Publications (3)0 Total impact
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Article: Hygroscopic growth of urban aerosol particles in Beijing (China) during wintertime: a comparison of three experimental methods
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ABSTRACT: This paper presents hygroscopicity measurements of aerosol particles in the urban atmosphere of Beijing carried out in January 2005. Therefore, three different methods were used: 1) Combining Humidifying Differential Mobility Particle Sizer (H-DMPS) and Twin Differential Mobility Particle Sizer (TDMPS) measurements; 2) Hygroscopicity Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (H-TDMA) technique; 3) Calculating hygroscopic growth factors on the basis of a solubility model quantified by Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) samples. Particle number size distributions from H-DMPS and TDMPS were evaluated to derive size-resolved descriptive hygroscopic growth factors (DHGF) of 30–400 nm particles at relative humidities (RH) of 55%, 77% and 90%. The atmospheric particles in Beijing were rather hydrophobic, with a maximum growth factor in the accumulation mode around 1.40 (±0.03) at 90% RH. The descriptive hygroscopic growth factors decreased significantly towards the lower measurement limit (1.04 (±0.15) at Dp=30 nm). A good agreement was found between the DHGFs and the H-TDMA-derived hygroscopic growth factors in the accumulation mode (100–400 nm), the DHGFs underestimated the values from the H-TDMA in the Aitken mode (<100 nm) by up to 0.1 at 90% RH. The calculation of hygroscopic growth factors based on the measured chemical composition showed that different modes of combining the inorganic ions caused a variation in growth factor of 0.1 at 90% RH. The solubility model was able to reproduce the size-dependent trend in the growth factor found by the other methods. In two cases of ion-dominated aerosol, the composition-derived growth factors tended to agree (±0.05) or underestimate (up to 0.1) the values measured by the other two methods. In the case of the organic-dominated aerosol, the reverse was true, with an overestimation of up to 0.2. The results shed light on the real experimental and methodological uncertainties that are still connected with the determination of hygroscopic growth factors.Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions. 01/2009; -
Article: A case of extreme particulate matter concentrations over Central Europe caused by dust emitted over the southern Ukraine
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ABSTRACT: On 24 March 2007, an extraordinary dust plume was observed in the Central European troposphere. Satellite observations revealed its origins in a dust storm in Southern Ukraine, where large amounts of soil were resuspended from dried-out farmlands at wind gusts up to 30 m s−1. Along the pathway of the plume, maximum particulate matter (PM10) mass concentrations between 200 and 1400 μg m−3 occurred in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany. Over Germany, the dust plume was characterised by a volume extinction coefficient up to 400 Mm−1 and a particle optical depth of 0.71 at wavelength 0.532 μm. In-situ size distribution measurements as well as the wavelength dependence of light extinction from lidar and Sun photometer measurements confirmed the presence of a coarse particle mode with diameters around 2–3 μm. Chemical particle analyses suggested a fraction of 75% crustal material in daily average PM10 and up to 85% in the coarser fraction PM10–2.5. Based on the particle characteristics as well as a lack of increased CO and CO2 levels, a significant impact of biomass burning was ruled out. The reasons for the high particle concentrations in the dust plume were twofold: First, dust was transported very rapidly into Central Europe in a boundary layer jet under dry conditions. Second, the dust plume was confined to a relatively stable boundary layer of 1.4–1.8 km height, and could therefore neither expand nor dilute efficiently. Our findings illustrate the capacity of combined in situ and remote sensing measurements to characterise large-scale dust plumes with a variety of aerosol parameters. Although such plumes from Southern Eurasia seem to occur rather infrequently in Central Europe, its unexpected features highlights the need to improve the description of dust emission, transport and transformation processes needs, particularly when facing the possible effects of further anthropogenic desertification and climate change.Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 01/2008; -
Article: An episode of extremely high PM concentrations over Central Europe caused by dust emitted over the southern Ukraine
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ABSTRACT: On 24 March 2007, the atmosphere over Central Europe was affected by an episode of exceptionally high mass concentrations of aerosol particles, most likely caused by a dust storm in the Southern Ukraine on the preceding day. At ground-based measurement stations in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany PM10 mass concentrations rose to values between 200 and 1400 μg m−3. An evaluation of PM10 measurements from 360 monitoring stations showed that the dust cloud advanced along a narrow corridor at speeds of up to 70 km h−1. According to lidar observations over Leipzig, Germany, the high aerosol concentrations were confined to a homogeneous boundary layer of 1800 m height. The wavelength dependence of light extinction using both lidar and sun photometer measurements suggested the dominance of coarse particles during the main event. At a wavelength of 532 nm, relatively high volume extinction coefficients (300–400 Mm−1) and a particle optical depth of 0.65 was observed. In-situ measurements with an aerodynamic particle sizer at Melpitz, Germany, confirmed the presence of a coarse particle mode with a mode diameter >2 μm, whose maximum concentration coincided with that of PM10. A chemical particle analysis confirmed the dominance of non-volatile and insoluble matter in the coarse mode as well as high enrichments of Ti and Fe, which are characteristic of soil dust. A combination of back trajectory calculations and satellite images allowed to identify the dust source with confidence: On 23 March 2007, large amounts of dust were emitted from dried-out farmlands in the southern Ukraine, facilitated by wind gusts up to 100 km h−1. The unusual vertical stability and confined height of this dust layer as well as the rapid transport under dry conditions led to the conservation of high aerosol mass concentrations along the transect and thus to the extraordinary high aerosol concentrations over Central Europe. Our observations demonstrate the capacity of a combined apparatus of in situ and remote sensing measurements to characterise such a dust with a variety of aerosol parameters. As a conclusion, the description of dust emission, transport and transformation processes needs to be improved, especially when facing the possible effects of further anthropogenic desertification and climate change.Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions. 01/2007;
