Browsing by Author "Preunkert, Susanne"
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- Climatology of aerosol composition (organic versus inorganic) at nonurban sites on a west-east transect across EuropePublication . Pio, Casimiro; Legrand, Michel; Oliveira, Tiago S.; Afonso, Joana; Santos, C.; Caseiro, A.; Fialho, Paulo; Barata, Filipe; Puxbaum, Hans; Sanchez-Ochoa, A.; Kasper-Giebl, Anne; Gelencsér, András; Preunkert, Susanne; Schock, M.In the framework of the European CARBOSOL project (Present and Retrospective State of Organic versus Inorganic Aerosol over Europe: Implications for Climate), atmospheric aerosol was continuously sampled for 2 years at six sites along a west-east transect extending from Azores, in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, to K-Puszta (Hungary), in central Europe. Aerosols were analyzed for ²¹°Pb, inorganic ions, elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon, water soluble organic carbon (WSOC), macromolecular type (humic-like) organic substances (HULIS), C2–C5 diacids, cellulose, and levoglucosan. Pooled aerosol filters were also used for the identification of different families of organic compounds by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, GC/MS, as well as 14C determinations. The data resulted in a climatological overview of the aerosol composition over Europe in the various seasons, from west to east, and from the boundary layer to the free troposphere. The paper first summarizes the characteristics of the sites and collected samples and then focuses on the aerosol mass partitioning (mass closure, inorganic versus organic, EC versus OC, water soluble versus insoluble OC), giving an insight on the sources of carbonaceous aerosol present in rural and natural background areas in Europe. It also introduces the main role of other companion papers dealing with CARBOSOL aerosol data that are also presented in this issue.
- Particulate carbon in precipitation at European background sitesPublication . Cerqueira, Mário; Pio, Casimiro; Legrand, Michel; Puxbaum, Hans; Kasper-Giebl, Anne; Afonso, Joana; Preunkert, Susanne; Gelencsér, András; Fialho, PauloThe particulate carbon content of precipitation was investigated in samples collected at five background sites located over a west-east European transect, from the Azores, in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, to the Hungarian plain, in central Europe. Sampling was performed on an event basis and the particulate carbon (elemental carbon, EC, and water insoluble organic carbon, WIOC) content was concentrated on quartz filters for the subsequent analysis by a thermal optical method in order to separate the EC and WIOC fractions. The average EC concentrations range from low values at the Azores (2.8±4.3 μg C L−1) and at the high mountain site of Sonnblick (5.2±3.7 μg C L−1) to high values at the more inland sites of Schauinsland (28±38 μg C L−1) and K-Puszta (24±24 μg C L−1). The average WIOC concentrations range from 98±56 μg C L−1 at the coastal site of Aveiro and 113±78 μg C L−1 at the Azores to 358±194 μg C L−1 at the continental site of K-Puszta. These results are discussed in terms of factors affecting the spatial distribution of particulate carbon, such as emissions from surrounding areas and prevalent meteorological conditions. EC is found to be a minor contributor to total particulate carbon present in rain and snow samples (from 2.5% to 15%). This is particularly true at the remotes sites, where the EC contribution to total particulate carbon is <6.5%, consistent with a negligible impact of anthropogenic combustions locally. The EC and WIOC scavenging ratios were estimated and compared with those of sulfate, also evaluated at the same sampling sites. The results indicated that EC is removed from the atmosphere by wet deposition less efficiently than WIOC, and in turn this species is removed less efficiently than sulfate.