Study of atmospheric aerosol properties in the Vipava valley

dissertation

Longlong Wang (Author), Samo Stanič (Mentor), Asta Gregorič (Mentor)

Abstract

The aim of the dissertation was to study aerosol loading distributions and properties over the Vipava valley, a representative hot-spot for complex mixtures of different aerosol types of both anthropogenic and natural origin. An infrared Mie and a two-wavelength polarization Raman lidar systems were used as main detection tools. The polarization Raman lidar, which provides the capability to extract the extinction coefficient, backscatter coefficients, depolarization ratio, backscatter Ångström exponent, lidar ratio and water vapor mixing ratio profiles, was itself designed, built and calibrated as a part of this thesis. Lidar data, combined with in-situ measurements, was used to determine detailed information on different aerosol types. Vertical profiles of aerosol mass concentration were extracted from the Mie lidar data taken in April 2016, where the in-situ measurements of aerosol size distribution and number concentration as well as aerosol absorption coefficient and black carbon mass concentration were used to estimate the mass extinction efficiency (MEE). Aerosol morphology and chemical composition determined by SEM-EDX on sampled particles were used for the identification of primary aerosol types. Two cases with different atmospheric conditions (long range mineral dust transport and local biomass burning) and different expected the dominant presence of specific aerosol types (mineral dust and soot) were investigated in more detail. They revealed significantly different aerosol properties and distributions within the valley, affecting radiative heat exchange. A more detailed investigation of aerosol properties throughout the troposphere in different atmospheric conditions was made possible by the two-wavelength polarization Raman lidar system, deployed in Ajdovščina (town of Vipava valley) from September 2017. Using its aerosol identification capabilities, based on particle depolarization ratio and lidar ratio measurements, it was possible to identify predominant aerosol types in the observed atmospheric structures, for example in different atmospheric layers in the case of the stratified atmosphere. Primary anthropogenic aerosols within the valley were found to be mainly emitted from two sources: individual domestic heating systems, which mostly use biomass fuel and traffic. Natural aerosols, transported over large distances, such as mineral dust and sea salt, were observed both above and entering into the planetary boundary layer. Backscatter contribution of each aerosol type was separated and the corresponding extinction contribution was derived from lidar observations.

Keywords

Vipava valley;aerosol distribution;aerosol characterization;lidar remote sensing;in-situ measurements;aerosol loading;disertations;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2018
Typology:	2.08 - Doctoral Dissertation
Organization:	UNG FPŠ - Graduate School
Publisher:	[L. Wang]
UDC:	53
COBISS:	5253883
Views:	6251
Downloads:	152
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
URN:	URN:SI:UNG
Type (COBISS):	Doctoral dissertation
Thesis comment:	Univ. v Novi Gorici, Fak. za podiplomski študij
Pages:	XII, 126 str.
ID:	10979250