Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1081
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1081
04 Nov 2022
 | 04 Nov 2022

Long-range transported pollution from the Middle East and its impact on carbonaceous aerosol sources over Cyprus

Aliki Christodoulou, Iasonas Stavroulas, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Maximillien Desservettaz, Michael Pikridas, Elie Bimenyimana, Matic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, Philippe Goloub, Konstantina Oikonomou, Roland Sarda-Estève, Chrysanthos Savvides, Charbel Afif, Nikos Mihalopoulos, Stéphane Sauvage, and Jean Sciare

Abstract. The geographical origin and source apportionment of submicron carbonaceous aerosols (organic aerosols, OA, and black carbon, BC) have been investigated here for the first time by means of high time resolution measurements at an urban background site of Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean. This study covers a half-year period, encompassing both the cold and warm periods with continuous observations of the physical and chemical properties of PM1 performed with an Aerosol Chemical Speciation monitor (ACSM), an Aethalometer, accompanied by a suite of various ancillary off and on-line measurements. Carbonaceous aerosols were dominant during both seasons (cold and warm periods), with a respective contribution of 57 % and 48 % to PM1, respectively, and exhibited recurrent intense night-time peaks (>20–30 µg m-3) during the cold period associated with local domestic heating. Findings of this study show that high concentrations of sulfate (close to 3 µg m-3) were continuously recorded, standing among the highest ever reported for Europe and originating from the Middle East region.

Source apportionment of the OA and BC fractions was performed using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) approach and the combination of two models (aethalometer model and multilinear regression), respectively. Our study revealed elevated hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) concentrations in Nicosia (among the highest reported for a European urban background site), originating from a mixture of local and regional fossil-fuel combustion sources. Although air masses from the Middle East had a low occurrence and were observed mostly during the cold period, they were shown to strongly affect the mean concentrations levels of BC and OA in Nicosia during both seasons. Overall, the present study brings to our attention the need to further characterize primary and secondary carbonaceous aerosols in the Middle East; an undersampled region characterized by continuously increasing fossil fuel (oil and gas) emissions and extreme environmental conditions, which can contribute to photochemical aging.

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

12 Jun 2023
Ambient carbonaceous aerosol levels in Cyprus and the role of pollution transport from the Middle East
Aliki Christodoulou, Iasonas Stavroulas, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Maximillien Desservettaz, Michael Pikridas, Elie Bimenyimana, Jonilda Kushta, Matic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, Philippe Goloub, Konstantina Oikonomou, Roland Sarda-Estève, Chrysanthos Savvides, Charbel Afif, Nikos Mihalopoulos, Stéphane Sauvage, and Jean Sciare
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6431–6456, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6431-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6431-2023, 2023
Short summary

Aliki Christodoulou et al.

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1081', Anonymous Referee #1, 22 Dec 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1081', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 Jan 2023
  • AC1: 'Responses to the comments from Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2', Aliki Christodoulou, 25 Feb 2023

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1081', Anonymous Referee #1, 22 Dec 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-1081', Anonymous Referee #2, 05 Jan 2023
  • AC1: 'Responses to the comments from Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2', Aliki Christodoulou, 25 Feb 2023

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Aliki Christodoulou on behalf of the Authors (05 Apr 2023)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Publish as is (11 Apr 2023) by Yves Balkanski
AR by Aliki Christodoulou on behalf of the Authors (04 May 2023)  Author's response   Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

12 Jun 2023
Ambient carbonaceous aerosol levels in Cyprus and the role of pollution transport from the Middle East
Aliki Christodoulou, Iasonas Stavroulas, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Maximillien Desservettaz, Michael Pikridas, Elie Bimenyimana, Jonilda Kushta, Matic Ivančič, Martin Rigler, Philippe Goloub, Konstantina Oikonomou, Roland Sarda-Estève, Chrysanthos Savvides, Charbel Afif, Nikos Mihalopoulos, Stéphane Sauvage, and Jean Sciare
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6431–6456, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6431-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6431-2023, 2023
Short summary

Aliki Christodoulou et al.

Data sets

Long-range transported pollution from the Middle East and its impact on carbonaceous aerosol sources over Cyprus Christodoulou et al. https://zenodo.org/record/7186341

Aliki Christodoulou et al.

Viewed

Total article views: 572 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total Supplement BibTeX EndNote
388 165 19 572 50 7 9
  • HTML: 388
  • PDF: 165
  • XML: 19
  • Total: 572
  • Supplement: 50
  • BibTeX: 7
  • EndNote: 9
Views and downloads (calculated since 04 Nov 2022)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 04 Nov 2022)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 589 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 589 with geography defined and 0 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 12 Jun 2023
Download

The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
Our study presents, for the first time, a detailed source identification of aerosols at an urban background site in Cyprus (Eastern Mediterranean); a region strongly impacted by climate change and air pollution. Here we identify unexpected high contribution of long-range transported pollution from fossil fuel sources in the Middle East, highlighting an urgent need to further characterize these fast-growing emissions and their impacts on regional atmospheric composition, climate, and health.