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: Alba López-Caravaca, Ramón Castañer, Alvaro Clemente, Eduardo Yubero, Nuria Galindo, Javier Crespo, Jose Francisco Nicolás
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Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:27222046f63e4772bce3c54f9df270672021-11-25T16:45:09ZThe Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula10.3390/atmos121114692073-4433https://doaj.org/article/27222046f63e4772bce3c54f9df270672021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/11/1469https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4433The 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.Alba López-CaravacaRamón CastañerAlvaro ClementeEduardo YuberoNuria GalindoJavier CrespoJose Francisco NicolásMDPI AGarticlePM<sub>10</sub>desert dusturban aerosoloptical propertiesMeteorology. ClimatologyQC851-999ENAtmosphere, Vol 12, Iss 1469, p 1469 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic PM<sub>10</sub>
desert dust
urban aerosol
optical properties
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
spellingShingle PM<sub>10</sub>
desert dust
urban aerosol
optical properties
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
Alba López-Caravaca
Ramón Castañer
Alvaro Clemente
Eduardo Yubero
Nuria Galindo
Javier Crespo
Jose Francisco Nicolás
The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
description 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.
format article
author Alba López-Caravaca
Ramón Castañer
Alvaro Clemente
Eduardo Yubero
Nuria Galindo
Javier Crespo
Jose Francisco Nicolás
author_facet Alba López-Caravaca
Ramón Castañer
Alvaro Clemente
Eduardo Yubero
Nuria Galindo
Javier Crespo
Jose Francisco Nicolás
author_sort Alba López-Caravaca
title The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
title_short The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
title_full The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
title_fullStr The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
title_sort impact of intense winter saharan dust events on pm and optical properties at urban sites in the southeast of the iberian peninsula
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/27222046f63e4772bce3c54f9df27067
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