Publication
Title
Spatial and seasonal variability of carbonaceous aerosol across Italy
Author
Abstract
This paper analyses elemental (EC), organic (OC) and total carbon (TC) concentration in PM2.5 and PM10 samples collected over the last few years within several national and European projects at 37 remote, rural, urban, and traffic sites across the Italian peninsula. The purpose of the study is to obtain a picture of the spatial and seasonal variability of these aerosol species in Italy, and an insight into sources, processes and effects of meteorological conditions. OC and EC showed winter maxima and summer minima at urban and rural locations and an opposite behaviour at remote high altitude sites, where they increase during the warm period due to the rising of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). The seasonal averages of OC are higher during winter compared to summer at the rural sites in the Po Valley (from 1.4 to 3.5 times), opposite to what usually occurs at rural locations, where OC increases during the warm period. This denotes the marked influence of urban areas on the surrounding rural environment in this densely populated region. The different types of sites exhibit marked differences in the average concentrations of carbonaceous aerosol and OC/EC ratio. This ratio is less sensitive to atmospheric processing than OC and EC concentrations, and hence more representative of different source types. Remote locations are characterised by the lowest levels of CC and especially EC, with OC/EC ratios ranging from 13 to 20, while the maximum OC and EC concentrations are observed at road-traffic influenced urban sites, where the OC/EC ratio ranges between 1 and 3. The highest urban impacts of OC and EC relative to remote and rural background sites occur in the Po Valley, especially in the city of Milan, which has the highest concentrations of PM and TC and low values of the OC/EC ratio. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Atmospheric environment : an international journal. - Oxford, 1994, currens
Publication
Oxford : 2014
ISSN
1352-2310
DOI
10.1016/J.ATMOSENV.2014.10.032
Volume/pages
99 (2014) , p. 587-598
ISI
000345804400062
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.11.2018
Last edited 24.01.2023
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