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

Alonso‐Blanco, Elisabeth; Gómez-Moreno, F.J.; Artı́ñano, Begoña; Iglesias-Samitier, S.; Juncal-Bello, V.; Piñeiro-Iglesias, María; López-Mahı́a, Purificación; Pérez, Noemí; Brines, M.; Alastuey, Andrés; García, M. Isabel; Rodrı́guez, Sergio; Sorribas, M.; Águila, Ana del; Titos, Gloria; Lyamani, H.; Alados-Arboledas, L.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.06.046

Cited by 24 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 83 publications

(110 reference statements)

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“…The studies covered by this review have unanimously identified clouds as the dominant source of short-term fluctuations in surface irradiance and photovoltaic power. Beyond that, aerosols have been shown to considerably affect irradiance variability as well, albeit on relatively large spatiotemporal scales and with an emphasis on concentrated solar power applications [160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171]. In consideration of extreme dust events, such as forest fires or sand storms (which can quickly generate large numbers of aerosols [172]), aerosol-induced small-scale irradiance variability could be non-negligible and further research is necessary in this regard.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irradiance Variability Quantification and Small-Scale Averaging in Space and Time: A Short Review

Lohmann

2018

Atmosphere

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The ongoing world-wide increase of installed photovoltaic (PV) power attracts notice to weather-induced PV power output variability. Understanding the underlying spatiotemporal volatility of solar radiation is essential to the successful outlining and stable operation of future power grids. This paper concisely reviews recent advances in the characterization of irradiance variability, with an emphasis on small spatial and temporal scales (respectively less than about 10 km and 1 min), for which comprehensive data sets have recently become available. Special attention is given to studies dealing with the quantification of variability using such unique data, the analysis and modeling of spatial smoothing, and the evaluation of temporal averaging.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irradiance Variability Quantification and Small-Scale Averaging in Space and Time: A Short Review

Lohmann

2018

Atmosphere

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“…As previously implied, most of the stations listed in Table 1 are regional or global GAW sites (https://gawsis.meteoswiss.ch), and belong to regional (mainly ACTRIS and NOAA-FAN) and/or national networks, such as the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN; Birmili et al, 2009), or the Spanish Network of Environmental DMAs (REDMAAS; Gómez-Moreno et al, 2015;Alonso-Blanco et al, 2018). Hourly means of the particle number concentration and/or PNSD are available for all these sites on the database EBAS (http://ebas.nilu.no), which is managed by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) and which hosts the World Data Center for Aerosol (WDCA, http://www.gaw-wdca.org) data repository.…”

Section: Measurement Sites and Data Handlingmentioning

confidence: 95%

Seasonality of the particle number concentration and size distribution: a global analysis retrieved from the network of Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) near-surface observatories

Coen¹,

Andrews²,

Lin³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Aerosol particles are a complex component of the atmospheric system that influences climate directly by interacting with solar radiation, and indirectly by contributing to cloud formation. The variety of their sources, as well as the multiple transformations they may undergo during their transport, result in significant spatial and temporal variability of their properties. Documenting this variability is essential to provide a proper representation of aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in climate models. Using measurements conducted in 2016 or 2017 at 62 ground based stations around the world, this study provides the most up-to-date picture of the spatial distribution of particle number concentration (Ntot) and number size distribution (PNSD, from 39 sites). A sensitivity study was first performed to assess the impact of data availability on Ntot's annual and seasonal statistics, as well as on the analysis of its diel cycle. Thresholds of 50 % and 60 % were set at the seasonal and annual scale, respectively, for the study of the corresponding statistics, and a slightly higher coverage (75 %) was required to document the diel cycle. Although some observations are common to a majority of sites, the variety of environments characterizing these stations made it possible to highlight contrasting findings, which, among other factors, seem to be significantly related to the level of anthropogenic influence. The concentrations measured at polar sites are the lowest (~102 cm−3) and show a clear seasonality, which is also visible in the shape of the PNSD, while diel cycles are in general barely marked, due notably to the absence of a regular day-night cycle in some seasons. In contrast, the concentrations characteristic of urban environments are the highest (~103–104 cm−3) and do not show pronounced seasonal variations, whereas diel cycles tend to be very regular over the year at these stations. The remaining sites, including mountain and non-urban continental and coastal stations, do not exhibit as obvious common behaviour as polar and urban sites and display, on average, intermediate Ntot (~102–103 cm−3). Particle concentrations measured at mountain sites, however, are generally lower compared to nearby lowland sites, and tend to exhibit somewhat more pronounced seasonal variations as a likely result of the strong impact of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) influence in connection with the topography of the sites. ABL dynamics also likely contribute to the diel cycle of Ntot observed at these stations. Based on available PNSD measurements, CCN-sized particles (i.e. > 50–100 nm) can represent from a few percent to almost all of Ntot, corresponding to seasonal medians in the order of ~10 to 1000 cm−3, with seasonal patterns and a hierarchy of the site types broadly similar to those observed for Ntot. Overall, this work illustrates the importance of in-situ measurements, in particular for the study of aerosol physical properties, and thus strongly supports the development of a broad global network of near surface observatories to increase and homogenize the spatial coverage of the measurements, and guarantee as well data availability and quality. The results of this study also provide a valuable, freely available and easy to use support for model comparison and validation, with the ultimate goal of contributing to improvement of the representation of aerosol-cloud interactions in models, and, therefore, of the evaluation of the impact of aerosol particles on climate.

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“…They have a large diversity of sources, formation and transformation processes, which imply a large number of different aerosol species and, therefore, different properties. Hence, and taking into account their large variability, it is necessary to characterize them to know how they behave in the atmosphere in order to assess, for example, their effects on health and climate [1], and even in the degradation of building materials [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of Temporal Variations of Equivalent Black Carbon in a Coastal City in Northwest Spain Using an Atmospheric Aerosol Data Management Software

et al. 2021

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Light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols (including black carbon (BC)) pose serious health issues and play significant roles in atmospheric radiative properties. Two-year measurements (2015–2016) of aerosol light absorption, combined with measurements of sub-micrometric particles, were continuously conducted in A Coruña (northwest (NW) Spain) to determine their light absorption properties: absorption coefficients (σabs) and the absorption Ångström exponent (AAE). The mean and standard deviation of equivalent black carbon (eBC) during the period of study were 0.85 ± 0.83 µg m−3, which are lower than other values measured in urban areas of Spain and Europe. High eBC concentrations found in winter are associated with an increase in emissions from anthropogenic sources in combination with lower mixing layer heights and frequent stagnant conditions. The pronounced diurnal variability suggests a strong influence from local sources. AAE had an average value of 1.26 ± 0.22 which implies that both fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning influenced optical aerosol properties. This also highlights biomass combustion in suburban areas, where the use of wood for domestic heating is encouraged, as an important source of eBC. All data treatment was gathered using SCALA© as atmospheric aerosol data management support software program.

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

Cited by 24 publications

References 83 publications

Irradiance Variability Quantification and Small-Scale Averaging in Space and Time: A Short Review

Irradiance Variability Quantification and Small-Scale Averaging in Space and Time: A Short Review

Seasonality of the particle number concentration and size distribution: a global analysis retrieved from the network of Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) near-surface observatories

Study of Temporal Variations of Equivalent Black Carbon in a Coastal City in Northwest Spain Using an Atmospheric Aerosol Data Management Software

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