The Influence of Meteorology on Particulate Matter Concentrations at an Urban Mediterranean Location

Abstract

Daily mass concentrations of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 were measured along with meteorological parameters from October 2008 to October 2009 in the city of Elche, close to the southeastern Spanish Mediterranean coast. Annual mean levels of 9.2, 13.2, and 26.2 μg m −3 were obtained for PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, respectively. PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were lower than those previously measured at the same location due to unusual weather conditions that occurred during winter 2009, specially the decrease in the number of high atmospheric stability episodes. The contribution of road traffic to the levels of submicron (PM1), fine (PM2.5-1), and coarse (PM10-2.5) particles was studied by correlating PM concentrations with NO 2 . The results showed a higher relative contribution in winter (0.45<r<0.65) than in summer (−0.26<r<0.05). However, the scarce variability in traffic intensity (in terms of number of vehicles per day) was unable to explain daily and seasonal variations in PM levels. Rather, these variations were associated to seasonal changes in other PM sources and meteorological conditions. The three size fractions showed good negative correlations with wind speed during winter, suggesting that the main effect of cold season winds was the dilution of atmospheric aerosols. For the coarse fraction, good correlation coefficients were obtained with temperature and solar radiation (0.60 and 0.70, respectively) due to identical seasonal behavior of coarse PM and these parameters during the study period.

The Dependence of PM Size Distribution from Meteorology and Local-Regional Contributions, in Valencia (Spain) - A CWT Model Approach

“…Yet, the relationship of PM COARSE with wind speed during cold periods was non significant, while in warm seasons this correlation was significantly positive (Table 4), indicating the impact of wind blown dust (Vardoulakis and Kassomenos, 2008;Buchholz et al, 2014). This interpretation of the results is also supported by the enhancement of the positive correlation between PM COARSE and temperature levels during warm seasons: High temperatures prevailing throughout dry and sunny days, remove the soil's moisture, favoring dust resuspension (Vardoulakis and Kassomenos, 2008;Galindo et al, 2011;Mangia et al, 2011;Buchholz et al, 2014). Finally, the more frequent occurrence of Saharan dust intrusions during the warm seasons of the time interval 2010-2012 (Bilbao et al, 2014), may induce PM COARSE episodes combined with highly elevated temperatures, justifying positive correlations (Galindo et al, 2011;Mangia et al, 2011).…”

“…Moderate positive associations were computed between PM and NO 2 , whereas the relationship among PM and SO 2 was lower (Table 3). All correlations were statistically significant at the 0.01 level and thus the importance of combustion in the generation of particles was highlighted (Galindo et al, 2011;Juda-Rezler et al, 2011). In addition, higher PM-NO 2 correlations reflect the increased contribution of traffic (Beckerman et al, 2008) in the total aerosol burden in Valencia in comparison with household/industrial PM emissions.…”

“…High PM 10 (diameter less than or equal to 10μm) episodes in the area of Castello, were attributed variously to local, regional, and African dust intrusion events , whereas PM 2.5 (diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm), PM COARSE (PM 10 -PM 2.5 ) and PM 1 (diameter less than or equal to 1 μm) levels in the city of Elche, were strongly associated with traffic mainly during winter (Galindo et al, 2011). For the city of Valencia, an analysis conducted by Esteve et al (2012), showed a moderate polluted atmosphere characterized by fine particles, whereas daily variations were attributed to traffic and the evolution of the boundary layer throughout the day.…”

Sustainable urban development and industrial pollution

“…Researches impede the fact that it is difficult to identify the source of air pollution, especially in large cities (Kindap, 2008;Ricardo et al, 2004;Mazzeo and Venegas, 2004). On the other hand, the impact of weather conditions on pollution from district heating thermal power plants is addressed in a smaller number of studies (Laurikka and Koljonen, 2006;He, Ye and Zhao, 2013), while the results are often inconclusive and contradictory (Tang, Rayner and Haeger-Eugensson, 2011;Galindo, 2011;Piro et al, 2009). …”

Mortality and Morbidity Attributed to Aerosol and Gaseous Emissions from Biomass Use for Space Heating

“…PM is considered ubiquitous, since it is emitted from both biogenic and anthropogenic sources (mainly multiple combustion sources), or generated by atmospheric reactions formatting secondary aerosol. Source complexity, transport phenomena and the atmospheric chemistry result in particulate matter of different size and chemical composition (Galindo et al, 2011). Particles are found in indoor environments as well ; indoor concentrations, are affected by outdoor levels, as well as the presence of indoor emitting sources such as smoking, cooking, wood-burning appliances like wood stoves and fireplaces, especially if the smoke leaks or backdrafts into the home.…”