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Aerosols are one of the most important pollutants in the atmosphere and have been monitored for the past few decades by remote sensing and in situ observation platforms to assess the effectiveness of government-managed reduction emission policies and assess their impact on the radiative budget of the Earth's atmosphere. In fact, aerosols can directly modulate incoming short-wave solar radiation and outgoing long-wave radiation and indirectly influence cloud formation, lifetime, and precipitation. In this study, we quantitatively evaluated long-term temporal trends and seasonal variability from a climatological point of view of the optical and microphysical properties of atmospheric particulate matter at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, over the past 17 years, through a synergy of lidar, sun photometer, and in situ concentration measurements. Interannual temporal changes in aerosol optical and microphysical properties are evaluated through the seasonal Mann–Kendall test. Long-term trends in the optical depth of the recovered aerosol; the Ångström exponent (AE); and the concentrations of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and PM 1 reveal that emission reduction policies implemented in the past decades were effective in improving air quality, with consistent drops in PM concentrations and optical depth of aerosols. The seasonal analysis of the 17-year average vertically resolved aerosol profiles obtained from lidar observations shows that during summer the aerosol layer can be found up to an altitude of 5 km, after a sharp decay in the first kilometer. In contrast, during the other seasons, the backscatter profiles fit a pronounced exponential decay well with a well-defined scale height. Long-range transport, especially dust outbreaks from the Sahara, is likely to occur throughout the year. During winter, the dust aerosol layers are floating above the boundary layer, while during the other seasons they can penetrate the layer. The analysis also revealed that intense, short-duration pollution events during winter, associated with dust outbreaks, have become more frequent and intense since 2016. This study sheds some light on the meteorological processes and conditions that can lead to the formation of haze and helps decision makers adopt mitigation strategies to preserve large metropolitan areas in the Mediterranean basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studied the contribution of the geogenic sources volcanoes and fumaroles to the aerosol in marine atmosphere in the central Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, in the framework of the Med-Oceanor measurement program, we carried out a cruise campaign in the summer of 2017 to investigate the impact to the aerosol of the most important Mediterranean volcanoes (Mount Etna, Stromboli Island, and Marsili Seamount) and solfatara areas (Phlegraean Fields complex, Volcano Islands, Ischia Island, and Panarea submarine fumarole). We collected PM10 and PM2.5 samples in 12 sites and performed chemical characterization to gather information about the concentration of major and trace elements, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and ionic species. The use of triangular plots and the calculation of enrichment factors confirmed the interception of volcanic plume. We integrated the outcomes from chemical characterization with the use of factor analysis and SEM/EDX analysis for the source apportionment. Anthropogenic and natural sources including shipping emissions, volcanic and fumarolic load, as well as sea spray were identified as the main factors affecting aerosol levels in the study area. Furthermore, we performed pattern recognition analysis by stepwise linear discriminant analysis to seek differences in the composition of PM10 and PM2.5 samples according to their volcanic or solfatara origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In highly industrialized areas, abating particulate matter (PM) is complex owing to the variety of emission sources with different chemical profiles that may mix in the atmosphere. Gijón—an industrial city in northern Spain—was selected as a case study to better understand the key emission sources and improve air quality in highly industrialized areas. Accordingly, the trends of various air quality indicators (PM10, PM2.5, SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3) during the past decade (2010–2019) were analyzed. Additionally, the inorganic and organic PM10 compositions were analyzed for source apportionment studies and to assess the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on PM10 levels. The results revealed that over the past decade, PM10 concentrations decreased, whereas PM2.5 concentrations dominated by secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA) remained relatively constant. Notably, during the COVID-19 lockdown, the PM10 concentration increased by 9.1%, primarily owing to an increase in regional SIA (>65%) due to specific meteorological conditions that favor the formation of secondary PM from gaseous precursors. Overall, eight key PM10 sources were identified: "industrial fugitive PM resuspension" (FPM, 28% of mean PM10 concentration), "aged sea spray" (SSp, 16%), "secondary nitrate" (SN, 15%), "local diffuse source" (LPM, 12%), "solid fuel combustion" (SFC, 7.8%), "biomass burning" (BB, 7.4%), "secondary sulphate" (SSu, 6.0%), and "sinter" (SIN, 4.5%). The PM10 concentration in Gijón is significantly influenced by the integrated steel industry (FPM, SFC, and SIN; 41% of PM10) and fugitive primary PM emissions were the main source (FPM and LPM; 40%). To reduce PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, industrial fugitive emissions, which are currently poorly regulated, and SIA precursors must be abated. This study provides a methodological approach that combines trend analysis, chemical speciation, and source apportionment for assessing pollution abatement strategies in industrialized areas with a complex mix of emission sources. [Display omitted] • Complex industrial areas complicate PM source apportionment due to diverse emissions. • Concentrations decreased for PM10 but not for PM2.5 during last decade in Gijón. • Reducing secondary aerosol precursors is critical to abate PM2.5 levels. • Fugitive PM emissions from steelworks constitute a significant PM10 source. • Secondary PM formation may have caused an increase in PM during the COVID-19 lockdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper synthesizes data on aerosol (or particulate matter, PM) chemical characteristics, which were obtained in European aerosol research activities at natural, rural, near-city, urban, and kerbside sites over the past decade. It includes only two (nearby) sites in the semi-arid Mediterranean area, and lacks data from Eastern Europe. PM chemical compositions are compared with the PM mass concentrations in PM10, PM2.5, and further size resolved PM fractions (chemical mass closure). Such data sets are more comprehensive than those currently provided by air quality monitoring networks (e.g. EMEP, EUROAIRNET). Data available from 24 sites in Europe were reviewed. They were processed and plotted to allow comparisons in spite of differences in the sampling and analytical techniques used in various studies. A number of conclusions are drawn among which are the following.Organic matter appears to be the major component of PM10 and PM2.5, except at natural and rural background sites, where sulphate contribution may be larger. Mineral dust shows up as a major component of PM10 at kerbside sites. Black carbon contributes 5–10% to PM2.5 and somewhat less to PM10 at all sites, including the natural background sites. Its contribution seems higher (15–20%) at some of the kerbside sites, but these data may be affected by analytical artefacts. On days when PM10 >50 μg m−3, nitrate concentrations can overtake organic matter concentrations in PM10 and PM2.5. High PM concentration episodes are often observed in cold periods, when the pollutant dispersion is least. Measurements indicate that the condensation in the particle phase of semi-volatile species like nitrate and (unspecified) organics is also favoured by cold temperatures. In particles with a diameter <150 nm (i.e., most atmospheric particles), organic matter and black carbon are by far the major components.More data are known to be available within the scientific community, which could enrich the present data set and strengthen the conclusions made above. Most of them are not made available yet. The investment in new approaches, which would bridge the technological gap between scientific measurements and regulatory monitoring networks, is strongly needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper synthesizes data on aerosol (particulate matter, PM) physical characteristics, which were obtained in European aerosol research activities at free-troposphere, natural, rural, near-city, urban, and kerbside sites over the past decade. It covers only two sites in the semi-arid Mediterranean area, and lacks data from Eastern Europe. The data include PM10 and/or PM2.5 mass concentrations, and aerosol particle size distributions. Such data sets are more comprehensive than those currently provided by air quality monitoring networks (e.g. EMEP, EUROAIRNET). Data available from 31 sites in Europe (called “The Network”) were reviewed. They were processed and plotted to allow comparisons in spite of differences in the sampling and analytical techniques used in various studies. A number of conclusions are drawn as follows:Background annual average PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations for continental Europe are 7.0±4.1 and 4.8±2.4 μg m−3, respectively.The EU 2005 annual average PM10 standard of 40 μg m−3 is exceeded at a few sites in The Network. At all near city, urban and kerbside sites, the EU 2010 annual average PM10 standard of 20 μg m−3, as well as the US-EPA annual average PM2.5 standard of 15 μg m−3 are exceeded. In certain regions, PM10 and PM2.5 in cities are strongly affected by the regional aerosol background.There is no “universal” (i.e. valid for all sites) ratio between PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentrations, although fairly constant ratios do exist at individual sites. There is no universal correlation between PM mass concentration on the one hand, and total particle number concentration on the other hand, although a ‘baseline’ ratio between number and mass is found for sites not affected by local emissions. This paper is the first part of two companion papers of which the second part describes chemical characteristics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]