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Abstract: Vipava valley in Slovenia is a representative hot-spot for complex mixtures of different aerosol types of both anthropogenic and natural origin. Aerosol loading distributions and optical properties were investigated using a two-wavelength polarization Raman LiDAR, which provided extinction coefficient, backscatter coefficient, depolarization ratio, backscatter Ångström exponent and LiDAR ratio profiles. Two different representative meteorological situations were investigated to explore the possibility of identifying aerosol types present in the valley. In the first case, we investigated the effect of strong downslope (Bora) wind on aerosol structures and characteristics. In addition to observing Kelvin–Helmholtz instability above the valley, at the height of the adjacent mountain ridge, we found new evidence for Bora-induced processes which inject soil dust aerosols into the free troposphere up to twice the height of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). In the second case, we investigated aerosol properties and distributions in stable weather conditions. From the observed stratified vertical aerosol structure and specific optical properties of different layers we identified predominant aerosol types in these layers.
Keywords: aerosol structures, aerosol characterization, polarization Raman LiDAR, Vipava valley
Published in RUNG: 08.03.2019; Views: 3923; Downloads: 118
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Abstract: From August to October 2010 lidar measurements of aerosols in the troposphere were performed at Otlica observatory, Slovenia, using a vertical scanning elastic lidar. The lidar data sample, which contains 38 nighttime vertical profiles of the mean aerosol extinction, was combined with continuous ozone concen- tration (O3), particulate matter concentrations (PM) and daily radiosonde data. The obtained radiosonde- and lidar-derived heights of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), which varied considerably from day to day, were found to be in good agreement. The mean values of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 355 nm, were calculated separately for the ABL and for the free troposphere (FT). A ten-fold increase of the FT AOD was observed during the days with predicted presence of Saharan dust above the lidar site. To correlate AOD values with the type and origin of aerosols, backward trajectories of air-masses above Otlica were modeled using the HYSPLIT model and clustered. High ABL AOD values were found to be correlated with local circulations and slowly approaching air masses from the Balkans and low values with northwestern flows. The highest values correlated with southwestern flows originating in northern Africa.
Keywords: Aerosol, Optical depth, Lidar, Atmospheric boundary layer
Published in RUNG: 22.02.2019; Views: 3857; Downloads: 0
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Abstract: Aerosol vertical profiles are valuable inputs for the evaluation of aerosol transport models, in order to improve the understanding of aerosol pollution ventilation processes which drive the dispersion of pollutants in mountainous regions. With the aim of providing high-accuracy vertical distributions of particle mass concentration for the study of aerosol dispersion in small-scale valleys, vertical profiles of aerosol mass concentration for aerosols from different sources (including Saharan dust and local biomass burning events) were investigated over the Vipava valley, Slovenia, a representative hot-spot for complex mixtures of different aerosol types of both anthropogenic and natural origin. The analysis was based on datasets taken between 1–30 April 2016. In-situ measurements of aerosol size, absorption, and mass concentration were combined with lidar remote sensing, where vertical profiles of aerosol concentration were retrieved. Aerosol samples were characterized by SEM-EDX, to obtain aerosol morphology and chemical composition. Two cases with expected dominant presence of different specific aerosol types (mineral dust and biomass-burning aerosols) show significantly different aerosol properties and distributions within the valley. In the mineral dust case, we observed a decrease of the elevated aerosol layer height and subsequent spreading of mineral dust within the valley, while in the biomass-burning case we observed the lifting of aerosols above the planetary boundary layer (PBL). All uncertainties of size and assumed optical properties, combined, amount to the total uncertainty of aerosol mass concentrations below 30% within the valley. We have also identified the most indicative in-situ parameters for identification of aerosol type.
Keywords: valley air pollution, aerosol vertical distributions, lidar remote sensing, in-situ measurements, aerosol identification
Published in RUNG: 09.01.2019; Views: 4247; Downloads: 113
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Abstract: The aim of the dissertation was to study aerosol loading distributions and properties over the Vipava valley, a representative hot-spot for complex mixtures of different aerosol types of both anthropogenic and natural origin. An infrared Mie and a two-wavelength polarization Raman lidar systems were used as main detection tools. The polarization Raman lidar, which provides the capability to extract the extinction coefficient, backscatter coefficients, depolarization ratio, backscatter Ångström exponent, lidar ratio and water vapor mixing ratio profiles, was itself designed, built and calibrated as a part of this thesis. Lidar data, combined with in-situ measurements, was used to determine detailed information on different aerosol types. Vertical profiles of aerosol mass concentration were extracted from the Mie lidar data taken in April 2016, where the in-situ measurements of aerosol size distribution and number concentration as well as aerosol absorption coefficient and black carbon mass concentration were used to estimate the mass extinction efficiency (MEE). Aerosol morphology and chemical composition determined by SEM-EDX on sampled particles were used for the identification of primary aerosol types. Two cases with different atmospheric conditions (long range mineral dust transport and local biomass burning) and different expected the dominant presence of specific aerosol types (mineral dust and soot) were investigated in more detail. They revealed significantly different aerosol properties and distributions within the valley, affecting radiative heat exchange. A more detailed investigation of aerosol properties throughout the troposphere in different atmospheric conditions was made possible by the two-wavelength polarization Raman lidar system, deployed in Ajdovščina (town of Vipava valley) from September 2017. Using its aerosol identification capabilities, based on particle depolarization ratio and lidar ratio measurements, it was possible to identify predominant aerosol types in the observed atmospheric structures, for example in different atmospheric layers in the case of the stratified atmosphere. Primary anthropogenic aerosols within the valley were found to be mainly emitted from two sources: individual domestic heating systems, which mostly use biomass fuel and traffic. Natural aerosols, transported over large distances, such as mineral dust and sea salt, were observed both above and entering into the planetary boundary layer. Backscatter contribution of each aerosol type was separated and the corresponding extinction contribution was derived from lidar observations.
Keywords: Vipava valley, aerosol distribution, aerosol characterization, lidar remote sensing, in-situ measurements, aerosol loading.
Published in RUNG: 23.10.2018; Views: 7393; Downloads: 157
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Abstract: Ste se kdaj spraševali, zakaj je burja pri nas najmočnejša prav v Vipavski dolini? "Kriva" je pravzaprav reliefna slika Vipavske doline: burja je namreč pojav, ki nastane na zavetrni strani gorskih verig, kjer zaradi toka hladnega zraka čez oviro nastanejo močni pobočni vetrovi. Pojav je povezan s prisotnostjo toplih zračnih mas v nižinah JZ Slovenije in stabilnih hladnih zračnih mas nad osrednjo Slovenijo, ki se ob gorski pregradi prelivajo v dolino. Razgiban relief JZ Slovenije, ki se v manj kot tridesetih kilometrih preko Kraške planote in Vipavske doline dvigne na planoto Trnovskega gozda tudi s 1500 m nadmorske višine namreč omogoča razvoj burje v Vipavski dolini, katere poglavitna značilnost so močni sunki.
Keywords: burja, daljinsko zaznavanje, lidar, Vipavska dolina
Published in RUNG: 05.03.2018; Views: 4942; Downloads: 0
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