Abstract
Wildfire occurrence and severity in the Mediterranean region during the summer season is increasing, being favoured by climate change-induced conditions (i.e., drought, heatwaves). Moreover, additional natural sources frequently impact this region, particularly Saharan dust intrusions. This study focuses on the combined effect of wildfires and Saharan dust on the air quality of the central Mediterranean Basin (CMB) during 2017, an exceptional year for forested burned areas in southern Italy. The annual behaviors of PM2.5, PM10, CO, benzene, and benzo(a)pirene measurements that were recorded at a rural regional-background station located in southern Italy, highlighted a concentration increase during summer. Both Saharan dust and wildfire events were identified while using Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) model maps, together with high-resolution Weather Research and Forecast—Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (WRF-HYSPLIT) back-trajectories. Additionally, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite detections were considered to establish the enrichment of air masses by wildfire emissions. Finally, the occurrence of these natural sources, and their influence on particulate matter, were examined. In this case study, both PM2.5 and PM10 exceedances occurred predominantly in conjunction with wildfire events, while Saharan dust events mainly increased PM10 concentration when overlapping with wildfire effects.
Highlights
The impact of Mediterranean wildfires involves several sectors entailing environmental, human, and economic losses
The main compounds emitted by wildfires, including aerosol and trace gases, such as carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4 ), nitrous oxide (N2 O), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic carbon (VOC) [5], appeared to have an adverse effect on all-cause mortality and respiratory morbidities, like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchitis, and pneumonia [6,7,8]
The study addresses the most southern Italian region, excluding islands, i.e., Calabria, which is a peninsula of approximately 15,000 km2, stretching out into the central Mediterranean (39◦ N–16.5◦ E), which is surrounded by the sea to the east, the west, and the south, and only approximately 500 km from the northern African (Tunisia) coasts
Summary
The impact of Mediterranean wildfires involves several sectors entailing environmental, human, and economic losses. In addition to wildfire emissions, the Saharan dust (SD) events contribute to worsening air quality in Europe and affect the mortality rate of exposed people [10] Both of these sources are considered as natural, wildfires are mainly humancaused [11]. The influence of wildfires was evaluated considering the ground-based measurements of particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10 ) jointly to some biomass burning markers, such as carbon monoxide (CO), benzene (C6 H6 ), and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) [31,32] The analysis of these parameters and the evaluation of the high-resolution Weather Research and Forecast—Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (WRF-HYSPLIT) backtrajectories intercepting the satellite Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) fires allowed for establishing wildfires influence [30].
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