Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.1
2.9
Journals
Atmosphere
Special Issues
Atmospheric Aerosols in North America
share announcement

Atmospheric Aerosols in North America

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Aerosols".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2020) | Viewed by 9331

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. William R. Stockwell

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; air quality modeling; biosphere–atmosphere interactions; public policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atmospheric aerosols, also known as particulate matter (PM), affect human health, visibility and climate. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) degrades air quality and it has strong adverse health effects, especially in urban regions. Anthropogenic and biogenic emissions are precursors to the production of particulate matter and secondary organic aerosol while some aerosols (e.g., windblown dust) are produced by physical processes. The absorption of solar radiation and its scattering is affected by the size and composition of atmospheric aerosols and these aerosol optical properties, in turn, impact strongly visibility and climate. Relevant aerosol events occur over diurnal, episodic, seasonal and annual time scales. This Special Issue is devoted to papers presenting new field measurements, data analysis, modeling and laboratory research on atmospheric aerosols and their precursors in North America. Papers on the topics of the physics and chemistry of aerosol formation, single particles, local-urban effects of aerosols on air quality, studies conducted over regional and hemispheric scales on the effects of aerosols on visibility and climate are welcome. Authors are especially encouraged to submit papers on new emerging technologies for aerosol measurements and modeling that improve agreement between model simulations and field observations. The new emerging technologies for modeling include machine learning and other methods to better represent aerosols in chemical transport models. Finally, papers involving applications of aerosol models and field measurement studies for health and regulatory assessments are welcome.

Prof. Dr. William R. Stockwell
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • aerosols
  • aerosol precursors
  • secondary organic
  • particulate matter (PM)
  • fine particulate matter (PM2.5)
  • air quality
  • measurements
  • modeling
  • health impacts
  • biogenic and anthropogenic emissions

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 2884 KiB  
Article
An Improved Method for Optical Characterization of Mineral Dust and Soot Particles in the El Paso-Juárez Airshed
by Javier Polanco, Manuel Ramos, Rosa M. Fitzgerald and William R. Stockwell
Atmosphere 2020, 11(8), 866; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11080866 - 15 Aug 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2306
Abstract
Highly time-resolved aerosol measurements and analysis are necessary for a proper aerosol characterization in many polluted regions, because aerosol concentrations in polluted environments can change over time scales of minutes. However, many urban measuring sites have measuring devices that provide time resolved average [...] Read more.
Highly time-resolved aerosol measurements and analysis are necessary for a proper aerosol characterization in many polluted regions, because aerosol concentrations in polluted environments can change over time scales of minutes. However, many urban measuring sites have measuring devices that provide time resolved average aerosol concentrations over a day or two at best. Light-scattering properties of mineral dust and soot particles in the El Paso-Juárez Airshed were analyzed with an improved methodology, using the T-matrix, a maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), and data from both an acoustic extinctiometer and a laser particle counter. The hourly inter-comparisons of the scattering coefficients’ results between the model and those obtained using the instruments at a wavelength of 0.87 μm show good agreement. This methodology has been applied in the El Paso-Juárez Airshed successfully, and it could be used in other cities where mineral dust and soot are major components of the aerosol concentrations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Aerosols in North America)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 8940 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Successive Ozone Episodes in the El Paso–Juarez Region in the Summer of 2017
by Nakul N. Karle, Suhail Mahmud, Ricardo K. Sakai, Rosa M. Fitzgerald, Vernon R. Morris and William R. Stockwell
Atmosphere 2020, 11(5), 532; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11050532 - 21 May 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3186
Abstract
The adjacent cities of El Paso in Texas, USA, and Juarez in Mexico commonly experience pollution episodes, especially during the summer months. In the summer of 2017, successive high and low ozone episodes were observed. Aerosol backscattered data from a laser ceilometer was [...] Read more.
The adjacent cities of El Paso in Texas, USA, and Juarez in Mexico commonly experience pollution episodes, especially during the summer months. In the summer of 2017, successive high and low ozone episodes were observed. Aerosol backscattered data from a laser ceilometer was used to monitor and continuously measure the aerosol-layer characteristics. Meteorological parameters together with the aerosol layer height were used to determine the reason behind these successive high and low ozone events. In our research, both modelling and experimental data of the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) were obtained and related to atmospheric stability. Aerosol backscatter data was used to investigate the structure, evolution, and influence of the top of the aerosol layer, which is a proxy for PBLHs. A shallow aerosol layer height (1164 ± 59 m) was observed during the high ozone episodes, in contrast to a deep aerosol layer (1990 ± 79 m) during the low ozone episodes. The ozone precursors, the ozone, and the ground-level aerosol concentrations were also examined during these episodes. It was observed that when the ozone was high, the PM2.5 was high, and when the ozone was low, the PM10 concentrations were high. Analysis of the wind patterns and synoptic scale meteorology also contributed to a better explanation of the nature of these events. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Aerosols in North America)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 3755 KiB  
Article
Pillars of Solution for the Problem of Winter PM2.5 Variability in Fresno—Effects of Local Meteorology and Emissions
by Thishan Dharshana Karandana Gamalathge, Mark C. Green and William R. Stockwell
Atmosphere 2020, 11(3), 312; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030312 - 23 Mar 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3293
Abstract
The mass composition of Particulate Matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is dominated by ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), a secondary pollutant. The goal of this research was the investigation [...] Read more.
The mass composition of Particulate Matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5) in San Joaquin Valley (SJV) is dominated by ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), a secondary pollutant. The goal of this research was the investigation of the relationship between emissions, meteorology and PM2.5 concentrations in Fresno for the winter season. It was found that location of sites near emission sources such as freeways compared with residential sites strongly affected measured PM2.5 concentrations. It was found that although long-term trends showed declines in both emissions and PM2.5 concentrations, there was substantial variability between the years in the PM2.5–emissions relationship. Much of the yearly variation in the relationship between emissions and PM2.5 concentrations can be attributed to yearly variations in weather, such as atmospheric stability, precipitation frequency and average wind speed. There are moderate correlations between PM2.5 concentrations and temperature differences between nearby surface stations at varying elevations which explains some of the daily and seasonal variation in PM2.5. Occurrence of precipitation was related to low PM 2.5, although the higher wind speeds and lower atmospheric stability associated with precipitation likely explain some of the low PM2.5 as well as washout of PM. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Atmospheric Aerosols in North America)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop