Fine and ultrafine particles in small cities. A case study in the south of Europe

Aranda, A.; Díaz-de-Mera, Y.; Notario, A.; Rodríguez, D.; Fernandez, Aurelio Rodriguez

Fine and ultrafine particles in small cities. A case study in the south of Europe

2015

Aranda, A. | Díaz-de-Mera, Y. | Notario, A. | Rodríguez, D. | Fernandez, Aurelio Rodriguez

Ultrafine particles, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ mass concentration, NOₓ, Ozone, SO₂, back-trajectories of air masses and meteorological parameters were studied in a small city over the period February, 2013 to June, 2014. The profiles of PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ particles are provided, showing averaged values of 16.6 and 21.6 μg m⁻³, respectively. The average number concentration of particles in the range of diameters 5.6–560 nm was 1.2 × 10⁴#/ cm³ with contributions of 42, 51 and 7 % from the nucleation, Aitken, and accumulation modes, respectively. The average number concentration of ultrafine particles was 1.1 × 10⁴#/ cm³. The results obtained are evidence for some differences in the pollution of ambient air by particles in the studied town in comparison to bigger cities. Nucleation events due to emissions from the city were not observed, and traffic emissions amount to a small contribution to PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ particles which are mainly due to crustal origin from the arid surroundings and long-range transport from the Sahara Desert.

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