Investigating the impact of earth tubes in an Earthship

This paper presents a sensitivity analysis that explores the impact of design and operational factors on the performance of ‘earth tubes’ as a ‘passive’ cooling and heating strategy built into an Earthship dwelling located in South Australia. Earth tubes are pipes buried underground acting as heat exchangers to deliver fresh air to the internal spaces, which is cooled in summer and warmed in winter. The results show that the air flow and temperature in the earth tubes was sensitive to how the dwelling was being operated. Through simulations, the ideal scenarios of operating the dwelling in summer and winter in this location as well as in the climate where the Earthship concept was invented, i.e. Taos, New Mexico, are reported. Lessons learned from the study will help those who consider implementing earth tubes in their buildings.Veronica Soebarto, Terence Williamson, Martin Frene

Seasonal variations in aerosol particle composition at the puy-de-Dôme research station in France

Detailed investigations of the chemical and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol particles were performed at the puy-de-Dôme (pdD) research station (1465 m) in autumn (September and October 2008), winter (February and March 2009), and summer (June 2010) using a compact Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (cToF-AMS). Over the three campaigns, the average mass concentrations of the non-refractory submicron particles ranged from 10 μg m<sup>−3</sup> up to 27 μg m<sup>−3</sup>. Highest nitrate and ammonium mass concentrations were measured during the winter and during periods when marine modified airmasses were arriving at the site, whereas highest concentrations of organic particles were measured during the summer and during periods when continental airmasses arrived at the site. The measurements reported in this paper show that atmospheric particle composition is strongly influenced by both the season and the origin of the airmass. The total organic mass spectra were analysed using positive matrix factorisation to separate individual organic components contributing to the overall organic particle mass concentrations. These organic components include a low volatility oxygenated organic aerosol particle (LV-OOA) and a semi-volatile organic aerosol particle (SV-OOA). Correlations of the LV-OOA components with fragments of <i>m/z</i> 60 and <i>m/z</i> 73 (mass spectral markers of wood burning) during the winter campaign suggest that wintertime LV-OOA are related to aged biomass burning emissions, whereas organic aerosol particles measured during the summer are likely linked to biogenic sources. Equivalent potential temperature calculations, gas-phase, and LIDAR measurements define whether the research site is in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) or in the free troposphere (FT)/residual layer (RL). We observe that SV-OOA and nitrate particles are associated with air masses arriving from the PBL where as particle composition measured from RL/FT airmasses contain high mass fractions of sulphate and LV-OOA. This study provides unique insights into the effects of season and airmass variability on regional aerosol particles measured at an elevated site

Hygroscopic Behavior and Liquid-Layer Composition of Aerosol Particles Generated from Natural and Artificial Seawater

Sea-salt aerosol (SSA) particles affect the Earth\u27s radiative balance and moderate heterogeneous chemistry in the marine boundary layer. Using conventional and environmental transmission electron microscopes (ETEM), we investigated the hygroscopic growth and liquid-layer compositions of particles generated from three types of aqueous salt solutions: sodium chloride, laboratory-synthesized seawater (S-SSA particles), and natural seawater (N-SSA particles). Three levels of morphological change were observed with the ETEM as the laboratory-generated particles were exposed to increasing relative humidity (RH). The first level, onset of observable morphological changes, occurred on average at 70, 48, and 35% RH for the NaCl, S-SSA, and N-SSA particles, respectively. The second level, rounding, occurred at 74, 66, and 57% RH for NaCl, S-SSA, and N-SSA particles, respectively. The third level, complete deliquescence, occurred at 75% RH for all particles. Collected ambient SSA particles were also examined. With the exception of deliquescence, they did not exhibit the same hygroscopic characteristics as the NaCl particles. The ambient particles, however, behaved most similarly to the synthesized and natural SSA particles, although the onset of morphological change was slightly higher for the S-SSA particles. We used energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry to study the composition of the liquid layer formed on the S-SSA and N-SSA particles. The layer was enriched in Mg, S, and O relative to the solid particle core. An important implication of these results is that MgSO4-enriched solutions on the surface of SSA particles may be the solvents of many heterogeneous reactions

Modelling winter organic aerosol at the European scale with CAMx : evaluation and source apportionment with a VBS parameterization based on novel wood burning smog chamber experiments

We evaluated a modified VBS (volatility basis set) scheme to treat biomass-burning-like organic aerosol (BBOA) implemented in CAMx (Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions). The updated scheme was parameterized with novel wood combustion smog chamber experiments using a hybrid VBS framework which accounts for a mixture of wood burning organic aerosol precursors and their further functionalization and fragmentation in the atmosphere. The new scheme was evaluated for one of the winter EMEP intensive campaigns (February March 2009) against aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measurements performed at 11 sites in Europe. We found a considerable improvement for the modelled organic aerosol (OA) mass compared to our previous model application with the mean fractional bias (MFB) reduced from 61 to 29 %. We performed model-based source apportionment studies and compared results against positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis performed on OA AMS data. Both model and observations suggest that OA was mainly of secondary origin at almost all sites. Modelled secondary organic aerosol (SOA) contributions to total OA varied from 32 to 88 % (with an average contribution of 62 %) and absolute concentrations were generally under-predicted. Modelled primary hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) and primary biomass-burning-like aerosol (BBPOA) fractions contributed to a lesser extent (HOA from 3 to 30 %, and BBPOA from 1 to 39 %) with average contributions of 13 and 25 %, respectively. Modelled BBPOA fractions were found to represent 12 to 64 % of the total residential-heating-related OA, with increasing contributions at stations located in the northern part of the domain. Source apportionment studies were performed to assess the contribution of residential and non-residential combustion precursors to the total SOA. Non-residential combustion and road transportation sector contributed about 30-40 % to SOA formation (with increasing contributions at urban and near industrialized sites), whereas residential combustion (mainly related to wood burning) contributed to a larger extent, around 60-70 %. Contributions to OA from residential combustion precursors in different volatility ranges were also assessed: our results indicate that residential combustion gas-phase precursors in the semivolatile range (SVOC) contributed from 6 to 30 %, with higher contributions predicted at stations located in the southern part of the domain On the other hand, the oxidation products of higher-volatility precursors (the sum of intermediate-volatility compounds (IVOCs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)) contribute from 15 to 38 % with no specific gradient among the stations. Although the new parameterization leads to a better agreement between model results and observations, it still under predicts the SOA fraction, suggesting that uncertainties in the new scheme and other sources and/or formation mechanisms remain to be elucidated. Moreover, a more detailed characterization of the semivolatile components of the emissions is needed.Peer reviewe

Characterizing the impact of urban emissions on regional aerosol particles: airborne measurements during the MEGAPOLI experiment

The MEGAPOLI (Megacities: Emissions, urban, regional and Global Atmospheric POLlution and climate effects, and Integrated tools for assessment and mitigation) experiment took place in July 2009. The aim of this campaign was to study the aging and reactions of aerosol and gas-phase emissions in the city of Paris. Three ground-based measurement sites and several mobile platforms including instrument equipped vehicles and the ATR-42 aircraft were involved. We present here the variations in particle- and gas-phase species over the city of Paris, using a combination of high-time resolution measurements aboard the ATR-42 aircraft. Particle chemical composition was measured using a compact time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (C-ToF-AMS), giving detailed information on the non-refractory submicron aerosol species. The mass concentration of black carbon (BC), measured by a particle absorption soot photometer (PSAP), was used as a marker to identify the urban pollution plume boundaries. Aerosol mass concentrations and composition were affected by air-mass history, with air masses that spent longest time over land having highest fractions of organic aerosol and higher total mass concentrations. The Paris plume is mainly composed of organic aerosol (OA), BC, and nitrate aerosol, as well as high concentrations of anthropogenic gas-phase species such as toluene, benzene, and NO_x. Using BC and CO as tracers for air-mass dilution, we observe the ratio of ΔOA / ΔBC and ΔOA / ΔCO increase with increasing photochemical age (−log(NO_x / NO_y)). Plotting the equivalent ratios of different organic aerosol species (LV-OOA, SV-OOA, and HOA) illustrate that the increase in OA is a result of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. Within Paris the changes in the ΔOA / ΔCO are similar to those observed during other studies in London, Mexico City, and in New England, USA. Using the measured SOA volatile organic compounds (VOCs) species together with organic aerosol formation yields, we were able to predict ~50% of the measured organics. These airborne measurements during the MEGAPOLI experiment show that urban emissions contribute to the formation of OA and have an impact on aerosol composition on a regional scale

Assessing the role of anthropogenic and biogenic sources on PM₁ over southern West Africa using aircraft measurements

As part of the Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Cloud Interactions in West Africa (DACCIWA) project, an airborne campaign was designed to measure a large range of atmospheric constituents, focusing on the effect of anthropogenic emissions on regional climate. The presented study details results of the French ATR42 research aircraft, which aimed to characterize gas-phase, aerosol and cloud properties in the region during the field campaign carried out in June/July 2016 in combination with the German Falcon 20 and the British Twin Otter aircraft. The aircraft flight paths covered large areas of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d\u27Ivoire, focusing on emissions from large urban conurbations such as Abidjan, Accra and Lomé, as well as remote continental areas and the Gulf of Guinea. This paper focuses on aerosol particle measurements within the boundary layer (<  2000 m), in particular their sources and chemical composition in view of the complex mix of both biogenic and anthropogenic emissions, based on measurements from a compact time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (C-ToF-AMS) and ancillary instrumentation. Background concentrations (i.e. outside urban plumes) observed from the ATR42 indicate a fairly polluted region during the time of the campaign, with average concentrations of carbon monoxide of 131 ppb, ozone of 32 ppb, and aerosol particle number concentration ( >  15 nm) of 735 cm−3 stp. Regarding submicron aerosol composition (considering non-refractory species and black carbon, BC), organic aerosol (OA) is the most abundant species contributing 53 %, followed by SO4 (27 %), NH4 (11 %), BC (6 %), NO3 (2 %) and minor contribution of Cl (<  0.5 %). Average background PM1 in the region was 5.9 µg m−3 stp. During measurements of urban pollution plumes, mainly focusing on the outflow of Abidjan, Accra and Lomé, pollutants are significantly enhanced (e.g. average concentration of CO of 176 ppb, and aerosol particle number concentration of 6500 cm−3 stp), as well as PM1 concentration (11.9 µg m−3 stp). Two classes of organic aerosols were estimated based on C-ToF-AMS: particulate organic nitrates (pONs) and isoprene epoxydiols secondary organic aerosols (IEPOX–SOA). Both classes are usually associated with the formation of particulate matter through complex interactions of anthropogenic and biogenic sources. During DACCIWA, pONs have a fairly small contribution to OA (around 5 %) and are more associated with long-range transport from central Africa than local formation. Conversely, IEPOX–SOA provides a significant contribution to OA (around 24 and 28 % under background and in-plume conditions). Furthermore, the fractional contribution of IEPOX–SOA is largely unaffected by changes in the aerosol composition (particularly the SO4 concentration), which suggests that IEPOX–SOA concentration is mainly driven by pre-existing aerosol surface, instead of aerosol chemical properties. At times of large in-plume SO4 enhancements (above 5 µg m−3), the fractional contribution of IEPOX–SOA to OA increases above 50 %, suggesting only then a change in the IEPOX–SOA-controlling mechanism. It is important to note that IEPOX–SOA constitutes a lower limit to the contribution of biogenic OA, given that other processes (e.g. non-IEPOX isoprene, monoterpene SOA) are likely in the region. Given the significant contribution to aerosol concentration, it is crucial that such complex biogenic–anthropogenic interactions are taken into account in both present-day and future scenario models of this fast-changing, highly sensitive region

Nitrogen and sulphur management: challenges for organic sources in temperate agricultural systems

A current global trend towards intensification or specialization of agricultural enterprises has been accompanied by increasing public awareness of associated environmental consequences. Air and water pollution from losses of nutrients, such as nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S), are a major concern. Governments have initiated extensive regulatory frameworks, including various land use policies, in an attempt to control or reduce the losses. This paper presents an overview of critical input and loss processes affecting N and S for temperate climates, and provides some background to the discussion in subsequent papers evaluating specific farming systems. Management effects on potential gaseous and leaching losses, the lack of synchrony between supply of nutrients and plant demand, and options for optimizing the efficiency of N and S use are reviewed. Integration of inorganic and organic fertilizer inputs and the equitable re-distribution of nutrients from manure are discussed. The paper concludes by highlighting a need for innovative research that is also targeted to practical approaches for reducing N and S losses, and improving the overall synchrony between supply and demand

Ventriculitis due to Staphylococcus lugdunensis: two case reports

Staphylococcus lugdunensis is an unusually virulent coagulase-negative staphylococcus that has rarely been implicated in central nervous system infections

Major contribution of neutral clusters to new particle formation at the interface between the boundary layer and the free troposphere

The formation of new aerosol particles in the atmosphere is a key process influencing the aerosol number concentration as well as the climate, in particular at high altitude, where the newly formed particles directly influence cloud formation. However, free tropospheric new particle formation (NPF) is poorly documented due to logistic limitations and complex atmospheric dynamics around high-altitude stations that make the observation of this day-time process challenging. Recent improvements in measurement techniques make now possible the detection of neutral clusters down to similar to 1 nm sizes, which opens new horizons in our understanding of the nucleation process. Indeed, only the charged fraction of clusters has been reported in the upper troposphere up to now. Here we report day-time concentrations of charged and neutral clusters (1 to 2.5 nm mobility diameter) recorded at the interface between the boundary layer (BL) and the FT as well as in the FT at the altitude site of Puy de Dome (1465 m a.s.l.), central France, between 10 and 29 February 2012. Our findings demonstrate that in the FT, and especially at the interface between the BL and the FT, the formation of 1.5 nm neutral clusters significantly exceeds the one of ionic clusters during NPF events, clearly indicating that they dominate in the nucleation process. We also observe that the total cluster concentration significantly increases during NPF events compared to the other days, which was not clearly observed for the charged cluster population in the past. During the studied period, the nucleation process does not seem to be sulfuric acid-limited and could be promoted by the transport of pollutants to the upper troposphere, coupled with low temperatures.Peer reviewe