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    Diurnal variations of ambient particulate wood burning emissions and their contribution to the concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Seiffen, Germany
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2011) Poulain, L.; Iinuma, Y.; Müller, K.; Birmili, W.; Weinhold, K.; Brüggemann, E.; Gnauk, T.; Hausmann, A.; Löschau, G.; Wiedensohler, A.; Herrmann, H.
    Residential wood burning is becoming an increasingly important cause of air quality problems since it has become a popular source of alternative energy to fossil fuel. In order to characterize the contribution of residential wood burning to local particle pollution, a field campaign was organized at the village of Seiffen (Saxony, Germany). During this campaign, an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) was deployed in parallel to a PM1 high volume filter sampler. The AMS mass spectra were analyzed using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) to obtain detailed information about the organic aerosol (OA). Biomass-burning organic aerosol (BBOA), Hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA), and Oxygenated Organic Aerosol (OOA) were identified and represented 20%, 17% and 62% of total OA, respectively. Additionally, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) were measured by the AMS with an average concentration of 10 ng m−3 and short term events of extremely high PAH concentration (up to 500 ng m−3) compared to the mean PAH value were observed during the whole measurement period. A comparison with the results from PM1 filter samples showed that the BBOA factor and the AMS PAH are good indicators of the total concentration of the different monosaccharide anhydrides and PAH measured on the filter samples. Based on its low correlation with CO and the low car traffic, the HOA factor was considered to be related to residential heating using liquid fuel. An influence of the time of the week (week vs. weekend) on the diurnal profiles of the different OA components was observed. The weekdays were characterized by two maxima; a first one early in the morning and a stronger one in the evening. During the weekend days, the different OA components principally reached only one maximum in the afternoon. Finally, the PAH emitted directly from residential wood combustion was estimated to represent 1.5% of the total mass of the BBOA factor and around 62% of the total PAH concentration measured at Seiffen. This result highlights the important contribution of residential wood combustion to air quality and PAH emissions at the sampling place, which might have a significant impact on human health. Moreover, it also emphasizes the need for a better time resolution of the chemical characterization of toxic particulate compounds in order to provide more information on variations of the different sources through the days as well as to better estimate the real human exposure.
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    Size-resolved and bulk activation properties of aerosols in the North China Plain
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2011) Deng, Z.Z.; Zhao, C.S.; Ma, N.; Liu, P.F.; Ran, L.; Xu, W.Y.; Chen, J.; Liang, Z.; Liang, S.; Huang, M.Y.; Ma, X.C.; Zhang, Q.; Quan, J.N.; Yan, P.; Henning, S.; Mildenberger, K.; Sommerhage, E.; Schäfer, M.; Stratmann, F.; Wiedensohler, A.
    Size-resolved and bulk activation properties of aerosols were measured at a regional/suburban site in the North China Plain (NCP), which is occasionally heavily polluted by anthropogenic aerosol particles and gases. A Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN) closure study is conducted with bulk CCN number concentration (NCCN) and calculated CCN number concentration based on the aerosol number size distribution and size-resolved activation properties. The observed CCN number concentration (NCCN-obs) are higher than those observed in other locations than China, with average NCCN-obs of roughly 2000, 3000, 6000, 10 000 and 13 000 cm−3 at supersaturations of 0.056, 0.083, 0.17, 0.35 and 0.70%, respectively. An inferred critical dry diameter (Dm) is calculated based on the NCCN-obs and aerosol number size distribution assuming homogeneous chemical composition. The inferred cut-off diameters are in the ranges of 190–280, 160–260, 95–180, 65–120 and 50–100 nm at supersaturations of 0.056, 0.083, 0.17, 0.35 and 0.7%, with their mean values 230.1, 198.4, 128.4, 86.4 and 69.2 nm, respectively. Size-resolved activation measurements show that most of the 300 nm particles are activated at the investigated supersaturations, while almost no particles of 30 nm are activated even at the highest supersaturation of 0.72%. The activation ratio increases with increasing supersaturation and particle size. The slopes of the activation curves for ambient aerosols are not as steep as those observed in calibrations with ammonium sulfate suggesting that the observed aerosols is an external mixture of more hygroscopic and hydrophobic particles. The calculated CCN number concentrations (NCCN-calc) based on the size-resolved activation ratio and aerosol number size distribution correlate well with the NCCN-obs, and show an average overestimation of 19%. Sensitivity studies of the CCN closure show that the NCCN at each supersaturation is well predicted with the campaign average of size-resolved activation curves. These results indicate that the aerosol number size distribution is critical in the prediction of possible CCN. The CCN number concentration can be reliably estimated using time-averaged, size-resolved activation efficiencies without accounting for the temporal variations.
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    Hygroscopic properties of the Paris urban aerosol in relation to its chemical composition
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2014) Kamilli, K.A.; Poulain, L.; Held, A.; Nowak, A.; Birmili, W.; Wiedensohler, A.
    Aerosol hygroscopic growth factors and chemical properties were measured as part of the MEGAPOLI "Megacities Plume Case Study" at the urban site Laboratoire d'Hygiène de la Ville de Paris (LHVP) in the city center of Paris from June to August 2009, and from January to February 2010. Descriptive hygroscopic growth factors (DGF) were derived in the diameter range from 25 to 350 nm at relative humidities of 30, 55, 75, and 90% by applying the summation method on humidified and dry aerosol size distributions measured simultaneously with a humidified differential mobility particle sizer (HDMPS) and a twin differential mobility particle sizer (TDMPS). For 90% relative humidity, the DGF varied from 1.06 to 1.46 in summer, and from 1.06 to 1.66 in winter. Temporal variations in the observed mean DGF could be well explained with a simple growth model based on the aerosol chemical composition measured by aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) and black carbon photometry (MAAP). In particular, good agreement was observed when sulfate was the predominant inorganic factor. A clear overestimation of the predicted growth factor was found when the nitrate mass concentration exceeded values of 10 μg m−3, e.g., during winter.
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    Size distribution, mass concentration, chemical and mineralogical composition and derived optical parameters of the boundary layer aerosol at Tinfou, Morocco, during SAMUM 2006
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Kandler, K.; Schütz, L.; Deutscher, C.; Ebert, M.; Hofmann, H.; Jäckel, S.; Jaenicke, R.; Knippertz, P.; Lieke, K.; Massling, A.; Petzold, A.; Schladitz, A.; Weinzierl, B.; Wiedensohler, A.; Zorn, S.; Weinbruch, S.
    During the SAMUM 2006 field campaign in southern Morocco, physical and chemical properties of desert aerosols were measured. Mass concentrations ranging from 30μgm−3 for PM2.5 under desert background conditions up to 300 000μgm−3 for total suspended particles (TSP) during moderate dust storms were measured. TSP dust concentrations are correlated with the local wind speed, whereasPM10 andPM2.5 concentrations are determined by advection from distant sources. Size distributions were measured for particles with diameter between 20 nm and 500μm (parametrizations are given). Two major regimes of the size spectrum can be distinguished. For particles smaller than 500 nm diameter, the distributions show maxima around 80 nm, widely unaffected of varying meteorological and dust emission conditions. For particles larger than 500 nm, the range of variation may be up to one order of magnitude and up to three orders of magnitude for particles larger than 10μm. The mineralogical composition of aerosol bulk samples was measured by X-ray powder diffraction. Major constituents of the aerosol are quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase, calcite, hematite and the clay minerals illite, kaolinite and chlorite. A small temporal variability of the bulk mineralogical composition was encountered. The chemical composition of approximately 74 000 particles was determined by electron microscopic single particle analysis. Three size regimes are identified: for smaller than 500 nm in diameter, the aerosol consists of sulphates and mineral dust. For larger than 500 nm up to 50μm, mineral dust dominates, consisting mainly of silicates, and—to a lesser extent—carbonates and quartz. For diameters larger than 50μm, approximately half of the particles consist of quartz. Time series of the elemental composition show a moderate temporal variability of the major compounds. Calcium-dominated particles are enhanced during advection from a prominent dust source in Northern Africa (Chott El Djerid and surroundings). The particle aspect ratio was measured for all analysed particles. Its size dependence reflects that of the chemical composition. For larger than 500 nm particle diameter, a median aspect ratio of 1.6 is measured. Towards smaller particles, it decreases to about 1.3 (parametrizations are given). From the chemical/mineralogical composition, the aerosol complex refractive index was determined for several wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared. Both real and imaginary parts show lower values for particles smaller than 500 nm in diameter (1.55–2.8 × 10−3i at 530 nm) and slightly higher values for larger particles (1.57–3.7 × 10−3i at 530 nm).