Summertime Aerosol over the West of Ireland Dominated by Secondary Aerosol during Long-Range Transport

The chemical composition and sources of non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM<sub>1</sub>) on Galway, a west coast city of Ireland, were characterized using an aerosol chemical speciation monitor during summertime in June 2016. Organic aerosol (OA) was found to be the major part of NR-...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chunshui Lin, Darius Ceburnis, Ru-Jin Huang, Francesco Canonaco, André Stephan Henry Prévôt, Colin O'Dowd, Jurgita Ovadnevaite
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/10/2/59
Description
Summary:The chemical composition and sources of non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM<sub>1</sub>) on Galway, a west coast city of Ireland, were characterized using an aerosol chemical speciation monitor during summertime in June 2016. Organic aerosol (OA) was found to be the major part of NR-PM<sub>1</sub> (54%), followed by secondary inorganic sulfate (25%), ammonium (11%), and nitrate (10%). Factor analysis revealed that oxygenated OA (OOA) was the dominant OA factor, on average accounting for 84% of the total OA. The remaining 16% of OA was attributed to primary peat burning associated with domestic heating activities. As a result, secondary organic and inorganic aerosol together accounted for 91% of the total NR-PM<sub>1</sub>, pointing to an aged aerosol population originating from secondary formation during long-range transport. Concentration-weighted trajectory analysis indicated that these secondary aerosols were mainly associated with easterly long-range transport from the UK and/or France.
ISSN:2073-4433