T. Tuch - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by T. Tuch
The contribution of aerosol techniques, the estimation of aerosol bolus dispersion and effective ... more The contribution of aerosol techniques, the estimation of aerosol bolus dispersion and effective airway dimensions, to the clinical diagnosis of paediatric asthma was studied. In 47 children, aged 11 +/- 2 yrs, with mild asthma (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 83 +/- 9% of forced vital capacity (FVC)) effective airway diameters were derived from the recovery of inhaled 1 micron sebacate droplets. Intrapulmonary dispersion of inhaled boluses of 0.4 micron droplets was studied, by characterizing the concentration distributions of droplets in the exhaled air by their standard deviation and skewness. Effective airway diameters increased in asthmatic subjects with increasing body size, and did not differ from those obtained in 16 healthy children of similar age and height. Standard deviation and skewness of particle boluses exhaled from shallow lung depths were higher in the asthmatic children than the healthy children (e.g. standard deviation 91 +/- 17 ml vs 79 +/- 15 ml, ...
Atmospheric Environment
This work reports the first statistical analysis of multi-annual data on tropospheric aerosols fr... more This work reports the first statistical analysis of multi-annual data on tropospheric aerosols from the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN). Compared to other networks worldwide, GUAN with 17 measurement locations has the most sites equipped with particle number size distribution (PNSD) and equivalent black carbon (eBC) instruments and the most site categories in Germany ranging from city street/roadside to High Alpine. As we know, the variations of eBC and particle number concentration (PNC) are influenced by several factors such as source, transformation, transport and deposition. The dominant controlling factor for different pollutant parameters might be varied, leading to the different spatio-temporal variations among the measured parameters. Currently, a study of spatio-temporal variations of PNSD and eBC considering the influences of both site categories and spatial scale is still missing. Based on the multi-site dataset of GUAN, the goal of this study is to investigate how pollutant parameters may interfere with spatial characteristics and site categories.
Environmental Hygiene III, 1992
Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1997
Atmospheric Environment, 2000
There is an ongoing debate on the question which size fraction of particles in ambient air may be... more There is an ongoing debate on the question which size fraction of particles in ambient air may be responsible for human health effects observed in epidemiological studies. Since there is no single instrument available for the measurement of the particle-size distribution over the full range of the fine fraction (diameter <2.5μm) of the atmospheric aerosol, two instruments, the mobile aerosol
In this paper, new long-term measurements of chemical composition and physical properties of atmo... more In this paper, new long-term measurements of chemical composition and physical properties of atmospheric aerosols carried out on the eastern brink of the heavily polluted Highveld area in South Africa are introduced. As expected, a high variability of aerosol properties was observed. Optical properties of aerosol particles were found to be closely correlated with particulate mass and number concentration in the case of polluted air masses. In contrast, in clean conditions there was no clear connection between optical properties and aerosol number concentration due to the presence of multiple sources including new particle formation.
It is important to understand the relative contribution of primary and secondary particles to reg... more It is important to understand the relative contribution of primary and secondary particles to regional and global aerosol so that models can attribute aerosol radiative forcing to different sources. In large-scale models, there is considerable uncertainty associated with treatments of particle formation (nucleation) in the boundary layer (BL) and in the size distribution of emitted primary particles, leading to uncertainties in predicted cloud condensation nuclei
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2003
During the SATURN experiment, which took place from 27 May to 14 June 2002, new particle formatio... more During the SATURN experiment, which took place from 27 May to 14 June 2002, new particle formation in the continental boundary layer was investigated. Simultaneous ground-based and tethered-balloon-borne measurements were performed, including meteorological parameters, particle number concentrations and size distributions, gaseous precursor concentrations and SODAR and LIDAR observations. Newly formed particles were observed inside the residual layer, before the break-up process of the nocturnal inversion, and inside the mixing layer throughout the break-up of the nocturnal inversion and during the evolution of the planetary boundary layer.
Number fractions of externally mixed particles of four different sizes (30, 50, 80, and 150 nm in... more Number fractions of externally mixed particles of four different sizes (30, 50, 80, and 150 nm in diameter) were measured using a Volatility Tandem DMA. The system was operated in a street canyon (Eisenbahnstrasse, EI) and at an urban background site (Institute for Tropospheric Research, IfT), both in the city of Leipzig, Germany as well as at a rural site (Melpitz (ME), a village near Leipzig). Intensive campaigns of 3-5 weeks each took place in summer 2003 as well as in winter 2003/04. The data set thus obtained provides mean number fractions of externally mixed soot particles of atmospheric aerosols in differently polluted areas and different seasons (e.g. at 80 nm on working days, 60% (EI), 22% (IfT), and 6% (ME) in summer and 26% (IfT), and 13% (ME) in winter). Furthermore, a new method is used to calculate the size distribution of these externally mixed soot particles from parallel number size distribution measurements. A decrease of the externally mixed soot fraction with decreasing urbanity and a diurnal variation linked to the daily traffic changes demonstrate, that the traffic emissions have a significant impact on the soot fraction in urban areas. This influence becomes less in rural areas, due to atmospheric mixing and transformation processes. For estimating the source strength of soot particles emitted by vehicles (veh), soot particle emission factors were calculated using the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM). The emission factor for an average vehicle was found to be (1.5±0.4)•10 14 #/(km•veh). The separation of the emission factor into passenger cars ((5.8±2)•10 13 #/(km•veh)) and trucks ((2.5±0.9)•10 15 #/(km•veh)) yielded in a 40-times higher emission factor for trucks compared to passenger cars.
Atmospheric particle number size distributions (size range 0.003-10 µm) were measured between Mar... more Atmospheric particle number size distributions (size range 0.003-10 µm) were measured between March 2008 and August 2009 at Shangdianzi (SDZ), a rural research station in the North China Plain. These measurements were made in an attempt to better characterize the tropospheric background aerosol in Northern China, one of the currently more polluted regions of the globe. The mean particle number concentrations of the total aerosol, as well as the nucleation, Aitken and accumulation modes were determined to 1.2±0.9×10 4 , 3.6±7.9×10 3 , 4.4±3.4×10 3 and 3.5±2.8×10 3 cm −3 , respectively. A general finding is that the particle number concentrations were higher during spring compared to the other seasons. The air mass origin had an important
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Loss of sea ice is opening the Arctic to increasing development involving oil and gas extraction ... more Loss of sea ice is opening the Arctic to increasing development involving oil and gas extraction and shipping. Given the significant impacts of absorbing aerosol and secondary aerosol precursors emitted within the rapidly warming Arctic region, it is necessary to characterize local anthropogenic aerosol sources and compare to natural conditions. From August to September 2015 in Utqiaġvik (Barrow), AK, the chemical composition of individual atmospheric particles was measured by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (0.13–4 µm projected area diameter) and real-time single-particle mass spectrometry (0.2–1.5 µm vacuum aerodynamic diameter). During periods influenced by the Arctic Ocean (70 % of the study), our results show that fresh sea spray aerosol contributed ∼ 20 %, by number, of particles between 0.13 and 0.4 µm, 40–70 % between 0.4 and 1 µm, and 80–100 % between 1 and 4 µm particles. In contrast, for periods influenced by emi...
This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Gl... more This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) observation site Melpitz in East Germany. For a continuous observation period between 2007 and 2010, we provide representative values of the dry-state scattering coefficient, hemispheric backscattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, single scattering albedo, and scattering Ångström exponent. Besides the direct measurement, the aerosol scattering coefficient was alternatively computed from experimental particle number size distributions using a Mie model. Within pre-defined limits, a closure could be achieved with the direct measurement. The achievement of closure implies that such calculations can be used as a highlevel quality control measure for data sets involving multiple instrumentation. All dry-state optical properties show pronounced annual and diurnal variations, which are attributed to the corresponding variations in the regional emission fluxes, the intensity of secondary particle formation, and the mixing layer height. Air mass classification shows that atmospheric stability is a major factor influencing the dry aerosol properties at the GAW station. In the cold season, temperature inversions limit the volume available for atmospheric mixing, so that the dry-state aerosol optical properties near the ground proved quite sensitive to the geographical origin of the air mass. In the warm season, when the atmosphere is usually well-mixed during daytime, considerably less variability was observed for the optical properties between different air masses. This work provides, on the basis of quality-checked in situ measurements, a first step towards a climatological assessment of direct aerosol radiative forcing in the region under study.
Aerosol Science and Technology
Mobility particle size spectrometers (MPSS) belong to the essential instruments in aerosol scienc... more Mobility particle size spectrometers (MPSS) belong to the essential instruments in aerosol science that determine the particle number size distribution (PNSD) in the submicrometer size range. Following calibration procedures and target uncertainties against standards and reference instruments are suggested for a complete MPSS quality assurance program: (a) calibration of the CPC counting efficiency curve (within 5% for the plateau counting efficiency; within 1 nm for the 50% detection efficiency diameter), (b) sizing calibration of the MPSS, using a certified polystyrene latex (PSL) particle size standard at 203 nm (within 3%), (c) intercomparison of the PNSD of the MPSS (within 10% and 20% of the dN/dlogDP concentration for the particle size range 20-200 and 200-800 nm, respectively), and (d) intercomparison of the integral PNC of the MPSS (within 10%). Furthermore, following measurement uncertainties have been investigated: (a) PSL particle size standards in the range from 100 to 500 nm match within 1% after sizing calibration at 203 nm. (b) Bipolar diffusion chargers based on the radioactive nuclides Kr 85 , Am 241 , and Ni 63 and a new ionizer based on corona discharge follow the recommended bipolar charge distribution, while soft X-ray-based charges may alter faster than expected. (c) The use of a positive high voltage supply show a 10% better performance than a negative one. (d) The intercomparison of the integral PNC of an MPSS against the total number concentration is still within the target uncertainty at an ambient pressure of approximately 500 hPa.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Gl... more This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) observation site Melpitz in East Germany. For a continuous observation period between 2007 and 2010, we provide representative values of the dry-state scattering coefficient, hemispheric backscattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, single scattering albedo, and scattering Ångström exponent. Besides the direct measurement, the aerosol scattering coefficient was alternatively computed from experimental particle number size distributions using a Mie model. Within pre-defined limits, a closure could be achieved with the direct measurement. The achievement of closure implies that such calculations can be used as a high-level quality control measure for data sets involving multiple instrumentation. <br><br> All dry-state optical properties show pronounced annual and diurnal variations, which are attributed to the corresponding variations in the re...
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2009
. A biennial dataset of ambient particle number size distributions (diameter range 4–800 nm) coll... more . A biennial dataset of ambient particle number size distributions (diameter range 4–800 nm) collected in urban air in Leipzig, Germany, was analysed with respect to the influence of traffic emissions. Size distributions were sampled continuously in 2005 and 2006 inside a street canyon trafficked by ca. 10 000 motor vehicles per day, and at a background reference site distant at 1.5 km. Auto-correlation analysis showed that the impact of fresh traffic emissions could be seen most intensely below particle sizes of 60 nm. The traffic-induced concentration increment at roadside was estimated by subtracting the urban background values from the street canyon measurement. To describe the variable dispersion conditions inside the street canyon, micro-meteorological dilution factors were calculated using the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM), driven by above-roof wind speed and wind direction observations. The roadside increment concentrations, dilution factor, and real-time traffic counts were used to calculate vehicle emission factors (aerosol source rates) that are representative of the prevailing driving conditions, i.e. stop-and-go traffic including episodes of fluent traffic flow at speeds up to 40 km h−1. The size spectrum of traffic-derived particles was essentially bimodal – with mode diameters around 12 and 100 nm, while statistical analysis suggested that the emitted number concentration varied with time of day, wind direction, particle size and fleet properties. Significantly, the particle number emissions depended on ambient temperature, ranging between 4.8 (±1.8) and 7.8 (±2.9).1014 p. veh−1 km−1 in summer and winter, respectively. A separation of vehicle types according to vehicle length suggested that lorry-like vehicles emit about 80 times more particle number than passenger car-like vehicles. Using nitrogen oxide (NOx) measurements, specific total particle number emissions of 338 p. (pg NOx)−1 were inferred. The calculated traffic emission factors, considering particle number and size, are anticipated to provide useful input for future air quality and particle exposure modelling in densely populated urban areas.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2007
On 24 March 2007, the atmosphere over Central Europe was affected by an episode of exceptionally ... more On 24 March 2007, the atmosphere over Central Europe was affected by an episode of exceptionally high mass concentrations of aerosol particles, most likely caused by a dust storm in the Southern Ukraine on the preceding day. At ground-based measurement stations in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany PM 10 mass concentrations rose to values between 200 and 1400 µg m −3. An evaluation of PM 10 measurements from 360 monitoring stations showed that the dust cloud advanced along a narrow corridor at speeds of up to 70 km h −1. According to lidar observations over Leipzig, Germany, the high aerosol concentrations were confined to a homogeneous boundary layer of 1800 m height. The wavelength dependence of light extinction using both lidar and sun photometer measurements suggested the dominance of coarse particles during the main event. At a wavelength of 532 nm, relatively high volume extinction coefficients (300-400 Mm −1) and a particle optical depth of 0.65 was observed. In-situ measurements with an aerodynamic particle sizer at Melpitz, Germany, confirmed the presence of a coarse particle mode with a mode diameter >2 µm, whose maximum concentration coincided with that of PM 10. A chemical particle analysis confirmed the dominance of non-volatile and insoluble matter in the coarse mode as well as high enrichments of Ti and Fe, which are characteristic of soil dust. A combination of back trajectory calculations and satellite images allowed to identify the dust source with confidence: On 23 March 2007, large amounts of dust were emitted from driedout farmlands in the southern Ukraine, facilitated by wind gusts up to 100 km h −1. The unusual vertical stability and confined height of this dust layer as well as the rapid transport under dry conditions led to the conservation of high aerosol mass concentrations along the transect and thus to the extraordinary high aerosol concentrations over Central Europe. Our observations demonstrate the capacity of a combined apparatus of in situ and remote sensing measurements to characterise such a dust with a variety of aerosol parameters. As a conclusion, the description of dust emission, transport and transformation processes needs to be improved, especially when facing the possible 12232
The contribution of aerosol techniques, the estimation of aerosol bolus dispersion and effective ... more The contribution of aerosol techniques, the estimation of aerosol bolus dispersion and effective airway dimensions, to the clinical diagnosis of paediatric asthma was studied. In 47 children, aged 11 +/- 2 yrs, with mild asthma (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) 83 +/- 9% of forced vital capacity (FVC)) effective airway diameters were derived from the recovery of inhaled 1 micron sebacate droplets. Intrapulmonary dispersion of inhaled boluses of 0.4 micron droplets was studied, by characterizing the concentration distributions of droplets in the exhaled air by their standard deviation and skewness. Effective airway diameters increased in asthmatic subjects with increasing body size, and did not differ from those obtained in 16 healthy children of similar age and height. Standard deviation and skewness of particle boluses exhaled from shallow lung depths were higher in the asthmatic children than the healthy children (e.g. standard deviation 91 +/- 17 ml vs 79 +/- 15 ml, ...
Atmospheric Environment
This work reports the first statistical analysis of multi-annual data on tropospheric aerosols fr... more This work reports the first statistical analysis of multi-annual data on tropospheric aerosols from the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN). Compared to other networks worldwide, GUAN with 17 measurement locations has the most sites equipped with particle number size distribution (PNSD) and equivalent black carbon (eBC) instruments and the most site categories in Germany ranging from city street/roadside to High Alpine. As we know, the variations of eBC and particle number concentration (PNC) are influenced by several factors such as source, transformation, transport and deposition. The dominant controlling factor for different pollutant parameters might be varied, leading to the different spatio-temporal variations among the measured parameters. Currently, a study of spatio-temporal variations of PNSD and eBC considering the influences of both site categories and spatial scale is still missing. Based on the multi-site dataset of GUAN, the goal of this study is to investigate how pollutant parameters may interfere with spatial characteristics and site categories.
Environmental Hygiene III, 1992
Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1997
Atmospheric Environment, 2000
There is an ongoing debate on the question which size fraction of particles in ambient air may be... more There is an ongoing debate on the question which size fraction of particles in ambient air may be responsible for human health effects observed in epidemiological studies. Since there is no single instrument available for the measurement of the particle-size distribution over the full range of the fine fraction (diameter &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;2.5μm) of the atmospheric aerosol, two instruments, the mobile aerosol
In this paper, new long-term measurements of chemical composition and physical properties of atmo... more In this paper, new long-term measurements of chemical composition and physical properties of atmospheric aerosols carried out on the eastern brink of the heavily polluted Highveld area in South Africa are introduced. As expected, a high variability of aerosol properties was observed. Optical properties of aerosol particles were found to be closely correlated with particulate mass and number concentration in the case of polluted air masses. In contrast, in clean conditions there was no clear connection between optical properties and aerosol number concentration due to the presence of multiple sources including new particle formation.
It is important to understand the relative contribution of primary and secondary particles to reg... more It is important to understand the relative contribution of primary and secondary particles to regional and global aerosol so that models can attribute aerosol radiative forcing to different sources. In large-scale models, there is considerable uncertainty associated with treatments of particle formation (nucleation) in the boundary layer (BL) and in the size distribution of emitted primary particles, leading to uncertainties in predicted cloud condensation nuclei
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2003
During the SATURN experiment, which took place from 27 May to 14 June 2002, new particle formatio... more During the SATURN experiment, which took place from 27 May to 14 June 2002, new particle formation in the continental boundary layer was investigated. Simultaneous ground-based and tethered-balloon-borne measurements were performed, including meteorological parameters, particle number concentrations and size distributions, gaseous precursor concentrations and SODAR and LIDAR observations. Newly formed particles were observed inside the residual layer, before the break-up process of the nocturnal inversion, and inside the mixing layer throughout the break-up of the nocturnal inversion and during the evolution of the planetary boundary layer.
Number fractions of externally mixed particles of four different sizes (30, 50, 80, and 150 nm in... more Number fractions of externally mixed particles of four different sizes (30, 50, 80, and 150 nm in diameter) were measured using a Volatility Tandem DMA. The system was operated in a street canyon (Eisenbahnstrasse, EI) and at an urban background site (Institute for Tropospheric Research, IfT), both in the city of Leipzig, Germany as well as at a rural site (Melpitz (ME), a village near Leipzig). Intensive campaigns of 3-5 weeks each took place in summer 2003 as well as in winter 2003/04. The data set thus obtained provides mean number fractions of externally mixed soot particles of atmospheric aerosols in differently polluted areas and different seasons (e.g. at 80 nm on working days, 60% (EI), 22% (IfT), and 6% (ME) in summer and 26% (IfT), and 13% (ME) in winter). Furthermore, a new method is used to calculate the size distribution of these externally mixed soot particles from parallel number size distribution measurements. A decrease of the externally mixed soot fraction with decreasing urbanity and a diurnal variation linked to the daily traffic changes demonstrate, that the traffic emissions have a significant impact on the soot fraction in urban areas. This influence becomes less in rural areas, due to atmospheric mixing and transformation processes. For estimating the source strength of soot particles emitted by vehicles (veh), soot particle emission factors were calculated using the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM). The emission factor for an average vehicle was found to be (1.5±0.4)•10 14 #/(km•veh). The separation of the emission factor into passenger cars ((5.8±2)•10 13 #/(km•veh)) and trucks ((2.5±0.9)•10 15 #/(km•veh)) yielded in a 40-times higher emission factor for trucks compared to passenger cars.
Atmospheric particle number size distributions (size range 0.003-10 µm) were measured between Mar... more Atmospheric particle number size distributions (size range 0.003-10 µm) were measured between March 2008 and August 2009 at Shangdianzi (SDZ), a rural research station in the North China Plain. These measurements were made in an attempt to better characterize the tropospheric background aerosol in Northern China, one of the currently more polluted regions of the globe. The mean particle number concentrations of the total aerosol, as well as the nucleation, Aitken and accumulation modes were determined to 1.2±0.9×10 4 , 3.6±7.9×10 3 , 4.4±3.4×10 3 and 3.5±2.8×10 3 cm −3 , respectively. A general finding is that the particle number concentrations were higher during spring compared to the other seasons. The air mass origin had an important
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Loss of sea ice is opening the Arctic to increasing development involving oil and gas extraction ... more Loss of sea ice is opening the Arctic to increasing development involving oil and gas extraction and shipping. Given the significant impacts of absorbing aerosol and secondary aerosol precursors emitted within the rapidly warming Arctic region, it is necessary to characterize local anthropogenic aerosol sources and compare to natural conditions. From August to September 2015 in Utqiaġvik (Barrow), AK, the chemical composition of individual atmospheric particles was measured by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (0.13–4 µm projected area diameter) and real-time single-particle mass spectrometry (0.2–1.5 µm vacuum aerodynamic diameter). During periods influenced by the Arctic Ocean (70 % of the study), our results show that fresh sea spray aerosol contributed ∼ 20 %, by number, of particles between 0.13 and 0.4 µm, 40–70 % between 0.4 and 1 µm, and 80–100 % between 1 and 4 µm particles. In contrast, for periods influenced by emi...
This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Gl... more This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) observation site Melpitz in East Germany. For a continuous observation period between 2007 and 2010, we provide representative values of the dry-state scattering coefficient, hemispheric backscattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, single scattering albedo, and scattering Ångström exponent. Besides the direct measurement, the aerosol scattering coefficient was alternatively computed from experimental particle number size distributions using a Mie model. Within pre-defined limits, a closure could be achieved with the direct measurement. The achievement of closure implies that such calculations can be used as a highlevel quality control measure for data sets involving multiple instrumentation. All dry-state optical properties show pronounced annual and diurnal variations, which are attributed to the corresponding variations in the regional emission fluxes, the intensity of secondary particle formation, and the mixing layer height. Air mass classification shows that atmospheric stability is a major factor influencing the dry aerosol properties at the GAW station. In the cold season, temperature inversions limit the volume available for atmospheric mixing, so that the dry-state aerosol optical properties near the ground proved quite sensitive to the geographical origin of the air mass. In the warm season, when the atmosphere is usually well-mixed during daytime, considerably less variability was observed for the optical properties between different air masses. This work provides, on the basis of quality-checked in situ measurements, a first step towards a climatological assessment of direct aerosol radiative forcing in the region under study.
Aerosol Science and Technology
Mobility particle size spectrometers (MPSS) belong to the essential instruments in aerosol scienc... more Mobility particle size spectrometers (MPSS) belong to the essential instruments in aerosol science that determine the particle number size distribution (PNSD) in the submicrometer size range. Following calibration procedures and target uncertainties against standards and reference instruments are suggested for a complete MPSS quality assurance program: (a) calibration of the CPC counting efficiency curve (within 5% for the plateau counting efficiency; within 1 nm for the 50% detection efficiency diameter), (b) sizing calibration of the MPSS, using a certified polystyrene latex (PSL) particle size standard at 203 nm (within 3%), (c) intercomparison of the PNSD of the MPSS (within 10% and 20% of the dN/dlogDP concentration for the particle size range 20-200 and 200-800 nm, respectively), and (d) intercomparison of the integral PNC of the MPSS (within 10%). Furthermore, following measurement uncertainties have been investigated: (a) PSL particle size standards in the range from 100 to 500 nm match within 1% after sizing calibration at 203 nm. (b) Bipolar diffusion chargers based on the radioactive nuclides Kr 85 , Am 241 , and Ni 63 and a new ionizer based on corona discharge follow the recommended bipolar charge distribution, while soft X-ray-based charges may alter faster than expected. (c) The use of a positive high voltage supply show a 10% better performance than a negative one. (d) The intercomparison of the integral PNC of an MPSS against the total number concentration is still within the target uncertainty at an ambient pressure of approximately 500 hPa.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Gl... more This work analyses optical properties of the dry tropospheric aerosol measured at the regional Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) observation site Melpitz in East Germany. For a continuous observation period between 2007 and 2010, we provide representative values of the dry-state scattering coefficient, hemispheric backscattering coefficient, absorption coefficient, single scattering albedo, and scattering Ångström exponent. Besides the direct measurement, the aerosol scattering coefficient was alternatively computed from experimental particle number size distributions using a Mie model. Within pre-defined limits, a closure could be achieved with the direct measurement. The achievement of closure implies that such calculations can be used as a high-level quality control measure for data sets involving multiple instrumentation. <br><br> All dry-state optical properties show pronounced annual and diurnal variations, which are attributed to the corresponding variations in the re...
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2009
. A biennial dataset of ambient particle number size distributions (diameter range 4–800 nm) coll... more . A biennial dataset of ambient particle number size distributions (diameter range 4–800 nm) collected in urban air in Leipzig, Germany, was analysed with respect to the influence of traffic emissions. Size distributions were sampled continuously in 2005 and 2006 inside a street canyon trafficked by ca. 10 000 motor vehicles per day, and at a background reference site distant at 1.5 km. Auto-correlation analysis showed that the impact of fresh traffic emissions could be seen most intensely below particle sizes of 60 nm. The traffic-induced concentration increment at roadside was estimated by subtracting the urban background values from the street canyon measurement. To describe the variable dispersion conditions inside the street canyon, micro-meteorological dilution factors were calculated using the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM), driven by above-roof wind speed and wind direction observations. The roadside increment concentrations, dilution factor, and real-time traffic counts were used to calculate vehicle emission factors (aerosol source rates) that are representative of the prevailing driving conditions, i.e. stop-and-go traffic including episodes of fluent traffic flow at speeds up to 40 km h−1. The size spectrum of traffic-derived particles was essentially bimodal – with mode diameters around 12 and 100 nm, while statistical analysis suggested that the emitted number concentration varied with time of day, wind direction, particle size and fleet properties. Significantly, the particle number emissions depended on ambient temperature, ranging between 4.8 (±1.8) and 7.8 (±2.9).1014 p. veh−1 km−1 in summer and winter, respectively. A separation of vehicle types according to vehicle length suggested that lorry-like vehicles emit about 80 times more particle number than passenger car-like vehicles. Using nitrogen oxide (NOx) measurements, specific total particle number emissions of 338 p. (pg NOx)−1 were inferred. The calculated traffic emission factors, considering particle number and size, are anticipated to provide useful input for future air quality and particle exposure modelling in densely populated urban areas.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2007
On 24 March 2007, the atmosphere over Central Europe was affected by an episode of exceptionally ... more On 24 March 2007, the atmosphere over Central Europe was affected by an episode of exceptionally high mass concentrations of aerosol particles, most likely caused by a dust storm in the Southern Ukraine on the preceding day. At ground-based measurement stations in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany PM 10 mass concentrations rose to values between 200 and 1400 µg m −3. An evaluation of PM 10 measurements from 360 monitoring stations showed that the dust cloud advanced along a narrow corridor at speeds of up to 70 km h −1. According to lidar observations over Leipzig, Germany, the high aerosol concentrations were confined to a homogeneous boundary layer of 1800 m height. The wavelength dependence of light extinction using both lidar and sun photometer measurements suggested the dominance of coarse particles during the main event. At a wavelength of 532 nm, relatively high volume extinction coefficients (300-400 Mm −1) and a particle optical depth of 0.65 was observed. In-situ measurements with an aerodynamic particle sizer at Melpitz, Germany, confirmed the presence of a coarse particle mode with a mode diameter >2 µm, whose maximum concentration coincided with that of PM 10. A chemical particle analysis confirmed the dominance of non-volatile and insoluble matter in the coarse mode as well as high enrichments of Ti and Fe, which are characteristic of soil dust. A combination of back trajectory calculations and satellite images allowed to identify the dust source with confidence: On 23 March 2007, large amounts of dust were emitted from driedout farmlands in the southern Ukraine, facilitated by wind gusts up to 100 km h −1. The unusual vertical stability and confined height of this dust layer as well as the rapid transport under dry conditions led to the conservation of high aerosol mass concentrations along the transect and thus to the extraordinary high aerosol concentrations over Central Europe. Our observations demonstrate the capacity of a combined apparatus of in situ and remote sensing measurements to characterise such a dust with a variety of aerosol parameters. As a conclusion, the description of dust emission, transport and transformation processes needs to be improved, especially when facing the possible 12232