Stark seasonal contrast of fine aerosol levels, composition, formation mechanism, and characteristics in a polluted megacity.

In this study, we investigated the temporal variation of organic and inorganic aerosol with its optical properties in Mumbai (India), an urban coastal region. Mean PM _2.5  concentrations during the sampling period were 175 μg/m ³ (winter) and 90 μg/m ³ (summer). During winter, the average concentrations of organic (OC), elemental (EC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) were three times higher than in summer. Secondary organic carbon (SOC) contribution in OC was higher in summer (78%) than in winter (53%), and strong solar radiation in summer likely caused this outcome. Aerosols were slightly acidic in both seasons, with an average pH of 5.7 (winter) and 6.0 (summer). A correlation was observed between SOC and the acidity of particles in summer (R ²  = 0.6), indicating some amount of acid-catalysed SOC formation. In both seasons, the sulphate oxidation ratio (SOR) was higher than the nitrate oxidation ratio (NOR), which may reflect a preference for SO ₂ oxidation over NO ₂ or the difference in partitioning ammonium nitrate into ammonium sulphate under high RH. The dominant mechanism of SOC formation (gas vs aqueous phase oxidation) also showed seasonal variation. In winter, a relatively steep reduced major axis (RMA) slope of O ₃ /CO suggests gas phase oxidation was the dominant mechanism of SOC production. Winter has more BrC fraction than summer, indicating higher absorbing aerosols, though the efficiency of absorbing the light was higher in summer. To assess the radiative forcing of PM _2.5 on a local scale, an effective carbon ratio (ECR) was computed. The findings pointed to a local radiative heating impact caused by PM _2.5 . The spectral slope ratio and MAE at 250 to 300 nm ratio (E ₂ /E ₃ ) revealed a higher abundance of high molecular weight species in WSOC during summer than in winter.
(© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)