Airborne desert dust in the Northern Adriatic area (Croatia): Different sources

During the implementation of the INTERREG IT-HR project ECOMOBILITY, whose one of the goals was to estimate the impact of ship emissions on air quality in the port city of Rijeka (Croatia) and Venice (Italy), two particular weekly samples were collected in Rijeka, during the first and the thirteen weeks of sampling, i.e. S01 (16.10.-23.10.2018) and S13 (24.04.-30.04.2019.), respectively. Both samples have similarities regarding species characteristic for desert dust contribution, but HYSPLIT analyses excluded Saharan desert to be the source of the S01 sample. Unlike Saharan dust, this sample had a high contribution of fine and ultrafine particles (>50 % and 9.8 %, respectively), as well as secondary inorganic (sulfates, ammonium) and organic (water soluble organic compounds - WSOC) aerosols. Detailed synoptic situation and HYSPLIT backward trajectories pointed out the Syrian Desert as the source of this collected sample. The same source was proved by MERRA-2 reanalysis of the desert dust emission. Although the Saharan dust episodes, mostly in precipitation, are well known in the Northern Adriatic area, this is the first time to indicate Syrian Desert as a source of airborne particulates. This assumption was confirmed with chemical species characteristic for the Syrian Desert, i.e. higher content of potassium from K- feldspar and phosphates.

Evaluation of radioactive environmental hazards in Area-3, Northern Palmyrides, Central Syria using airborne spectrometric gamma technique

Airborne spectrometric gamma data are used in this paper to estimate the degree of radioactive hazard on humanity in Area-3, Northern Palmyrides, Central Syria. Exposure Rate (ER), Absorbed Dose Rate (ADR), Annual Effective Dose Rate (AEDR), and Heat Production (HP) of the eleven radiometric units included in the established lithological scored map in the study area have been computed to evaluate the radiation background influence in humans. The results obtained indicate that a human body in Area-3 is subjected to radiation hazards in the acceptable limits for long duration exposure. The highest radiogenetic heat production values in Area-3 correspond to the phosphatic locations characterized by relatively high values of uranium and thorium.