Variation of black carbon concentration in cold and warm seasons in Skopje urban area

Mirakovski, Dejan and Boev, Blazo and Zendelska, Afrodita and Boev, Ivan and Hadzi-Nikolova, Marija and Sijakova-Ivanova, Tena and Dimov, Gorgi and Doneva, Nikolinka (2021) Variation of black carbon concentration in cold and warm seasons in Skopje urban area. In: The Eighth WeBIOPATR Workshop & Conference Particulate Matter: Research and Management WeBIOPATR 2021, 29 Nov - 1 Dec 2021, Belgrade, Serbia.

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Abstract

South-East Europe and particularly continental parts of the Balkan peninsula are among the areas with highest ambient air pollution levels in Europe. Most of the regional capitals exceed the EU annual limit value, and when considering the stricter WHO guidelines, all cities exceed the PM2.5 annual mean guideline (Almeida et al, 2020). The objective of our study was to assess Black Carbon concentrations in PM2.5 size-segregated aerosols and to estimate the contribution of fossil fuel combustion (BC ff) and biomass burning (BC bb) to equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations in the urban area of Skopje, North Macedonia.
Measurements were conducted intermittently at one urban background and one urban traffic-exposed sites,
from January to August 2021. The aerosol light absorption coefficients were retrieved using a 7-wavelength
aethalometer (Rack Mount Aethalometer Model AE33, Magee Scientific Corp., Barkley, CA, USA).
Aethalometer readings were corrected in real-time for multiple scattering in the filter matrix and loading
effects, using the DualSpot Technology® (Drinovec et al., 2015). Using the Aethalometer model (Sandradewi
et al. 2008), the absorption coefficients produced from the aethalometer were utilized to estimate the
contribution of biomass burning and fossil fuel to total BC concentrations. PM2.5 samples were collected on
PTFE filters using a low volume sampler (Sequential sampling system with automatic filter changer and Peltier
cooler, PNS 18, DM-6.1, Comde-Derenda GmbH, Germany) and analysed for potassium (K) and other major
ad trace elements using an X-Ray fluorescence (NEX CG II EDXRF Spectrometer, Applied Rigaku
Technologies, Inc., Tokyo, Japan). One-hour averaged data for fine particulate concentrations (PM2.5), carbon
monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were obtained respectively from a co-located monitoring station,
part of the State Monitoring Network, operated by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning
(MOEPP).
Measured equivalent black carbon concentrations were similar to other pollutants connected with low
efficiency combustion processes like PM2.5 and CO - exhibiting strong seasonal variation at both sites, ranging
from high 6.96 ± 6.82 (urban background) and 6.24 ± 6.54 (traffic exposed site) during the cold season, to significantly lower 1.41 ± 1.16 (urban background) and 2.78 ± 2.03 (traffic exposed site) during the warm season. During the cold season, the mean relative contribution (%) of biomass burning reached 52.18 ± 15.22 % of the total black carbon concentration at the urban background site and 32.35 ± 19.22 % at the traffic exposed site, and exhibited a strong diurnal pattern with maximum values during the evening and late-night hours. The mean relative contribution of biomass burning significantly lower during the warm season, reaching 16.27 ± 8.28 at the urban background site and 7.65 ± 6.03 % at the traffic-exposed site, with no clear diurnal pattern.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	Engineering and Technology > Environmental engineering
Divisions:	Faculty of Natural and Technical Sciences
Depositing User:	Afrodita Zendelska
Date Deposited:	28 Nov 2022 11:52
Last Modified:	28 Nov 2022 11:52
URI:	https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/30557

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