Influence of atmospheric stability on the mass concentration and chemical composition of atmospheric particles: A case study in Rome, Italy

Perrino, Cinzia; Catrambone, Maria; Pietrodangelo, Adriana

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2007.12.006

Cited by 79 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…To date, however, most investigators employing radon as a proxy for atmospheric stability have had access to observations at only a single height (e.g. Wang et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2012;Perrino et al, 2001Perrino et al, , 2008Sesana et al, 2003;Duenas et al, 1996). If only a single height is available, the unwanted effects of these larger-scale processes need to be eliminated by careful conditioning of the radon time series.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Veleva et al, 2010;Perrino et al, 2001Perrino et al, , 2008Avino et al, 2003;Duenas et al, 1996). This "mixing volume" (or mixing depth) changes diurnally over land, typically reaching maximum values early in the afternoon, and minimum values immediately prior to sunrise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, a growing number of investigators have begun exploiting the virtues of Radon-222 (radon) as a comparatively simple and economical means of quantitatively gauging atmospheric stability or mixing depth (Wang et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2012;Xia et al, 2011;Perrino et al, 2001Perrino et al, , 2008Desideri et al, 2006;Galmarini, 2006;Acker et al, 2006;Sesana et al, 2003 and references therein;Duenas et al, 1996;Febo et al, 1996;Porstendörfer et al, 1991;Fujinami and Esaka, 1987). Radon is an unreactive, poorly soluble, radioactive gas (t 0.5 = 3.82d) that is emitted naturally from ice-free, unsaturated terrestrial surfaces at a rate that varies slowly both geographically and temporally (0.72-1.2 atoms cm −2 s −1 ; Turekian et al, 1977;Lambert et al, 1982;Jacob et al, 1997) and is two orders of magnitude greater than from open bodies of water (Wilkening and Clements, 1975;Schery and Huang, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grange et al, 2013;Ji et al, 2012;Perrino et al, 2008;Desideri et al, 2006;Avino et al, 2003;Duenas et al, 1996). Numerous measures of atmospheric stability have been devised and applied with varying degrees of efficacy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the use of radon for quantifying the effects of atmospheric stability on urban emissions

et al. 2015

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Abstract.Radon is increasingly being used as a tool for quantifying stability influences on urban pollutant concentrations. Bulk radon gradients are ideal for this purpose, since the vertical differencing substantially removes contributions from processes on timescales greater than diurnal and (assuming a constant radon source) gradients are directly related to the intensity of nocturnal mixing. More commonly, however, radon measurements are available only at a single height. In this study we argue that single-height radon observations should not be used quantitatively as an indicator of atmospheric stability without prior conditioning of the time series to remove contributions from larger-scale "nonlocal" processes. We outline a simple technique to obtain an approximation of the diurnal radon gradient signal from a single-height measurement time series, and use it to derive a four category classification scheme for atmospheric stability on a "whole night" basis. A selection of climatological and pollution observations in the Sydney region are then subdivided according to the radon-based scheme on an annual and seasonal basis. We compare the radon-based scheme against a commonly used Pasquill-Gifford (P-G) type stability classification and reveal that the most stable category in the P-G scheme is less selective of the strongly stable nights than the radon-based scheme; this lead to significant underestimation of pollutant concentrations on the most stable nights by the P-G scheme. Lastly, we applied the radon-based classification scheme to mixing height estimates calculated from the diurnal radon accumulation time series, which provided insight to the range of nocturnal mixing depths expected at the site for each of the stability classes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the use of radon for quantifying the effects of atmospheric stability on urban emissions

et al. 2015

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“…Thermally stable atmospheric conditions and their associated shallow mixing depths are renowned for impeding the dispersion of urban pollution (e.g. Duenas et al, 1996;Perrino et al, 2008;Belusˇic´et al, 2015;Grundstrom et al, 2015;Chambers et al, 2015a). They are also very problematic conditions for numerical models to accurately simulate, in large part due to limitations in model vertical resolution and the ability of parameterisations to accurately represent near-surface mixing processes (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radon as a tracer of atmospheric influences on traffic-related air pollution in a small inland city

Williams¹,

Chambers²,

Conen³

et al. 2016

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

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A B S T R A C T One year of radon, benzene and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations were analysed to characterise the combined influences of variations in traffic density and meteorological conditions on urban air quality in Bern, Switzerland. A recently developed radon-based stability categorisation technique was adapted to account for seasonal changes in day length and reduction in the local radon flux due to snow/ice cover and high soil moisture. Diurnal pollutant cycles were shown to result from an interplay between variations in surface emissions (traffic density), the depth of the nocturnal atmospheric mixing layer (dilution) and local horizontal advection of cleaner air from outside the central urban/industrial area of this small compact inland city. Substantial seasonal differences in the timing and duration of peak pollutant concentrations in the diurnal cycle were attributable to changes in day length and the switching to/from daylight-savings time in relation to traffic patterns. In summer, average peak benzene concentrations (0.62 ppb) occurred in the morning and remained above 0.5 ppb for 2 hours, whereas in winter average peak concentrations (0.85 ppb) occurred in the evening and remained above 0.5 ppb for 9 hours. Under stable conditions in winter, average peak benzene concentrations (1.1 ppb) were 120% higher than for well-mixed conditions (0.5 ppb). By comparison, summertime peak benzene concentrations increased by 53% from well-mixed (0.45 ppb) to stable nocturnal conditions (0.7 ppb). An idealised box model incorporating a simple advection term was used to derive a nocturnal mixing length scale based on radon, and then inverted to simulate diurnal benzene and CO emission variations at the city centre. This method effectively removes the influences of local horizontal advection and stability-related vertical dilution from the emissions signal, enabling a direct comparison with hourly traffic density. With the advection term calibrated appropriately, excellent results were obtained, with high regression coefficients in spring and summer for both benzene (r 2 Â0.90Á0.96) and CO (r 2 Â0.88Á0.98) in the two highest stability categories. Weaker regressions in winter likely indicate additional contributions from combustion sources unrelated to vehicular emissions. Average vehicular emissions during daylight hours were estimated to be around 0.503 (542) kg km (2 h (1 for benzene (CO) in the Bern city centre.

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Quantitative Interpretation of Air Radon Progeny Fluctuations in Terms of Stability Conditions in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Salzano

Pasini

Casasanta

et al. 2016

Boundary-Layer Meteorol

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Influence of atmospheric stability on the mass concentration and chemical composition of atmospheric particles: A case study in Rome, Italy

Cited by 79 publications

References 18 publications

On the use of radon for quantifying the effects of atmospheric stability on urban emissions

On the use of radon for quantifying the effects of atmospheric stability on urban emissions

Radon as a tracer of atmospheric influences on traffic-related air pollution in a small inland city

Quantitative Interpretation of Air Radon Progeny Fluctuations in Terms of Stability Conditions in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

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