Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions
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2008
10.5194/acpd-8-15791-2008
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/15791/2008/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/15791/2008/acpd-8-15791-2008.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/15791/2008/acpd-8-15791-2008.pdf
15791
15824
2008-08-19
Seasonal variation of aerosol size distribution at Puy de Dôme (1465 m a.s.l., central France)
H. Venzac
K. Sellegri
k.sellegri@opgc.univ-bpclermont.fr
P. Villani
D. Picard
P. Laj
Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique, Observatoire de Physique du Globe de Clermont-Ferrand, Université Blaise Pascal, 24 avenue des Landais, 63177 Aubière, France
Particle number concentration and size distribution are amongst the most
important variables needed to constrain the role of the atmospheric
particles in the Earth radiative budget. They are also linked to regulated
variables such as particle mass (PM) and therefore of interest to air
quality studies. However, data on their long-term variability are scarce, in
particular at high altitudes where the occurrence of aerosol in elevated
layers cannot be resolved from most instruments in space. Therefore it is
crucial to provide ground based measurements of suited aerosol variables to
obtain closure between all independent information sources. In this paper,
we investigate diurnal and seasonal variability of aerosol number
concentration and size distribution at the Puy de Dôme research station
(France, 1465 m a.s.l.). We report variability of aerosol particle total
number concentration measured over a five years (2003–2007) period and
aerosol size distributions over a one year period (January to December
2006). Concentrations show a strong seasonality with maxima during summer
and minima during winter. A diurnal variation is also observed with maxima
between 12:00 and 18:00 UTC. At night (00:00–06:00 UTC), the median hourly
total concentration varies from 600 to 800 cm<sup>−3</sup> during winter and from
1700 to 2200 cm<sup>−3</sup> during summer. During the day (08:00–18:00 UTC), the
concentration is in the range of 700 to 1400 cm<sup>−3</sup> during winter and
from 2500 to 3500 cm<sup>−3</sup> during summer. An averaged size distribution of
particles (10–500 nm) was calculated for each season. A variability in the
size of aerosols sampled at the Puy de Dôme is also observed on the
seasonal and diurnal basis. Because the site lies in the free troposphere
only a fraction of the time, in particular at night and during the winter
season, we have subsequently analyzed the variability for free tropospheric
conditions only. We show that the variability is due to both seasonal
changes in air mass origin from winter to summer and enhanced concentration
of the free troposphere in summer. The later observation can be explained by
higher emission intensity in the boundary layer, stronger exchange between
the boundary layer and the free troposphere as well as enhanced
photochemical processes. Finally, aerosol mean size distributions are
calculated for a given air mass type (marine/continental/regional) according
to the season, for the specific conditions of the free troposphere. These
results are of regional relevance and can be used to constrain
chemical-transport models over Western Europe.
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