Descripción del proyecto
ATMOBE PROJECT AIMS TO ADDRESS THE INVESTIGATION OF EMISSIONS, THEIR ATMOSPHERIC TRANSFORMATION AND THEIR IMPACT ON AIR QUALITY PRODUCED BY ONE OF THE MAIN NATURAL DISTURBANCES PRESENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ECOSYSTEMS: FOREST FIRES, BURNING OF AGRICULTURAL RESIDUES, AND THE USE OF WOOD FOR DOMESTIC HEATING. BIOMASS BURNING (BB) FOR RESIDENTIAL HEATING IS A MAJOR SOURCE OF ATMOSPHERIC CONTAMINANTS, WHICH WAS ESTIMATED TO CONTRIBUTE TO A LARGE SHARE OF PM EMISSIONS IN DIFFERENT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, BEING THE FIRST SOURCE OF ORGANIC AEROSOLS (OA) IN EUROPE. HENCE, IT HAS BECAME A MATTER OF CONCERN FOR SCIENTIST AND AIR QUALITY MANAGERS SINCE BB EMISSIONS ARE INCREASING WORLDWIDE. THEREFORE, A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF AEROSOLS, ITS SOURCES AND PROCESSES IS A FUNDAMENTAL PREREQUISITE TO DEVELOP APPROPRIATE MITIGATION POLICIES.OUR PROJECT WILL GIVE INSIGHTS TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF BB ON AIR QUALITY, CLOSELY RELATED TO HEALTH, AND ON CC IN AN INTEGRAL MANNER. THE COMBINATION OF BOTH WILL BE ALSO AN STEP FORWARD TO DRAFT MORE ACCURATE MITIGATION POLICIES AND STRATEGIES AND WILL BE AN IMPORTANT SOURCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGERS AND POLICY-MAKERS. FOR THIS PURPOSE, IT IS PLANNED TO CARRY OUT FIELD CAMPAIGNS TO MEASURE THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE AEROSOL IN A RURAL ENVIRONMENT. LOCATIONS CHOSEN A PRIORI, ARE AN INLAND AGRICULTURAL AREA WITH AN EXPECTED SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF BB FROM OPEN BURNING OF CROPS RESIDUES AND RESIDENTIAL HEATING; AND AN AGRICULTURAL AREA IN THE ALBUFERA NATURAL PARK, WHERE THE BURNING OF RICE STRAW IS ALLOWED DUE TO SANITARY REASONS, AND IT AFFECTS THE SURROUNDING CITIES (INCLUDING VALENCIA). THE AIM WILL BE TO INVESTIGATE WHETHER THE PARAMETERS CHARACTERISING BB EMISSIONS, IDENTIFIED AT EUPHORE, E.G., SOA PRECURSORS, CHEMICAL FINGERPRINTS AND BIOMARKER RATIOS CAN ALSO BE USEFUL FOR EVALUATING BB SOURCES UNDER REAL-WORLD CONDITIONS. AT THE LABORATORY SCALE WE PLAN TO STUDY THE ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY OF SOME BB EMISSIONS, FOCUSED ON BRC AND INTERMEDIATE AND SECONDARY POLLUTANTS FORMATION IN GAS AND PARTICLE PHASE, FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES: I) BURNING OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST WOODS AND RICE STRAW UNDER A RANGE OF REALISTIC CONDITIONS AT THE HIGHLY INSTRUMENTALIZED EUPHORE CHAMBER, II) IMPORTANT BB EMISSION SPECIES (PHENOLIC AND FURANIC) UNDER A RANGE OF REALISTIC CONDITIONS AT EUPHORE. THE TASKS TO CARRY OUT WITHIN THE PROJECT HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE COMPOSITION AND SOURCES OF SECONDARY COMPOUNDS FORMED FROM BB PRECURSORS, TO GAIN INSIGHTS INTO THE FORMATION OF COMPONENTS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH. ON-LINE STATE-OF-THE-ART INSTRUMENTATION TOGETHER WITH OFF-LINE ANALYSIS OF FILTERS WILL ALLOW THE CHEMICAL PARTICLE COMPOSITION WHICH WILL BE USED WITH THE GAS-PHASE MEASUREMENTS TO IDENTIFY IMPORTANT SOA PRECURSORS AS WELL AS TO ELUCIDATE SPECTRAL CHEMICAL FINGERPRINTS FOR USE IN IDENTIFYING SOURCES OF BB SOA IN THE AMBIENT ATMOSPHERE. BESIDES, THE RESULTS OBTAINED WILL PROVIDE USEFUL INFORMATION TO VERIFY THE PARAMETERIZATION ADOPTED IN AIR QUALITY CHEMICAL TRANSPORT MODELS AND TO BUILD EDUCATIONAL AND MITIGATION PROGRAMS FOR A MOST EFFICIENT USE OF DOMESTIC WOOD-BURNING PRACTICES. BIOMASS BURNING\ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY\VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS\BROWN CARBON\SECONDARY ORGANIC AEROSOLS\EUPHORE