Light extinction by fine atmospheric particles in the White Mountains region of New Hampshire and its relationship to air mass transport

Laboratory simulation of SO2 heterogeneous reactions on hematite surface under different SO2 concentrations

The variations of sulfate formation and optical coefficients during SO2 heterogeneous reactions on hematite surface under different SO2 concentrations were examined using in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and ion chromatograph (IC). Laboratory experiments revealed that within ambient SO2 of 0.51-18.6 ppmv, sulfate product, producing velocity, absorption and backward scattering coefficients showed an increasing trend with SO2 concentration. Under given SO2 concentration, the velocity of sulfate producing performed an evolution of initial increasing, midterm decreasing and final stabilizing. The reactive uptake and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) uptake coefficients of heterogeneous reactions rose with SO2 and exhibited high reactivities. Considering global warming, this result is important for the knowledge of heterogeneous reactions of SO2 on mineral particle surface in the atmosphere and the assessment of their impacts on radiative forcing.

Estimating ground-level PM2.5 in the eastern United States using satellite remote sensing

An empirical model based on the regression between daily PM2.5 (particles with aerodynamic diameters of less than 2.5 microm) concentrations and aerosol optical thickness (AOT) measurements from the multiangle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) was developed and tested using data from the eastern United States during the period of 2001. Overall, the empirical model explained 48% of the variability in PM2.5 concentrations. The root-mean-square error of the model was 6.2 microg/m3 with a corresponding average PM2.5 concentration of 13.8 microg/m3. When PM2.5 concentrations greater than 40 microg/m3 were removed, model results were shown to be unbiased estimators of observations. Several factors, such as planetary boundary layer height, relative humidity, season, and other geographical attributes of monitoring sites, were found to influence the association between PM2.5 and AOT. The findings of this study illustrate the strong potential of satellite remote sensing in regional ambient air quality monitoring as an extension to ground networks. With the continual advancement of remote sensing technology and global data assimilation systems, AOT measurements derived from satellite remote sensors may provide a cost-effective approach as a supplemental source of information for determining ground-level particle concentrations.