Insights into the origin and evolution of carbonaceous aerosols in a mediterranean urban environment

Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations were measured in PM1 and PM10 daily samples collected at an urban station in Elche (southeastern Spain) from February 2015 to February 2018. The effect of seasonal weather conditions, traffic, and specific pollution events (Saharan dust ou...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosphere (Oxford) 2019-11, Vol.235, p.636-642
Main Authors: Galindo, N., Yubero, E., Clemente, A., Nicolás, J.F., Navarro-Selma, B., Crespo, J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aerosols
Air pollution events
biomass burning
cold season
dust
Elemental carbon
emissions
meteorological parameters
Organic carbon
particulates
PM1
PM10
pollution
Secondary organic aerosols
Spain
summer
temperature
temporal variation
tracer techniques
traffic
urban areas
winter
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations were measured in PM1 and PM10 daily samples collected at an urban station in Elche (southeastern Spain) from February 2015 to February 2018. The effect of seasonal weather conditions, traffic, and specific pollution events (Saharan dust outbreaks and local pollution episodes) on the variability of carbonaceous aerosol levels was studied in this work. The joint contribution of carbonaceous species to PM1 and PM10 mass concentrations was, respectively, 48% and 26%. Both OC and EC concentrations were higher in winter than in summer because of the poor dispersion conditions and lower temperatures leading to the condensation of semivolatile species. Secondary organic carbon (SOC), estimated using the EC tracer method, also exhibited higher concentrations during winter, indicating that the prevailing meteorological conditions during the cold season are more favorable for the formation of secondary organic aerosols. Our results suggest different formation pathways of secondary organic components during summer and winter. At the sampling site, EC was primarily derived from traffic emissions, independently of the season and the type of event, with a modest contribution from biomass burning (
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.06.202