Abstract
Abstract. The primary sugar compounds (SCs, defined as glucose, arabitol, and mannitol) are widely recognized as suitable molecular markers to characterize and apportion primary biogenic organic aerosol emission sources. This work improves our understanding of the spatial behavior and distribution of these chemical species and evidences their major effective environmental drivers. We conducted a large study focusing on the daily (24 h) PM10 SC concentrations for 16 increasing space scale sites (local to nationwide), over at least 1 complete year. These sites are distributed in several French geographic areas of different environmental conditions. Our analyses, mainly based on the examination of the short-term evolutions of SC concentrations, clearly show distance-dependent correlations. SC concentration evolutions are highly synchronous at an urban city scale and remain well correlated throughout the same geographic regions, even if the sites are situated in different cities. However, sampling sites located in two distinct geographic areas are poorly correlated. Such a pattern indicates that the processes responsible for the evolution of the atmospheric SC concentrations present a spatial homogeneity over typical areas of at least tens of kilometers. Local phenomena, such as the resuspension of topsoil and associated microbiota, do no account for the major emissions processes of SC in urban areas not directly influenced by agricultural activities. The concentrations of SC and cellulose display remarkably synchronous temporal evolution cycles at an urban site in Grenoble, indicating a common source ascribed to vegetation. Additionally, higher concentrations of SC at another site located in a crop field region occur during each harvest periods, indicating resuspension processes of plant materials (crop detritus, leaf debris) and associated microbiota for agricultural and nearby urbanized areas. Finally, ambient air temperature, relative humidity, and vegetation density constitute the main effective drivers of SC atmospheric concentrations.
Highlights
Primary biogenic organic aerosols (PBOAs), which notably comprise bacterial and fungal cells or spores, viruses, or microbial fragments such as endotoxins and mycotoxins as well as pollens and plant debris, are ubiquitous particles released from the biosphere to the atmosphere (Amato et al, 2017; Fang et al, 2018; Martin et al, 2010; Perrino and Marcovecchio, 2016; Wéry et al, 2017)
Sampling sites located in two distinct geographic areas are poorly correlated
Primary biogenic organic aerosols (PBOAs), which notably comprise bacterial and fungal cells or spores, viruses, or microbial fragments such as endotoxins and mycotoxins as well as pollens and plant debris, are ubiquitous particles released from the biosphere to the atmosphere (Amato et al, 2017; Fang et al, 2018; Martin et al, 2010; Perrino and Marcovecchio, 2016; Wéry et al, 2017)
Summary
Primary biogenic organic aerosols (PBOAs), which notably comprise bacterial and fungal cells or spores, viruses, or microbial fragments such as endotoxins and mycotoxins as well as pollens and plant debris, are ubiquitous particles released from the biosphere to the atmosphere (Amato et al, 2017; Fang et al, 2018; Martin et al, 2010; Perrino and Marcovecchio, 2016; Wéry et al, 2017). PBOA can contribute significantly to the total coarse aerosol mass (Amato et al, 2017; Bozzetti et al, 2016; Coz et al, 2010; Fröhlich-Nowoisky et al, 2016; Jaenicke, 2005; Manninen et al, 2014; Morris et al, 2011; Samaké et al, 2019; Vlachou et al, 2018; Yue et al, 2017). Glucose has been used as a tracer for plant materials (such as pollen, leaves, and their fragments) or soil emissions within various studies around the world (Chen et al, 2013; Medeiros et al, 2006b; Pietrogrande et al, 2014; Rathnayake et al, 2017; Rogge et al, 2007; Wan et al, 2019; Xiao et al, 2018; Zhu et al, 2015)
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