Long term analysis of the columnar and surface aerosol relationship at an urban European coastal site

Abstract

Simultaneous PM2.5, PM10 and columnar (ground and satellite based) AOD measurements have been analyzed at Burjassot site in the metropolitan area of Valencia (Spain) during the period 2007–2016. The site is representative of a south European city in the Western Mediterranean coastal area, influenced by local urban pollution but also from frequent Saharan dust events. First, multiannual statistics were performed to characterize the main aerosol burden characteristics. The averages and standard deviations resulted 18 ± 9 μg m−3, 25 ± 19 μg m−3, 0.15 ± 0.11, 0.23 ± 0.17, 0.19 ± 0.15 and 1.2 ± 0.3 for PM2.5, PM10, AERONET AOD, MODIS Terra AOD, MODIS Aqua AOD, and AERONET Ångström exponent AE, respectively. The AOD is always referred to 550 nm. PM10 and AOD showed seasonal patterns with maxima in summer and minima in winter. However, PM2.5 and AE did not show such an evident seasonality. The relationship between surface and columnar measurements show a poor correlation (r down to 0.30) for daily values, although the correlation increases to r up to 0.90 for yearly averages. The relationship between PM and AOD becomes more consistent when the databases are binned in intervals of 0.05 AOD. Results for AERONET and MODIS AOD are very similar, although for daily averages is slightly worse for satellite than ground based measurements. In order to explain some seasonality effects found, the mixing layer height has been included in the analysis. Results show that the correlation is maximum when PM2.5 is used and the mixing layer height is greater than 1 000 m (r > 0.90).