TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrafine particles in four European urban environments: Results from a new continuous long-term monitoring network
AU - Hofman, Jelle
AU - Staelens, Jeroen
AU - Cordell, Rebecca
AU - Stroobants, Christoph
AU - Zikova, N.
AU - Hama, Sarkout
AU - Wyche, Kevin
AU - Kos, Gerard
AU - Van Der Zee, Saskia
AU - Smallbone, Kirsty
AU - Weijers, Ernie
AU - Monks, Paul
AU - Roekens, Edward
N1 - © 2016. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
PY - 2016/4/20
Y1 - 2016/4/20
N2 - To gain a better understanding on the spatiotemporal variation of ultrafine particles (UFPs) in urban environments, this study reports on the first results of a long-term UFP monitoring network, set up in Amsterdam (NL), Antwerp (BE), Leicester (UK) and London (UK). Total number concentrations and size distributions were assessed during 1e2 years at four fixed urban background sites, supplemented with mobile trailer measurements for co-location monitoring and additional short-term monitoring sites. Intra- and interurban spatiotemporal UFP variation, associations with commonly-monitored pollutants (PM, NOx and BC) and impacts of wind fields were evaluated. Although comparable size distributions were observed between the four cities, source-related differences were demonstrated within specific particle size classes. Total and size-resolved particle number concentrations showed clear traffic-related temporal variation, confirming road traffic as the major UFP contributor in urban environments. New particle formation events were observed in all cities. Correlations with typical traffic-related pollutants (BC and NOx) were obtained for all monitoring stations, except for Amsterdam, which might be attributable to UFP emissions from Schiphol airport. The temporal variation in particle number concentration correlated fairly weakly between the four cities (rs = 0.28 0.50, COD = 0.28 0.37), yet improved significantly inside individual cities (rs = 0.59-0.77). Nevertheless, considerable differences were still obtained in terms of particle numbers (20-38% for total particle numbers and up to 49% for size-resolved particle numbers), confirming the importance of local source contributions and the need for careful consideration when allocating UFP monitoring stations in heterogeneous urban environments.
AB - To gain a better understanding on the spatiotemporal variation of ultrafine particles (UFPs) in urban environments, this study reports on the first results of a long-term UFP monitoring network, set up in Amsterdam (NL), Antwerp (BE), Leicester (UK) and London (UK). Total number concentrations and size distributions were assessed during 1e2 years at four fixed urban background sites, supplemented with mobile trailer measurements for co-location monitoring and additional short-term monitoring sites. Intra- and interurban spatiotemporal UFP variation, associations with commonly-monitored pollutants (PM, NOx and BC) and impacts of wind fields were evaluated. Although comparable size distributions were observed between the four cities, source-related differences were demonstrated within specific particle size classes. Total and size-resolved particle number concentrations showed clear traffic-related temporal variation, confirming road traffic as the major UFP contributor in urban environments. New particle formation events were observed in all cities. Correlations with typical traffic-related pollutants (BC and NOx) were obtained for all monitoring stations, except for Amsterdam, which might be attributable to UFP emissions from Schiphol airport. The temporal variation in particle number concentration correlated fairly weakly between the four cities (rs = 0.28 0.50, COD = 0.28 0.37), yet improved significantly inside individual cities (rs = 0.59-0.77). Nevertheless, considerable differences were still obtained in terms of particle numbers (20-38% for total particle numbers and up to 49% for size-resolved particle numbers), confirming the importance of local source contributions and the need for careful consideration when allocating UFP monitoring stations in heterogeneous urban environments.
KW - UFP
KW - Urban particle size distribution
KW - Amsterdam
KW - Antwerp
KW - Leicester
KW - London
U2 - 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.04.010
DO - 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.04.010
M3 - Article
SN - 0004-6981
VL - 136
SP - 68
EP - 81
JO - Atmospheric Environment
JF - Atmospheric Environment
ER -