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Abstract Background Associations between air temperature and mortality have been consistently observed in Europe and the United States; however, there is a lack of studies for Asian countries. Our study investigated the association between air temperature and cardio-respiratory mortality in the urban area of Beijing, China. Methods Death counts for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases for adult residents (≥15 years), meteorological parameters and concentrations of particulate air pollution were obtained from January 2003 to August 2005. The effects of two-day and 15-day average temperatures were estimated by Poisson regression models, controlling for time trend, relative humidity and other confounders if necessary. Effects were explored for warm (April to September) and cold periods (October to March) separately. The lagged effects of daily temperature were investigated by polynomial distributed lag (PDL) models. Results We observed a J-shaped exposure-response function only for 15-day average temperature and respiratory mortality in the warm period, with 21.3°C as the threshold temperature. All other exposure-response functions could be considered as linear. In the warm period, a 5°C increase of two-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.098 (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.057-1.140) for cardiovascular and 1.134 (95%CI: 1.050-1.224) for respiratory mortality; a 5°C decrease of 15-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.040 (95%CI: 0.990-1.093) for cardiovascular mortality. In the cold period, a 5°C increase of two-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.149 (95%CI: 1.078-1.224) for respiratory mortality; a 5°C decrease of 15-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.057 (95%CI: 1.022-1.094) for cardiovascular mortality. The effects remained robust after considering particles as additional confounders. Conclusions Both increases and decreases in air temperature are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. The effects of heat were immediate while the ones of cold became predominant with longer time lags. Increases in air temperature are also associated with an immediate increased risk of respiratory mortality.

More representative data on source‐specific particle number emission rates and associated exposure in European households are needed. In this study, indoor and outdoor particle number size distributions (10–800 nm) were measured in 40 German households under real‐use conditions in over 500 days. Particle number emission rates were derived for around 800 reported indoor source events. The highest emission rate was caused by burning candles (5.3 × 1013 h−1). Data were analyzed by the single‐parameter approach (SPA) and the indoor aerosol dynamics model approach (IAM). Due to the consideration of particle deposition, coagulation, and time‐dependent ventilation rates, the emission rates of the IAM approach were about twice as high as those of the SPA. Correction factors are proposed to convert the emission rates obtained from the SPA approach into more realistic values. Overall, indoor sources contributed ~ 56% of the daily‐integrated particle number exposure in households under study. Burning candles and opening the window leads to seasonal differences in the contributions of indoor sources to residential exposure (70% and 40% in the cold and warm season, respectively). Application of the IAM approach allowed to attribute the contributions of outdoor particles to the penetration through building shell and entry through open windows (26% and 15%, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The implementation of emission mitigation policies in Europe over the last two decades has generally improved the air quality, which resulted in lower aerosol particle mass, particle number, and black carbon mass concentration. However, little is known whether the decreasing particle concentrations at a lower-altitude level can be observed in the free troposphere (FT), an important layer of the atmosphere, where aerosol particles have a longer lifetime and may affect climate dynamics. In this study, we used data from two high-Alpine observatories, Zugspitze-Schneefernerhaus (ZSF) and Jungfraujoch (JFJ), to assess the long-term trends on size-resolved particle number concentrations (PNCs) and equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentration separated for undisturbed lower FT conditions and under the influence of air from the planetary boundary layer (PBL) from 2009 to 2018. Results: The FT and PBL-influenced conditions were segregated for both sites. We found that the FT conditions in cold months were more prevalent than in warm months, while the measured aerosol parameters showed different seasonal patterns for the FT and PBL-influenced conditions. The pollutants in the PBL-influenced condition have a higher chance to be transported to high-altitudes due to the mountainous topography, leading to a higher concentration and more distinct seasonal variation, and vice versa. The long-term trends of the measured aerosol parameters were evaluated and the decreased aerosol concentrations were observed for both FT and PBL-influenced conditions. The observed decreasing trends in eBC concentration in the PBL-influenced condition are well consistent with the reported trends in total BC emission in Germany and Switzerland. The decreased concentrations in the FT condition suggest that the background aerosol concentration in the lower FT over Central Europe has correspondingly decreased. The change of back trajectories in the FT condition at ZSF and JFJ was further evaluated to investigate the other possible drivers for the decreasing trends. Conclusions: The background aerosol concentration in the lower FT over Central Europe has significantly decreased during 2009–2018. The implementation of emission mitigation policies is the most decisive factor and the decrease of the regional airmass occurrence over Central Europe also has contributed to the decreasing trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerosol particles contribute to the climate forcing through their optical properties. Measuring these aerosol optical properties is still challenging, especially considering the hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles, which alters their optical properties. Lidar and in-situ techniques can derive a variety of aerosol optical properties, like aerosol particle light extinction, backscattering, and absorption. But these techniques are subject to some limitations and uncertainties. Within this study, we compared with Mie-theory modeled aerosol optical properties with direct measurements. At dried state they were with airborne and ground-based in-situ measurements; at ambient state with lidar estimates. Also, we examined the dependence of the aerosol particle light extinction-to-backscatter ratio, also lidar ratio (LR), to relative humidity. The used model was fed with measured physicochemical aerosol properties and ambient atmospheric conditions. The model considered aerosol particles in an internal core-shell mixing state with constant volume fractions of the aerosol components over the entire observed aerosol particle size-range. The underlying set of measurements was conducted near the measurement site Melpitz, Germany, during two campaigns in summer, 2015, and winter, 2017, and represent Central European background aerosol conditions. Two airborne payloads deployed on a helicopter and a balloon provided measurements of microphysical and aerosol optical properties and were complemented by the polarization Raman lidar system PollyXT as well as by a holistic set of microphysical, chemical and optical aerosol measurements derived at ground level. The calculated aerosol optical aerosol properties agreed within 13% (3%) with the ground-based in-situ measured aerosol optical properties at a dried state (relative humidity below 40%) in terms of scattering at 450 nm wavelength during the winter (summer) campaign. The model also represented the aerosol particle light absorption at 637 nm within 8% (18%) during the winter (summer) campaign and agreed within 13% with the airborne in-situ aerosol particle light extinction measurements during summer. During winter, in a comparatively clean case with equivalent black carbon mass-concentrations of around 0.2 µg m-3 the modeled airborne measurement-based aerosol particle light absorption, was up to 32-37% larger than the measured values during a relatively clean period. However, during a high polluted case, with an equivalent black carbon mass concentration of around 4 µg m-3, the modeled aerosol particle light absorption coefficient was, depending on the wavelength, 13-32% lower than the measured values. Spread and magnitude of the disagreement highlighted the importance of the aerosol mixing state used within the model, the requirement of the inclusion of brown carbon, and a wavelength-dependent complex refractive index of black and brown carbon when such kind of model is used to validate aerosol particle light absorption coefficient estimates of, e.g., lidar systems. Besides dried state comparisons, ambient modeled aerosol particle light extinction, as well as aerosol particle light backscattering, were compared with lidar estimates of these measures. During summer, on average, for four of the twelve conducted measurement flights, the model calculated lower aerosol particle light extinction (up to 29% lower) as well as backscattering (up to 32% lower) than derived with the lidar. In winter, the modeled aerosol particle light extinction coefficient was 17%-41% lower, the aerosol particle light backscattering coefficient 14%-42% lower than the lidar estimates. For both, the winter and summer cases, the Mie-model estimated reasonable extinction-to-backscatter ratios (LR). Measurement-based Mie-modeling showed evidence of the dependence of the LR on relative humidity (RH). With this result, we presented a fit for lidar wavelengths of 355, 532, and 1064 nm with an underlying equation of f[sub LR](TH, γ(λ)) = f[sub LR] (RH = 0, λ) x (1 - RH)-γ(λ) and estimates of γ(355 nm) = 0.29 (±0.01), γ(532 nm) = 0.48 (±0.01), and γ(1064 nm) = 0.31 (±0.01). However, further measurements are required to entangle the behavior of the LR with respect to different aerosol types, to set up a climatology, and to assess the influence of the aerosol mixing state. This comprehensive study combining airborne and ground-based in-situ and remote sensing measurements, which simulated multiple aerosol optical coefficients in the ambient and dry state, is with its complexity unique of its kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of black carbon fractal aggregates (BCFAs) from combustion and subsequent aging involves several stages resulting in modifications of particle size, morphology, and composition over time. To understand and quantify how each of these modifications influences the BC radiative forcing, the radiative properties of BCFAs are modelled. Owing to the high computational time involved in numerical modelling, there are some gaps in terms of data coverage and knowledge regarding how radiative properties of coated BCFAs vary over the range of different factors (size, shape, and composition). This investigation bridged those gaps by following a state-of-the-art description scheme of BCFAs based on morphology, composition, and wavelength. The BCFAs radiative properties were investigated as a function of the radius of the primary particle (ao), fractal dimension (Df), fraction of organics (forganics), wavelength (λ), and mobility diameter (Dmob). The radiative properties are calculated using the multiple sphere T-matrix (MSTM) method. Amongst size, morphology, and composition, all the radiative properties showed the highest variability with changing size. The cross-sections varied from 0.0001 μm2 to 0.1 μm2 for BCFA Dmob ranging from 24 nm to 810 nm. After size or Dmob, the absorption cross-section (Cabs) and BC mass absorption cross-section (MACBC) showed the highest sensitivity towards composition or forganics, whereas the asymmetry parameter (g) showed higher dependence on morphology, which is represented by Df. The Ångstrom absorption exponent varied from 1.06 up to 3.6 and increases with the fraction of organics (forganics). The values of the absorption enhancement factor (Eλ) were found between 1.01 and 3.28 in the visible spectrum. The Eλ was derived from Mie calculations for coated volume equivalent spheres, and from MSTM for coated BCFAs. Mie calculated enhancement factors were found to be larger by a factor of 1.1 to 1.5 than their corresponding values calculated from the MSTM method. It is shown that radiative forcings are highly sensitive towards modifications in morphology and composition. The black carbon radiative forcing ΔFTOA (Wm-2) decreases up to 61 % as the BCFA becomes more compact in morphology. Whereas, there is a decrease of > 50 % in ΔFTOA as the organic content of the particle increase up to 90 %. Based on our results, which showed a significant effect of coating and morphology on the BC radiative properties, a parametrization scheme for radiative properties of BC fractal aggregates was developed, which is applicable for modelling, ambient, and laboratory-based BC studies. The parameterization scheme for the cross-sections (extinction, absorption, and scattering), single scattering albedo (SSA), and asymmetry parameter (g) of pure and coated BCFAs as a function of Dmob were derived from tabulated results of the MSTM method. Spanning over an extensive parameter space, the developed parametrization scheme showed promisingly high accuracy up to 98 % for the cross-sections, 97 % for single scattering albedos (SSA), and 82 % for asymmetry parameter (g). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scattering and backscattering enhancement factors (f(RH) and fb(RH)) describe how aerosol particle light scattering and backscattering, respectively, change with relative humidity (RH). They are important parameters in estimating direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF). In this study we use a dataset presented in Burgos et al. (2019) that compiles f(RH) and fb(RH) measurements at three wavelengths (i.e. 450, 550 and 700 nm) performed with tandem nephelometer systems at multiple sites around the world. We present an overview of f(RH) and fb(RH) based on both long-term and campaign observations from 23 sites representing a range of aerosol types. The scattering enhancement shows a strong variability from site to site, with no clear pattern with respect to total scattering coefficient. In general, higher f(RH) is observed at Arctic and marine sites while lower values are found at urban and desert sites, although a consistent pattern as a function of site type is not observed. The backscattering enhancement fb(RH) is consistently lower tan f(RH) at all sites, with the difference between f(RH) and fb(RH) increasing for aerosol with higher f(RH). This is consistent with Mie theory which predicts higher enhancement of the light-scattering in the forward than in the backward direction as the particle takes up water. Our results show that the scattering enhancement is higher for PM1 than PM10 at most sites, which is also supported by theory due to the change in scattering efficiency with the size parameter that relates particle size and wavelength of incident light. At marine-influenced sites this difference is enhanced when coarse particles (likely sea salt) predominate. For most sites, f(RH) is observed to increase with increasing wavelength, except at sites with a known dust influence where the spectral dependence of f(RH) is found to be low or even exhibit the opposite pattern. The impact of RH on aerosol properties used to calculate radiative forcing (e.g., single scattering albedo, ω0, and backscattered fraction, b) is evaluated. The single scattering albedo generally increases with RH while b decreases. The net effect of aerosol hygroscopicity on radiative forcing efficiency (RFE) is an increase in the absolute forcing effect (negative sign) by a factor of up to 4 at RH = 90 % compared to dry conditions (RH < 40 %). Because of the scarcity of scattering enhancement measurements, an attempt was made to use other, more commonly available aerosol parameters (i.e., ω0 and scattering Angström exponent, αsp) to parameterize f(RH). The majority of sites (75 %) showed a consistent trend with ω0 (higher f (RH = 85 %) for higher ω0), while no clear pattern was observed between f (RH = 85 %) and αsp. This suggests that aerosol ω0 is more promising tan αsp as a surrogate for the scattering enhancement factor, although neither parameter is ideal. Nonetheless, the qualitative relationship observed between ω0 and f(RH) could serve as a constraint on global model simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice nucleating particles (INPs) initiate the primary ice formation in clouds at temperatures above ca. -38° C and have an impact on precipitation formation, cloud optical properties and cloud persistence. Despite their roles in both weather and climate, INPs are not well characterized, especially in remote regions such as the Arctic. We present results from a ship-based campaign to the European Arctic in May to July 2017. We deployed a filter sampler and a continuous flow diffusion chamber for off- and online INP analysis, respectively. We also investigated the ice nucleation properties of samples from different environmental compartments, i.e., the sea surface microlayer (SML), the bulk seawater (BSW), and fog water. Concentrations of INP (NINP) in the air vary between two to three orders of magnitudes at any particular temperature and are, except for the temperatures above -10° C and below -32° C, lower than in mid-latitudes. In these temperature ranges INP concentrations are the same or even higher than in the mid- latitudes. Heating of the filter samples to 95° C for 1 hour we found a significant reduction in ice nucleation activity, i.e., indications that the INPs active at warmer temperatures are biogenic. At colder temperatures the INP population was likely dominated by mineral dust. The SML was found to be enriched in INP compared to the BSW in almost all samples. The enrichment factor (EF) varied mostly between 1 and 10, but EFs as high as 94.97 were also observed. Filtration of the seawater samples with 0.2 µm syringe filters lead to a significant reduction in ice activity, indicating the INPs are larger, and/or are associated with particles larger than 0.2 µm. A closure study showed that aerosolization of SML and/or seawater alone cannot explain the observed air-borne NINP unless significant enrichment of INP by a factor of 105 takes place during the transfer from the ocean surface to the atmosphere. In the fog water samples with -3.47° C we observed the highest freezing onset of any sample. A closure study connecting NINP in fog water and the ambient NINP derived from the filter samples shows good agreement of the concentrations in both compartments, which indicates that INPs in the air are likely all activated into fog droplets during fog events. In a case study we considered a situation during which the ship was located in the marginal sea ice zone and NINP in air and the SML were highest in the temperature range above -10° C. Chlorophyll-a measurements by satellite remote sensing point towards the waters in the investigated region being biologically active. Heat induced reduction of ice nucleating ability indicated the biogenic nature of the air-borne INPs. Similar slopes in the temperature spectra suggested a connection between the INP populations in the SML and the air. Air mass history had no influence on the observed air-borne INP population. Therefore, we conclude that during the case study collected air-borne INPs originated from a local biogenic probably marine source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) responsible for COVID-19 in December 2019 in Wuhan (China) and its spread to the rest of the world, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic in March 2020. Without effective treatment in the initial pandemic phase, social distancing and mandatory quarantines were introduced as the only available preventative measure. Despite the socioeconomic impacts, air quality improved due to lower pollutant emissions. Here we investigate the effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns on ambient black carbon (BC), which affects climate and damages health, using in-situ observations from 17 European stations in a Bayesian inversion framework. BC emissions declined by 11 % in Europe (20 % in Italy, 32 % in Germany, 20 % in Spain) during lockdown compared to the same period in the previous five years. BC temporal variation in the countries enduring the most drastic restrictions showed the most distinct lockdown impacts. Increased particle light absorption in at the beginning of the lockdown, confirmed by assimilated satellite and remote sensing data, suggests residential combustion was the dominant BC source. Accordingly, in Central and Eastern Europe, which experienced lower than average temperatures, BC was elevated compared to the previous five years. Except for the comparison of BC emissions in the lockdown with the previous five years, an immediate decrease was also seen, as compared with the period before the lockdown, which averaged about 10 % over Europe. Such a decrease was not seen in the previous years, which also confirms an impact on BC emissions from COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an event of a nuclear power plant failure with release of radioactive material into the atmosphere, dispersion modelling is used to understand, how the released radioactivity is spread. For the dispersion of particles, Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Models, LPDMs are commonly used in which model particles, representing the released material, are transported through the atmosphere. These model particles are usually inert and undergo only first order processes such as dry deposition and simplified wet deposition along the path through the atmosphere. Aerosol dynamic processes including coagulation, condensational growth, chemical interactions, formation of new particles and interaction with new aerosol sources are usually neglected in such models. The objective for this study is to analyse the importance of including more advanced aerosol dynamic processes in LPDM simulations for the use in radioactive preparedness. In this investigation, a fictitious NPP failure, commencing with hourly separation for a full year, is studied for three geographically and atmospherically different sites. We conclude that: a) modelling of wet deposition by incorporating an advanced cloud parameterisation is advisable since, it significantly influence simulated levels of airborne activity as well as the formation of hotspots, and b) with advanced cloud parametrisation in the model, the inclusion of full aerosol dynamics can make a difference in single events, especially for formation of hot spots e.g. in 5% of the simulated cases the decrease of airborne radioactivity concentration differed with more than 60%-points compared to a simplified version of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New particle formation (NPF) events occur almost everywhere in the world and can play an important role as a particle source. The frequency and characteristics of NPF events vary spatially and this variability is yet to be fully understood. In the present study, long term particle size distribution datasets (minimum of three years) from thirteen sites of various land uses and climates from across Europe were studied and NPF events, deriving from secondary formation and not traffic related nucleation, were extracted and analysed. The frequency of NPF events was consistently found to be higher at rural background sites, while the growth and formation rates of newly formed particles were higher at roadsides, underlining the importance of the abundance of condensable compounds of anthropogenic origin found there. The growth rate was higher in summer at all rural background sites studied. The urban background sites presented the highest uncertainty due to greater variability compared to the other two types of site. The origin of incoming air masses and the specific conditions associated with them greatly affect the characteristics of NPF events. In general, cleaner air masses present higher probability for NPF events, while the more polluted ones show higher growth rates. However, different patterns of NPF events were found even at sites in close proximity (< 200 km) due to the different local conditions at each site. Region-wide events were also studied and were found to be associated with the same conditions as local events, although some variability was found which was associated with the different seasonality of the events at two neighbouring sites. NPF events were responsible for an increase in the number concentration of ultrafine particles of more than 400% at rural background sites on the day of their occurrence. The degree of enhancement was less at urban sites due to the increased contribution of other sources within the urban environment. It is evident that, while some variables (such as solar radiation intensity, relative humidity or the concentrations of specific pollutants) appear to have a similar influence on NPF events across all sites, it is impossible to predict the characteristics of NPF events at a site using just these variables, due to the crucial role of local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of different sources of the carbonaceous aerosol (organics and black carbon) was investigated at a mountain forest site located in central Germany from September to October 2010 to characterize incoming air masses during the "Hill Cap Cloud Thuringia 2010" (HCCT-2010) experiment. The near-PM1 chemical composition, as measured by an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS), was dominated by organics (OA, 41%), followed by sulfate (19%) and nitrate (18%). Source apportionment of the OA fraction was performed using the Multilinear Engine approach (ME-2), resulting in the identification of five factors: Hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA, 3% of OA mass), biomass burning OA (BBOA, 13%), semi20 volatile-like OA (SVOOA, 19%), and two oxygenated OA (OOA) factors. The more-oxidized OOA (MO-OOA, 28%) was interpreted as being influenced by aged polluted continental air masses, whereas the less-oxidized OOA (LO-OOA, 37%) was found to be more linked to aged biogenic sources. Equivalent black carbon (eBC) measured by a multi-angle absorption photometer, MAAP, represented 10% of the total PM. The eBC was clearly associated with the three factors HOA, BBOA, and MO-OOA (all together R² = 0.83). Therefore, eBC's contribution to each factor was achieved using a multi-linear regression model. More than half of the eBC (52%) was associated with long-range transport (i.e. MO-OOA), whereas liquid fuel eBC (35%) and biomass burning eBC (13%) were associated with local emissions leading to a complete apportionment of the carbonaceous aerosol. The separation between local and transported eBC was well supported by the mass size distribution of elemental carbon (EC) from Berner-impactor samples. Air masses with the strongest marine influence based on back trajectory analysis corresponded with a low particle mass concentration (6.4-7.5 μg m-3) and organic fraction ( 30%). However, they also had the largest contribution of primary OA (HOA  4% and BBOA 15-20%), which was associated with local emissions. Continental air masses had the highest mass concentration (11.4-12.6 μg m-3) and a larger fraction of oxygenated OA ( 45%) indicated highly processed OA. The present results emphasize the key role played by long-range transport processes not only on the OA fraction but also on the eBC mass concentration and the importance of improving our knowledge on the identification of eBC sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the baseline drift on the resulting extinction values of three cavity attenuated phase shift-based extinction monitors (CAPS PMex) with different wavelengths and the respective correlation with NO2 was analysed for an urban background station. A drift of more than 0.8 Mm-1min-1 was observed for ambient air, with high probability caused by traffic-emissions-driven changes in carrier gas composition. The baseline drift leads to characteristic measurement artefacts for particle extinction. Artificial particle extinction values of approximately 4 Mm-1 were observed using a baseline period of 5 min. These values can be even higher for longer baseline periods. Two methods are shown to minimize this effect. Modified continuous baseline values are calculated in a post-processing step using simple linear interpolation and cubic smoothing splines. Both methods are useful to reduce artefacts, although the use of cubic smoothing splines gives slightly better results. The extinction artefacts are diminished and the effective scattering of the resulting extinction values is reduced by about 50 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneous uptake of hydroxyl peroxy radicals (HO2) on aerosol has been proposed to be a significant sink of HOx, thus could influence the atmospheric oxidation capacity. Accurate calculation of the uptake coefficient γHO2 is the key to quantifying its atmospheric effects. Laboratory studies show that γHO2 varies by orders of magnitude due to change in aerosol properties, especially those of aerosol soluble copper (Cu) and aerosol liquid water content (ALWC). In this study, we develop a state-of-the-art model to simulate both gas and aerosol phase chemistry. A novel parameterized equation of HO2 considering change in RH and aerosol Cu is developed based on model optimization toward all available lab experiments. 1 / γ = 1 / α + (3 x v) / (4 X 106 X Rd Hcorr RT X (5.87 + 3.2 x ln(ALWC / [PM] + 0.067)) x [PM]-0.2 x [Cu2+]0.65) According to the new equation, highly variable HO2 uptake coefficients (median value ~0.1) were diagnosed for North China Plain and the impact of HO2 uptake on the ROx budget is assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerosol particles are essential constituents of the Earth’s atmosphere, impacting the earth radiation balance directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei. In contrast to most greenhouse gases, aerosol particles have short atmospheric residence time resulting in a highly heterogeneous distribution in space and time. There is a clear need to document this variability at regional scale through observations involving, in particular, the in-situ near-surface segment of the atmospheric observations system. This paper will provide the widest effort so far to document variability of climate-relevant in-situ aerosol properties (namely wavelength dependent particle light scattering and absorption coefficients, particle number concentration and particle number size distribution) from all sites connected to the Global Atmosphere Watch network. High quality data from more than 90 stations worldwide have been collected and controlled for quality and are reported for a reference year in 2017, providing a very extended and robust view of the variability of these variables worldwide. The range of variability observed worldwide for light scattering and absorption coefficients, single scattering albedo and particle number concentration are presented together with preliminary information on their long-term trends and comparison with model simulation for the different stations. The scope of the present paper is also to provide the necessary suite of information including data provision procedures, quality control and analysis, data policy and usage of the ground-based aerosol measurements network. It delivers to users of the World Data Centre on Aerosol, the required confidence in data products in the form of a fully-characterized value chain, including uncertainty estimation and requirements for contributing to the global climate monitoring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To characterize the role of dew water on the ground surface HONO distribution, nitrous acid (HONO) measurements with a MARGA and a LOPAP instrument were performed at the TROPOS research site in Melpitz from 19 to 29 April 2018. The dew water was also collected and analyzed from 8 to 14 May 2019 using a glass sampler. The high-time resolution of HONO measurements showed well-defined diurnal variations that revealed: (i) vehicle emission is a minor source of HONO at the Melpitz station; (ii) heterogeneous conversion of NO2 to HONO on ground surface dominates HONO production at night; (iii) significant nighttime ground surface deposition of HONO with a strength of sink of 0.161 ± 0.122 ppbv h-1; (iv) dew water with mean NO2- of 7.91 ± 2.14 μg m-2 could serve as a temporary HONO source in the morning when the dew droplets evaporate. The nocturnal observations of HONO and NO2 allowed direct evaluation of the ground uptake coefficients for these species at night: γNO2→HONO = 1.4 x 10-6 to 1.5 x 10-5, γHONO,ground = 5.6 to 19.5. A chemical model demonstrated that HONO deposition to the ground surface at night was 90-100 % of the calculated unknown HONO source in the morning. These results suggest that dew water on the ground surface was controlling the temporal HONO distribution rather than straightforward NO2-HONO conversion. This can strongly enhance the OH reactivity throughout morning time or other planted areas that provide large amount of ground surface based on the OH production rate calculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]