CleAir monitoring system for particulate matter. A case in the Napoleonic Museum in Rome

Monitoring the air particulate concentration both outdoors and indoors is becoming a more relevant issue in the past few decades. An innovative, fully automatic, monitoring system called CleAir is presented. Such a system wants to go beyond the traditional technique (gravimetric analysis), allowing for a double monitoring approach: the traditional gravimetric analysis as well as the optical spectroscopic analysis of the scattering on the same filters in steady-state conditions. The experimental data are interpreted in terms of light percolation through highly scattering matter by means of the stretched exponential evolution. CleAir has been applied to investigate the daily distribution of particulate matter within the Napoleonic Museum in Rome as a test case

Aerosol Single Scattering Albedo retrieval in the UV range: an application to OMI satellite validation

Abstract. The aerosol Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) and Absorbing Aerosol Optical Depth (AAOD) at 320.1 nm are derived at Rome site by the comparison between Brewer and modelled spectra. The UVSPEC radiative transfer model is used to calculate the UV irradiances for different SSA values, taking into account as input data total ozone and Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) obtained from Brewer spectral measurements. The accuracy in determining SSA depends on the aerosol amount and on Solar Zenith Angle (SZA) value: SSA uncertainty increases when AOD and SZA decrease. The monthly mean values of SSA and AAOD during the period January 2005–June 2008 are analysed, showing a monthly and seasonal variability. It is found that the SSA and AAOD averages are 0.80±0.08 and 0.056±0.028, respectively. AAOD retrievals are also used to quantify the error in the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) surface UV products due to absorbing aerosols, not included in the current OMI UV algorithm. OMI and Brewer UV irradiances at 324.1 nm and Erythemal Dose Rates (EDRs) under clear sky conditions, are compared as a function of AAOD. Three methods are considered to investigate on the applicability of an absorbing aerosol correction on OMI UV data at Rome site. Depending on the correction methodology, the bias value decreases from 18% to 2% for spectral irradiance at 324.1 nm and from 25% to 8% for EDR

The role of urban boundary layer investigated with high-resolution models and ground-based observations in Rome area: a step towards understanding parameterization potentialities

Abstract. The urban forcing on thermodynamical conditions can greatly influence the local evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer. Heat stored in an urban environment can produce noteworthy mesoscale perturbations of the lower atmosphere. The new generation of high-resolution numerical weather prediction models (NWP) is nowadays often applied also to urban areas. An accurate representation of cities is key role because of the cities' influence on wind, temperature and water vapor content of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The Advanced Weather Research and Forecasting model WRF (ARW) has been used to reproduce the circulation in the urban area of Rome. A sensitivity study is performed using different PBL and surface schemes. The significant role of the surface forcing in the PBL evolution has been investigated by comparing model results with observations coming from many instruments (lidar, sodar, sonic anemometer and surface stations). The impact of different urban canopy models (UCMs) on the forecast has also been investigated. One meteorological event will be presented, chosen as statistically relevant for the area of interest. The WRF-ARW model shows a tendency to overestimate the vertical transport of horizontal momentum from upper levels to low atmosphere if strong large-scale forcing occurs. This overestimation is partially corrected by a local PBL scheme coupled with an advanced UCM. Moreover, a general underestimation of vertical motions has been verified

Tracking atmospheric and riverine terrigenous supplies variability during the last glacial and the Holocene in central Mediterranean

International audienceA multiproxy study coupling mineralogical, grain size and geochemical approaches was used to tentatively retrace eolian and fluvial contributions to sedimentation in the Sicilian Tunisian Strait since the last glacial. The eolian supply is dominant over the whole interval, excepted during the sapropel Si when riverine contribution apparently became significant. Saharan contribution increased during the B011ing Allerod, evidencing the persistence of aridity over North Africa although the northern Mediterranean already experienced moister and warmer conditions. The Younger Dryas is marked by proximal dust inputs, highlighting intense regional eolian activity. A southward migration of dust provenance toward Sahel occurred at the onset of the Holocene, likely resulting from a southward position of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone that was probably associated with a large-scale atmospheric reorganization. Finally, a peculiar high terrigenous flux associated with drastic modifications of the mineralogical and geochemical sediment signature occurred during the sapropel 51, suggesting the propagation of fine particles derived from major floodings of the Nile River resulting from enhanced rainfall on northeastern Africa and their transportation across the Sicilian Tunisian Strait by intermediate water masses

Improved retrieval of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) column densities by means of MKIV Brewer spectrophotometers

A new algorithm to retrieve nitrogen dioxide (NO2) column densities using MKIV ("Mark IV") Brewer spectrophotometers is described. The method includes several improvements, such as a more recent spectroscopic data set, the reduction of measurement noise, interference by other atmospheric species and instrumental settings, and a better determination of the zenith sky air mass factor. The technique was tested during an ad hoc calibration campaign at the high-altitude site of Izaña (Tenerife, Spain) and the results of the direct sun and zenith sky geometries were compared to those obtained by two reference instruments from the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC): a Fourier Transform Infrared Radiometer (FTIR) and an advanced visible spectrograph (RASAS-II) based on the differential optical absorption spectrometry (DOAS) technique

Deglacial and Holocene vegetation and climatic changes in the southern Central Mediterranean from a direct land–sea correlation

International audienceDespite a large number of studies, the long-term and millennial to centennial-scale climatic variability in the Mediterranean region during the last deglaciation and the Holocene is still debated, including in the southern Central Mediterranean. In this paper, we present a new marine pollen sequence (core MD04-2797CQ) from the Siculo-Tunisian Strait documenting the regional vegetation and climatic changes in the southern Central Mediterranean during the last deglaciation and the Holocene. The MD04-2797CQ marine pollen sequence shows that semi-desert plants dominated the vegetal cover in the southern Central Mediterranean between 18.2 and 12.3 ka cal BP, indicating prevailing dry conditions during the deglaciation, even during the Greenland Interstadial (GI)-1. Across the transition Greenland Stadial (GS)-1 -Holocene, Asteraceae-Poaceae steppe became dominant till 10.1 ka cal BP. This record underlines with no chronological ambiguity that even though temperatures increased, deficiency in moisture availability persisted into the early Holocene. Temperate trees and shrubs with heath underbrush or maquis expanded between 10.1 and 6.6 ka, corresponding to Sapropel 1 (S1) interval, while Mediterranean plants only developed from 6.6 ka onwards. These changes in vegetal cover show that the regional climate in southern Central Mediterranean was wetter during S1 and became drier during the mid-to late Holocene. Wetter conditions during S1 were likely due to increased winter precipitation while summers remained dry. We suggest, in agreement with published modeling experiments, that the early Holocene increased melting of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in conjunction with weak winter insolation played a major role in the development of winter precipitation maxima in the Mediterranean region in controlling the strength and position of the North Atlantic storm track. Finally, our data provide evidence for centennial-scale vegetation and climatic changes in the southern Central Mediterranean. During the wet early Holocene, alkenone-derived cooling episodes are synchronous with herbaceous composition changes that indicate muted changes in precipitation. In contrast, enhanced aridity episodes, as detected by strong reduction in trees and shrubs, are recorded during the mid-to late Holocene. We show that the impact of the Holocene cooling events on the Mediterranean hydroclimate depend on baseline climate states, i.e. insolation and ice sheet extent, shaping the response of the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation

Dietary patterns and longitudinal change in body mass in European children: a follow-up study on the IDEFICS multicenter cohort

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Does Providing Assistance to Children and Adolescents Increase Repeatability and Plausibility of Self-Reporting Using a Web-Based Dietary Recall Instrument?

Background: It is important to find ways to minimize errors when children self-report food consumption. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether assistance given to children completing a self-administered 24-hour dietary recall instrument called SACANA (Self-Administered Child, Adolescent and Adult Nutrition Assessment) increased the repeatability and plausibility of energy intake (EI) estimates. Participants/setting: The study was conducted between October 2013 and March 2016 in a convenience sample of 395 children, aged 8 to 17 years, from eight European countries participating in the I.Family study. Design: SACANA was used to recall the previous day's food intake, twice in a day, once with and once without assistance. Main outcome measures: The difference in EI between the first and second recalls was the main repeatability measure; the ratio of EI to basal metabolic rate was the plausibility measure. Statistical methods: Generalized linear mixed models, adjusted for sex, age, and body mass index z-score, were used to assess whether assistance during the first vs second recall influenced repeatability and plausibility. Results: The difference in estimated EI (EI from second recall minus EI from first recall) was significantly lower (P<0.001) in those assisted at first (median=-76 kcal) than those assisted at second recall (median=282 kcal). Modeling showed that EI at assisted first recall was 19% higher (95% CI 1.13 to 1.24) than in assisted second recall. Overall, 60% of recalls had a plausible EI. Modeling to estimate the simultaneous effects of second vs first recall and assistance vs no assistance on plausibility showed that those assisted at first recall had significantly higher odds of a plausible recall than those unassisted (odds ratio 3.64, 95% CI 2.20 to 6.01), with no significant difference in plausibility of second recall compared to the first (odds ratio 1.48, 95% CI 0.92 to 2.35). Conclusions: When children are assisted at first recall, the plausibility and repeatability of the later unassisted recall improve. This improvement was evident for all ages. A future, adequately powered study is required to investigate the age range for which assistance is advisable

Surprising Connections Between General Relativity and Condensed Matter

This brief review is intended to introduce gravitational physicists to recent developments in which general relativity is being used to describe certain aspects of condensed matter systems, e.g., superconductivity.Comment: 14 pages; based on talk given at GR1