Summertime Aerosol over the West of Ireland Dominated by Secondary Aerosol during Long-Range Transport
Chunshui Lin,
Darius Ceburnis,
Ru-Jin Huang,
Francesco Canonaco,
André Stephan Henry Prévôt,
Colin O'Dowd,
Jurgita Ovadnevaite
Affiliations
Chunshui Lin
School of Physics, Ryan Institute’s Centre for Climate and & Pollution Studies, and Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway H91 CF50, Ireland
Darius Ceburnis
School of Physics, Ryan Institute’s Centre for Climate and & Pollution Studies, and Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway H91 CF50, Ireland
Ru-Jin Huang
School of Physics, Ryan Institute’s Centre for Climate and & Pollution Studies, and Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway H91 CF50, Ireland
Francesco Canonaco
Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
André Stephan Henry Prévôt
Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
Colin O'Dowd
School of Physics, Ryan Institute’s Centre for Climate and & Pollution Studies, and Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway H91 CF50, Ireland
Jurgita Ovadnevaite
School of Physics, Ryan Institute’s Centre for Climate and & Pollution Studies, and Marine Renewable Energy Ireland, National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway H91 CF50, Ireland
The chemical composition and sources of non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM1) on Galway, a west coast city of Ireland, were characterized using an aerosol chemical speciation monitor during summertime in June 2016. Organic aerosol (OA) was found to be the major part of NR-PM1 (54%), followed by secondary inorganic sulfate (25%), ammonium (11%), and nitrate (10%). Factor analysis revealed that oxygenated OA (OOA) was the dominant OA factor, on average accounting for 84% of the total OA. The remaining 16% of OA was attributed to primary peat burning associated with domestic heating activities. As a result, secondary organic and inorganic aerosol together accounted for 91% of the total NR-PM1, pointing to an aged aerosol population originating from secondary formation during long-range transport. Concentration-weighted trajectory analysis indicated that these secondary aerosols were mainly associated with easterly long-range transport from the UK and/or France.
