In:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Copernicus GmbH, Vol. 13, No. 2 ( 2013-01-22), p. 895-916
Abstract:
Abstract. We have analysed the trends of total aerosol particle number concentrations (N) measured at long-term measurement stations involved either in the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) and/or EU infrastructure project ACTRIS. The sites are located in Europe, North America, Antarctica, and on Pacific Ocean islands. The majority of the sites showed clear decreasing trends both in the full-length time series, and in the intra-site comparison period of 2001–2010, especially during the winter months. Several potential driving processes for the observed trends were studied, and even though there are some similarities between N trends and air temperature changes, the most likely cause of many northern hemisphere trends was found to be decreases in the anthropogenic emissions of primary particles, SO2 or some co-emitted species. We could not find a consistent agreement between the trends of N and particle optical properties in the few stations with long time series of all of these properties. The trends of N and the proxies for cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) were generally consistent in the few European stations where the measurements were available. This work provides a useful comparison analysis for modelling studies of trends in aerosol number concentrations.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1680-7324
DOI:
10.5194/acp-13-895-2013
DOI:
10.5194/acp-13-895-2013-supplement
Language:
English
Publisher:
Copernicus GmbH
Publication Date:
2013
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2092549-9
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2069847-1
