the influence of the african dust on air quality and mixed-phase … · 2020. 8. 11. ·...

The influence of the African dust on air

quality and mixed-phase cloud formation in

the Yucatan Peninsula

Graciela B. RagaCentro de Ciencias de la Atmosfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM)

[email protected], [email protected]

Air Quality Tech Talk, August 6, 2020

Luis A. Ladino, Darrel Baumgardner, Carolina Ramirez-Romero, Fernanda Córdoba, Harry Álvarez-Ospina, Daniel

Rosas, Talib Amador, Javier Miranda, Irma Rosas, Alejandro Jaramillo, Jacqueline Yakobi-Hancock, JongSung Kim, Leticia Martínez, Eva Salinas, and Bernardo

FigueroaSubmitted to BAMS

ADABBOY: African Dust and Biomass Burning Over the Yucatan

Motivation Pollution is hazardous to health

• Particulate mass has been shown to affect not only respiratory system but also induce many other responses in the body (e.g. stroke, ischemic heart disease, systemic inflammation,…)

Particles are needed in the atmosphere for cloud formation and for precipitation development

• Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN)

• Ice-nucleating particles (INP)

Characterization of main pollution sources in the Yucatan peninsula (mostly rural with a few medium-size cities) has not been done, nor have baseline pollutant concentrations been defined

Pollution impacts on precipitation development and the hydrological cycle have not been assessed in the Yucatan peninsula

Motivation Urban Sources (anthropogenic; local)

• Transport

• Electricity generation

• Waste management (burning, landfill)

Agricultural Sources (anthropogenic; local and regional)

• Crop residue burning

• Land clearing by burning of grassland and brushland to expand the agricultural frontier

Natural Sources (local and remote)

• Marine aerosol

• African dust

(Averages determined from days with PM10 < 50 µg m-3)

Motivation:

First continuous observations of PM in Merida in 2016 showed “anomalous” peaks

Motivation:

Climatological evidence of African dust

arrival onto the western

Caribbean:

Mean monthly PM10 associated

with dust(2000-2019)

from MERRA-2

(Raga et al. 2020)

Field campaigns

The project aimed to:

• Identify and characterize background, BB and AD particles

• Quantify the influence of BB and AD particles on urban air quality

• Identify the main sources of ice-nucleating particles (INPs)

• Document biological microorganisms in BB and AD plumes

• Quantify the ice nucleating abilities of natural, BB and AD particles

Objectives of ADABBOY

• Continuous measurements of criteria pollutants with sensors from the RUOA-UNAM network in Merida.

• Six intensive observation periods (IOPs): four in Merida (April 2017, July 2017, April 2018, and July 2018) and two in Sisal (January 2017 and July 2018)

Sampling sites

Six short term (2-3 weeks) field campaigns between 2017 and 2018:

Four in Merida and two in Sisal

Instrumentation (Merida): July 2017 and July 2018

Carolina Ramirez, MSc. Thesis (2019)

Partisol

Ceilometer

Micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI)

PM2.5 and PM10 monitors

Photoacustic extinctiometer (PAX)

Nephelometer

Optical particle counter (OPC)

Photoelectric aerosol sensor (PAS)

Condensation particle counter (CPC)

Particle soot absorptionphotometer (PSAP)

Ultrafine particle (UFP) monitor

Biostage impactor

CO2, SO2, NOX, CO, O3 monitors

Instrumentation (Sisal): July 2018

Fernanda Cordoba, MSc. Thesis (2019)

MiniVol

Micro-orifice uniformdeposit impactor(MOUDI)

Optical particle counter (OPC)

Condensation particlecounter (CPC)

Biostage impactor

PM2.5= 45 mg m-3 24h PM10= 70 mg m-3 24h

Carolina Ramirez, MSc. Thesis, UNAM (2019)

PM

10

conc

ent

ratio

n (m

g m

-3)

PM

10

conc

ent

ratio

n (m

g m

-3)

PM

2.5

conc

ent

ratio

n (m

g m

-3)

PM

2.5

conc

ent

ratio

n (m

g m

-3)

July August

July August

PM10PM2.5Mean PM10Mean PM2.5


2018

2017

Influence of AD on Urban Air Quality

PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations increased by more than 300%

Mixing ratio

2 a 4 g/kg

Potential temperature

~ 40°C


PM

10co

nce

ntr

atio

n (m

g m

-3)

PM

2.5

con

cen

tra

tion

(mg

m-3

)

July August

Potential temperature (°C)Mixing ratio (g/Kg)Relative humidity (%)

Alt

itu

de

(m

a.s

.l.)

Is it African dust? Water vapor mixing ratio

2017

Is it African dust? Vertical profile from reanalysis

Estimated dust concentration from MERRA-2 over Merida from 1 July to 14 August.

VERY large interannual variability in AD plumes!!

(Ramírez-Romero et al., 2020)

PM

2.5

con

cen

tra

tion

(µ

g m

-3)

July August

(Modified from Ramírez-Romero et al., 2020)

PM

10co

nce

ntr

atio

n (

µg

m-3

)


July 11 July 27July 23Background

Is it African dust? Chemical composition

AD samples show increased Fe, Al and

Si, as well as P, Ca, K

Influence of AD on urban aerosol size distribution

Number size distribution Volume (mass) size distribution

• Particles of all sizes (including sub-micron) are generated by dust events (e.g. airborne samples near Cape Verde by Liu et al., ACP, 2018).

• Most volume (mass) in particles between 1 and 5 µm, relevant for ice crystal formation

(Modified from Raga et al., 2020)

African dust and microbiota

Culture medium

Biosampler

Fungi

Bacteria

1. Count2. Separation3. Sequencing

African dust and microbiota

Concentration [CFU m-3] of (a) Bacteria, and (b) Fungal propagules (5 min sample, 48 h culture)

AD associated with largest concentrations of microorganismsLarge interannual variability between 2017 and 2018

(Raga et al, 2020; Modified from Rodriguez-Gomez et al., 2020)

Bacteria

Fungi propagules

There are 5 different mechanisms of ice crystal formation

and four of them involve the presence of aerosol particles

1 2a

2b2c

2d

2b(i)

2d (i)

Mineral dust particles have been identified as the most important

catalyst for ice particle formation on a global scale.

Aerosol and mixed phase clouds Kanji, Ladino, and Wex et al., Meteorological Monographs (2017)

UNAM-MOUDI-DFT

Carolina Ramírez, MSc. Thesis (2019); Fernanda Cordoba, MSc. Thesis (2019)

MOUDI Aerosol particlesCloud chamber

Ice nucleating efficiencyImmersion Freezing

(Development of laboratory equipment)

Aerosol and mixed phase clouds

Aerosol and mixed phase clouds: INP

Most of the contribution to INPs concentration is in super-micron particles

(Cordoba et al., 2020)

Selected Conclusions• The arrival of AD plumes onto the Yucatan Peninsula in July

2017 and 2018 was confirmed in situ by different methods and techniques.

• AD particles significantly affect air quality in the Yucatan Peninsula, increasing PM up to 300%.

• Bacteria and fungal propagules concentrations were higher upon the arrival of AD plumes.

• High INP concentrations were found for T>-20°C in AD plumes. • Dust particles were found to be more efficient at nucleating ice

particles than MA and BB particles.

• Invaluable dataset as baseline for pollution, as the Yucatan develops and grows in the future

African dust particles have the potential to influence ice cloud formation and, therefore, affect precipitation

development in the Yucatan Peninsula.

• ADABBOY was supported by a large number of students: Manuel Andino, Diego Cabrera, Aline Cruz, Sofia Giordano,Javier Juarez, Aimee Melchum, Joshua Muñoz, Diana Pereira, Zyanya Ramírez, and Camila Rodríguez.

• Also thanks to Allan Bertram, Elizabeth García, Gabriel García, Manuel García, Victor García, Wilfrido Gutiérrez, JorgeHerrera, Lisa Miller, Juan Carlos Pineda, Rosario Pool Chi, Miguel Robles, Alfredo Rodríguez, and Ma. Isabel Saavedra.

Publications:

Acknowledgements:

Luis A. Ladino, Graciela B. Raga, Harry Alvarez-Ospína, Manuel A. Andino-Enríquez, Irma Rosas, Leticia Martínez, Eva Salinas, JavierMiranda, Zyanya Ramírez-Díaz, Bernardo Figueroa, Cedric Chou, Allan K. Bertram, Erika T. Quintana, Luis A. Maldonado, AgustínGarcía-Reynoso, Meng Si, and Victoria E. Irish, 2019: Ice-nucleating particles in a coastal tropical site, Atmos Chem Phys,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1-2019

Camila Rodriguez-Gomez, Carolina Ramirez-Romero, Fernanda Cordoba, Graciela B. Raga, Eva Salinas, Leticia Martinez, Irma Rosas,Erika T. Quintana, Luis A. Maldonado, Daniel Rosas, Talib Amador, Harry Alvarez, and Luis A. Ladino, 2020: Characterization ofculturable airborne microorganisms in the Yucatan Peninsula. Atmos. Environ., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.117183.

Joshua I. Muñoz-Salazar, Jong Sung Kim, Graciela B. Raga, Jaqueline Yakobi-Hancock, Daniel Rosas, Lucía Caudillo, Harry Alvarez-Ospina, and Luis A. Ladino, 2020: Ultrafine aerosol particles in the Yucatan Peninsula: A first case study in Merida. AtmosphericPollution Research (in press)

Carolina Ramírez-Romero, Alejandro Jaramillo, María F. Córdoba, Graciela B. Raga, Javier Miranda, Harry Alvarez, Daniel Rosas, TalibAmador, Jong Sung Kim, Jacqueline Yakobi-Hancock, Darrel Baumgardner, and Luis A. Ladino, 2020: African Dust Particles over thewestern Caribbean Part I: Impact on air quality over the Yucatan Peninsula. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (in Discussion)

Córdoba, F, C. Ramirez, D. Cabrera, G.B. Raga, J. Miranda, H. Alvarez-Ospina, D. Rosas, B. Figueroa, J. Kim, J. Yakobi-Hancock, T.Amador, W. Gutierrez, M. Garcia, Allan Bertram, D. Baumgardner, and L.A. Ladino, 2020:. Ice nucleating abilities of biomass burning,African dust, and sea spray aerosol particles over the Yucatan Peninsula. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (in Discussion).

Juarez-Perez, J., L.A. Miller, J. Herrera, G.B. Raga, K. Simpson, G. Cruz, Z. Ramirez-Diaz, D.L. Pereira, M. F. Cordoba, and L.A. Ladino,2020): Ice nucleating abilities of the sea surface microlayer from the Gulf of Mexico. Atmosfera (accepted)

Harry Alvarez-Ospina, Sofia Giordano, Luis A. Ladino, Graciela B. Raga, Joshua Muñoz, Martha Leyte-Lugo, Daniel Rosas, and GiovanniCarabali, 2020: Fine particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pPAHs) in Merida, Yucatán. Environmental Science andPollution Research (in review).

Fabiola Trujano Jiménez, Blanca Ríos, Luis Ladino and Graciela B. Raga, 2020: The impact of biomass burning emissions on ProtectedNatural Areas in central and southern Mexico. Environmental Science and Pollution Research (in review).

Ladino, L.A., L. Martinez, E. Salinas, F. Cordoba, M. Silva-Castro, A. Melchum, G.B. Raga, I. Rosas, E.T. Quintana and L. Maldonado (2020):Ice nucleating abilities of different fungal propagules and bacterial species collected and isolated in the Yucatan Peninsula. To besubmitted to Atmos Environ.

Jaramillo, A., Diaz-Esteban, Y., Ladino, L. and Raga, G.B., 2020: AD Particles over the Yucatan Peninsula. Part II: Climatology and seasonaland interannual variability. To be submitted to Atmos Environ.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1-2019https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.117183

LectorMx.com; LajornadaMaya.mx; MeteoRed.mx

Sky over the Yucatan Peninsula

2019

Is it African dust? Hysplit back-trajectories

Merida 312 h (13 days)

Sisal 312 h (13 days)

(Ramírez-Romero et al., 2020)

Microbiota in the Yucatan Peninsula

Fungi

Cold fronts: Cladosporium y Penicillium.

African dust: Aspergillus, Alternaria, Fusarium, y

Tricomona/Monillia.

Cold

fronts

African

DustAfrican Dust

(Rodriguez et al., 2020)

(Cordoba, MSc Thesis, UNAM, 2019)

BB: biomass burning

MA: Marine aerosol

SD: Saharan dust

The INP concentration

at T >-25°C within the

AD plumes is

significantly higher than

in MA and in the BB

plumes.

Aerosol and mixed phase clouds: INP

Área gris: muestras de precipitaciónAmarillo, naranja: polvo

Rojo: quema de biomasa

Verde: biológico, ruralAzul oscuro: marino, costa

Turquesa: ártico, antártico Café: suburbanoNegro, gris, purpura: alpino, troposfera libre

Presente trabajo

Carolina Ramírez, MSc. Thesis (2019)

Our results are in agreement with literature data

Mineral dust impact on ice

clouds

Present work

the influence of the african dust on air quality and mixed-phase … · 2020. 8. 11. ·...

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