Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary
The aim of this study was to estimate and refine the potential sources of carbon in the atmospheric PM<sub>2.5</sub> fraction aerosol at three sampling sites in Hungary. Quantification of total, organic and elemental carbon (TC, OC and EC, respectively), as well as radiocarbon (<sup&g...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Atmosphere |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/5/716 |
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| author | István Major Mihály Molnár István Futó Virág Gergely Sándor Bán Attila Machon Imre Salma Tamás Varga |
| author_facet | István Major Mihály Molnár István Futó Virág Gergely Sándor Bán Attila Machon Imre Salma Tamás Varga |
| author_sort | István Major |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this study was to estimate and refine the potential sources of carbon in the atmospheric PM<sub>2.5</sub> fraction aerosol at three sampling sites in Hungary. Quantification of total, organic and elemental carbon (TC, OC and EC, respectively), as well as radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) and stable carbon isotope analyses were performed on exposed filters collected at an urban background site, a suburban background site of the capital of Hungary, Budapest from October 2017 to July 2018. Results were also collected from the rural regional background site of K-puszta. Compared to TC concentrations from other regions of Europe, the ratio of the lowest and highest values at all sites in Hungary are lower than these European locations, probably due to the specific meteorological conditions prevailing in the Carpathian Basin over the observation period. The concentration of OC was constantly higher than that of EC and a seasonal variation with higher values in the heating period (October–March) and lower values in the non-heating vegetation period (April–September) could be observed for both EC and OC fractions. Using <sup>14</sup>C, the seasonal mean fraction of contemporary carbon (f<sub>C</sub>) within the TC varied between 0.50 and 0.78 at the sites, suggesting that modern sources were remarkable during the year, regardless of the heating or vegetation period. At the two urban sites, assuming constant industrial emission during the year, the fossil fuel combustion sources were responsible for the seasonal variation of EC, while modern carbon emissions from biomass-burning and biogenic sources influenced the OC concentration. The higher EC/TC ratios at these sites were associated with lower f<sub>C</sub> and δ<sup>13</sup>C values, which can be explained by soot emission from transportation. The notably high EC/TC ratios in the spring were likely caused by the reduced concentration of OC instead of increased EC concentrations. This could probably be caused by the ending of winter biomass burning, which emits a huge amount of OC into the atmosphere. On the contrary, the rural K-puszta site showed some differences relative to the sites in Budapest. No correlation could be revealed between the EC/TC ratio, f<sub>C</sub> and δ<sup>13</sup>C results, suggesting that the structure of sources was very stagnant and balanced in each season. In autumn, however, some less depleted values were observed, and agricultural corn-stalk burning after harvesting in the southern and eastern directions from Hungary can be suggested as the main source. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:21:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34fb25a2ef854b9fb34db9de05e3f867 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4433 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T03:21:14Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-34fb25a2ef854b9fb34db9de05e3f8672023-11-23T10:01:44ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-04-0113571610.3390/atmos13050716Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in HungaryIstván Major0Mihály Molnár1István Futó2Virág Gergely3Sándor Bán4Attila Machon5Imre Salma6Tamás Varga7INTERACT Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, H-4001 Debrecen, HungaryINTERACT Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, H-4001 Debrecen, HungaryINTERACT Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, H-4001 Debrecen, HungaryINTERACT Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, H-4001 Debrecen, HungaryINTERACT Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, H-4001 Debrecen, HungaryAir Quality Reference Center, Hungarian Meteorological Service, H-1181 Budapest, HungaryInstitute of Chemistry, Eötvös Lóránd University, H-1518 Budapest, HungaryINTERACT Centre, Institute for Nuclear Research, H-4001 Debrecen, HungaryThe aim of this study was to estimate and refine the potential sources of carbon in the atmospheric PM<sub>2.5</sub> fraction aerosol at three sampling sites in Hungary. Quantification of total, organic and elemental carbon (TC, OC and EC, respectively), as well as radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) and stable carbon isotope analyses were performed on exposed filters collected at an urban background site, a suburban background site of the capital of Hungary, Budapest from October 2017 to July 2018. Results were also collected from the rural regional background site of K-puszta. Compared to TC concentrations from other regions of Europe, the ratio of the lowest and highest values at all sites in Hungary are lower than these European locations, probably due to the specific meteorological conditions prevailing in the Carpathian Basin over the observation period. The concentration of OC was constantly higher than that of EC and a seasonal variation with higher values in the heating period (October–March) and lower values in the non-heating vegetation period (April–September) could be observed for both EC and OC fractions. Using <sup>14</sup>C, the seasonal mean fraction of contemporary carbon (f<sub>C</sub>) within the TC varied between 0.50 and 0.78 at the sites, suggesting that modern sources were remarkable during the year, regardless of the heating or vegetation period. At the two urban sites, assuming constant industrial emission during the year, the fossil fuel combustion sources were responsible for the seasonal variation of EC, while modern carbon emissions from biomass-burning and biogenic sources influenced the OC concentration. The higher EC/TC ratios at these sites were associated with lower f<sub>C</sub> and δ<sup>13</sup>C values, which can be explained by soot emission from transportation. The notably high EC/TC ratios in the spring were likely caused by the reduced concentration of OC instead of increased EC concentrations. This could probably be caused by the ending of winter biomass burning, which emits a huge amount of OC into the atmosphere. On the contrary, the rural K-puszta site showed some differences relative to the sites in Budapest. No correlation could be revealed between the EC/TC ratio, f<sub>C</sub> and δ<sup>13</sup>C results, suggesting that the structure of sources was very stagnant and balanced in each season. In autumn, however, some less depleted values were observed, and agricultural corn-stalk burning after harvesting in the southern and eastern directions from Hungary can be suggested as the main source.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/5/716PM<sub>2.5</sub> aerosolsource identificationstable isotoperadiocarbonHYSPLIT modelfire events |
| spellingShingle | István Major Mihály Molnár István Futó Virág Gergely Sándor Bán Attila Machon Imre Salma Tamás Varga Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary Atmosphere PM<sub>2.5</sub> aerosol source identification stable isotope radiocarbon HYSPLIT model fire events |
| title | Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary |
| title_full | Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary |
| title_fullStr | Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary |
| title_full_unstemmed | Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary |
| title_short | Detailed Carbon Isotope Study of PM<sub>2.5</sub> Aerosols at Urban Background, Suburban Background and Regional Background Sites in Hungary |
| title_sort | detailed carbon isotope study of pm sub 2 5 sub aerosols at urban background suburban background and regional background sites in hungary |
| topic | PM<sub>2.5</sub> aerosol source identification stable isotope radiocarbon HYSPLIT model fire events |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/5/716 |
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