Identification of the Influence of African Dust on PM10 Concentrations at the Athens Air Quality Monitoring Network during the Period 2001-2010

Abstract

The objective of this work was to identify Sahara dust intrusions and quantify their contribution to annual and daily PM 10 concentrations over the Athens Metropolitan Area (AMA) during the period 2001-2010. Additionally, extreme PM 10 values attributed to large forest fires and volcanic emissions or the synergy of the above with African dust intrusions have been identified. It was found that the concentrations of PM 10 during the period studied exceeded the European Union's Air Quality Standard (EU AQS) value at most of the traffic urban (TU) stations. Most of the extreme values were attributed to dust events or large forest fires. The contribution from African dust to PM 10 concentrations on days with events and exceedances of the EU AQS was approximately 50% at TU stations and 72% at the background suburban stations (BS). Most of the African dust events contributed about 5 μg/m 3 to 34 μg/m 3 to the daily PM 10 concentrations, whereas the average contribution to annual PM 10 concentrations was approximately 8.6 ± 1.8 μg/m 3 i.e., 22.2 ± 7.5%. During the decade, no clear interannual relationship was observed between the African dust contribution and the frequency and intensity of events. The more frequent and severe episodes occurred during spring, while less frequent and less severe episodes occurred during summer. After the extraction of the African dust load the annual and daily AQS was exceeded in 2010 at only one TU station. The average annual contribution of African dust to the exceedances was approximately 36% at TU stations and 58% at BS stations.

Saharan Dust Events over the Valencian Community (Eastern Iberian Peninsula): Synoptic Circulation Patterns and Contribution to PM10 Levels

“…The basis of this method can be found in Escudero et al (2007) and Pey et al (2008) and will be applied in this work under the name of P40. The feasibility of this procedure has been demonstrated in several previous studies (Querol et al, 2009;Aleksandropoulou and Lazaridis, 2013;Ealo et al, 2016;Fernández et al, 2017;Nicolás et al, 2018;Conte et al, 2020). Recently, certain aspects of this methodology have been revised, mainly those associated with the estimation of the Saharan dust contribution to PM concentrations at urban sites (Barnaba et al, 2017).…”

Ambient Particulate Matter Concentration Levels and their Origin During Dust Event Episodes in the Eastern Mediterranean

“…The overall contribution of transported African dust to the PM 10 levels in the Mediterranean area can be significant and African dust may represent up to 45% of PM 10 concentration levels in the area (Rodriguez et al 2002;Escudero et al 2007;Pey et al 2013;Aleksandropoulou and Lazaridis 2013).…”

Estimation of Particulate Matter Impact on Human Health within the Urban Environment of Athens City, Greece

“…The GAA seems to have better atmospheric conditions against other metropolitan cities, such as the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and the city of Cairo, Egypt, even taking into account the large amounts of particulate matter transported from the Saharan desert [17,18]. During the last years, the air quality (concerning PM 10 ) is getting better, having a protective impact on public health.…”