Ambient carbonaceous aerosol levels in Cyprus and the role of pollution transport from the Middle East
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Published:2023-06-12
Issue:11
Volume:23
Page:6431-6456
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ISSN:1680-7324
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Container-title:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Atmos. Chem. Phys.
Author:
Christodoulou AlikiORCID, Stavroulas IasonasORCID, Vrekoussis MihalisORCID, Desservettaz MaximillienORCID, Pikridas MichaelORCID, Bimenyimana Elie, Kushta Jonilda, Ivančič Matic, Rigler MartinORCID, Goloub Philippe, Oikonomou Konstantina, Sarda-Estève Roland, Savvides Chrysanthos, Afif Charbel, Mihalopoulos Nikos, Sauvage Stéphane, Sciare Jean
Abstract
Abstract. The geographical origin and source apportionment of submicron carbonaceous aerosols (organic aerosols, OAs, and black carbon, BC) have been investigated here for the first time, deploying high time-resolution measurements at an urban background site of Nicosia, the capital
city of Cyprus, in the eastern Mediterranean. This study covers a half-year
period, encompassing both the cold and warm periods with continuous
observations of the physical and chemical properties of PM1 performed
with an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM), an aethalometer,
accompanied by a suite of various ancillary offline and online measurements. Carbonaceous aerosols were dominant during both seasons (cold and warm periods), with a contribution of 57 % and 48 % to PM1, respectively, and exhibited recurrent intense nighttime peaks (> 20–30 µg m−3) during the cold period, associated with local domestic heating. The findings of this study show that high concentrations of sulfate (close to 3 µg m−3) were continuously recorded, standing among the highest ever reported for Europe and originating from the Middle East region. Source apportionment of the OA and BC fractions was performed using the
positive matrix factorization (PMF) approach and the combination of two
models (aethalometer model and multilinear regression), respectively. Our
study revealed elevated hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA)
concentrations in Nicosia (among the highest reported for a European urban
background site), originating from a mixture of local and regional
fossil fuel combustion sources. Although air masses from the Middle East had
a low occurrence and were observed mostly during the cold period, they were
shown to strongly affect the mean concentrations levels of BC and OA in
Nicosia during both seasons. Overall, the present study brings to our
attention the need to further characterize primary and secondary
carbonaceous aerosols in the Middle East, an undersampled region
characterized by continuously increasing fossil fuel (oil and gas) emissions
and extreme environmental conditions, which can contribute to photochemical
ageing.
Funder
European Commission
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Subject
Atmospheric Science
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