
Chemical Transformations ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Smog Chambers

Abstract. We report the physical and chemical effects of photochemically aging dilute biomass-burning smoke. A "potential aerosol mass" (PAM) flow reactor was used with analysis by a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer and a proton-transfer-reaction ion-trap mass spectrometer during the FLAME-3 campaign. Hydroxyl (OH) radical concentrations in the reactor reached up to ~1000 times average tropospheric levels, producing effective OH exposures equivalent to up to 5 days of aging in the atmosphere, and allowing for us to extend the investigation of smoke aging beyond the oxidation levels achieved in traditional smog chambers. Volatile organic compound (VOC) observations show aromatics and terpenes decrease with aging, while formic acid and other unidentified oxidation products increase. Unidentified gas-phase oxidation products, previously observed in atmospheric and laboratory measurements, were observed here, including evidence of multiple generations of photochemistry. Substantial new organic aerosol (OA) mass ("net SOA"; secondary OA) was observed from aging biomass-burning smoke, resulting in total OA average of 1.42 ± 0.36 times the initial primary OA (POA) after oxidation. This study confirms that the net-SOA-to-POA ratio of biomass-burning smoke is far lower on average than that observed for urban emissions. Although most fuels were very reproducible, significant differences were observed among the biomasses, with some fuels resulting in a doubling of the OA mass, while for others a very small increase or even a decrease was observed. Net SOA formation in the photochemical reactor increased with OH exposure (OHexp), typically peaking around three days of equivalent atmospheric photochemical age (OHexp~3.9 × 1011 molecules cm−3 s), then leveling off at higher exposures. The amount of additional OA mass added from aging is positively correlated with initial POA concentration, but not with the total VOC concentration or the concentration of known SOA precursors. The mass of SOA formed often exceeded the mass of the known VOC precursors, indicating the likely importance of primary semivolatile/intermediate volatility species, and possibly of unidentified VOCs as SOA precursors in biomass burning smoke. Chemical transformations continued even after mass concentration stabilized. Changes in the biomass-burning tracer f60 ranged from substantially decreasing to remaining constant with increased aging. With increased OHexp, oxidation was always detected (as indicated by f44 and O/C). POA O/C ranged from 0.15 to 0.5, while aged OA O/C reached up to 0.87. The rate of oxidation and maximum O/C achieved differs for each biomass, and appears to increase with the initial O/C of the POA.

scholarly journals Aerosol chemical composition at Cabauw, the Netherlands as observed in two intensive periods in May 2008 and March 2009

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 27661-27699 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Mensah ◽  
R. Holzinger ◽  
R. Otjes ◽  
A. Trimborn ◽  
T. F. Mentel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Proton Transfer Reaction ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Average Mass ◽  
Diurnal Cycles ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Aerosol Chemical Composition

Abstract. Observations of aerosol chemical composition in Cabauw, the Netherlands, are presented for two intensive measurement periods in May 2008 and March 2009. Sub-micron aerosol chemical composition was measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and is compared to observations from aerosol size distribution measurements as well as composition measurements with a Monitor for AeRosol and GAses (MARGA) based instrument and a Thermal-desorption Proton-transfer-reaction Mass-spectrometer (TD-PTR-MS). An overview of the data is presented and the data quality is discussed. In May 2008 enhanced pollution was observed with organics contributing 40% to the PM1 mass. In contrast the observed average mass loading was lower in March 2009 and a dominance of ammonium nitrate (42%) was observed. The semi-volatile nature of ammonium nitrate is evidenced in the diurnal cycles with maximum concentrations observed in the morning hours in May 2008 and little diurnal variation observed in March 2009. Size dependent composition data from AMS measurements are presented and show a dominance of organics in the size range below 200 nm.

scholarly journals Aerosol chemical composition at Cabauw, The Netherlands as observed in two intensive periods in May 2008 and March 2009

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4723-4742 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Mensah ◽  
R. Holzinger ◽  
R. Otjes ◽  
A. Trimborn ◽  
Th. F. Mentel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Ammonium Nitrate ◽  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Proton Transfer Reaction ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Average Mass ◽  
Diurnal Cycles ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Aerosol Chemical Composition

Abstract. Observations of aerosol chemical composition in Cabauw, the Netherlands, are presented for two intensive measurement periods in May 2008 and March 2009. Sub-micron aerosol chemical composition was measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and is compared to observations from aerosol size distribution measurements as well as composition measurements with a Monitor for AeRosol and GAses (MARGA) based instrument and a Thermal-Desorption Proton-Transfer-Reaction Mass-Spectrometer (TD-PTR-MS). An overview of the data is presented and the data quality is discussed. In May 2008 enhanced pollution was observed with organics contributing 40% to the PM1 mass. In contrast the observed average mass loading was lower in March 2009 and a dominance of ammonium nitrate (42%) was observed. The semi-volatile nature of ammonium nitrate is evident in the diurnal cycles with maximum concentrations observed in the morning hours in May 2008 and little diurnal variation observed in March 2009. Size dependent composition data from AMS measurements are presented and show a dominance of organics in the size range below 200 nm. A higher O:C ratio of the organics is observed for May 2008 than for March 2009. Together with the time series of individual tracer ions this shows the dominance of OOA over HOA in May 2008.

scholarly journals Secondary organic aerosol formation and primary organic aerosol oxidation from biomass burning smoke in a flow reactor during FLAME-3

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 13799-13851 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Ortega ◽  
D. A. Day ◽  
M. J. Cubison ◽  
W. H. Brune ◽  
D. Bon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Ion Trap ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Proton Transfer Reaction ◽  
Oxidation Products ◽  
Chemical Transformations ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Aerosol Mass

Abstract. We report the physical and chemical effects of photochemically aging dilute biomass-burning smoke. A potential aerosol mass "PAM" flow reactor was used with analysis by a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer and a proton-transfer reaction ion-trap mass spectrometer during the FLAME-3 campaign. Hydroxyl (OH) radical concentrations in the reactor reached up to ~ 1000 times average tropospheric levels, producing effective OH exposures equivalent to up to 5 days aging in the atmosphere. VOC observations show aromatics and terpenes decrease with aging, while formic acid and other unidentified oxidation products increase. Unidentified gas-phase oxidation products, previously observed in atmospheric and laboratory measurements, were observed here, including evidence of multiple generations of photochemistry. Substantial new organic aerosol (OA) mass ("net SOA"; secondary OA) was observed from aging biomass-burning smoke, resulting in an total OA average of 1.42 ± 0.36 times the initial primary OA (POA) after oxidation. This study confirms that the net SOA to POA ratio of biomass burning smoke is far lower on average than that observed for urban emissions. Although most fuels were very reproducible, significant differences were observed among the biomasses, with some fuels resulting in a doubling of the OA mass, while for others a very small increase or even a decrease was observed. Net SOA formation in the photochemical reactor increased with OH exposure (OHexp), typically peaking around three days of equivalent atmospheric photochemical age (OHexp ~ 3.9 × 1011 molecules cm−3 s−1), then leveling off at higher exposures. The amount of additional OA mass added from aging is positively correlated with initial POA concentration, but not with the total VOC concentration or the concentration of known SOA precursors. The mass of SOA formed often exceeds the mass of the known VOC precursors, indicating the likely importance of primary semivolatile/intermediate volatility species, and possibly of unidentified VOCs as SOA precursors in biomass burning smoke. Chemical transformations continue even after mass concentration stabilizes. Changes in the biomass-burning tracer f60 ranged from substantially decreasing to remaining constant with increased aging. With increased OHexp, oxidation was always detected (as indicated by f44 and O/C). POA O/C ranged 0.15–0.5, while aged OA O/C reached up to 0.87. The rate of oxidation and maximum O/C achieved differs for each biomass and appears to increase with the initial O/C of the POA.

scholarly journals Aerosol chemical and optical properties over the Paris area within ESQUIF project

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 3257-3280 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hodzic ◽  
R. Vautard ◽  
P. Chazette ◽  
L. Menut ◽  
B. Bessagnet
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosols ◽  
Organic Aerosols ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Coarse Mode ◽  
Paris Area ◽  
Flight Trajectories

Abstract. Aerosol chemical and optical properties are extensively investigated for the first time over the Paris Basin in July 2000 within the ESQUIF project. The measurement campaign offers an exceptional framework to evaluate the performances of the chemistry-transport model CHIMERE in simulating concentrations of gaseous and aerosol pollutants, as well as the aerosol-size distribution and composition in polluted urban environments against ground-based and airborne measurements. A detailed comparison of measured and simulated variables during the second half of July with particular focus on 19 and 31 pollution episodes reveals an overall good agreement for gas-species and aerosol components both at the ground level and along flight trajectories, and the absence of systematic biases in simulated meteorological variables such as wind speed, relative humidity and boundary layer height as computed by the MM5 model. A good consistency in ozone and NO concentrations demonstrates the ability of the model to reproduce the plume structure and location fairly well both on 19 and 31 July, despite an underestimation of the amplitude of ozone concentrations on 31 July. The spatial and vertical aerosol distributions are also examined by comparing simulated and observed lidar vertical profiles along flight trajectories on 31 July and confirm the model capacity to simulate the plume characteristics. The comparison of observed and modeled aerosol components in the southwest suburb of Paris during the second half of July indicates that the aerosol composition is rather correctly reproduced, although the total aerosol mass is underestimated by about 20%. The simulated Parisian aerosol is dominated by primary particulate matter that accounts for anthropogenic and biogenic primary particles (40%), and inorganic aerosol fraction (40%) including nitrate (8%), sulfate (22%) and ammonium (10%). The secondary organic aerosols (SOA) represent 12% of the total aerosol mass, while the mineral dust accounts for 8%. The comparison demonstrates the absence of systematic errors in the simulated sulfate, ammonium and nitrates total concentrations. However, for nitrates the observed partition between fine and coarse mode is not reproduced. In CHIMERE there is a clear lack of coarse-mode nitrates. This calls for additional parameterizations in order to account for the heterogeneous formation of nitrate onto dust particles. Larger discrepancies are obtained for the secondary organic aerosols due to both inconsistencies in the SOA formation processes in the model leading to an underestimation of their mass and large uncertainties in the determination of the measured aerosol organic fraction. The observed mass distribution of aerosols is not well reproduced, although no clear explanation can be given.

scholarly journals Aerosol chemical and optical properties over the Paris area within ESQUIF project

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 401-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Hodzic ◽  
R. Vautard ◽  
P. Chazette ◽  
L. Menut ◽  
B. Bessagnet
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosols ◽  
Organic Aerosols ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Coarse Mode ◽  
Paris Area ◽  
Flight Trajectories

Abstract. Aerosol chemical and optical properties are extensively investigated for the first time over the Paris Basin in July 2000 within the ESQUIF project. The measurement campaign offers an exceptional framework to evaluate the performances of the chemistry-transport model CHIMERE in simulating concentrations of gaseous and aerosol pollutants, as well as the aerosol-size distribution and composition in polluted urban environment against ground-based and airborne measurements. A detailed comparison of measured and simulated variables during the second half of July with particular focus on 19 and 31 pollution episodes reveals an overall good agreement for gas-species and aerosol components both at the ground level and along flight trajectories, and the absence of systematic biases in simulated meteorological variables such as wind speed, relative humidity and boundary layer height as computed by the MM5 model. A good consistency in ozone and NO concentrations demonstrates the ability of the model to reproduce fairly well the plume structure and location both on 19 and 31 July, despite an underestimation of the amplitude of ozone concentrations on 31 July. The spatial and vertical aerosol distributions are also examined by comparing simulated and observed lidar vertical profiles along flight trajectories on 31 July and confirmed the model capacity to simulate the plume characteristics. The comparison of observed and modeled aerosol components in the southwest suburb of Paris during the second half of July indicated that the aerosol composition is rather correctly reproduced, although the total aerosol mass is underestimated of about 20%. The simulated Parisian aerosol is dominated by primary particulate matter that accounts for anthropogenic and biogenic primary particles (40%) and inorganic aerosol fraction (40%) including nitrate (8%), sulfate (22%) and ammonium (10%). The secondary organic aerosols (SOA) represent 12% of the total aerosol mass, while the mineral dust accounts for 8%. The comparison demonstrated the absence of systematic errors in the simulated sulfate, ammonium and nitrates total concentrations. However for nitrates the observed partition between fine and coarse mode is not reproduced. In CHIMERE there is a clear lack of coarse-mode nitrates. This calls for additional parameterizations in order to account for the heterogeneous formation of nitrate onto dust particles. Larger discrepancies are obtained for the secondary organic aerosols due to both inconsistencies in the SOA formation processes in the model leading to an underestimation of their mass and large uncertainties in the determination of the measured aerosol organic fraction. The observed mass distribution of aerosols is not well reproduced, although no clear explanation can be given.

scholarly journals Evaluating biases in filter-based aerosol absorption measurements using photoacoustic spectroscopy

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 3417-3434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas W. Davies ◽  
Cathryn Fox ◽  
Kate Szpek ◽  
Michael I. Cotterell ◽  
Jonathan W. Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Photoacoustic Spectroscopy ◽  
Strong Dependence ◽  
Single Scattering ◽  
Aerosol Absorption ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Correction Scheme ◽  
Measurement Biases ◽  
Absorption Photometer ◽  
Absorption Measurements

Abstract. Biases in absorption coefficients measured using a filter-based absorption photometer (Tricolor Absorption Photometer, or TAP) at wavelengths of 467, 528 and 652 nm are evaluated by comparing to measurements made using photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS). We report comparisons for ambient sampling covering a range of aerosol types including urban, fresh biomass burning and aged biomass burning. Data are also used to evaluate the performance of three different TAP correction schemes. We found that photoacoustic and filter-based measurements were well correlated, but filter-based measurements generally overestimated absorption by up to 45 %. Biases varied with wavelength and depended on the correction scheme applied. Optimal agreement to PAS data was achieved by processing the filter-based measurements using the recently developed correction scheme of Müller et al. (2014), which consistently reduced biases to 0 %–18 % at all wavelengths. The biases were found to be a function of the ratio of organic aerosol mass to light-absorbing carbon mass, although applying the Müller et al. (2014) correction scheme to filter-based absorption measurements reduced the biases and the strength of this correlation significantly. Filter-based absorption measurement biases led to aerosol single-scattering albedos that were biased low by values in the range 0.00–0.07 and absorption Ångström exponents (AAEs) that were in error by ± (0.03–0.54). The discrepancy between the filter-based and PAS absorption measurements is lower than reported in some earlier studies and points to a strong dependence of filter-based measurement accuracy on aerosol source type.

scholarly journals Chemical apportionment of southern African aerosol mass and optical depth

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 7643-7655 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. I. Magi
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
Aerosol Absorption ◽  
Aerosol Mass

Abstract. This study characterizes the aerosol over extratropical and tropical southern Africa during the biomass burning season by presenting an aerosol mass apportionment and aerosol optical properties. Carbonaceous aerosol species account for 54% and 83% of the extratropical and tropical aerosol mass, respectively, which is consistent with the fact that the major source of particulate matter in southern Africa is biomass burning. This mass apportionment implies that carbonaceous species in the form of organic carbon (OC) and black carbon (BC) play a critical role in the aerosol optical properties. By combining the in situ measurements of aerosol mass concentrations with concurrent measurements of aerosol optical properties at a wavelength of 550 nm, it is shown that 80–90% of the aerosol scattering is due to carbonaceous aerosol, and the derived mass scattering cross sections (MSC) for OC and BC are 3.9±0.6 m2/g and 1.6±0.2 m2/g, respectively. Derived values of mass absorption cross sections (MAC) for OC and BC are 0.7±0.6 m2/g and 8.2±1.1 m2/g, respectively. The values of MAC imply that ~26% of the aerosol absorption in southern Africa is due to OC, with the remainder due to BC. The results in this study provide important constraints for aerosol properties in a region dominated by biomass burning and should be integrated into climate models to improve aerosol simulations.

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