CAEmissionMonitor – Determination of primary carbonaceous aerosol emission rates and formation rate of secondary organic aerosol.

The proposed project (ARRS L1-4386) aims to develop a simplified and reliable method for the determination of carbonaceous aerosol primary emission fluxes and secondary formation rate with high time resolution, where the dynamics of the atmosphere and dispersion characteristics within the planetary boundary layer will be assessed by using natural radioactive noble gas radon (Rn-222) as a tracer.

The main project goal can be separated into two specific objectives: the first one will be focused to the development and validation of the mixing layer height model, which describes the influence of meteorology on the dispersion of air pollutants; whereas the second one will focus on the characterization of primary emission fluxes and calculation of secondary organic aerosol formation. The reliable results of mixing layer height will be used for top-down modeling of emission rates of carbonaceous aerosol from primary sources and the formation rate of secondary organic aerosols.

The tool can provide valuable information to authorities for the implementation and evaluation of air quality action plans by indicating the strength of different emissions sources, especially from road traffic and biomass burning. On the other hand, improved knowledge about the secondary organic aerosol formation will significantly increase the performance of the chemical transport model and thus reduce the uncertainty of climate models.

Consortium:

• Aerosol d.o.o., coordinator
• University of Nova Gorica, Centre for atmospheric research, partner
• Jožef Stefan Institute, Department of environmental Sciences, partner