Study on bulk to single particle analysis of atmospheric aerosols at urban region

Abstract

Abstract The massive increase in emission of air pollutants due to the economic and industrial growth has made the air quality a crucial health and environmental problem. Present study describes the seasonal variation of water soluble ionic components, carbonaceous species and their emission sources from April 2013 to November 2014 at Pune, India. Morphology and surface elemental composition of single particle was also studied by using SEM-EDS. Average PM2.5 and PM10 mass concentrations were 98\u202f±\u202f28 and 148\u202f±\u202f45\u202fμg\u202fm−3, respectively that substantially exceeded than Indian NAAQS and WHO standards limit values. Seasonal analysis of PM indicated higher concentrations during winter as compared to the rest of the seasons. Chemical analysis of PM accounted for ~40% for ionic components and 36% for carbonaceous species annually for fine mode whereas in coarse mode it accounted for ~28 and 24% for ionic component and carbonaceous species, respectively. This revealed that chemical species are more attributed to fine mode as compared to coarse mode size particles. Contribution of SOC was higher in comparison to POC throughout the study due to abundance of organic constituents. SO42−/EC ratios and ECR values indicates the abundance of scattering type aerosols than absorbing type aerosols. Morphology and surface elemental analysis of PM reveals the presence of soot and alumino-silicates particles. Size, shape and chemical species of aerosol are significantly varied with synoptic scale. Trajectory analysis reveals long range transportation of aerosols over receptor site from various regional and global environments. Measured data on bulk to single particle analysis is extremely useful as input data in climatic aerosol model and provide a more complete relevant picture of aerosol for scientific community with respect to urban air pollution.