Organic and Elemental Carbon in the Urban Background in an Eastern Mediterranean City
Tareq Hussein, Xinyang Li, ZAID BAKRI, Andrés Alastuey, Sharif Arar, Afnan Al-Hunaiti, Mar Viana, Tuukka Petäjä,
Michigan Technological University Abstract Number: 163
Working Group: Urban Aerosols
AbstractThe Mediterranean region is an important area for air pollution as it is the crossroads between three continents; therefore, the concentrations of atmospheric aerosol particles are influenced by emissions from Africa, Asia, and Europe. Here we concentrate on an eleven-month time series of the ambient concentration of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) between May 2018–March 2019 in Amman, Jordan. Such a dataset is unique in Jordan. The results show that the OC and EC annual mean concentrations in PM
2.5 samples were 5.9 ± 2.8 μg m
–3 and 1.7 ± 1.1 μg m
–3, respectively. It was found that the majority of OC and EC concentrations were within the fine particle fraction (PM
2.5). During sand and dust storm (SDS) episodes OC and EC concentrations were higher than the annual means; the mean values during these periods were about 9.6 ± 3.5 μg m
–3 and 2.5 ± 1.2 μg m
–3 in the PM
2.5 samples. Based on this, the SDS episodes were identified to be responsible for an increased carbonaceous aerosol content as well as PM
2.5 and PM
10 content, which may have direct implications on human health. This study encourages us to perform more extensive measurements during a longer time period and to include an advanced chemical and physical characterization for urban aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Amman, which can be representative of other urban areas in the region.