Impact of North America on the aerosol composition in the North Atlantic free troposphere

García, M. Isabel; Rodrı́guez, Sergio; Alastuey, Andrés

doi:10.5194/acp-17-7387-2017

Cited by 28 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…During Saharan dust events, PM 10 concentrations increased from the background level to values within the ranges 35-50 µg/m 3 (during "moderate" events), 50-100 µg/m 3 ("intense") and 100-400 µg/m 3 ("very intense"; Figure 2A). In these cases, PM 10 was, by far, constituted by mineral dust [29,30] (see the typical ochre colour and the chemical composition of PM 10 samples during these events in Figure 3).…”

Section: Dust Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saharan Dust Events in the Dust Belt -Canary Islands- and the Observed Association with in-Hospital Mortality of Patients with Heart Failure

Báez-Ferrer

Rodrı́guez

Avanzas

et al. 2020

JCM

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Recent studies have found increases in the cardiovascular mortality rates during poor air quality events due to outbreaks of desert dust. In Tenerife, we collected (2014–2017) data in 829 patients admitted with a heart failure diagnosis in the Emergency Department of the University Hospital of the Canaries. In this region, concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 are usually low (~20 and 10 µg/m3), but they increase to 360 and 115 μg/m3, respectively, during Saharan dust events. By using statistical tools (including multivariable logistic regressions), we compared in-hospital mortality of patients with heart failure and exposure to PM10 and PM2.5 during dust and no-dust events. We found that 86% of in-hospital heart failure mortality cases occurred during Saharan dust episodes that resulted in PM10 > 50 µg/m3 (interquartile range: 71–96 µg/m3). A multivariate analysis showed that, after adjusting for other covariates, exposure to Saharan dust events associated with PM10 > 50 µg/m3 was an independent predictor of heart failure in-hospital mortality (OR = 2.79, 95% CI (1.066–7.332), p = 0.03). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that exposure to high Saharan dust concentrations is independently associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with heart failure.

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Section: Dust Eventsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Saharan Dust Events in the Dust Belt -Canary Islands- and the Observed Association with in-Hospital Mortality of Patients with Heart Failure

Báez-Ferrer

Rodrı́guez

Avanzas

et al. 2020

JCM

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“…The site is located above the inversion layer typical of the subtropical region. Izaña is exposed to the westerly winds typical of the North Atlantic (García et al, 2017a), except in summertime, when it is impacted by the dusty Saharan Air Layer (Rodríguez et al, 2015). At night, anticyclonic subsidence and unperturbed free conditions prevails at Izaña, whereas during daylight upslope winds occurs, resulting in the transport of some local aerosol precursor liked to anthropogenic and biogenic sources and new particle formation events (García et al, 2014;García et al, 2017b;Rodríguez et al, 2009).…”

Section: Measurement Site Descriptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric particle number size distributions across Spain

Alonso‐Blanco

Gómez-Moreno

Artı́ñano

et al. 2018

Atmospheric Environment

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Highlights Spatio-temporal variability of ultrafine particles at 7 sites in Spain was assessed. Meteorology and ultrafine particles sources control the site-to-site variability. Differences in ultrafine particles between inland and coastal sites were documented. Ultrafine particle bursts influenced the total number concentration in clean areas. Shrinkages processes were noticed at several sites during the warm period.

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“…However, there is little consensus about which lidar ratio is more appropriate for this aerosol type. Groß et al (2013) performed a comprehensive analysis on the different lidar ratios reported in prior studies for pure desert Saharan dust. They found very different values, ranging between 40 and 70 sr and set a value of 48±5 sr by means of airborne lidar observations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 10-year characterization of the Saharan Air Layer lidar ratio in the subtropical North Atlantic

et al. 2019

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Abstract. Particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) is a key parameter for a correct interpretation of elastic lidar measurements. Of particular importance is the determination of the lidar ratio of the Saharan Air Layer mineral dust transported into the free troposphere over the North Atlantic region. The location of the two sun photometer stations managed by the Izaña Atmospheric Research Centre (IARC) on the island of Tenerife and a decade of available micropulse lidar (MPL) data allow us to determine the lidar ratio under almost pure-dust conditions. This result can be considered representative of the Saharan dust transported westward over the North Atlantic in the subtropical belt. Three different methods have been used to calculate the lidar ratio in this work: (1) using the inversion of sky radiance measurements from a sun–sky photometer installed at the Izaña Observatory (2373 m a.s.l.) under free-troposphere conditions; (2) the one-layer method, a joint determination using a micropulse lidar sited at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife sea-level station and photometric information considering one layer of aerosol characterized by a single lidar ratio; and (3) the two-layer method, a joint determination using the micropulse lidar and photometric information considering two layers of aerosol with two different lidar ratios. The one-layer method only uses data from a co-located photometer at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, while the two-layer conceptual approach incorporates photometric information at two heights from the observatories of Izaña and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The almost pure-dust lidar ratio retrieval from the sun–sky photometer and from the two-layer method give similar results, with lidar ratios at 523 nm of 49 ± 6 and 50 ± 11 sr. These values obtained from a decade of data records are coincident with other studies in the literature reporting campaigns in the subtropical North Atlantic region. This result shows that the two-layer method is an improved conceptual approach compared to the single-layer approach, which matches the real lower-troposphere structure well. The two-layer method is able to retrieve reliable lidar ratios and therefore aerosol extinction profiles despite the inherent limitations of the elastic lidar technique. We found a lack of correlation between lidar ratio and Ångström exponent (α), which indicates that the dust lidar ratio can be considered independent of dust size distribution in this region. This finding suggests that dust is, under most atmospheric conditions, the predominant aerosol in the North Atlantic free troposphere, which is in agreement with previous studies conducted at the Izaña Observatory.

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Impact of North America on the aerosol composition in the North Atlantic free troposphere

Cited by 28 publications

References 60 publications

Saharan Dust Events in the Dust Belt -Canary Islands- and the Observed Association with in-Hospital Mortality of Patients with Heart Failure

Saharan Dust Events in the Dust Belt -Canary Islands- and the Observed Association with in-Hospital Mortality of Patients with Heart Failure

Temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric particle number size distributions across Spain

A 10-year characterization of the Saharan Air Layer lidar ratio in the subtropical North Atlantic

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