Comments on “Quantification of Saharan dust contribution to PM10 concentrations over Italy during 2003–2005”

Matassoni, Luca; Pratesi, Giovanni; Centioli, Damiano

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.11.024

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…1), defined as ''urban traffic'' and ''suburban background'' according to the criteria for Euroairnet: 8,9 Corso Francia (CF): located in the northern urban area at a main cross roads affected by high traffic volume (41.70 N, 12.45 E) and belonging to the monitoring network station of the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA Lazio); here PM 10 and PM 2.5 samples were collected and concentration values measured.…”

Section: Sampling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saharan dust contribution to PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in urban and suburban areas of Rome: a comparison between single-particle SEM-EDS analysis and whole-sample PIXE analysis

et al. 2011

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, a period characterised by two episodes of Saharan dust outbreaks in Italy, particulate matter (PM) samples were collected at two stations (urban and suburban) in Rome. Some samples were selected and analysed using the SEM-EDS technique to characterise PM, focussing especially on the mineral contribution. Samples were representative both of days affected by Saharan dust episodes and days without this contribution. Cluster analysis allowed the attribution of each of about 67 000 analysed particles to one of the seven main statistical groups based on their composition. Characteristics of the particulate components identified using SEM-EDS analysis were verified by PIXE analysis carried out on filters collected in a suburban area. Ultimately, the contribution of crustal particles was revealed to be consistently high, highlighting the importance of local and regional mineral contributions, as well as those of Saharan origin. Therefore, quantifying all mineral contributions to resuspended particulate could lead to significant reductions of the PM level also on days not influenced by Saharan dust, thus limiting conditions when PM 10 daily limit value (DLV) established by European legislation is exceeded.

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Section: Sampling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saharan dust contribution to PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in urban and suburban areas of Rome: a comparison between single-particle SEM-EDS analysis and whole-sample PIXE analysis

et al. 2011

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“…It should be noted that in both these works the PM10 regional background was calculated by analogy with the Spanish method, but no experimental validation of its "exportability" to the Italian case has been accomplished so far. As clearly explained in Matassoni et al (2012), two key points of this method, i.e. the selection of a proper network of rural background stations and the accounting of days with or without anthropogenic or Saharan dust contributions, are particularly critical in Italy where many rural stations are "near-city" stations and may be affected by different anthropogenic contributions, also from farming and industry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saharan dust impact in central Italy: An overview on three years elemental data records

Nava

Becagli

Calzolai

et al. 2012

Atmospheric Environment

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h i g h l i g h t s< PIXE is very effective to quantify the actual mineral dust contribution to PM. < The impact of Saharan intrusions on PM10 is extremely variable from case to case. t r a c tIn southern European countries, Saharan dust may episodically produce significant increases of PM10, which may also cause the exceedance of the PM10 daily limit value established by the European Directive (2008/50/EC). The detection with very high sensitivity of all the elements that constitute mineral dust makes PIXE technique a very effective tool to assess the actual impact of these episodes.In this work, a review of long-term series of elemental concentrations obtained by PIXE has been accomplished with the aim of identifying the occurrence of Saharan dust transport episodes over long periods in Tuscany and characterising them in terms of composition and impact on PM concentration, tracing back their contribution to the exceedances of the PM10 limit value.The impact of the different Saharan intrusions on PM10 showed a very high variability. During the most intense episodes (which occurred with a frequency of few times per year) the calculated soil dust . The Saharan dust contribution was decisive to cause the exceedance of the PM10 daily limit value in the 1e2% of the days considered in the present work.

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“…The period of sampling we chose for this study lasted 10 days, from 26 February to 7 March 2009 and includes an episode of Saharan dust outbreaks in Italy. The sample collection was originally performed, over a wider length of time, with the early aim of accomplishing a SEM-EDS characterization of single particles, and PIXE studies, for assessing the Saharan dust contribution to PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 in urban and suburban areas of Rome (Matassoni et al 2011(Matassoni et al , 2012, thus optimizing the parameters of the collection to this purpose.…”

Section: Particulate Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raman Characterization of Ambient Airborne Soot and Associated Mineral Phases

Catelani

Pratesi

Zoppi

2013

Aerosol Science and Technology

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Airborne particulate matter samples were collected in an urban and a rural-suburban monitoring stations of the city of Rome, Italy, and the particles were analyzed through the Raman microspectroscopy. A careful examination of the spectral bands, performed with a five-(Voigt) curve deconvolution model previously described by the literature and here adapted to the purpose, lead to the characterization of the graphitic and carbonaceous material plus the identification of the mineral particles associated with it. Statistical analysis of the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) values of the bands, as well as of their intensity ratio, revealed the presence of two classes of soot particles that can be ascribed to a different degree of crystallinity. The population of soot collected at the urban site, where the vehicular emission component prevails, exhibits mostly crystalline characteristics (with a D1 FWHM of 150-155 cm −1 ), whereas the population collected at the rural-suburban site, particularly the coarse fraction, shows a prevailing amorphous nature (with a D1 FWHM of ∼175 cm −1 ). A similar aspect emerges for the pure black carbon particles, mainly crystalline, and the black carbon particles associated with minerals, generally disordered. These results add useful information and characterization of the soot, a relevant component of the ambient air, and its different features with respect to the urban or rural-suburban areas.

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Comments on “Quantification of Saharan dust contribution to PM10 concentrations over Italy during 2003–2005”

Cited by 4 publications

References 7 publications

Saharan dust contribution to PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in urban and suburban areas of Rome: a comparison between single-particle SEM-EDS analysis and whole-sample PIXE analysis

Saharan dust contribution to PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 in urban and suburban areas of Rome: a comparison between single-particle SEM-EDS analysis and whole-sample PIXE analysis

Saharan dust impact in central Italy: An overview on three years elemental data records

Raman Characterization of Ambient Airborne Soot and Associated Mineral Phases

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