The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
The influence of three Saharan dust events (SDE) on particulate matter (PM) concentrations and aerosol optical properties (AOP) during February 2021 was studied. The physical characteristics of the African aerosol were different for each episode. Therefore, the impacts of the three events on PM and...
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/27222046f63e4772bce3c54f9df27067 |
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| Sumario: | The influence of three Saharan dust events (SDE) on particulate matter (PM) concentrations and aerosol optical properties (AOP) during February 2021 was studied. The physical characteristics of the African aerosol were different for each episode. Therefore, the impacts of the three events on PM and AOP were analyzed separately. The monitoring sites were placed in Elche, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The sites can be classified as urban background locations. The procedure used to obtain the contribution of SDE to PM<sub>10</sub> mass concentrations was the 40th percentile method. Nearly half of the days during the study period were under the influence of Saharan air masses. The average contribution of mineral dust (MD) to the PM<sub>10</sub> mean concentration was ~50%, which was the highest contribution during the month of February in the last 14 years. The results show that those events characterized by a high input of fine particles (PM<sub>1</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub>) caused larger increases in the absorption (σ<sub>ap</sub>) and scattering (σ<sub>sp</sub>) coefficients than SDE in which coarse particles predominated. Nevertheless, as expected, SAE (Scattering Angström Exponent) values were lowest during these episodes. AAE (Absorption Angström Exponent) values during SDE were slightly higher than those observed in the absence of African dust, suggesting some contribution from MD to the absorption process. |
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