Springtime major pollution events by aerosol over Paris Area: From a case study to a multiannual analysis

Abstract

A study of the intense spring pollution events occurring between 2007 and 2016 on the Paris Area is presented using ground‐based and spaceborne measurements. Emphasis is placed on 2011 where data included ground‐based lidar measurements. This last period corresponds with the highest regional pollution levels of the past decade. The information threshold (daily average of (mass concentration of particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm) PM10 > 50 μg m−3) was exceeded 16 times, while the alert threshold (daily average of PM10 > 80 μg m−3) was exceeded twice. The information (alert) threshold exists to protect the most fragile people (the entire population). Ground‐based and spaceborne measurements demonstrate the benefit of their synergy as each is representative of specific space and time scales. The operational products of the spaceborne instruments Cloud‐Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer are used. For 2011, CALIOP vertical profiles are inversed to assess the backscatter to extinction ratio, which is then successfully compared with similar results derived from the CALIOP operational products, a ground‐based lidar and Sun photometers. The aerosols are identified to be polluted continental and polluted dust aerosols following the criteria used for the inversion of the CALIOP profiles. Aerosol typing is consistent between the ground‐based and spaceborne lidars, demonstrating the importance of CALIOP for other years where the ground‐based lidar was not in operation. The main pollution sources responsible for the spring aerosol pollution, occurring during anticyclonic meteorological conditions, are identified as coming from Western Europe: Benelux, Rhine‐Ruhr area, and the Lorraine area.

Sources and Geographical Origins of PM10 in Metz (France) Using Oxalate as a Marker of Secondary Organic Aerosols by Positive Matrix Factorization Analysis

“…Previous source apportionment studies in Paris (e.g., Reference [18]) and Lens [11] have also highlighted the role of transboundary advection from Eastern Europe. Moreover, studying pollution episodes in Paris, [19] have very recently stated that emissions from the East of France may substantially influence, during pollution events, the air quality in Paris. Inversely, Paris region emissions may also significantly influence the air quality in Eastern France during high pressure systems (with predominant western winds).…”

Impact of biomass burning on pollutant surface concentrations in megacities of the Gulf of Guinea

“…In addition, the product provides information on the vertical extent of aerosol layers as shown by Chazette and Royer (2017). The aerosol sub-type classification is built on thresholds of lidar-derived optical characteristics and is not error free, as mentioned by Burton et al (2013) and Huang et al (2015).…”

Analysis of a warehouse fire smoke plume over Paris with an N<sub>2</sub> Raman lidar and an optical thickness matching algorithm

“…An atmospheric molecular model is used to provide the molecular contributions. The statistical error study is performed using a Monte Carlo approach as described in Chazette et al (2001). The main sources of noise were taken into account considering normal statistical distributions, which are introduced by a normal random generator.…”