1. Integrating in situ measurements and city scale modelling to assess the COVID–19 lockdown effects on emissions and air quality in Athens, GreeceGeorgios Grivas, Eleni Athanasopoulou, Anastasia Kakouri, Jennifer Bailey, Eleni Liakakou, Iasonas Stavroulas, Panayiotis Kalkavouras, Aikaterini Bougiatioti, Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis, Michel Ramonet, 2020, original scientific article Abstract: The lockdown measures implemented worldwide to slow the spread of the COVID–19 pandemic have allowed for a unique real-world experiment, regarding the impacts of drastic emission cutbacks on urban air quality. In this study we assess the effects of a 7-week (23 March–10 May 2020) lockdown in the Greater Area of Athens, coupling in situ observations with estimations from a meteorology-atmospheric chemistry model. Measurements in central Athens during the lockdown were compared with levels during the pre- and post-lockdown 3-week periods and with respective levels in the four previous years. We examined regulatory pollutants as well as CO2, black carbon (BC) and source-specific BC components. Models were run for pre-lockdown and lockdown periods, under baseline and reduced-emissions scenarios. The in-situ results indicate mean concentration reductions of 30–35% for traffic-related pollutants in Athens (NO2, CO, BC from fossil fuel combustion), compared to the pre-lockdown period. A large reduction (53%) was observed also for the urban CO2 enhancement while the reduction for PM2.5 was subtler (18%). Significant reductions were also observed when comparing the 2020 lockdown period with past years. However, levels rebounded immediately following the lift of the general lockdown. The decrease in measured NO2 concentrations was reproduced by the implementation of the city scale model, under a realistic reduced-emissions scenario for the lockdown period, anchored at a 46% decline of road transport activity. The model permitted the assessment of air quality improvements on a spatial scale, indicating that NO2 mean concentration reductions in areas of the Athens basin reached up to 50%. The findings suggest a potential for local traffic management strategies to reduce ambient exposure and to minimize exceedances of air quality standards for primary pollutants.
Keywords: pandemic, urban air pollution, traffic, chemical transport model, TAPM, mapping
Published in RUNG: 10.05.2024; Views: 144; Downloads: 2
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2. Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2018 (SAFICA) : aerosol source apportionment and oxidative potential in a global hotspotKatja Džepina, Griša Močnik, 2021, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: Nowadays, urban centres in countries of the Western Balkan (e.g., Bosnia and Herzegovina, B&H) are experiencing some of the poorest air quality worldwide due to the extensive use of solid fuels and an old vehicle fleet. Western Balkan countries lack state-of-the-science atmospheric research despite high levels of ambient pollution, making the efforts to understand the mechanisms of their air pollution imperative. Sarajevo, the capital of B&H, is situated in a basin surrounded by mountains. During the winter months, topography and meteorology cause significant pollution episodes.
The Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2018 (SAFICA) took place from Dec 04, 2017 to Mar 15, 2018 with online aerosol measurements and collection of daily, continuous filter PM10 samples for offline laboratory analyses. SAFICA aimed to give the first detailed characterization of the Western Balkans aerosol composition including organic aerosol (OA) to elucidate aerosol emission sources and atmospheric processing and to estimate the adverse health effects. PM10 samples (ntotal=180) were collected at four sites in the Sarajevo Canton: a) Bjelave and b) Pofalići (both urban background); c) Otoka (urban); d) Ivan Sedlo (remote). The urban sites were distributed along the city basin to study the pollutants’ urban evolution and the remote site was chosen to compare urban to background air masses.
SAFICA PM10 samples underwent the following offline laboratory chemical analyses: 1) Bulk chemical composition of the total filter-collected water-soluble inorganic and OA by a high-resolution Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS). The measured AMS OA spectra were further analysed by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) using the graphical user interface SoFi (Source Finder) to separate OA into subtypes characteristic for OA sources and atmospheric processes. 2) Organic and elemental carbon, water-soluble organic carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (11), levoglucosan, organic acids (16) and 14C total carbon content to evaluate OA chemical composition. 3) Major inorganic anions and cations to evaluate aerosol inorganic species. 4) Aerosol metal content determined by three techniques (AAS, ICP-MS and EESI). 5) Aerosol oxidative potential (OP) by two methods (AA and DTT) to evaluate the ability of particles to generate adverse health effects causing reactive oxygen species. SAFICA online measurements of black carbon (Aethalometer) and the particle number conc. (CPC and OPS) enabled the insights into the daily evolution of primary pollutants and an assessment of aerosol size and number distribution.
The combined SAFICA results for field and lab measurements will be presented. Our results show that carbonaceous aerosols make ~2/3 of PM10 mass and the majority are oxygenated, water-soluble OA species with an average OM/OC = 1.9 (Fig.1). Absolute OP levels are very high compared to other sites globally. However, more work is needed to estimate the contributions of different aerosol sources and species to total aerosol OP. Urban air pollution crises in the Western Balkan will be put in the context of local, regional and global air quality. Finally, we will present the scientific questions opened by SAFICA and give suggestions for future studies.
Keywords: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, urban air pollution, PM10, PM2.5
Published in RUNG: 03.09.2021; Views: 2093; Downloads: 47
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3. Chemical characterization of atmospheric aerosols in the Sarajevo Canton : results of 2017-2018 Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign (SAFICA)Katja Džepina, 2018, published scientific conference contribution abstract (invited lecture) Abstract: The World Health Organization (WHO) identified air pollution as the world’s largest single environmental health risk causing seven million deaths per year, one in eight deaths globally. Of particular concern are heavily polluted and understudied urban centres: while thousands of scientific papers have been published on air quality of the cities such as London, UK and Los Angeles, USA, only 41 papers exist on the top 10 globally most polluted cities. Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), is one of urban centres which often experiences low air quality due to the extensive use of non-renewable energy sources and geographical location. For example, in Sarajevo during 2010, an annual average concentration of particulate matter (PM) with a diameter smaller than 10 µm (PM10) was 50 µg/m3, a value 2.5x higer than the recommended WHO guidelines value of 20 µg/m3.
Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2017-2018 (SAFICA) took place in the Sarajevo Canton during the cold winter season of 2017 – 2018 (Dec 4, 2017 – Mar 15, 2018), the period historically characterized with the lowest air quality according to the available data. SAFICA project was lead by Federal hydrometeorological Institute of B&H, Institute of Public Health of the Sarajevo Canton, University of Sarajevo and University of Rijeka, and field measurements took place at three urban locations within the city of Sarajevo (Otoka, Pofalići i Bjelave) i one remote location (Ivan Sedlo mountain ridge).
In this presentation, the basics of anthropogenic air pollution and its global influece on the air quality will be explained. Particular attention will be given to the atmospheric PM or aerosols, and aerosols formation mechanisms and the importance of their characteristics such as atmospheric concentration, size and chemical composition will be explained. Also, the reasons for the adverse effects of aerosols on human health and the correlation of atmospheric fine PM (PM2.5) concentrations and human mortality will be explained. Finally, preliminary results of SAFICA measurements campaign will be presented and compared with those from other global urban centers.
Keywords: atmospheric aerosol, Sarajevo, urban air pollution, SAFICA 2018
Published in RUNG: 26.05.2021; Views: 2392; Downloads: 0
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4. Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2018 : particulate air pollution in a global hotspotKatja Džepina, Vaios Moschos, Anna Tobler, Francesco Canonaco, Deepika Bhattu, Roberto Casotto, Athanasia Vlachou, Jasna Huremović, Sabina Žero, Griša Močnik, 2020, published scientific conference contribution abstract Abstract: Nowadays, urban centres in countries of the Western Balkan region (including Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H)) are experiencing some of the poorest European and global air quality due to the extensive use of solid fuels (e.g., wood, coal) and old vehicle fleet. Western Balkan countries lack state-of-the-art atmospheric sciences research despite high levels of ambient pollution, which makes the efforts to understand the mechanisms of their air pollution imperative. The city of Sarajevo, the capital of B&H, is situated in a basin surrounded by mountains. Particularly during the winter months, topography and meteorology cause significant pollution episodes.
The Sarajevo Canton Winter Field Campaign 2018 (SAFICA) took place from Dec 04, 2017 to Mar 15, 2018 with on-line aerosol measurements and collection of daily, continuous filter PM10 samples for off-line laboratory analyses. SAFICA aimed to give the first detailed characterization of the Western Balkans aerosol composition including organic aerosol (OA) to elucidate aerosol emission sources and atmospheric processing and to estimate the adverse health effects. PM10 samples (ntotal=180) were collected at four sites in the Sarajevo Canton: a) Bjelave and b) Pofalići (urban background); c) Otoka (urban); d) Ivan Sedlo (remote). The urban sites were distributed along the city basin to study the pollutants’ urban evolution and the remote site was chosen to compare urban to background air masses.
SAFICA PM10 samples underwent different off-line laboratory chemical analyses: 1) Bulk chemical composition of the total filter-collected water-soluble inorganic and OA by a high-resolution Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS). The measured AMS OA spectra were further analysed by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) using the graphical user interface SoFi (Source Finder) to separate OA into subtypes characteristic for OA sources and atmospheric processes. 2) Organic and elemental carbon (OC/EC), water-soluble organic carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, levoglucosan, and 14C content of total carbon to evaluate OA chemical composition. 3) Major inorganic anions and cations to evaluate aerosol inorganic species. 4) Metal content in aerosol determined by two analytical techniques (AAS and ICP-MS). SAFICA on-line measurements of black carbon (Aethalometer) and the particle number concentration (Condensation Particle Counter and Optical Particle Sizer) enabled the insights into the daily evolution of primary pollutants and an assessment of aerosol size and number distribution.
The combined SAFICA results for on- and off-line measurements will be presented. Our results show that the carbon-containing species make ~2/3 of PM10 mass and the majority are oxygenated, water-soluble OA species with an average OM/OC = 1.9 (Fig.1). Urban air pollution crises in the Western Balkan will be put in the context of local, regional and global air quality. Finally, we will present the scientific questions opened by SAFICA, including the advantages and limitations of SAFICA data set, and give the recommendations for future studies.
Keywords: Sarajevo, urban air pollution, PM10, PM2.5
Published in RUNG: 26.05.2021; Views: 2629; Downloads: 20
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