Low Black Carbon Concentrations Research Articles

A Long-Term Comparison between the AethLabs MA350 and Aerosol Magee Scientific AE33 Black Carbon Monitors in the Greater Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area.

Black carbon (BC) or soot contains ultrafine combustion particles that are associated with a wide range of health impacts, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Both long-term and short-term health impacts of BC have been documented, with even low-level exposures to BC resulting in negative health outcomes for vulnerable groups. Two aethalometers-AethLabs MA350 and Aerosol Magee Scientific AE33-were co-located at a Utah Division of Air Quality site in Bountiful, Utah for just under a year. The aethalometer comparison showed a close relationship between instruments for IR BC, Blue BC, and fossil fuel source-specific BC estimates. The biomass source-specific BC estimates were markedly different between instruments at the minute and hour scale but became more similar and perhaps less-affected by high-leverage outliers at the daily time scale. The greater inter-device difference for biomass BC may have been confounded by very low biomass-specific BC concentrations during the study period. These findings at a mountainous, high-elevation, Greater Salt Lake City Area site support previous study results and broaden the body of evidence validating the performance of the MA350.

Black carbon modeling in urban areas: investigating the influence of resuspension and non-exhaust emissions in streets using the Street-in-Grid model for inert particles (SinG-inert)

Abstract. Black carbon (BC) is a primary and inert pollutant often used as a traffic tracer. Even though its concentrations are generally low at the regional scale, BC presents very high concentrations in streets (at the local scale), potentially with important effects on human health and the environment. Modeling studies of BC concentrations usually underestimate BC concentrations due to uncertainties in both emissions and modeling. Both exhaust and non-exhaust traffic emissions present uncertainties, but the uncertainties with respect to non-exhaust emissions, such as tire, brake, and road wear as well as particle resuspension, are particularly high. In terms of modeling, street models do not always consider the two-way interactions between the local and regional scales. Using a two-way modeling approach, a street with high BC concentrations may influence urban background concentrations above the street, which can subsequently enhance the BC concentrations in the same street. This study uses the multiscale Street-in-Grid model (SinG) to simulate BC concentrations in a suburban street network in Paris, taking the two-way coupling between local and regional scales into account. The BC concentrations in streets proved to have an important influence on urban background concentrations. The two-way dynamic coupling leads to an increase in BC concentrations in large streets with high traffic emissions (with a maximal increase of about 48 %) as well as a decrease in narrow streets with low traffic emissions and low BC concentrations (with a maximal decrease of about 50 %). A new approach to estimate particle resuspension in streets is implemented, strictly respecting the mass balance on the street surface. The resuspension rate is calculated from the available deposited mass on the street surface, which is estimated based on particle deposition and wash-off parameterizations adapted to street-canyon geometries. The simulations show that particle resuspension presents a low contribution to BC concentrations, as the deposited mass is not significant enough to justify high resuspension rates. Non-exhaust emissions, such as brake, tire, and road wear, may largely contribute to BC emissions, with a contribution that is equivalent to exhaust emissions. Here, a sensitivity analysis of BC concentrations is performed by comparing simulations with different emission factors of tire, brake, and road wear. The different emission factors considered are estimated based on the literature. We found a satisfying model–measurement comparison using high tire wear emission factors, which may indicate that the tire emission factors usually used in Europe are probably underestimated. These results have important policy implications: public policies replacing internal combustion engines with electric vehicles may not eliminate BC air pollution but only reduce it by half.

Does urban greenway design affect air pollution exposure? A case study of Seoul, South Korea

This study investigates whether different urban greenway designs can influence personal exposure to air pollutants in highly urbanized environments in Seoul, Korea. Mobile and in-situ measurements of ultrafine particles (UFP) and black carbon (BC) concentrations were conducted on three different types of urban greenway designs: 1) an at-grade greenway next to traffic; 2) an elevated greenway above (10−14 m) traffic; and 3) a sunken greenway below (2.5−3 m) traffic. Results from the mobile measurements showed that the UFP and BC concentrations were up to 30 % lower on all types of greenway than on sidewalks. This result was further confirmed by the in-situ measurement, which showed 47 % lower UFP concentrations in the sunken greenway and 80 % lower BC concentrations in the elevated greenway compared to the sidewalk. Pollutant concentrations also varied according to microenvironmental factors, such as land uses, height of surrounding buildings, nearby traffic, and vegetation. Our findings highlight the importance of considering air pollution exposure when designing urban greenways in highly urbanized environments. In particular, greenway designs that promote vertical separation from traffic sources might be crucial in mitigating air pollution exposure. The results of this study are based on data gathered over a six-day field measurement, and further studies over a longer time period are warranted to confirm our findings.

Study on the characteristics of black carbon during atmospheric pollution conditions in Beijing

Black carbon (BC), not only has a negative impact on human health, but also contributes to visibility degradation and the attenuation of solar radiation due to light absorption. In this paper, we investigated the variations of BC concentration, BC optical characteristics and its effects on the physical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols based on AERONET data during atmospheric pollution conditions in Beijing from 2012 to 2017. The results indicated that the average annual ground-level BC concentration and BC/PM2.5 were 8.9 μg m−3 and 6.7%, respectively, from 2012 to 2017 during atmospheric pollution conditions in Beijing. The annual mean ground-level BC concentration showed weak variation, but the monthly variation was pronounced during atmospheric pollution conditions. Moreover, the BC column concentration had a higher correlation with absorptive aerosol optical thickness (AAOT) at 870 nm (R2 = 0.93) than 440 nm (R2 = 0.73). The difference in AAOT between 440 nm and 870 nm was more significant under high BC column concentration. The seasonal variation of the BC column concentration that contributed to the AAOT at 870 nm displayed a consistent monthly average variation tendency. The BC column concentrations were divided into three segments of low, moderate, and high according to the results of the approximately normal distribution of the BC column concentration. Compared with high BC concentration, the single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry parameter were enhanced by 0.05 and 0.04 in low BC concentrations, respectively. On the contrary, the fine mode fraction (FMF) was dropped by 12.5% in low BC concentrations. A higher BC concentration contributed to the enhancement in the AAOT and the extinction ratio of the fine mode aerosol. Meanwhile, the atmospheric particles' forward scattering ability was also attenuated under a high BC concentration.

Investigation of distribution, transportation, and impact factors of atmospheric black carbon in the Arctic region based on a regional climate-chemistry model

Black carbon (BC) as the main component of pollutants in the Arctic plays an important role on regional climate change. In this study, we applied the regional climate-chemistry model, WRF-Chem, to investigate the spatial distribution, transportation, and impact factors of BC in the Arctic. Compared with reanalysis data and observations, the WRF-Chem performed well in terms of the seasonal variations of meteorological parameters and BC concentrations, indicating the applicability of this model on Arctic BC simulation works. Our results showed that the BC concentrations in the Arctic had an obviously seasonalvariation pattern. Surface BC concentrations peaked during winter and spring seasons, while the minimum occurred during summer and autumn seasons. For the vertical distribution, BC aerosols mainly concentrated in the Arctic lower troposphere, and most of BC distributed near the surface during winter and spring seasons and in the higher altitude during other seasons. The seasonality of BC was associated with the seasonal change of meteorological field. During winter, the significant northward airflow prevailing in northern Eurasia caused the transport of accumulated pollutants from this region into the Arctic. The similar but weakened northward airflow pattern and the anticyclone activity during spring can allow pollutants to be transported to the Arctic lower troposphere. Moreover, the more stable atmosphere during winter and spring seasons made BC accumulated mainly near the surface. During summer and autumn seasons, the less stable boundary layer and the cyclone activity in the Arctic facilitated the diffusion of pollutants into the higher altitude. Meanwhile, the higher relative humidity can promote the wet removal process and lead to the relatively lower BC concentrations near the surface. Compared with the seasonal change of emission, our analysis showed that the seasonal variation of meteorological field was the main contributor for the seasonality of BC in the Arctic.

Black carbon in Xiamen, China: Temporal variations, transport pathways and impacts of synoptic circulation.

Black carbon (BC) plays a vital role in atmospheric environment and climate change. Temporal variations and transport pathways of BC in Xiamen, China with the impacts of synoptic circulation were investigated in 2014 with Aethalometer. Annual mean BC concentration was 4270 ng m-3. BC exhibited clear diurnal (seasonal) variations, with the maximum of 6182 (4755) ng m-3 at 6:00 (in spring) and minimum of 2847 (3774) ng m-3 at 13:00 (in summer). Conditional probability function analysis indicated that high BC concentrations were associated with northwesterly winds with low wind speed. Air masses originating from the East China Sea and passing along with East China Coast had the highest BC concentrations. Potential source contribution function and concentration weighted trajectory analysis suggested that major sources for BC included the surrounding region, southwestern Fujian and eastern Guangdong to the southwest, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi to the northwest, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. Of the nine synoptic circulation patterns, three cyclone-related patterns were associated with low BC concentrations and small biomass burning (BCbb) contributions. Of the six anticyclone-related patterns, the three cold-high circulations around winter were associated with moderate BC concentrations and large BCbb contributions. The two cold-high patterns in spring and autumn were associated with high BC concentrations and small BCbb contributions, while the warm-high pattern was associated with moderate BC concentration and small BCbb contribution. The findings provide insights into the transport mechanisms of BC with the impacts of synoptic pattern in China.

Effect of Black Carbon Concentration on the Reflection Property of Snow: A Comparison With Model Results

Snow has a very high reflection property when compared with all other natural surfaces on Earth; thus, a small amount of contamination (30 ng/g) can dramatically reduce the reflectance of snow. To quantify the effect of black carbon (BC) concentrations on the directional reflectance factors of snow, we deposited BC concentrations onto snow surfaces at natural levels (98–4095 ng/g) and compared the measurement results with those from a theoretical model. It was found that increasing BC concentrations decreased the reflectance factor of snow and changed its distribution pattern. Moreover, our data provided valuable verification of the snow reflection model, which has previously been used to characterize the reflectance of snow. The model did not well match our measurements; for example, the model found fewer anisotropic results than those from observations. Subsequently, a specular kernel combined with two free parameters was proposed to counter the forward and backward scattering of the optical property of snow. The improved model successfully characterized the observed variability in the reflection measurements of snow with different BC concentration levels under field conditions, and its inverted parameter (M) had the potential to estimate BC concentrations. The improved model also had the ability to simulate the spectral reflectance factor of snow with low BC concentrations (i.e., smaller than 118 ng/g) over a wide range of viewing zenith angles. This paper provides an additional and effective method for studying the angular and spectral reflection properties of snow.

Effect of biomass burning on black carbon (BC) in South Asia and Tibetan Plateau: The analysis of WRF-Chem modeling

The focus of this study is to evaluate the impact of biomass burning (BB) from South Asia and Southeast Asia on the glaciers over the Tibetan Plateau. The seasonality and long-term trend of biomass fires measured by Terra and Aqua satellite data from 2010 to 2016 are used in this study. The analysis shows that the biomass burnings were widely dispersed in the continental of Indian and Southeast Asia and existed a strong seasonal variation. The biomass burnings in winter (January) were relatively weak and scattered and were significantly enhanced in spring (April). The highest biomass burnings located in two regions. One was along the foothill of Himalayas, where is a dense population area, and the second located in Southeast Asia. Because these two high biomass burning regions are close to the Tibetan Plateau, they could have important effects on the BC deposition over the glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau. In order to study the effect of BB emissions on the deposition over the glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau, a regional chemical model (WRF-Chem; Weather Research and Forecasting Chemical model) was applied to simulate the BC distributions and the transport from BB emission regions to the glaciers in Tibetan Plateau. The result shows that in winter (January), due to the relatively weak BB emissions, the effect of BB emissions on BC concentrations was not significant. The BC concentrations resulted from BB emissions ranged from 0.1 to 2.0 μg/m3, with high concentrations distributed along the foothill of Himalayas and the southeastern Asia region. Due to the relative low BC concentrations, there was insignificant effect of BB emissions on the deposition over the glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau in winter. However, the BB emissions were highest in spring (April), producing high BC concentrations. For example, along the Himalayas Mountain and in the southeastern Asia region, The BC concentrations ranged from 2.0 to 6.0 μg/m3. In addition to the high BC concentrations, there were also west and south prevailing winds in these regions. As a result, the BC particles were transported to the glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau, causing significant deposition of BC particles on the snow surface of the glaciers. This study suggests that the biomass burning emissions have important effects on the BC deposition over the glaciers in the Tibetan Plateau, and the contaminations of glaciers could have significant impact on the melting of snow in the Tibetan Plateau, causing some severe environmental problems, such as the water resources.

The relationship between black carbon and atmospheric boundary layer height

Abstract Black carbon (BC) has a significant influence on regional climate and human health. Variations of BC aerosol and atmospheric boundary layer height (BLH) were investigated in an urban site over Wuhan from November 2014 to November 2016. The annual average BC concentration and BLH were approximately 3.01 ± 1.97 μg/m3 and 892 ± 389 m, respectively. The variation of BC is opposite to that of BLH. The maximum monthly mean BC was 4.32 ± 2.3 μg/m3 in December, and the minimum monthly mean BC was 1.94 ± 1.9 μg/m3 in July. The maximum monthly mean BLH was approximately 1211 ± 308 m in July, and the minimum monthly mean BLH was approximately 668 ± 342 m in January. Moreover, the high BC mass concentration days have relatively higher relative humidity (RH) values than the clean days, and the high RH values were usually accompanied by low BLH. The relationship between the BC concentrations and BLH exhibits a negative correlation. The correlation coefficient was R2 = 0.424 on the polluted days, whereas the R2 coefficient was approximately 0.0037 during the clean periods. The PM2.5 and BLH have no evident relationship in low (R2 = 0.0097) or high (R2 = 0.058) BC concentrations. Results indicate that the BC mass concentration would suppress the BLH on the polluted days. The increased BC aerosol concentration resulted in lower BLH and led to poor air quality.

Impacts of East Asian summer and winter monsoons on interannual variations of mass concentrations and direct radiative forcing of black carbon over eastern China

Abstract. We applied a global three-dimensional chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to examine the impacts of the East Asian monsoon on the interannual variations of mass concentrations and direct radiative forcing (DRF) of black carbon (BC) over eastern China (110–125° E, 20–45° N). With emissions fixed at the year 2010 levels, model simulations were driven by the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-4) meteorological fields for 1986–2006 and the Modern Era Retrospective-analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) meteorological fields for 1980–2010. During the period of 1986–2006, simulated June–July–August (JJA) and December–January–February (DJF) surface BC concentrations were higher in MERRA than in GEOS-4 by 0.30 µg m−3 (44 %) and 0.77 µg m−3 (54 %), respectively, because of the generally weaker precipitation in MERRA. We found that the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM; East Asian winter monsoon, EAWM) negatively correlated with simulated JJA (DJF) surface BC concentrations (r = −0. 7 (−0.7) in GEOS-4 and −0.4 (−0.7) in MERRA), mainly by the changes in atmospheric circulation. Relative to the 5 strongest EASM years, simulated JJA surface BC concentrations in the 5 weakest monsoon years were higher over northern China (110–125° E, 28–45° N) by 0.04–0.09 µg m−3 (3–11 %), but lower over southern China (110–125° E, 20–27° N) by 0.03–0.04 µg m−3 (10–11 %). Compared to the 5 strongest EAWM years, simulated DJF surface BC concentrations in the 5 weakest monsoon years were higher by 0.13–0.15 µg m−3 (5–8 %) in northern China and by 0.04–0.10 µg m−3 (3–12 %) in southern China. The resulting JJA (DJF) mean all-sky DRF of BC at the top of the atmosphere was 0.04 W m−2 (3 %; 0.03 W m−2, 2 %) higher in northern China but 0.06 W m−2 (14 %; 0.03 W m−2, 3 %) lower in southern China. In the weakest monsoon years, the weaker vertical convection at the elevated altitudes led to the lower BC concentrations above 1–2 km in southern China, and therefore the lower BC DRF in the region. The differences in vertical profiles of BC between the weakest and strongest EASM years (1998–1997) and EAWM years (1990–1996) reached up to −0.09 µg m−3 (−46 %) and −0.08 µg m−3 (−11 %) at 1–2 km in eastern China.

Continuous measurement of black carbon aerosol in urban Nanjing of Yangtze River Delta, China

As a short-lived climate forcing agent, black carbon (BC) aerosol plays an important role in climate change, atmospheric environment, and human health. In this study, continuous measurements of BC and trace gases were made at an urban site in Nanjing, Yangtze River Delta (YRD) of China in 2012. The annual mean BC concentration in Nanjing was found to be 4157 ± 2626 ng/m3, with a range of 221–24,686 ng/m3. The value was much lower than that in most megacities of China and also lower than that in LinAn, a rural site in YRD. BC concentrations in Nanjing showed strong seasonality, high in spring and autumn and low in summer. The concentrations also varied diurnally, high at rush hours and low in the afternoon. The diurnal cycles of BC loadings in winter to spring 2012 were similar to those in 2011 in magnitude and shape. BC concentrations followed a typical lognormal pattern, with over 75% of data samples between 1000 and 6000 ng/m3. The maximum frequency occurred in low BC concentrations in summer and high BC concentrations in other seasons. In Nanjing, high levels of BC were mainly caused by local and regional emissions. Low levels of BC were mostly associated with winds from northern and eastern directions of Nanjing. BC and CO varied similarly with season, having a correlation coefficient over 0.7 in most seasons. Annual mean ΔBC/ΔCO was about 7 ng/m3/ppb, implying that the sources of the BC likely came from combustions of bio-fuel, industry-coal, and vehicle-gasoline. Serious pollution episodes with high levels of BC were detected in early June at the site. Analysis suggested that the episodes were due to biomass burning in northwestern region of Nanjing. During this period, ΔBC/ΔCO reached about 9.7 ng/m3/ppb and much higher BC levels were found at mid-night.

On board measurement of black carbon aerosols over the Arctic Ocean in summer

This paper presents aerosol black carbon (BC) concentrations measured at deck level on board the R/V XUE LONG icebreaker. The vessel cruised the Arctic Ocean carrying an in situ aethalometer during the summers of 2008 and 2010. The courses of the third Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (3rd CHINAREArctic, August 2008) and fourth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (4th CHINARE-Arctic, from late July to August 2010) were bounded by 173°W-143°W and 178°E-150°W, with northernmost points 85°250N and 88°26′N, respectively. Results show low surface BC concentrations over the ocean throughout the courses, with means (standard error) of 6.0 (±4.7) ng·m -3 for 3rd CHINARE-Arctic, and 8.4(±7.1) ng·m -3 for 4th CHINAREArctic. It is clear that these onboard BC concentrations are similar to reported data from coastal stations in the Arctic region. The latitude-average BC concentration varied from 3.0-26.2 ng·m -3 for 3rd CHINARE-Arctic, to 4.2-20.5 ng·m -3 for 4th CHINARE-Arctic. At latitudes higher than 72°N for 3rd CHINARE-Arctic and 75°N for 4th CHINARE-Arctic, BC concentrations were lower and had negligible latitudinal gradients. Analysis indicates that the presence of the Arctic front isolates the lower atmosphere of the high-latitude Arctic Ocean from low-latitude terrestrial transport. This maintains the very low BC concentrations and negligible concentration gradients at high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean during summer. Calculated airmass backward trajectories for the two expeditions show that the Arctic front in 2010 was further north than in 2008, which caused different latitudinal variation of BC concentration in the two years.

Characteristics of black carbon aerosol mass concentration over the East Baltic region from two-year measurements

Continuous measurements of black carbon (BC) aerosol mass concentration were performed at a background site Preila (55°55'N, 21°00'E, 5 m a.s.l., Lithuania) during the period 2008-2009. The data were used to characterize the BC mass concentration distribution over the East Baltic region. High increase in aerosol BC concentration was associated with the change in air mass characteristics and biomass burning during the winter heating season and spring wildfires. Monthly means of BC concentration ranged from 212 to 1268 ng m(-3) and the highest hourly means of concentration were from 4800 to 6300 ng m(-3), predominantly in spring and winter months. During the October-April period the BC mass concentrations were about twice as high as those in the summertime. The BC diurnal pattern in winter was typically different from that in spring indicating the seasonal variation of the atmospheric boundary layer height. The weekday/weekend difference was not strongly pronounced because the BC concentrations in Preila are mainly affected by long-range transport or local sources. Typical periodicities caused by anthropogenic and meteorological influences have been identified using Fourier analysis. It was shown that domestic heating appears as a 365 day periodicity; traffic slightly contributes 5-7 day peaks in the spectrum and elevated long-range BC can be identified as characteristic peaks with periodicities in the range from 16 to 29 days.Temporal evolution and transport of BC aerosols were interpreted by the air mass backward trajectory analysis in conjunction with the examination of the wavelength dependence on the aethalometer data. Air masses originated from the North Atlantic Ocean and Scandinavia were favourable for lower BC concentrations (350 ng m(-3)), while the BC level associated with the Western Europe airflows was significantly higher (970 ng m(-3)). The mean values of Ångström exponent of the absorption coefficient (monthly means 1.45 ± 0.25 and 0.84 ± 0.50 over January and June, respectively) revealed that the BC concentration observed over the East Baltic is influenced by submicron sized particles as a result of incomplete biomass combustion during the winter season.

Ultrafine particle formation in the inland sea breeze airflow in Southwest Europe

Abstract. Studies on ultrafine particles (diameter < 100nm) and air quality have mostly focused on vehicle exhaust emissions and on new particle formation in "clean" ambient air. Here we present a study focused on the processes contributing to ultrafine particle concentrations in a city (Huelva, SW Spain) placed close to a coastal area where significant anthropogenic emissions of aerosol precursors occur. The overall data analysis shows that two processes predominantly contribute to the number of particles coarser than 2.5 nm: vehicle exhaust emissions and new particle formation due to photo-chemical activity. As typically occurs in urban areas, vehicle exhaust emissions result in high concentrations of black carbon (BC) and particles coarser than 2.5 nm (N) during the morning rush hours. The highest N concentrations were recorded during the 11:00–17:00 h period, under the sea breeze regime, when low BC concentrations were registered and photochemical activity resulted in high O3 levels and in new particle formation in the aerosol precursors' rich inland airflow. In this period, it is estimated that about 80% of the number of particles are linked to sulfur dioxide emissions. The contributions to N of "carbonaceous material and those compounds nucleating/condensing immediately after emission" and of the "new particle formation processes in air masses rich gaseous precursors (e.g. SO2)" were estimated by means of a relatively novel method based on simultaneous measurements of BC and N. A comparison with two recent studies suggests that the daily cycles of "new particle formation" during the inland sea breeze is blowing period seem to be a feature of ultrafine particles in coastal areas of South-west Europe.

Black carbon over Mexico: the effect of atmospheric transport on mixing state, mass absorption cross-section, and BC/CO ratios

Abstract. A single particle soot photometer (SP2) was operated on the NCAR C-130 during the MIRAGE campaign (part of MILAGRO), sampling black carbon (BC) over Mexico. The highest BC concentrations were measured over Mexico City (sometimes as much as 2 μg/m3) and over hill-fires to the south of the city. The age of plumes outside of Mexico City was determined using a combination of HYSPLIT trajectories, WRF-FLEXPART modeling and CMET balloon tracks. As expected, older, diluted air masses had lower BC concentrations. A comparison of carbon monoxide (CO) and BC suggests a CO background of around 65 ppbv, and a background-corrected BC/COnet ratio of 2.89±0.89 (ng/m3-STP)/ppbv (average ± standard deviation). This ratio is similar for fresh emissions over Mexico City, as well as for aged airmasses. Comparison of light absorption measured with a particle soot absorption photometer (PSAP) and the SP2 BC suggests a BC mass-normalized absorption cross-section (MAC) of 10.9±2.1 m2/g at 660 nm (or 13.1 m2/g @ 550 nm, assuming MAC is inversely dependent on wavelength). This appears independent of aging and similar to the expected absorption cross-section for aged BC, but values, particularly in fresh emissions, could be biased high due to instrument artifacts. SP2-derived BC coating indicators show a prominent thinly-coated BC mode over the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA), while older air masses show both thinly-coated and thickly-coated BC. Some 2-day-old plumes do not show a prominent thickly-coated BC mode, possibly due to preferential wet scavenging of the likely-hydrophilic thickly-coated BC.

Continuous measurements of aerosol physical parameters at the Mt. Cimone GAW Station (2165 m asl, Italy)

Particle size distribution in the range 0.3 < D p ≤ 20 μm, has been analysed from August 2002 to July 2006 at the GAW Station of Mt. Cimone (44.10 N, 10.42 E; 2165 m asl) in the northern Italian Apennines. The seasonal aerosol number size distribution, characterized by a bimodal shape, showed a behaviour typical for background conditions, characterized by highest values in summer and lowest in winter. The seasonal and diurnal variations of the larger accumulation mode (0.3 < D p ≤ 1 μm average values: 26.15 cm − 3 ) and the coarse mode (1 < D p ≤ 20 μm, average value: 0.17 cm − 3 ) particle number concentrations ( N 0.3–1 and N 1–20, respectively) exhibited a seasonal cycle with the highest values in spring–summer and the lowest value in autumn–winter. Except in winter, N 0.3–1 showed a clear diurnal variation with high values during day-time. N 1–20 showed a less marked diurnal variation (but with higher variability), suggesting the influence of non-continuous sources of coarse particle (i.e. Saharan dust events). Since July 2005, continuous measurement of black carbon (BC) concentrations was also available at the measurement site. On average low BC concentrations were recorded (average value: 0.28 μg m − 3 ) even if a few events of high concentrations were recorded both in warm and cold season. Apart from wet scavenging processes which strongly affected aerosol concentrations, combined analysis of N 0.3–1, BC, meteorological parameters and air mass back-trajectories, suggests that the transport of polluted air masses from the lower troposphere (by local, regional or long-range transport) represents an important mechanism favouring N 0.3–1 and BC increases at Mt. Cimone. In particular, a trajectory statistical analysis for the period July 2005–July 2006 allowed the identification of the main source regions of BC and N 0.3–1 for Mt. Cimone: north Italy, west Europe and east Europe.