Analysis of Positive and Negative Atmospheric Air Ions During New Particle Formation (NPF) Events over Urban City of India

Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of ion-mobility spectra of both polarities with a Neutral Air Ion Spectrometer (NAIS) operating in the mobility range 3.16-0.00133 cm 2 V −1 s −1 (mass diameter range 0.36-47.1 nm) and concentration of Radon ( 222 Rn) were carried out at Pune (18° 31′ N, 73° 55′ E, 560 m above mean sea level). 222 Rn progenies measured by a Radon detector, RTM 2200, and surface meteorological parameters during the period January 2012 to December 2012 were analysed. During this period, NPF events were observed on 28 days and 222 days were without any event (non-event). NPF events mostly occurred by photochemistry in the morning hours of the pre-monsoon season (~ 62%) during the hottest months (April and May) of the year. Authors studied different features of new particle formation (NPF) events, and their dependence on meteorological parameters. The annual mean diurnal variations of different categories of ions show a primary maximum in the morning hour along with the secondary maxima in the evening hour and a minimum in the afternoon. The results are explained in terms of the atmospheric boundary layer changes and katabatic wind blowing along the hill slope surrounded by the measurement site. The computed ion production rate correlates (correlation coefficient R = 0.67) well with the observed small cluster ions. Also, the role of temperature and humidity on the ion concentration on both for the event and non-event days are discussed. Using the principal component analysis (PCA), the first five principal components were found to represent more than 98% of the total variance on event and non-event days. Even the first principal component explained about ~ 86% (65%) of the total variance on non-event (event) days. The statistical analysis also confirms that the small and large-ions on non-event days originated from a similar physical/chemical background.

Addressing the relevance of COVID–19 pandemic in nature and human socio-economic fate

“…As we all know, the SARS-COV-2 can be infected through physical contact, the government has taken up certain measures like closing up schools and colleges, closing up malls/markets/public places, and imposing lockdown in cities. It is expected that these measures can result in a decreased rate of infection (Chakraborty and Maity 2020 ; Gautam et al 2021c ; Nepolian et al 2021 ). On the one hand, SARS-COV-2 has halted economic or developmental growth, but on the other hand, our nature i. e. our earth, is being provided with such conditions that it can restore its losses.…”

Study of air deionization factors

“…Most research on the state of atmospheric air concerns its pollution by dust and aerosols. In [3], the effect of particles with sizes of 0.1-100 μm on atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemistry was investigated. Their interaction with atmospheric moisture and influence on the distribution of clouds and precipitation are shown.…”

The laser pump X-ray probe system at LISA P08 PETRA III

“…In liquid salt solutions the specific ion species can cause very different phenomena despite similar electron structure, such as Cl À or Br À . In the field of atmospheric physics (Rhew et al, 2000;Oum et al, 1998;Nepolian et al, 2021), and also in other areas of technical applications (Chin et al, 2001;Meng et al, 2022), exposure of salt solutions to radiation plays an important role. The type and energy of radiation have different influences on their properties.…”