1. Particulate air pollution in the heart of the European Union : lessons learned from SAFICA 2017-2018 and SAAERO 2022-2023 projects in Central and Southeast EuropeKatja Džepina, Kristina Glojek, Martin Rigler, Asta Gregorič, Matic Ivančič, Irena Ježek, Griša Močnik, 2024, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: Particularly during the cold weather season, countries of the Southeast Europe are experiencing some of the poorest air quality in the world due to the extensive use of solid fuels and old vehicle fleets. The city of Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) situated within a basin surrounded by mountains. In the winter months (domestic heating season), topography and meteorology cause the pollutants to be trapped within the city basin. Countries of the Southeast Europe lack state-of-the-art atmospheric sciences research and access to sophisticated instrumentation and methodology, despite high levels of ambient pollution and position within the European Union (EU) borders, making it imperative to understand the emission sources, processing and the adverse health effects of atmospheric aerosol pollution.
This presentation will highlight the field measurements in Central and Southeast Europe during the Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2017-2018 (SAFICA) and Sarajevo Aerosol Experiment 2022-2023 (SAAERO) projects, centered at the Sarajevo Bjelave supersite. Both projects were envisioned to produce crucial, not previously available information about aerosol emission sources and atmospheric transformations through a combination of online field and offline laboratory measurements. Online measurements during a) SAFICA and b) SAAERO included, a) black carbon, particle number and size distribution, and b) carbonaceous species, elemental composition and bulk chemical composition. SAAERO online measurements also included stationary and mobile measurements of gas- and particle-phase species on board the mobile laboratory in Sarajevo and Zenica, BiH, as well as in Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia. Finally, extended SAAERO project included measurements of black carbon at three additional urban centers: Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Belgrade, Serbia, enabling the first comparison of urban air quality in Central and Southeast Europe between two EU and two non-EU capitals.
During both projects, laboratory aerosol analyses determined aerosol bulk chemical composition, selected elements (Huremović et al., 2020; Žero et al., 2022) and molecular species (Pehnec et al., 2020). Aerosol chemical composition determined by aerosol mass spectrometry was further analyzed by Positive Matrix Factorization to separate organic aerosol into subtypes characteristic of specific sources and atmospheric processes. Aerosol oxidative potential was also determined to evaluate aerosol ability to generate reactive oxygen species. Sarajevo and Belgrade have high ambient loadings of aerosol and black carbon, indicative of strong and diverse combustion sources and a major public health hazard. Finally, aerosol surface concentrations will be discussed in the context of European air quality.
We thank Jasminka Džepina, Magee Scientific/Aerosol, TSI and Aerodyne for support. We acknowledge the contribution of the COST Action CA16109 COLOSSAL and SEE Change Net. KDž and ASHP acknowledge the grant by the Swiss NSF (Scientific Exchanges IZSEZ0_189495), KDž, GM and ASHP European Commission SAAERO grant (EU H2020 MSCA-IF 2020 #101028909), GM Slovenian ARIS grant (P1-0385), SF Croatian HRZZ grant (BiREADI IP-2018-01-3105), and AG, MR, MI, BA and IBJ Slovenian ARIS grant (L1-4386).
Pehnec, G., et al., Sci. Tot. Environ., 734, 139414, 2020.
Huremović, J., et al., Air Qual. Atmos. Health, 13, 965–976, 2020.
Žero, S., Žužul, S., et al., Environ. Sci. Technol., 56, 7052−7062, 2022. Keywords: air pollution, sources of pollution, PMF Published in RUNG: 18.03.2024; Views: 160; Downloads: 2 Full text (314,28 KB) This document has many files! More... |
2. Contribution of black carbon and desert dust to aerosol absorption in the atmosphere of the Eastern Arabian PeninsulaMohamed M. K. Mahfouz, Gregor Skok, Jean Sciare, Michael Pikridas, M. R. Alfarra, Shamjad Moosakutty, Bálint Alföldy, Matic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, Asta Gregorič, Rok Podlipec, Griša Močnik, 2024, original scientific article Abstract: Discriminating the absorption coefficients of aerosol mineral dust and black carbon (BC) in different aerosol size fractions is a challenge because of BC's large mass absorption cross-section compared to dust. Ambient aerosol wavelength dependent absorption coefficients in supermicron and submicron size fractions were determined with a high time resolution. The measurements were performed simultaneously using identical systems at an urban and a regional background site in Qatar. At each site, measurements were taken by co-located Aethalometers, one with a virtual impactor (VI) and the other with a PM1 cyclone to respectively collect super-micron-enhanced and submicron fractions. The combined measurement of aerosol absorption and scattering coefficients enabled the particles to be classified based on their optical properties' wavelength dependence. The classification reveals the presence of BC internally/externally mixed with different aerosols. Helium ion microscopy images provided information concerning the extent of mineral dust in the submicron fraction. The determination of absorption coefficients during dust storms and non-dust periods was used to establish the absorption Ångström exponent for dust and BC. Non-parametric wind regression, potential source contribution function and back-trajectory analysis reveal major regional sources of desert dust associated with north-westerly winds and a minor local dust contribution. In contrast, major BC sources found locally were associated with south-westerly winds with a smaller contribution made by offshore emissions transported by north-easterly and easterly winds. The use of a pair of Aethalometers with VI and PM1 inlets separates contributions of BC and dust to the aerosol absorption coefficient. Keywords: aerosol absorption, black carbon, mineral dust, desert dust, Arabian Peninsula Published in RUNG: 29.02.2024; Views: 244; Downloads: 3 Full text (3,52 MB) This document has many files! More... |
3. A device and a method for complete carbonaceous aerosol analysis in real time : European patent application EP4033242A1, 25. 8. 2021Asta Gregorič, Matic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, 2022, patent application Abstract: The present invention belongs to the field of methods and devices for analysing materials by determining their chemical or physical properties by the use of thermos-optical means. The invention relates to a device and a method for complete carbonaceous aerosol analysis in real time, which is essentially a system combining two different instruments, wherein the first instrument measures total carbon (TC) using flash heating of collected aerosol samples and generation of CO2, while the second instrument performs an optical attenuation analysis at 7 wavelengths from near UV (370 nm) to near IR range (950 nm) in order to characterize a Black Carbon (BC/EC) aerosols accumulated on a glass-fiber/PTFE filter tape. The device, i.e., the system of said instruments, collects and processes collected data of both instruments, wherein said processing may be performed by any of the instruments or by a separate processing means, computer or computer application. Keywords: carbonaceous aerosol, black carbon, total carbon, brown carbon Published in RUNG: 02.02.2024; Views: 321; Downloads: 5 Full text (4,44 MB) This document has many files! More... |
4. Towards a better understanding of fine PM sources : online and offline datasets combination in a single PMFMarta Via, Jesús Yus-Díez, Francesco Canonaco, Jean-Eudes Petit, Philip Hopke, Cristina Reche, Marco Pandolfi, Matic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, Andre S. H. Prevot, 2023, original scientific article Keywords: multi-time resolution, source apportionment, submicronic particulate matter, positive matrix factorisation, PMF, multilinear engine, SoFi, ME2, organic sources, metals Published in RUNG: 24.10.2023; Views: 565; Downloads: 5 Full text (3,23 MB) This document has many files! More... |
5. Highly time-resolved apportionment of carbonaceous aerosols from wildfire using the TC-BC method : camp fire 2018 case studyMatic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, Bálint Alföldy, Gašper Lavrič, Irena Ježek, Asta Gregorič, 2023, original scientific article Keywords: black carbon, brown carbon, carbonaceous aerosol, wildfire, air quality, CASS Published in RUNG: 06.06.2023; Views: 1017; Downloads: 10 Full text (18,34 MB) This document has many files! More... |
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7. Two-year-long high-time-resolution apportionment of primary and secondary carbonaceous aerosols in the Los Angeles Basin using an advanced total carbon–black carbon (TC-BC([lambda])) methodMatic Ivančič, Asta Gregorič, Gašper Lavrič Palancsai, Bálint Alföldy, Irena Ježek, Sina Hasheminassab, Payam Pakbin, Faraz Ahangar, Mohammad Sowlat, Steven Boddeker, Martin Rigler, 2022, original scientific article Keywords: carbonaceous aerosols, black carbon, brown carbon, Carbonaceous Aerosol Speciation System Published in RUNG: 04.08.2022; Views: 1342; Downloads: 8 Link to full text This document has many files! More... |
8. Detection of mineral dust concentration in Mediterranean and Central Europe by measuring optical absorption of dust particlesMatic Ivančič, Irena Ježek, Martin Rigler, Asta Gregorič, Balint Alfoldy, Luka Drinovec, JEAN SCIARE, Michael Pikridas, FLORIN UNGA, Andrés Alastuey, Marco Pandolfi, Jesús Yus-Díez, Griša Močnik, 2020, unpublished conference contribution Keywords: mineral dust, optical absorption, virtual impactor Published in RUNG: 22.11.2021; Views: 1794; Downloads: 0 This document has many files! More... |
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10. Determination of high-time resolution mineral dust concentration in real-time by optical absorption measurementsMatic Ivančič, Irena Ježek, Martin Rigler, Asta Gregorič, Bálint Alföldy, Rok Podlipec, Luka Drinovec, Griša Močnik, 2021, published scientific conference contribution abstract Keywords: mineral dust, concentration, aerosols, air quality Published in RUNG: 17.11.2021; Views: 1625; Downloads: 9 Link to full text This document has many files! More... |