Long-term observations of the background aerosol at Cabauw, The Netherlands

Abstract

Long-term measurements of PM mass concentrations and aerosol particle size distributions from 2008 to 2015, as well as hygroscopicity measurements conducted over one year (2008-2009) at Cabauw, The Netherlands, are compiled here in order to provide a comprehensive dataset for understanding the trends and annual variabilities of the atmospheric aerosol in the region. PM concentrations have a mean value of 14.4μgm with standard deviation 2.1μgm, and exhibit an overall decreasing trend of -0.74μgmyear. The highest values are observed in winter and spring and are associated with a shallower boundary layer and lower precipitation, respectively, compared to the rest of the seasons. Number concentrations of particles smaller than 500nm have a mean of 9.2×10particles cm and standard deviation 4.9×10particles cm, exhibiting an increasing trend between 2008 and 2011 and a decreasing trend from 2013 to 2015. The particle number concentrations exhibit highest values in spring and summer (despite the increased precipitation) due to the high occurrence of nucleation-mode particles, which most likely are formed elsewhere and are transported to the observation station. Particle hygroscopicity measurements show that, independently of the air mass origin, the particles are mostly externally mixed with the more hydrophobic mode having a mean hygroscopic parameter κ of 0.1 while for the more hydrophilic mode κ is 0.35. The hygroscopicity of the smaller particles investigated in this work (i.e., particles having diameters of 35nm) appears to increase during the course of the nucleation events, reflecting a change in the chemical composition of the particles.

Determination of the concentrations and the chemical composition of particulate matter in the North Aegean region

“…32%, 26% and 36%, respectively, during winter than during the summer. This observation is consistent with similar measurements from other cities reported in the literature (Carbone et al, 2010;Triantafyllou and Biskos, 2012;Perrino et al, 2014;Mamali et al, 2018), and can be attributed to i) the additional emissions from domestic heating during winter, and ii) the lower dilution associated to the weaker winds and the lower boundary layer heights (ca. 39%; i.e., average values calculated by WRF-Chem model) in winter compared to summer (cf.…”

“…Although the concentrations of main air pollutants has been decreasing in large European cities during the last decade (Klimont et al, 2013;Guerreiro et al, 2014), airborne particles having sizes smaller than ca. 2.5 κm (i.e., PM 2.5 ) often exhibit values above or close to the EU annual standard (25 κg m -3 ) mainly due to the numerous and intense anthropogenic sources, including transportation, domestic combustion processes and industrial activities (Szigeti et al, 2013;Eleftheriadis et al, 2014;Manousakas et al, 2015;Diapouli et al, 2017a;Mamali et al, 2018).…”

Exposure to ambient ultrafine particles and allergic sensitization in children up to 16 years

“…Therefore, there is some support that recent models can predict spatial variation of UFP levels for periods of 10 years moderately well. This is corroborated by the relatively small trend in particle number concentrations seen at a background measurement location in the Netherlands over a period of 8 years, from 2008 to 2015 (Mamali et al, 2018). Similarly, we used LUR models based on measurements from 2008 to 2010 for the co-pollutants.…”

Measurement report: Evaluation of the TOF-ACSM-CV for PM1.0 and PM2.5 measurements during the RITA-2021 field campaign

“…Previous studies showed that clean air masses are often received from the North Sea or Scandinavia. In contrast, polluted air masses generally originate from southern Europe (Mamali et al, 2018). Continuous observations of aerosol physiochemical properties were conducted during the RITA-2021 campaign from 11 to 24 May and from 16 September to 12 October 2021; additional measurements such as meteorological data from the 213 m high mast of Cabauw tower at 10 min time resolution were available via the KNMI Data Platform 4 .…”