Fine Particulate Matter Pathways – Monitoring and Modelling

Editorial

28 March 2023

Editorial: Fine particulate matter pathways—Monitoring and modelling

Nina J. Schleicher

Kirpa Ram

Stefan Norra

and

Stefanie Schrader

703 views

0 citations

Editors

Nina Jasmin Schleicher

Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London

Stefan Norra

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

Kirpa Ram

Banaras Hindu University

Stefanie Schrader

Consultant

Impact

Original Research

16 April 2021

Improving Source Apportionment of Urban Aerosol Using Multi-Isotopic Fingerprints (MIF) and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF): Cross-Validation and New Insights

Carlos Eduardo Souto-Oliveira

, 2 more and

Marly Babinski

Urban air pollution is a matter of concern due to its health hazards and the continuous population growth exposed to it at different urban areas worldwide. Nowadays, more than 55% of the world population live in urban areas. One of the main challenges to guide pollution control policies is related to pollutant source assessment. In this line, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Positive Matrix Factorization (EPA-PMF) has been extensively employed worldwide as a reference model for quantification of source contributions. However, EPA-PMF presents issues associated to source identification and discrimination due to the collinearities among the source tracers. Multi-Isotopic Fingerprints (MIF) have demonstrated good resolution for source discrimination, since urban sources are characterized by specific isotopic signatures. Source quantification based on total aerosol mass is the main limitation of MIF. This study reports strategies for PMF and MIF combination to improve source identification/discrimination and its quantification in urban areas. We have three main findings: (1) cross-validation of PMF source identification based on Pb and Zn isotopic fingerprints, (2) source apportionment in the MIF model for total PM mass, and (3) new insights into potential Zn isotopic signatures of biomass burning and secondary aerosol. We support future studies on the improvement of isotopic fingerprints database of sources based on diverse elements or compounds to boost advances of MIF model applications in atmospheric sciences.

5,098 views

16 citations

Pie chart showing relative contribution of individual ionic species to the total WSIC in PM10 and PM2.5 during (A) winter, (B) summer, and (C) post-monsoon (see text for season description).

Original Research

26 February 2021

Seasonal Variation in Chemical Composition of Size-Segregated Aerosols Over the Northeastern Arabian Sea

Ankush Kaushik

, 4 more and

N. C. Gupta

4,771 views

15 citations

Original Research

23 July 2021

The Association Between Particulate Air Pollution and Respiratory Mortality in Beijing Before, During, and After the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games

Susanne Breitner

, 7 more and

Annette Peters

2,705 views

6 citations

Original Research

06 March 2023

Spatio-temporal dynamics of aerosol distribution in an urban environment recorded in situ by means of a bike based monitoring system

Stefan Norra

, 7 more and

Harald Saathoff

1,943 views

2 citations

Original Research

20 January 2021

Influence of Local Sources and Meteorological Parameters on the Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Ultrafine Particles in Augsburg, Germany

Esther Giemsa

, 5 more and

Mike Pitz

Ultrafine particles (UFP; diameter less than 100 nm) are ubiquitous in urban air, and an acknowledged risk to human health. At the same time, little is known about the immission situation at typical urban sites such as high-traffic roads, residential areas with a high amount of solid fuels for home heating or commercial and industrial areas due to missing legal requirements for measurements of UFP. Therefore, UFP were measured and evaluated in the (sub-)urban background as well as on spots influenced by these various anthropogenic local sources in the city of Augsburg, Germany, for the year 2017. In particular, the spatial and temporal correlations of the UFP concentrations between the seven measurement sites, the quantification and valuation of the contribution of local emitters with regard to their diurnal, weekly and seasonal variations and the influence of meteorological conditions on the formation and dispersion of UFP were investigated. Our analysis results demonstrate that urban UFP concentrations show a pronounced temporal and spatial variability. The mean concentration level of UFP varies between below 8,000 ultrafine particles/cm³ at the suburban background site and above 16,700 ultrafine particles/cm³ at the measurement station located next to a busy street canyon. At this particularly traffic-exposed measurement station, maximum concentrations of over 50,000 ultrafine particles/cm³ were measured. The additional UFP load caused by intensive traffic volume during evening rush hour in connection with the unfavourable exchange processes in the street canyon can be quantified to concentrations of 14,000 ultrafine particles/cm³ on average (compared to the immission situation of the urban background). An aggravating effect is brought about by inversion weather conditions in connection with air-polluted easterly winds, low wind speeds, lack of precipitation and very low mixing layer heights, such as over Augsburg at the end of January 2017, and cause peak concentrations of UFP.

3,286 views

19 citations

Day and nighttime OC-to-EC ratio based on linear regression analysis (p < 0.05) during Pre-Diwali, Diwali and Post-Diwali periods.

Original Research

21 December 2020

Instrumental Variable Analysis in Atmospheric and Aerosol Chemistry

Prashant Rajput

and

Tarun Gupta

Due to the complex nature of ambient aerosols arising from the presence of myriads of organic compounds, the chemical reactivity of a particular compound with oxidant/s are studied through chamber experiments under controlled laboratory conditions. Several confounders (RH, T, light intensity, in chamber retention time) are controlled in chamber experiments to study their effect on the chemical transformation of a reactant (exposure variable) and the outcome [kinetic rate constant determination, new product/s formation e.g., secondary organic aerosol (SOA), product/s yield, etc.]. However, under ambient atmospheric conditions, it is not possible to control for these confounders which poses a challenge in assessing the outcome/s accurately. The approach of data interpretation must include randomization for an accurate prediction of the real-world scenario. One of the ways to achieve randomization is possible by the instrumental variable analysis (IVA). In this study, the IVA analysis revealed that the average ratio of f_SOC/O₃ (ppb⁻¹) was 0.0032 (95% CI: 0.0009, 0.0055) and 0.0033 (95% CI: 0.0001, 0.0065) during daytime of Diwali and Post-Diwali period. However, during rest of the study period the relationship between O₃ and f_SOC was found to be insignificant. Based on IVA in conjunction with the concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT), cluster analysis, and fire count imageries, causal effect of O₃ on SOA formation has been inferred for the daytime when emissions from long-range transport of biomass burning influenced the receptor site. To the best of our knowledge, the IVA has been applied for the first time in this study in the field of atmospheric and aerosol chemistry.

3,821 views

6 citations

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