Black Carbon aerosol measurements and simulation in two cities in south-west Spain

Black carbon (BC) has been simulated for south-west Spain with the air quality model CAMx driven by the MM5 meteorological model, with a spatial resolution of 2 km × 2 km and a temporal resolution of 1 h. The simulation results were evaluated against hourly equivalent black carbon (EBC) concentratio...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Milford, Celia, Fernández Camacho, Rocío, Sánchez de la Campa Verdona, Ana María, Rodríguez, Sergio, Castell, Nuria, Marrero, Carlos, Bustos, J. J., Rosa Díaz, Jesús de la, Stein, Ariel
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Huelva (UHU)
Repositorio:Arias Montano. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ariasmontano.uhu.es:10272/11601
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10272/11601
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Black carbon
Air quality
CAMx
Model evaluation
Descrição
Resumo:Black carbon (BC) has been simulated for south-west Spain with the air quality model CAMx driven by the MM5 meteorological model, with a spatial resolution of 2 km × 2 km and a temporal resolution of 1 h. The simulation results were evaluated against hourly equivalent black carbon (EBC) concentrations obtained in the cities of Seville and Huelva for a winter period (January 2013) and a summer period (June 2013). A large seasonal variability was observed in PM2.5 EBC concentration in the two cities, with higher concentrations in wintertime; summertime EBC concentrations were typically less than half those of the wintertime. The model captured the large diurnal, seasonal and day to day variability in these urban areas, mean biases ranged between −0.14 and 0.07 μg m−3 in winter and between 0.01 and 0.29 μg m−3 in summer while hourly PM2.5 EBC observations ranged between 0.03 μg m−3 to 10.9 μg m−3. The diurnal variation in EBC concentrations was bimodal, with a morning and evening peak. However, the EBC evening peak was much smaller in summer than in winter. The modelling analysis demonstrates that the seasonal and day to day variability in EBC concentration in these urban areas is primarily driven by the variation in meteorological conditions. An evaluation of the role of regional versus local contributions to EBC concentrations indicates that in the medium size city of Seville, local on-road sources are dominant, whereas in the small size city of Huelva, local as well as regional sources produce a similar contribution. Considering the large diesel share of the vehicle fleet in Spain (currently ∼ 56%), we conclude that continued reduction of BC from diesel on-road sources in these urban areas is indeed a priority, and we suggest that targeted mitigation strategies, for example reducing the heaviest emitters in wintertime, would yield the greatest benefits.