Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Oduber, F.
• Calvo, A.I.
• Blanco-Alegre, C.
• Castro, A.
• Nunes, T.
• Alves, C.
• Sorribas, M.
• Fernández-González, D.
• Vega-Maray, A.M.
• Valencia-Barrera, R.M.
• Lucarelli, F.
• Nava, S.
• Calzolai, G.
• Alonso-Blanco, E.
• Fraile, B.
• Fialho, P.
• Coz, E.
• Prevot, A.S.H.
• Pont, V.
• Fraile, R.

Titel

Unusual winter Saharan dust intrusions at Northwest Spain: Air quality, radiative and health impacts

Ist Teil von

• The Science of the total environment, 2019-06, Vol.669, p.213-228

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2019

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Saharan air masses can transport high amounts of mineral dust particles and biological material to the Iberian Peninsula. During winter, this kind of events is not very frequent and usually does not reach the northwest of the Peninsula. However, between 21 and 22 February 2016 and between 22 and 23 February 2017, two exceptional events were registered in León (Spain), which severely affected air quality. An integrative approach including: i) typical synoptic conditions; ii) aerosol chemical composition; iii) particle size distributions; iv) pollen concentration; v) aerosol optical depth (AOD); vi) radiative forcing and vii) estimation of the impact of aerosols in the respiratory tract, was carried out. In the global characterization of these events, the exceedance of the PM10 daily limit value, an increase in the coarse mode and a rise in the iron concentration were observed. On the 2016 event, an AOD and extinction-related Ångström exponent clearly characteristic of desert aerosol (1.1 and 0.05, respectively) were registered. Furthermore, pollen grains not typical of flowering plants in this period were identified. The chemical analysis of the aerosol from the 2017 event allowed us to confirm the presence of the main elements associated with mineral sources (aluminum, calcium, and silica concentrations). An increase in the SO42−, NO3− and Cl− concentrations during the Saharan dust intrusion was also noted. However, in this event, there was no presence of atypical pollen types. The estimated dust radiative forcing traduced a cooling effect for surface and atmosphere during both events, corroborated by trends of radiative flux measurements. The estimated impact on the respiratory tract regions of the high levels of particulate matter during both Saharan dust intrusions showed high levels for the respirable fraction. [Display omitted] •Winter Saharan dust outbreaks brought pollen grains not typical of NW Spain.•Increases of columnar AOD and exceedances of the daily PM10 limit value were recorded.•PIXE analysis and aethalometer data confirmed a rise in the iron concentration.•Dusty air masses caused a decreasing of the incoming solar flux at the surface.•The respirable mass fraction was 9 times higher than those recorded the days before.