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The development of new analytical systems and the improvement of the existing ones to obtain high-resolution measurements of chemical markers in samples from ice cores, is one of the main challenges the paleoclimatic scientific community is facing. Different chemical species can be used as markers for tracking emission sources or specific environmental processes. Although some markers, such as methane sulfonic acid (a proxy of marine productivity), are commonly used, there is a lack of data on other organic tracers in ice cores, making their continuous analysis analytically challenging. Here, we present an innovative combination of fast liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (FLC-MS/MS) to continuously determine organic markers in ice cores. After specific optimization, this approach was applied to the quantification of vanillic and syringic acids, two specific markers for biomass burning. Using the validated method, detection limits of 3.6 and 4.6 pg mL–1 for vanillic and syringic acids, respectively, were achieved. Thanks to the coupling of FLC-MS/MS with the continuous flow analytical system, we obtained one measurement every 30 s, which corresponds to a sampling resolution of a sample every 1.5 cm with a melting rate of 3.0 cm min–1. To check the robustness of the method, we analyzed two parallel sticks of an alpine ice core over more than 5 h. Vanillic acid was found with concentrations in the range of picograms per milliliter, suggesting the combustion of coniferous trees, which are found throughout the Italian Alps. publishedVersion

North-Eastern Italy and in particular Veneto Region, stands out as a major centre of agriculture and viticulture which has rapidly expanded in the last decade with high productivity indexes. In this context, assessing atmospheric pollution caused by crop spraying with pesticides in rural areas and their transport to high-altitude remote sites is crucial to provide a basis for understanding possible impacts on the environment and population health. We aim to improve existing methods with a highly sensitive technique by using high pressure anion exchange chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. Thus, a total of fourteen polar pesticides were determined in aerosol samples collected from August to December 2021 at Roncade (Venetian plain) and Col Margherita Observatory (Dolomites). The observatory was chosen as the background site as it is representative of the surrounding alpine region. Some samples revealed a substantial amount of cyanuric acid mainly at Roncade (mean concentration of 10 ± 10 ng m

We present the results obtained using an original open-source low-cost sensor (LCS) system developed to measure tropospheric O3 in a remote high altitude alpine site. We conducted our study at the Col Margherita Observatory (2543 m a.s.l.), a World Meteorological Organization Global Atmosphere Watch Regional Station (WIGOS Id: 0-380-0-MRG), located in the Italian Eastern Alps. The sensing system mounts three equivalent commercial low-cost sensors that have been calibrated using a laboratory standard (Thermo 49iPS), referenced to the Standard Reference Photometer #15 calibration scale by the WMO, before field deployment. Intra and inter-comparison between sensors and reference (Thermo 49c) have been conducted for six months from May to December 2018. The sensor’s dependence on the environmental meteorological variables has been considered and discussed. The evaluation of the analytical performances of this sensing system provides a limit of detection < 5 ppb, limit of quantitation < 17 ppb, linear dynamic range up to 250 ppb, intra-Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) up to 0.96, inter-PCC > 0.8, bias > 3.5 ppb and ±8.5 at 95% of confidence. Thanks to the first implementation of an LCS System in an alpine site, we demonstrated how it is possible to obtain valuable data from a low-cost instrument in a remote harsh environment. This opens new perspectives for the adoption of a low-cost sensor network in atmospheric sciences. We further present our recent experience using LoRa to integrate the sensing system into a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN). We developed an end-node and a gateway, designing PCBs derived from the Arduino Mega, optimizing their power consumption and equipping them with batteries, a proper solar panel or wind turbine to ensure their autonomy while collecting environmental ozone and meteorological (T, RH, WS, WD) data. We drafted the communication software to send compressed data from end-nodes to gateways. The gateways are part of an openVPN with the main server located in Venice. The server also provides a postgreSQL database and a R-shiny web application for data visualization and manipulation. To enhance redundancy, the local data are also synchronized to a cloud database. In the next years, thanks to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant PIONEER, we will exploit our experiences to provide a comprehensive low-cost wireless sensor network to characterize transport of polluted air masses and provide long term climate data collection in support of the state-of-the-art instrumentation and established networks in remote alpine areas.BibliographyDallo F. et al.: Calibration and assessment of electrochemical low-cost sensors in remote alpine harsh environments, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, amt-2020-483. In reviewAcknowledgements. This work was part of the Arctic Field Grant O3NET project, funded by the Research Council of Norway. The work received financial support by the National Project of Interest Next-Data (MIUR). The exploitation of the LoRa technology was performed with the ITIS "Max Planck" through the Remote Observatory SYstem (ROSY) "Alternanza scuola-lavoro" project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 844526

In this study we used a terricolous lichen (Cetraria islandica) as bioaccumulator of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) to explore spatial patterns of air pollutant deposition along elevational gradients in the Majella Massif (Italy). Samples of C. islandica were collected at 200 m intervals along 6 transects from 1600 to 2600 m, both along the eastern and the western slope of the Majella massif, and analyzed for their PTE content. The results supported the hypothesis that the deposition of PTEs to the Majella massif is largely influenced by elevation and slope. Two main patterns emerged connected either with local soil erosion and long-range atmospheric transport. For some PTEs, namely Al, Cr, Li, Mg, in the absence of any other data, it is supposed that the anthropogenic input is very small compared to the natural input from weathering processes. In contrast, the group of air pollutants subjected to long-range transport, as in the case of Cd, Hg, and Pb, has very limited local input and the main sources responsible for the higher concentrations on the eastern slope are probably to be searched in the Balkan area.

L'esperienza maturata durante gli ultimi anni di gestione dell'osservatorio di Col Margherita (MRG) e il recente inserimento della stazione all'interno della rete GAW richiedono un importante intervento di ristrutturazione e l'acquisizione di nuovi strumenti di analisi. Il rifacimento dell'osservatorio previsto in questo piano di gestione ha come obiettivi: a) il necessario supporto ai progetti scientifici di seguito proposti (ISP - CNR e Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia), b) la partecipazione alla rete GAW con un monitoraggio a lungo termine di alcuni parametri ambientali selezionati e c) la realizzazione di una efficiente struttura in grado di ospitare realtà scientifiche esterne (nazionali ed internazionali) con la possibilità di installazione temporanea di specifici strumenti di analisi.

Il report descrive le attività svolte per l'osservatorio di Col Margherita (BL) per il periodo 06/2020-05/2021 e la programmazione delle attività per il periodo 06/2021-05/2022.

Organic acids in aerosols Earth's atmosphere are ubiquitous and they have been extensively studied across urban, rural and polar environments. However, little is known about their properties, transport, source and seasonal variations in the Svalbard Archipelago. Here, we present the annual trend of organic acids in the aerosol collected at Ny-Ålesund and consider their size-distributions to infer their possible sources and relative contributions. A series of carboxylic acids were detected with a predominance of C2-oxalic acid. Pinic acid and cis-pinonic acid were studied in order to better understand the oxidative and gas-to-particle processes occurred in the Arctic atmosphere. Since the water-soluble organic fraction is mainly composed by organic acids and ions, we investigated how the seasonal variation leads to different atmospheric transport mechanisms, focusing on the chemical variations between the polar night and boreal summer. Using major ions, levoglucosan and MSA, the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) identified five different possible sources: a) sea spray; b) marine primary production; c) biomass burning; d) sea ice related process and e) secondary products.

Atmospheric observatories in the remote areas represent the primary infrastructure for the state-of-the-art meteorological and climate research and play a crucial role in Climate Change comprehension. However, the World Meteorological Organization Global Atmosphere Watch (WMO-GAW) states in their 2018 final report that “the fate of the next generation of monitoring stations will be dramatically modified by the breakthroughs of new low-cost sensor (LCS) technologies.”. The development and improvement of low-cost technologies are proving notable applications and today LCSs are already playing a crucial role in fields such as model or emission validation and spatial variability of pollution[1]. Upcoming earth observation programmes, applications, services and support in citizen inclusion in earth monitoring are pushing the European Union (EU) in funding R&D to assess low-cost technologies, thus making the introduction of basic and applied research imperative.PIONEER* aims at establishing a low-cost wireless sensor network (LCS-WSN) for the study of transboundary transport phenomena of air pollutants. Given its highly relevance for the Earth climate, ecosystems, and human health, primary endeavor will be directed towards the study of tropospheric ozone to obtain quantitative, reproducible in-situ measurements. Tropospheric ozone is one of the most important atmospheric gases involved in photochemical reactions[2], it plays a central role in the radiative budget of the atmosphere and it is the third greenhouse gas in the troposphere[3]. Also, surface ozone is a dangerous secondary pollutant causing harm to human health and ecosystems[4]. Since the troposphere is a very complex system the goal is to develop and deploy a reliable LCS-WSN, along the trail Munich-Venice, to be used by scientists as well as citizen engineers in remote areas, where the needs of reliable dense spatial data to model the transport phenomena and Climate Change effects is decisive. PIONEER will exploit the existing open source technologies and commercial low-cost sensors to provide a LCS-WSN systems for long term climate data collection, a cloud-assisted database for time series collection and management, a web portal for uploading, displaying, performing statistical analysis and downloading records and metadata in a fully open access fashion, a comprehensive open source repository with tools, guidelines and application developed. The software will be open-source and released under copyleft license, thus allowing the complete reproducibility of all the developed devices and tools. *Individual Global Fellowships granted by the Research Executive Agency. Grant Agreement number: 844526 — PIONEER — H2020-MSCA-IF-2018[1] Lewis, Alastair, W. Richard Peltier, and Erika von Schneidemesser. "Low-cost sensors for the measurement of atmospheric composition: overview of topic and future applications." (2018).[2] Crutzen, P.J., Lawrence, M.G., Poschl, U.,“On the background photochemistry of tropospheric ozone”, Tellus AB 51, 123–146 (1999).[3] Forster, Piers, et al. "Changes in atmospheric constituents and in radiative forcing. Chapter 2." Climate Change 2007. The Physical Science Basis. 2007.[4] Cooper, Owen R., et al. "Global distribution and trends of tropospheric ozone: An observation-based review." (2014).[5] Young, P. J., et al. "Pre-industrial to end 21st century projections of tropospheric ozone from the Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Model Intercomparison Project (ACCMIP)." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 13.4 (2013): 2063-2090.

The Col Margherita (MRG) Observatory is a high-altitude background station located in the Eastern Italian Alps. Its elevation and distance from major anthropogenic and natural sources make it ideal for monitoring baseline mercury levels and investigating its geochemical cycles. In this work, total gaseous mercury (TGM), ozone (O3) and meteorological variables were studied to investigate seasonal and diurnal variability of TGM measurements from March 2018 to May 2019. We found that the year-round mean TGM concentration was 1.8 times higher than the annual atmospheric mercury measurements previously reported during the GMOS project at the same measurement site. The seasonal variation of TGM was characterized by high values in spring and summer and lower values in winter. A systematic diel pattern of TGM was obtained, with low concentrations during the daytime and higher concentrations in the late evening. Spatial patterns and temporal changes in TGM, back- trajectories (BTs) and planetary boundary layer (PBL) analysis showed that total gaseous mercury levels were influenced by local meteorology, as well as regional and long-range transport of air masses. The lowest TGM concentrations in winter are associated with high wind speeds, low boundary layer height and cleaner air masses originating from the Western sector. Conversely, the highest TGM concentrations in spring and summer were attributed to polluted air masses passing over North-eastern and Continental Europe and were probably favoured by the higher PBL height. During the snow cover season, investigation of TGM peak events also demonstrated the potential influence of re-emission processes of previously reactive mercury deposition over snow surfaces.

Bismuth-based (nano)materials have been attracting increasing interest due to appealing properties such as high refractive indexes, intrinsic opacity, and structural distortions due to the stereochemistry of 6s

Sunlit snow is highly photochemically active and plays an important role in the exchange of gas-phase species between the cryosphere to the atmosphere. Here, we investigate the behaviour of two selected species in surface snow: mercury (Hg) and iodine (I). Hg can deposit year-round and accumulate in the snowpack. However, photo-induced re-emission of gas phase Hg from the surface has been widely reported. Iodine is active in atmosphere new particle formation, especially in the marine boundary layer, and in the destruction of atmospheric ozone. It can also undergo photochemical re-emission. Although previous studies indicate possible post-depositional processes, little is known about the diurnal behaviour of these two species and their interaction in surface snow. The mechanisms are still poorly constrained and no field experiments have been performed in different seasons to investigate the magnitude of re-emission processes. Three high temporal resolution (hourly samples) 3 days long sampling campaign were carried out near Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard) to study the behaviour of mercury and iodine in surface snow under different sunlight and environmental conditions (24 h-darkness, 24 h-sunlight and day/night cycles). Our results indicate a clearly different behaviour of Hg and I in surface snow during the different campaign. The day/night experiments demonstrate the existence of a diurnal cycle in surface snow for Hg and iodine, indicating that these species are indeed influenced by the daily solar radiation cycle. Differently bromine did not show any diurnal cycle. The diurnal cycle disappeared also for Hg and iodine during the 24 h-sunlight period and during 24 h-darkness experiments supporting the idea of the occurrence (absence) of a continuous recycling/exchange at the snow-air interface. These results demonstrate that this surface snow recycling is seasonally dependent, through sunlight. They also highlight the non-negligible role that snowpack emissions have on ambient air concentrations and potentially on iodine-induced atmospheric nucleation processes.

To provide a reliable tool for investigating diffusion processes of the specific components of the human odor 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol through the snowpack, we developed and optimized an analytical method based on direct immersion solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Direct immersion solid-phase microextraction was performed using polyacrylate fibers placed in aqueous solutions containing 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol. After optimization, absorption times of 120 min provided a good balance to shorten the analysis time and to obtain suitable amounts of extractable analytes. The extraction efficiency was improved by increasing the ionic strength of the solution. Although the absolute extraction efficiency ranged between 10 and 12% for 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 2-3% for 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, this method was suitable for analyzing 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol concentrations of at least 0.04 and 0.20 ng/mL, respectively. The precision of the direct immersion solid-phase microextraction method ranged between 8 and 16%. The variability within a batch of six fibers was 10-18%. The accuracy of the method provided values of 88-95 and 86-101% for 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, respectively. The limit of detection (and quantification) was 0.01 ng/mL (0.04 ng/mL) for 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 0.06 ng/mL (0.20 ng/mL) for 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol. The signal versus concentration was linear for both compounds (r(2) = 0.973-0.979). The stability of these two compounds showed that 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid was more stable in water than 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol. We applied the method to environmental samples in correspondence with an olfactory target buried previously.

Mercury (Hg) and its compounds have long been known to be toxic to human health and the environment, whilst ozone (O3) is highly relevant to the Earth's climate, ecosystems and human health. Measurements of Hg and O3 in alpine environments are pivotal when evaluating air quality in natural ecosystems as well as when trying to understand regional and synoptic atmospheric transport regimes and advection of air pollutant to the Alps. This study is crucial for the evaluation of the Hg exchange processes between soil and atmosphere in a high altitude alpine environment, where increasing Hg snowpack concentrations occur during winter time, followed by Hg release to the overlying atmosphere during spring and summer time snowmelt events. In this context, evaluating the gas phase reaction between elemental mercury and ozone is essential. All the experimental activities were performed at the CNR-IDPA atmospheric observatory at Col Margherita (CMA) that is located in the Italian southeastern Alps, a UNESCO protected region far from anthropogenic and natural sources of air pollutants (altitude 2543 m a.s.l., 46°22'0.6" N, 11°47'30.9" E). The observatory is equipped with a complete weather station. Total Gaseous Mercury (TGM) was measured from March to August 2018 using a Tekran 2537B (Tekran Inc.), a mercury analyzer that alternately samples TGM on two gold traps and determines it using cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CVAFS). During the same period, near-surface O3 measurements were performed with a Thermo 49c UV photometric analyzer (Thermo Corp.), according to WMO/GAWguidelines. For the purpose of the present study, daily and monthly levels of hourly Hg and O3 concentrations were assessed. Relationships with meteorological parameters (T, RH, P, WS, WD, solar radiation, snow) were investigated by performing a back trajectory atmospheric reanalysis using HYSPLIT for the duration of the measurement campaign. The results showed that Hg concentrations increase, on average, from spring to summer, with some episodes of rapid daytime increase or decrease of atmospheric Hg that could be related to both the O3 variability and specific weather conditions.

Measurements of Hg and O3 in alpine environments are pivotal when evaluating air quality in natural ecosystems as well as when trying to understand regional and synoptic atmospheric transport regimes and advection of air pollutant to the Alps. This study is crucial for the evaluation of Hg exchange processes between soil and atmosphere in a high-altitude alpine environment, where increasing Hg snowpack concentrations occur during winter time, followed by Hg release to the overlying atmosphere during spring and summer time snowmelt. In this context, evaluating the gas phase reaction between elemental mercury and ozone is essential. All the experimental activities were performed at the CNR-IDPA atmospheric observatory at Col Margherita (CMA) that located in the Italian South Eastern Alps, a UNESCO protected region far from anthropogenic and natural sources of air pollutants (altitude 2543 m a.s.l., 46°22'0.6" N, 11°47'30.9" E). Local meteorological conditions, ozone and Total Gaseous Mercury (TGM) has been measured from March 2018 to present. The TGM was monitored using a Tekran 2537B (Tekran Inc.) using the same protocols as used for the GMOS project. Near-surface O3 measurements were taken with a Thermo 49c UV photometric analyzer (Thermo Corp.), following WMO/GAW guidelines. In the present study, daily and monthly levels of hourly Hg and O3 concentrations were assessed and compared the meteorological parameters (i.e. T, RH, P, WS, WD, Solar Radiation, Snowpack). These mercury results obtained during the iGOSP ERA-Planet project were then compared with data taken during GMOS covering the same periods in 2014 and 2015. Notable events were investigated by performing back trajectory atmospheric reanalysis using HYSPLIT. The results showed that Hg concentrations increase, on average, from spring to summer, with some episodes of rapid daytime increase or decrease of atmospheric Hg that could be related to both the O3 variability and specific weather conditions. Another confounder is the presumed release of Hg from freshly deposited snow in the winter months resulting in a large local variability.

In the framework of the National Project of Interest Nextdata, we developed procedures for the automatic flagging and formatting of trace gas, atmospheric aerosol and meteorological data to be submitted to Global Atmosphere Watch programme by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO/GAW). In this work, we describe a first prototype of a centralized system to support Italian atmospheric observatories towards a more efficient and objective data production and subsequent submission to WMO/GAW World Data Centers (WDCs). In particular, the atmospheric variables covered by this work were focused on near-surface trace gases, aerosol properties and (ancillary) meteorological parameters which are under the umbrella of the World Data Center for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG, see https://ds.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/wdcgg/), World Data Center for Reactive Gases and World Data Center for Aerosol (WDCRG and WDCA, see http://ebas.nilu.no). For different Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), we developed specific routines for data filtering, flagging, format harmonization and creation of data products (i.e. plot of raw and valid-corrected-averaged ECV data and internal instrument parameters) useful for detecting instrumental problems or atmospheric events. A special suite of products based on the temporal aggregation of valid ECV data (like the “calendar” or “timevariation” products) were implemented for quick data dissemination towards stakeholders or citizens Currently, the automatic processing of data is active for a subset of ECVs and 4 measurement sites in Italy. The Nextdata system does not generate “consolidated” data to be directly submitted to WDCs, but it represents a valuable tool to facilitate data providers towards a more efficient data production for those data streams. Our effort is expected to accelerate the process of data submission to GAW/WMO or to other reference data centers or repositories as well as to make the data flagging more “objective”, which means that it is based on a set of well-defined selection criteria and not strictly related to the subjective judgment of station operators. Moreover, the adoption of automatic procedures for data flagging and data correction allows to keep track of the process that led to the final validated data, and makes data evaluation and revisions more efficient.

The report describes the features of the Low-Cost monitoring station developed for the measurements of Tropospheric Ozone in remote alpine and polar areas.

The high-altitude mountain monitoring station of the Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes (IDPA) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) is located in the Italian Eastern Alps at Col Margherita in the Dolomites above Belluno (2550 m a.s.l.). Set up in 2011 as part of the GMOS project (2010-2015) the Col Margherita site (MRG) was part of a network of 40 remote stations globally distributed between the northern and southern hemisphere for the study of atmospheric mercury. In 2017 an ozone monitor was installed and the equipment upgraded thanks to funds from the Italian National Project (NextDATA, 2012-2018) and improved collaboration with other research groups. Additional field and laboratory equipment for the study of atmospheric pollutants in line with the objectives of the ERA-Planet iGOSP project (2017-2020) will be acquired. This project aims to improve and strengthen the networks observing mercury and persistent organic pollutants. Measurements of mercury and ozone in the atmosphere, mercury and other metals, POPs, ?18O and ?D in precipitation will be carried out regularly in the framework of the project. These activities will be used to develop QA/QC protocols to improve the intercomparability/reproducibility of environmental data. The MRG observatory is equipped with an automatic weather station (AWS) for the main meteorological parameters (T, Pa, RH, WS, WD, rainfall depth) and its high-altitude location, allows the study of the long-range transport of numerous air pollutants and their deposition in precipitation. This is because, for many months of the year, especially in winter, the atmospheric boundary layer is below the altitude of the station. The site is available and ready to participate in projects, such as high-altitude climate monitoring, for the study of species that have an impact on climate change (CO2, CH4, BC). We are also ready to host instrumentation from other research institutions.

Il documento descrive l'hardware della strumentazione installata presso l'Osservatorio di alta quota in località Col Margherita. Vengono inoltre riportati le principali caratteristiche del software del sistema di acquisizione delle misure, le modalità di salvataggio dei dati e della sincronizzazione dei database tra i soggetti interessati. Sono infine discussi brevemente i punti di forza, di debolezza, e le attività previste per il miglioramento dell'infrastruttura.

Rapporto tecnico sulle attività logistiche, tecniche e programmazione scientifica presso la stazione di monitoraggio meteo-climatico di alta quota "Col Margherita" del CNR-IDPA (dal progetto GMOS a NextData e iGOSP) PIANO BIENNALE 2018-2020

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can have a strong effect on cellulose degradation, contributing in decreasing the lifetime expectancy of the paper materials, widely employed in the field of conservation. In this work, we investigated several industrial and homemade Japanese papers, as well as fibers, evaluating VOCs emission by using solid-phase micro extraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS). Acetic acid and 1-butanol were highly detected in industrial and homemade papers rather than fibers, suggesting that the emission of these compounds is influenced by the production process more than by the raw material itself. Conversely, N-N dimethyl formammide was peculiar of industrial processes. Ketones, aldehydes and heavier alcohols were preferentially emitted by fibers and homemade papers. The higher emission of furfural from fibers rather than on papers place new questions about the use of this compound to evaluate the degradation state of the paper material that should be carefully evaluated.

The chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol collected at the Col Margherita Atmospheric Observatory (46 degrees 22' 0.059" N, 11 degrees 47' 30.911" E, 2543 m a.s.l.) was investigated during spring and summer 2018. This is the first study of this area and should lead to a better understanding of the aerosol chemical composition in the Southern slope of the Eastern Italian Alps, with the aim of proposing this high altitude site as a background station. Aerosol samples were analyzed to determine several water soluble components (Cl-, Br-, I-, NO3-, SO2-, K+, Mg2+, Na+, NH4+, Ca2+), organic acids (methanesulfonic acid and C-2-C-7 carboxylic acids), monosaccharides, alcohol-sugars, levoglucosan and its isomers, sucrose, phenolic compounds, free L- and D-amino acids and photo-oxidation products of a-pinene (cis-pinonic acid and pinic acid). The majority of the mass concentration is explained by ionic species, but the other investigated compounds allow us to study other processes or identify the potential sources. Carboxylic acids and photochemical products of a-pinene were used to study photochemical or oxidative processes. Biomass burning input was evaluated using two specific classes of biomarkers: anhydrosugars and phenolic compounds, while biogenic inputs were studied using sugars and free amino acids. None of these water soluble organic compounds have been properly investigated previously in alpine sites because their concentrations in aerosol are very low.

Opera divulgativa, in forma di diario, della missione in Artide durante il gennaio 2017. Il volume contiene anche fotografie e approfondimenti scientifici.

Il mercurio (Hg) è un inquinante ubiquitario prodotto da sorgenti antropiche e naturali, con effetti negativi sugli ecosistemi e sulla salute umana. La provenienza di questo metallo pesante oltre ad essere locale e regionale è anche transfrontaliera. Per tale motivo nel 2013, attraverso la Convenzione di Minamata, 140 paesi (di cui 26 dell'Unione Europea) hanno sottoscritto il Trattato che fissa la riduzione e il controllo dell'impiego di Hg in prodotti e in processi industriali e artigianali per garantire la protezione dell'ambiente e della popolazione. Una volta immesso nell'ambiente il Hg, attraverso processi batterici naturali, viene trasformato in mono-metil-mercurio (MeHg) in ambienti acquatici. Il MeHg è il più tossico dei composti organo-mercuriali e data la sua elevata liposolubilità va incontro a bio-accumulo e bio-magnificazione. Oltre che con gli alimenti, il Hg può essere assunto con l'acqua, anche se in misura inferiore. Studi condotti su scala internazionale hanno evidenziato che monitorare le concentrazioni dei macro-elementi caratteristici, di metalli tossici e di specie indesiderate nelle acque in bottiglia permette di valutare non soltanto la qualità dell'acqua, ma anche lo stato di salute delle falde e di comprendere la geochimica delle acque sotterranee. Nelle pubblicazioni più recenti sono stati forniti dati relativi a numerosi parametri chimici e metalli pesanti, ma tali lavori sono privi di informazioni sui livelli di Hg, in quanto i valori ottenuti sono risultati inferiori ai limiti di quantificazione del metodo analitico impiegato. Un totale di 19 differenti acque minerali provenienti da acquiferi della Campania e reperite sul territorio nazionale, sono state analizzate per valutare l'eventuale presenza di mercurio. Prestazioni analitiche ottimali, in termini di controllo di possibili interferenze e limite di rilevabilità, sono state ottenute impiegando la spettrometria di fluorescenza atomica a vapori freddi (CV-AFS), consentendo la determinazione del mercurio totale a sub-ppt. Questa specifica tecnica strumentale unita alle accortezze adottate nella metodica analitica, l'impiego di matrici certificate e la partecipazione a circuiti di inter-comparazione internazionale si sono dimostrate idonee per la rigorosa valutazione delle concentrazioni di mercurio, altrimenti non raggiungibili con strumentazione come AAS e ICP-MS. I risultati presentati in questo lavoro indicano che i livelli di Hg sono ampiamente al di sotto dei limiti legislativi e dunque l'assunzione di Hg in ultra-tracce con le acque minerali naturali non pone rischi per la salute umana.

L'Istituto per la Dinamica dei Processi Ambientali (IDPA) del CNR gestisce un sito di misura di alta quota (Hight Altitude Station - HAS) in un'area remota a Col Margherita. La stazione di monitoraggio, accessibile dal passo San Pellegrino e dal passo Valles, situata nelle Dolomiti bellunesi a 2530 m sul livello del mare (latitudine 46° 22' 2.11'' N, longitudine 11° 48' 23.03'' E), è stata installata nell'estate del 2012 nell'ambito del progetto EU - FP7 Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS). Per risolvere le problematiche legate alla gestione a distanza degli strumenti si è resa necessaria l'adozione di specifiche tecnologie hardware-software (IT) per l'acquisizione, gestione, trasmissione e validazione dei dati forniti dalla strumentazione automatica in dotazione alla cabina. Il sistema IT è stato progettato e sviluppato per permettere il controllo degli strumenti di misura di parametri chimico-fisici, della sensoristica meteo - climatica, delle telecamere interne/esterne della stazione. Sviluppato su architettura Gnu-Linux, è stato utilizzato principalmente software Open Source. Sono stati integrati protocolli di comunicazione seriale per il controllo degli strumenti. L'acquisizione e la validazione dei dati viene gestita con LabView e Python. La sincronizzazione e il backup sono gestiti con Bash, crontab, scp e rsync. L'analisi statistica, la visualizzazione dei dati e la reportistica automatica sfruttano gli strumenti R, Shiny, Sweave e Latex. Sono state considerate differenti soluzioni per la conservazione dei dati in rete (Cloud Storage) e per rendere fruibili i dati ad altri gruppi di ricerca, in accordo con gli standard Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). Attualmente il sito di misura è dotato di strumentazione meteo - climatica, di un analizzatore di mercurio atmosferico (TGM) e di ozono ed è in grado di integrare ai dati raccolti in automatico le misure di parametri chimico fisici ottenuti da campagne di monitoraggio hot-spot (inquinanti organici e inorganici nelle deposizioni atmosferiche, particolato atmosferico e neve). L'obiettivo è realizzare la completa automazione dei processi di acquisizione, trasmissione, visualizzazione, validazione e produzione di report automatici dei dati misurati.

The Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes (IDPA) of the CNR runs a monitoring station located in a remote area in Col Margherita. The monitoring cabin was installed in the summer of 2012 in the frame of the EU - FP7 project Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS). The site is located in the Dolomites, in the Province of Belluno (BL), near Moena, Italy. The monitoring station is at a height of 2530 m above sea level at latitude +46o 22' 2.11" and longitude +11o 48' 23.03" and it is accessible from the San Pellegrino pass. As the site isn't easy reachable, proper hardware and software technologies for data-logging and remote control has to be used. During the last year we developed a solid and scalable system capable to interface sensors, cameras and instruments for monitoring aerosol, mercury, ozone. Our system is mainly based on Gnu-Linux and integrates serial commu- nication, LabView and Python for data acquisitions and validations. Bash, crontab, scp and rsync are used for copy and synchronizing data between different physical and virtual devices. R is used for statistical analysis and Shiny and Sweave are used for data visualization and automatic re- porting. We are using National Instrument, Campbell Scientific, Raspberry and Arduino hardwares. Ideal solutions for cloud storage and data management in accordance with OGC standards and open data was also taken into account.

(...)Preliminary measurements showed Hg levels in the Eastern Alps and the differences in Hg concentrations compared to those observed at other remote sites existing in both Northern and Southern hemisphere. The use of the cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (CV-AFS) in both air and bulk deposition samples allows us to determine Hg at ultra-trace levels. (...)

To provide a reliable tool for investigating diffusion processes of the specific components of the human odor 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol through the snowpack, we developed and optimized an analytical method based on direct immersion solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Direct immersion solid-phase microextraction was performed using polyacrylate fibers placed in aqueous solutions containing 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol. After optimization, absorption times of 120 min provided a good balance to shorten the analysis time and to obtain suitable amounts of extractable analytes. The extraction efficiency was improved by increasing the ionic strength of the solution. Although the absolute extraction efficiency ranged between 10 and 12% for 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 2-3% for 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, this method was suitable for analyzing 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol concentrations of at least 0.04 and 0.20 ng/mL, respectively. The precision of the direct immersion solid-phase microextraction method ranged between 8 and 16%. The variability within a batch of six fibers was 10-18%. The accuracy of the method provided values of 88-95 and 86-101% for 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, respectively. The limit of detection (and quantification) was 0.01 ng/mL (0.04 ng/mL) for 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 0.06 ng/mL (0.20 ng/mL) for 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol. The signal versus concentration was linear for both compounds (r(2) = 0.973-0.979). The stability of these two compounds showed that 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid was more stable in water than 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol. We applied the method to environmental samples in correspondence with an olfactory target buried previously.

We developed a quantitative analytical method for the analysis of VOCs from sweat. We designed an innovative methodology to simulate the processes of diffusion of molecular targets from the body within the snowpack. To simulate the conditions of the avalanche snow, we prepared an artificial avalanche site where to perform the test. Snow properties such as temperature, density and type of grains were monitored during all the experiments to guarantee the same environmental conditions for all the tests. The research was conducted in close collaboration with the Soccorso Alpino della Guardia di Finanza (SAGF) di Predazzo, with the Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto (ARPAV) and the Laboratorio di Etologia e Benessere Animale (LEBA) at Department of Veterinary Medicine of Perugia University.

The dependence on the temperature of the population of the ith state, Pi, in the Boltzmann distribution is analyzed by studying its derivative with respect to the temperature, T. A simple expression is found, involving Pi, the energy of the state, Ei, and the average energy, âŸ̈E⟩. This relation is completely general (it has the same form in all the thermodynamic ensembles), and it has a relevant didactic content, given that it predicts the qualitative variation of Pi with T even in complex systems. The derivation of this relation, the discussion of its properties, and its application to simple problems is appropriate for a statistical thermodynamics course in the chemistry curriculum.