Particle number size distribution in the eastern Mediterranean: Formation and growth rates of ultrafine airborne atmospheric particles

Kopanakis, I.; Chatoutsidou, Sofia Eirini; Tørseth, K.; Glytsos, Thodoros; Lazaridis, Mihalis

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.05.066

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Based on their long-term observation (2008-2018) on the same site, the mean J9 was 0.9 cm −3 s −1 and the GR was about 5 nm/h [46]. On the north-western part of Crete (June 2009-June 2010) at the Akrotiri station (costal/rural/suburban), mean GR was 6 nm/h and the formation rate was 13 cm −3 s −1 [49]. The relationships between GR, J10, and Q are presented in Figure 7.…”

Section: Characterization Of the Npf Eventsmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Characterization of Urban New Particle Formation in Amman—Jordan

et al. 2020

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We characterized new particle formation (NPF) events in the urban background of Amman during August 2016–July 2017. The monthly mean of submicron particle number concentration was 1.2 × 104–3.7 × 104 cm−3 (exhibited seasonal, weekly, and diurnal variation). Nucleation mode (10–15 nm) concentration was 0.7 × 103–1.1 × 103 cm−3 during daytime with a sharp peak (1.1 × 103–1.8 × 103 cm−3) around noon. We identified 110 NPF events (≈34% of all days) of which 55 showed a decreasing mode diameter after growth. The NPF event occurrence was higher in summer than in winter, and events were accompanied with air mass back trajectories crossing over the Eastern Mediterranean. The mean nucleation rate (J10) was 1.9 ± 1.1 cm−3 s−1 (monthly mean 1.6–2.7 cm−3 s−1) and the mean growth rate was 6.8 ± 3.1 nm/h (4.1–8.8 nm/h). The formation rate did not have a seasonal pattern, but the growth rate had a seasonal variation (maximum around August and minimum in winter). The mean condensable vapor source rate was 4.1 ± 2.2 × 105 molecules/cm3 s (2.6–6.9 × 105 molecules/cm3 s) with a seasonal pattern (maximum around August). The mean condensation sink was 8.9 ± 3.3 × 10−3 s−1 (6.4–14.8 × 10−3 s−1) with a seasonal pattern (minimum around June and maximum in winter).

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Section: Characterization Of the Npf Eventsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…As we pointed out in the introduction, there have been few studies about NPF events around the Mediterranean Sea [35,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50]77,78]. On the north-eastern part of Crete island (Finokalia station, costal, April 2008-April 2009), the mean GR was 5.2 ± 3.4 nm/h [77].…”

Section: Characterization Of the Npf Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Urban New Particle Formation in Amman—Jordan

et al. 2020

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“…The major aerosol dynamical processes for clearsky atmosphere were simulated by the size-segregated aerosol model UHMA (University Helsinki Multicomponent Aerosol Model; Korhonen et al, 2004) included in the MALTE-Box model. Measured aerosol number size distributions were used to initialize UHMA daily, which simulates NPF, coagulation, growth and dry deposition of particles.…”

Section: Npf Simulations With the Malte-box Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and growth of atmospheric nanoparticles in the eastern Mediterranean: results from long-term measurements and process simulations

et al. 2019

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Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is a common phenomenon all over the world. In this study we present the longest time series of NPF records in the eastern Mediterranean region by analyzing 10 years of aerosol number size distribution data obtained with a mobility particle sizer. The measurements were performed at the Finokalia environmental research station on Crete, Greece, during the period June 2008-June 2018. We found that NPF took place on 27 % of the available days, undefined days were 23 % and non-event days 50 %. NPF is more frequent in April and May probably due to the terrestrial biogenic activity and is less frequent in August. Throughout the period under study, nucleation was observed also during the night. Nucleation mode particles had the highest concentration in winter and early spring, mainly because of the minimum sinks, and their average contribution to the total particle number concentration was 8 %. Nucleation mode particle concentra-tions were low outside periods of active NPF and growth, so there are hardly any other local sources of sub-25 nm particles. Additional atmospheric ion size distribution data simultaneously collected for more than 2 years were also analyzed. Classification of NPF events based on ion spectrometer measurements differed from the corresponding classification based on a mobility spectrometer, possibly indicating a different representation of local and regional NPF events between these two measurement data sets. We used the MALTE-Box model for simulating a case study of NPF in the eastern Mediterranean region. Monoterpenes contributing to NPF can explain a large fraction of the observed NPF events according to our model simulations. However the adjusted parameterization resulting from our sensitivity tests was significantly different from the initial one that had been determined for the boreal environment.Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.

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“…Indeed, the complexity of urban aerosols lies in the fact that several sources can contribute in the same particle size range, making it difficult to entangle [9,10]. Although, some studies focusing on the particle number size distribution have been conducted around the East Mediterranean region at both urban and remote sites [11][12][13][14], very few studies can be found regarding the Middle East [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. In fact, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is of extreme interest as it serves as a compilation of aerosol particle sources including natural dust, anthropogenic pollution from petrochemical industry and urbanization, as well as new particle formation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Aerosol Particle Size Characterization in Eastern Mediterranean Conditions

et al. 2019

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Characterization of urban particle number size distribution (PNSD) has been rarely reported/performed in the Middle East. Therefore, we aimed at characterizing the PNSD (0.01–10 µm) in Amman as an example for an urban Middle Eastern environment. The daily mean submicron particle number concentration (PNSub) was 6.5 × 103–7.7 × 104 cm−3 and the monthly mean coarse mode particle number concentration (PNCoarse) was 0.9–3.8 cm−3 and both had distinguished seasonal variation. The PNSub also had a clear diurnal and weekly cycle with higher concentrations on workdays (Sunday–Thursday; over 3.3 × 104 cm−3) than on weekends (below 2.7 × 104 cm−3). The PNSub constitute of 93% ultrafine fraction (diameter < 100 nm). The mean particle number size distributions was characterized with four well-separated submicron modes (Dpg,I, Ni): nucleation (22 nm, 9.4 103 cm−3), Aitken (62 nm, 3.9 103 cm−3), accumulation (225 nm, 158 cm−3), and coarse (2.23 µm, 1.2 cm−3) in addition to a mode with small geometric mean diameter (GMD) that represented the early stage of new particle formation (NPF) events. The wind speed and temperature had major impacts on the concentrations. The PNCoarse had a U-shape with respect to wind speed and PNSub decreased with wind speed. The effect of temperature and relative humidity was complex and require further investigations.

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Particle number size distribution in the eastern Mediterranean: Formation and growth rates of ultrafine airborne atmospheric particles

Cited by 28 publications

References 56 publications

Characterization of Urban New Particle Formation in Amman—Jordan

Characterization of Urban New Particle Formation in Amman—Jordan

Formation and growth of atmospheric nanoparticles in the eastern Mediterranean: results from long-term measurements and process simulations

Urban Aerosol Particle Size Characterization in Eastern Mediterranean Conditions

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