SIRANE modeling of oxides nitrogen (NOx) and ozone (O3) in the area of Agadir city, southwestern Morocco.

This work aimed to model the dispersion of the traffic emissions for the first time in the area of Agadir city (Morocco). The estimate of road emission (from vehicle counts) was performed with Circul’air software version 4.0 which is based on the European methodology Copert 4. While the dispersion modelling was performed using SIRANE model, an important tool which adopts the classic NOx photochemical process. The input data are pollutant emissions, background concentrations, meteorological parameters and building configuration data from QGIS software as well as a list of other factors such as latitude, albedo, etc.   Finally, the quality of the output results was validated by comparing observed measurements and modelled data

Rainfall chemistry: long range transport versus below cloud scavenging. A two-year study at an inland station (Opme, France)

International audienceThe present study investigates the chemical composition of wet atmospheric precipitation samples on a daily and an intra-event timescales in Opme, an experimental meteorological station located near Clermont-Ferrand, France. The samples have been collected from November 2005 to October 2007. A total of 217 rainwater samples, integrated for 24 h, were collected and analyzed for pH, conductivity, Na+, K+, Mg2+, NH4+, Ca2+, Cl−, NO3− , SO42− , PO43− and HCO3−. The composition of the rainwater collected appeared to be controlled by the following potential sources: neutralisation process (association among calcium, ammonium with nitrate and sulphate), marine and terrestrial sources. In order to determine the role of long-range transport, the integrated events were classified according to four origins of air-masses: (1) West, (2) North and East, (3) South including Iberian and Italian Peninsulae and (4) local. This analysis allows identifying the source areas of the different association of elements defined. Although calcium is always dominant, total content of rainfall is variable and neutralisation process can be more or less efficient and specific. Rainout (long-range transport) and washout (below-cloud scavenging) were investigated through intra-event measurements of chemical species. Four rain-events have been selected according to the four classes of origins of air-masses. It appears that the first fractions are responsible for an important part of the chemical content of the whole event. Terrestrial species, locally emitted, induce the neutralisation process of acid species. Local meteorological conditions, such as wind's speed and direction, play an important role as they could provoke recharges of the below cloud air column during the event

Organic markers and OC source apportionment for seasonal variations of PM2.5 at 5 rural sites in France

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PARISFOG: Shedding New Light on Fog Physical Processes

International audienceFog is a weather condition with significant socioeconomic impacts associated with increased hazards and constraints in road, maritime, and air traffic. While current numerical weather prediction models are able to forecast situations that are favorable to fog events, it is very difficult to determine the exact location and time of formation or dissipation. One-dimensional assimilation-forecast models have been implemented at a few airports and provide improved local predictions of fog events, but this approach is limited to specific locations. The occurrence, development, and dissipation of fog result from multiple processes (thermodynamical, radiative, dynamical, microphysical) that occur simultaneously, through a wide range of conditions, and that interact nonlinearly with each other. Hence, to advance our ability to forecast fog processes, we must gain a better understanding of how critical physical processes feed back on each other and improve their parametric representations in models. To provide a dataset suitable to study these processes simultaneously in continental fog, a suite of active and passive remote sensing instruments and in situ sensors was deployed at the Site Instrumental de Recherche en Télédétection Atmosphérique (SIRTA; instrumented site for atmospheric remote sensing research) observatory, near Paris, France, for 6 months (winter 2006/07) to monitor profiles of wind, turbulence, microphysical, and radiative properties as well as temperature, humidity, aerosol, and fog droplet microphysics and chemical composition in the surface layer. This field experiment, called ParisFog, provides a comprehensive characterization of over 100 fog and near-fog events. The ParisFog dataset contains contrasted events of stratus-lowering fog and radiative cooling fog as well as a large number of situations considered as favorable to fog formation but where fog droplets did not materialize. The effect of hydrated aerosols on visibility, the role of aerosols' microphysical and chemical properties on supersaturation and droplet activation, and the role of turbulence and sedimentation on fog life cycles have been investigated using the ParisFog dataset. The interactions between these processes, however, remain to be explored

Paris-Fog : des chercheurs dans le brouillard

International audienceA 6-month field experiment, named Paris-Fog, was carried out in winter 2006-2007 near Paris. This long-term field experiment is original. This article provides a detailed description of the instrumentation used and of the operation plan. A summary of the cases sampled is discussed and key physical processes involved in an intensive observational period are presented.Une campagne de mesures dédiée au brouillard, appelée Paris-Fog, s'est déroulée en région parisienne au cours de l'hiver 2006-2007. Cette campagne est ambitieuse de par les moyens qui ont été mis en oeuvre et la longueur de la période documentée. On décrit ici les instruments utilisés ainsi que le mode de fonctionnement de la campagne de mesures regroupant des laboratoires de recherche d'horizons différents. Puis on présente un premier bilan ainsi qu'un zoom sur une période d'observations intensives