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12231
12288
2007-08-20
An episode of extremely high PM concentrations over Central Europe caused by dust emitted over the southern Ukraine
W. Birmili
birmili@tropos.de
K. Schepanski
A. Ansmann
G. Spindler
I. Tegen
B. Wehner
A. Nowak
E. Reimer
I. Mattis
K. Müller
E. Brüggemann
T. Gnauk
H. Herrmann
A. Wiedensohler
D. Althausen
A. Schladitz
T. Tuch
G. Löschau
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, IFM-GEOMAR, Kiel, Germany
Institut für Meteorologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie, Dresden, Germany
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 PM<sub>10</sub> mass concentrations rose to values between 200 and 1400 μg m<sup>−3</sup>. An evaluation of PM<sub>10</sub> measurements from 360 monitoring stations showed
that the dust cloud advanced along a narrow corridor at speeds of up to 70 km h<sup>−1</sup>.
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<sup>−1</sup>) 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 PM<sub>10</sub>. 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<sup>−1</sup>. 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.
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