Long-Term Studies of Biological Components of Atmospheric Aerosol: Trends and Variability
Alexandr S. Safatov,
Irina S. Andreeva,
Galina A. Buryak,
Sergei E. Olkin,
Irina K. Reznikova,
Boris D. Belan,
Mikhail V. Panchenko,
Denis V. Simonenkov
Affiliations
Alexandr S. Safatov
Department of Biophysics and Ecological Researches, Federal Budgetary Research Institution—State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, 630559 Koltsovo, Novosibirsk rgn., Russia
Irina S. Andreeva
Department of Biophysics and Ecological Researches, Federal Budgetary Research Institution—State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, 630559 Koltsovo, Novosibirsk rgn., Russia
Galina A. Buryak
Department of Biophysics and Ecological Researches, Federal Budgetary Research Institution—State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, 630559 Koltsovo, Novosibirsk rgn., Russia
Sergei E. Olkin
Department of Biophysics and Ecological Researches, Federal Budgetary Research Institution—State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, 630559 Koltsovo, Novosibirsk rgn., Russia
Irina K. Reznikova
Department of Biophysics and Ecological Researches, Federal Budgetary Research Institution—State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology VECTOR, 630559 Koltsovo, Novosibirsk rgn., Russia
Boris D. Belan
Laboratory of Atmosphere Composition Climatology, V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055 Tomsk, Russia
Mikhail V. Panchenko
Laboratory of Aerosol Optics, V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055 Tomsk, Russia
Denis V. Simonenkov
Laboratory of Atmosphere Composition Climatology, V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 634055 Tomsk, Russia
Background: Biological components of atmospheric aerosol affect the quality of atmospheric air. Long-term trends in changes of the concentrations of total protein (a universal marker of the biogenic component of atmospheric aerosol) and culturable microorganisms in the air are studied. Methods: Atmospheric air samples are taken at two locations in the south of Western Siberia and during airborne sounding of the atmosphere. Sample analysis is carried out in the laboratory using standard culture methods (culturable microorganisms) and the fluorescence method (total protein). Results: Negative trends in the average annual concentration of total protein and culturable microorganisms in the air are revealed over more than 20 years of observations. For the concentration of total protein and culturable microorganisms in the air, intra-annual dynamics is revealed. The ratio of the maximum and minimum values of these concentrations reaches an order of magnitude. The variability of concentrations does not exceed, as a rule, two times for total protein and three times for culturable microorganisms. At the same time, for the data obtained in the course of airborne sounding of the atmosphere, a high temporal stability of the vertical profiles of the studied concentrations was found. The detected biodiversity of culturable microorganisms in atmospheric air samples demonstrates a very high variability at all observation sites. Conclusions: The revealed long-term changes in the biological components of atmospheric aerosol result in a decrease in their contribution to the atmospheric air quality index.
