AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Wintertime Air Pollution and the Greek Financial Crisis
KALLIOPI FLOROU, Christos Kaltsonoudis, Dimitrios Papanastasiou, Georgios Gkatzelis, Evangelos Louvaris, Michael Pikridas, Spyros Pandis, University of Patras, Patra, Greece
Abstract Number: 252 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract During the last couple of years, because of the current high prices of diesel, Greeks have turned to more traditional ways of residential heating, such as fireplaces and pellet stoves. Two field campaigns were conducted during the winter of 2012 and 2013 in two of the largest Greek cities (Athens and Patras) in order to quantify the levels of organic aerosols from domestic wood combustion and to characterize the corresponding particulate matter. The instrumentation used included an Aerodyne High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and a selection of on-line aerosol size distribution and concentration instruments (APS, SMPS, TEOM, MAAP). VOC concentrations were measured using a PTR-MS.
During February of 2012, a significant increase of particulate matter less than 1 micro-meter (PM1) was observed every evening after 6 pm in Patras. The concentration of PM1 usually exceeded 80 micro-g m-3 often reaching values above 100 micro-g m-3. Organic particulate matter represented more than 90% of the fine PM during these periods. The concentration of black carbon was as high as 10 micro-g m-3 often exceeding the sulfate levels. High potassium and nitrate levels were also observed during the night. These concentrations were a lot higher (approximately double on average) than the concentrations measured in Patras during previous winters. In January 2013, these measurements were repeated both in Athens and Patras using a number of field stations. Wood burning once more resulted in extremely high nighttime PM levels. The spatial and temporal distribution of fine PM will be discussed and the effects of the change in heating fuels will be quantified.