Photochemical reaction playing a key role in particulate matter pollution over Central France: Insight from the aerosol optical properties

Atmospheric particle is one of the major air pollutants, and believed to be important for air quality, radiative forcing and climate. Measurements of aerosol optical properties, size distribution and PM10 concentration were conducted at Orleans, central France during spring (7 March to 25 April) and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Science of the total environment 2019-03, Vol.657, p.1074-1084
Main Authors: Hu, Dawei, Chen, Ying, Wang, Yu, Daële, Véronique, Idir, Mahmoud, Yu, Chenjie, Wang, Jinhe, Mellouki, Abdelwahid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Environmental Sciences
Optical properties
Orleans-France
Photochemical reactions
Sciences of the Universe
Secondary formation
Size distribution
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Summary:Atmospheric particle is one of the major air pollutants, and believed to be important for air quality, radiative forcing and climate. Measurements of aerosol optical properties, size distribution and PM10 concentration were conducted at Orleans, central France during spring (7 March to 25 April) and autumn (25 October to 5 December) 2013. The average values of aerosol scattering coefficient (bsca), absorption coefficient (babs), single scattering albedo (SSA) at 532 nm and PM10 concentration are 54.9 ± 58.2 Mm−1, 10.6 ± 10.9 Mm−1, 0.81 ± 0.10 and 30.6 ± 21.6 μg/m3 for the spring campaign, and 35.4 ± 36.7 Mm−1, 3.9 ± 4.4 Mm−1, 0.83 ± 0.13 and 17.4 ± 11.8 μg/m3 for the autumn campaign, respectively. During the whole observation, the air parcel transported from Atlantic Ocean plays a role in cleaning up the ambient air in Orleans, while the air mass coming from the Eastern Europe induces the pollution events in Orleans. In this study, a simple approach, which based on the diurnal variation of PM10 concentration, Boundary layer depth (BLD) and the human activity factor derived from anthropogenic emission rate, was introduced to estimate the contribution of secondary aerosol to ambient aerosols. Our results show that secondary particles formation trigged by photochemical reactions and oxidations can contribute maximum of 64% and 32% for PM10 mass concentration during the spring and autumn time, respectively. These results highlight that photochemical reactions can enhance the atmospheric oxidation capacity and may faster the secondary particle formation and then play an important role in air quality. [Display omitted] •Secondary particles can contribute max of 64% for PM10 at Central France in spring.•Secondary particles can contribute max of 32% for PM10 at Central France in autumn.•Air mass transported from Atlantic Ocean can clean up the air in Central France.•Air mass coming from the Eastern Europe induces the pollution in Central France.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.084