Desert Dust Contribution to PM10 Loads in Styria (Southern Austria) and Impact on Exceedance of Limit Values from 2013–2018

Abstract

From a legislators point of view, the contribution of natural sources to PM10 loads is relevant since their impact can be subtracted from the daily limit value of PM10 as regulated in a working staff paper by the European Commission (EC), supporting the European Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC). This work investigates its applicability for two stations in Austria over a time period of six years (2013 to 2018), as the occurrence of long-range transport of desert dust is observed on a regular base. Different stations and different statistical parameters were evaluated to determine the regional background load and subsequently the net dust load (NDL). Results reveal an adapted approach of the methodology described by the EC, using the +/− 15-day mean average of the PM10 at the regional background station, together with threshold criteria to identify only desert dust affected days. The results of calculated NDLs were in good agreement with crustal loads determined on filter samples during two desert dust events in 2016. Thus, the application of the EC method for a region in Central Europe, which experiences a regular but less pronounced impact of desert dust than stations in the Mediterranean, is discussed.

Comparison of Bacterial and Fungal Composition and Their Chemical Interaction in Free Tropospheric Air and Snow Over an Entire Winter Season at Mount Sonnblick, Austria

“…Mineral dust tracer such as Al and Fe were determined using a PANalytical AXIOS advanced wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer with a rhodium target X-ray tube set at 50 kV with a current of 50 mA, a 20 mm aperture for exposure and an exposure time of 20 s per channel. A detailed methodological description can be found in Greilinger et al (2019).…”