Measurements of atmospheric aerosol in the Salentum Peninsula and its correlation with local meteorology

In this paper the results of measurements of Total Suspended Particles (TSP), PM10 and PM2.5 and their correlation with meteorological parameters are presented. The samplings were carried out with a mobile laboratory in seven locations in the Salentum Peninsula located in the southeastern part of Italy in Puglia. Measurements were taken discontinuously during the period 2002-2005. Up to now no systematic analyses of aerosol concentrations in the Salentum Peninsula have been presented in the scientific literature. This study is therefore a useful basis for assessing the local situation and for planning future monitoring. Measurements have been performed, on a daily basis, using standard European inlet (CEN-EN12341, 1998) and successive gravimetric detection of aerosol deposited on filters. The measurement sites can be considered representative of urban background for all the cases investigated. An analysis of the random uncertainties (LOQ and LOD) for the different types of filters used is reported. Results show concentrations in good agreement with lognormal distributions, indicating that the PM10 fraction is about 66% of TSP and PM2.5 is about 67% of PM10, which allows us to evaluate that the fraction of PM2.5 is about 44% of TSP. Concentration levels were correlated with local meteorological parameters, especially with wind velocity and precipitations. Results indicate that during rainy days the average concentration is reduced of about 70% and the reduction is larger for TSP and PM10 with respect to PM2.5. There is, on average, a substantial decrease of concentration levels in high wind conditions. Results also suggest the possibility of a significant contribution of African dust to PM10 and TSP, especially in the spring and summer season, which could be responsible for some days with concentrations above the threshold imposed by the European legislation on PM10

Measurements of atmospheric aerosol in the Salentum Peninsula and its correlation with local meteorology

In this paper the results of measurements of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and PM10 are presented. The samplings were carried out with a mobile laboratory in five locations on the Salentum peninsula situated in the southeastern part of Italy in Puglia. Measurements were taken discontinuously during the period 2002?2004. Some results of PM2.5 measurements taken only in 2004 are also presented. Up to now no systematic analyses of aerosol concentration in the Salentum peninsula have been presented in the scientific literature. This study is therefore a useful basis for assessing the local situation and for planning future monitoring and investigations. Measurements were performed using a standard European PM10 inlet (CEN?EN12341, 1998) and successive gravimetric detection of aerosol deposited over 24 hours periods on filters. The measurement sites can be considered representative of urban background for all the cases investigated. Results show concentrations in good agreement with lognormal distributions, indicating that the PM10 fraction is about 69% of TSP and PM2.5 is about 81% of PM10, which allows us to evaluate that the fraction of PM2.5 is about 56% of TSP. Concentration levels were correlated with local meteorological parameters, such as wind velocity, wind direction and precipitations. Results indicate that there is, on average, a substantial decrease of concentration levels in high wind conditions and on rainy days. They also suggest the possibility of a significant contribution 1 of African Dust to PM10 and TSP, especially in the summer season, which could be responsible for some periods of concentrations above the threshold imposed by the European legislation on PM10

Chemical composition and shape of snow crystals in Antarctica

Fresh snow samples collected in a coastal Antarctic site (Terra Nova Bay) were examined by considering both the chemical composition and ice Crystal shape. Measured concentrations in snow samples show that nucleation is the dominant aerosol scavenging process. An additional contribution from phoretic forces to aerosol scavenging during growth of ice crystals can be deduced from the correlation between non sea-salt sulphate (nss-SO2−4) and methanesulfonic acid (MSA) measured in snow samples. The sea-salt contribution is dominant, as usually observed in the coastal Antarctic stations. By determining sea-salt from Na+ concentration, the values of 4400 μg l−1; 2400 μg l−1; 2900 μg l−1; 650 μg l−1 were obtained for the examined samples. The NO−3 /Na+ ratio in fresh snow (range 0.1–0.6), much higher than the value in sea-water (about 10−4), excludes a marine origin for NO−3 ion, suggesting a continental and/or stratospheric source. Organic compounds (propionate, acetate, formate, MSA and glycolate) were in addition measured in snow samples. Ice crystal replicas were made by collecting crystals on microscope slides, previously covered with a thin layer of 2% formvar in chloroform. Samples were analyzed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A large variety of ice crystal habits (needles, hexagonal plates, crystals with branches, dendritic crystals, etc.) were observed. In the examined replicas of different events, cases are noted in which simple plates are prevalent, others in which prevalently complex crystal shapes are observed, and others again in which simple and complex crystal shapes are present simultaneously

Characterisation of PM2,5 concentrations and turbulent fluxes on a island of the Venice Lagoon using high temporal resolution measurements

This work presents an analysis of PM2.5 concentrations and vertical turbulent fluxes on an island of the Venice lagoon. Data were collected during three measurement campaigns in spring, summer and winter periods. Measurements were taken with a high-resolution optical PM2.5 detector, coupled with a micrometeorological station that allowed the evaluation of the vertical turbulent fluxes of PM2.5 using the eddy-correlation technique. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the daily and seasonal pattern in PM2.5 concentrations and fluxes and to discuss their correlation with the main meteorological and micrometeorological parameters using high temporal resolution measurements. Observed data showed a seasonal pattern in turbulent fluxes with daytime average positive value during winter and negative during summer. Deposition velocities, ranged from –60 to 20 mm/s, appeared to be mainly influenced by atmospheric stability. There were larger emissions in cases of high wind velocities blowing from water sector indicating a significant potential contribution of sea spray to PM2.5 fluxes. The local atmospheric circulation, due to the orography of the area, was characterised by diurnal winds coming from the Adriatic Sea and nocturnal wind coming from the Alps. This circulation influenced deposition velocity creating an increase of negative fluxes in the morning at the starting of the sea breeze. A diurnal pattern in concentration has been observed and it is similar for all three measurement campaigns, with higher concentrations in nocturnal periods. The daily pattern was investigated in terms of its correlation with meteorological and micro-meteorological parameters, and was found highly correlated with the diurnal pattern of boundary layer height (BLH) and with relative humidity

Atmospheric Deposition of Inorganic Elements and Organic Compounds at the Inlets of the Venice Lagoon

The Venice Lagoon is subjected to long-range transport of contaminants via aerosol from the near Po Valley. Moreover, it is an area with significant local anthropogenic emissions due to the industrial area of Porto Marghera, the urban centres, and the glass factories and with emissions by ships traffic within the Lagoon. Furthermore, since 2005, the Lagoon has also been affected by the construction of the MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico—Electromechanical Experimental Module) mobile dams, as a barrier against the high tide. This work presents and discusses the results from chemical analyses of bulk depositions, carried out in different sites of the Venice Lagoon. Fluxes of pollutants were also statistically analysed on PCA with the aim of investigating the spatial variability of depositions and their correlation with precipitations. Fluxes of inorganic pollutants depend differently on precipitations, while organic compounds show a more seasonal trend. The statistical analysis showed that the site in the northern Lagoon has lower and almost homogeneous fluxes of pollutants, while the other sites registered more variable concentrations. The study also provided important information about the annual trend of pollutants and their evolution over a period of about five years, from 2005 to 2010

Laboratory and field studies of ice-nucleating particles from open-lot livestock facilities in Texas

In this work, an abundance of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) from livestock facilities was studied through laboratory measurements from cloud-simulation chamber experiments and field investigation in the Texas Panhandle. Surface materials from two livestock facilities, one in the Texas Panhandle and another from McGregor, Texas, were selected as dust proxies for laboratory analyses. These two samples possessed different chemical and biological properties. A combination of aerosol interaction and dynamics in the atmosphere (AIDA) measurements and offline ice spectrometry was used to assess the immersion freezing mode ice nucleation ability and efficiency of these proxy samples at temperatures above −29 ∘C. A dynamic filter processing chamber was also used to complement the freezing efficiencies of submicron and supermicron particles collected from the AIDA chamber. For the field survey, periodic ambient particle sampling took place at four commercial livestock facilities from July 2017 to July 2019. INP concentrations of collected particles were measured using an offline freezing test system, and the data were acquired for temperatures between −5 and −25 ∘C. Our AIDA laboratory results showed that the freezing spectra of two livestock dust proxies exhibited higher freezing efficiency than previously studied soil dust samples at temperatures below −25 ∘C. Despite their differences in composition, the freezing efficiencies of both proxy livestock dust samples were comparable to each other. Our dynamic filter processing chamber results showed on average approximately 50 % supermicron size dominance in the INPs of both dust proxies. Thus, our laboratory findings suggest the importance of particle size in immersion freezing for these samples and that the size might be a more important factor for immersion freezing of livestock dust than the composition. From a 3-year field survey, we measured a high concentration of ambient INPs of 1171.6 ± 691.6 L−1 (average ± standard error) at −25 ∘C for aerosol particles collected at the downwind edges of livestock facilities. An obvious seasonal variation in INP concentration, peaking in summer, was observed, with the maximum at the same temperature exceeding 10 000 L−1 on 23 July 2018. The observed high INP concentrations suggest that a livestock facility is a substantial source of INPs. The INP concentration values from our field survey showed a strong correlation with measured particulate matter mass concentration, which supports the importance of size in ice nucleation of particles from livestock facilities.</p

A regional audit system for stillbirth: A way to better understand the phenomenon

Background: Implementation of high-quality national audits for perinatal mortality are needed to improve the registration of all perinatal deaths and the identification of the causes of death. This study aims to evaluate the implementation of a Regional Audit System for Stillbirth in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy. Methods: For each stillbirth ( 65 22 weeks of gestation, 65 500 g) occurred between January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2016 (n = 332), the same diagnostic workup was performed and a clinical record with data about mother and stillborn was completed. Every case was discussed in a multidisciplinary local audit to assess both the cause of death (ReCoDe classification) and the quality of care. Data were reviewed by the Regional Audit Group. Stillbirth rates, causes of death and the quality of care were established for each case. Results: Total stillbirth rate was 3.09 per 1000 births (332/107,528). Late stillbirth rate was 2.3 per 1000 (251/107,087). Sixteen stillbirths were not registered by the Regional Birth Register. The most prevalent cause of death was placental disorder (33.3%), followed by fetal (17.6%), cord (14.2%) and maternal disorders (7.6%). Unexplained cases were 14%. Compared to local audits, the regional group attributed different causes of death in 17% of cases. At multivariate analysis, infections were associated with early stillbirths (OR 3.38, CI95% 1.62-7.03) and intrapartum cases (OR 6.64, CI95% 2.61-17.02). Placental disorders were related to growth restriction (OR 1.89, CI95% 1.06-3.36) and were more frequent before term (OR 1.86, CI95% 1.11-3.15). Stillbirths judged possibly/probably preventable with a different management (10.9%) occurred more frequently in non-Italian women and were mainly related to maternal disorders (OR 6.64, CI95% 2.61-17.02). Conclusions: Regional Audit System for Stillbirth improves the registration of stillbirth and allows to define the causes of death. Moreover, sub-optimal care was recognized, allowing to identify populations which could benefit from preventive measures

The Ny-Ålesund Aerosol Cloud Experiment (NASCENT): Overview and First Results

The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the global average. This warming is influenced by clouds, which modulate the solar and terrestrial radiative fluxes and, thus, determine the surface energy budget. However, the interactions among clouds, aerosols, and radiative fluxes in the Arctic are still poorly understood. To address these uncertainties, the Ny-Ålesund Aerosol Cloud Experiment (NASCENT) study was conducted from September 2019 to August 2020 in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The campaign’s primary goal was to elucidate the life cycle of aerosols in the Arctic and to determine how they modulate cloud properties throughout the year. In situ and remote sensing observations were taken on the ground at sea level, at a mountaintop station, and with a tethered balloon system. An overview of the meteorological and the main aerosol seasonality encountered during the NASCENT year is introduced, followed by a presentation of first scientific highlights. In particular, we present new findings on aerosol physicochemical and molecular properties. Further, the role of cloud droplet activation and ice crystal nucleation in the formation and persistence of mixed-phase clouds, and the occurrence of secondary ice processes, are discussed and compared to the representation of cloud processes within the regional Weather Research and Forecasting Model. The paper concludes with research questions that are to be addressed in upcoming NASCENT publications

A comprehensive characterization of ice nucleation by three different types of cellulose particles immersed in water

We present the laboratory results of immersion freezing efficiencies of cellulose particles at supercooled temperature (T) conditions. Three types of chemically homogeneous cellulose samples are used as surrogates that represent supermicron and submicron ice-nucleating plant structural polymers. These samples include microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), fibrous cellulose (FC) and nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). Our immersion freezing dataset includes data from various ice nucleation measurement techniques available at 17 different institutions, including nine dry dispersion and 11 aqueous suspension techniques. With a total of 20 methods, we performed systematic accuracy and precision analysis of measurements from all 20 measurement techniques by evaluating T-binned (1 ∘C) data over a wide T range (−36 ∘C <T<−4 ∘C). Specifically, we intercompared the geometric surface area-based ice nucleation active surface site (INAS) density data derived from our measurements as a function of T, ns,geo(T). Additionally, we also compared the ns,geo(T) values and the freezing spectral slope parameter (Δlog(ns,geo)/ΔT) from our measurements to previous literature results. Results show all three cellulose materials are reasonably ice active. The freezing efficiencies of NCC samples agree reasonably well, whereas the diversity for the other two samples spans ≈ 10 ∘C. Despite given uncertainties within each instrument technique, the overall trend of the ns,geo(T) spectrum traced by the T-binned average of measurements suggests that predominantly supermicron-sized cellulose particles (MCC and FC) generally act as more efficient ice-nucleating particles (INPs) than NCC with about 1 order of magnitude higher ns,geo(T)