Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions
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2008
10.5194/acpd-8-6949-2008
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/6949/2008/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/6949/2008/acpd-8-6949-2008.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/8/6949/2008/acpd-8-6949-2008.pdf
6949
6982
2008-04-09
Long-term measurements of carbonaceous aerosols in the eastern Mediterranean: evidence of long-range transport of biomass burning
J. Sciare
K. Oikonomou
O. Favez
Z. Markaki
E. Liakakou
H. Cachier
N. Mihalopoulos
mihalo@chemistry.uoc.gr
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE, CNRS-CEA), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Long-term (5-yr) measurements of Black Carbon (BC) and Organic Carbon (OC)
in bulk aerosols are presented here for the first time in the Mediterranean
Basin (Crete Island). A multi-analytical approach (including thermal,
optical, and thermo-optical techniques) was applied for these BC and OC
measurements. Light absorbing dust aerosols have shown to poorly contribute
(+17% on a yearly average) to light absorption coefficient (<i>b</i><sub>abs</sub>)
measurements performed by an optical method (aethalometer). Long-range
transport of agricultural waste burning from European countries surrounding
the Black Sea was shown for each year during two periods (March–April and
July–September). The contribution of biomass burning to the concentrations
of BC and OC has shown to be rather small (20 and 14%, respectively, on a
yearly basis), although this contribution could be much higher on a monthly
basis and is expected a high intra and inter annual variability. By removing
the biomass burning influence, our data revealed an important seasonal
variation of OC, with an increase by almost a factor of two for the Spring
months of May and June, whereas BC was found to be quite stable throughout
the year. Preliminary measurements of Water Soluble Organic Carbon (WSOC)
have shown that the monthly mean WSOC/OC ratio remains stable throughout the
year (0.45±0.12), suggesting that the partitioning between water
soluble and water insoluble organic matter is not significantly affected by
biomass burning and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. A chemical
mass closure performed in the fine mode (Aerodynamic Diameter, A.D.<1.5 μm) showed that the mass contribution of organic matter (POM) was found
to be essentially invariable during the year (monthly average of 26±5%).
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