 |
| Titel |
Olive Tree Branches Burning: A major pollution source in the Mediterranean |
| VerfasserIn |
Evangelia Kostenidou, Christos Kaltsonoudis, Maria Tsiflikiotou, Evangelos Louvaris, Lynn Russell, Spyros Pandis |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2013
|
| Medientyp |
Artikel
|
| Sprache |
Englisch
|
| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 15 (2013) |
| Datensatznummer |
250079443
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zusammenfassung |
| Olive tree branches burning is a common agricultural waste management practice after the
annual pruning of olive trees from November to February. Almost 1 billion (90%) of the olive
trees in our planet are located around the Mediterranean, so the corresponding emissions of
olive tree branches burning can be a significant source of fine aerosols during the cold
months.
Organic aerosol produced during the burning of olive tree branches (otBB-OA) was
characterized with both direct source-sampling (using a mobile smog chamber) and ambient
measurements during the burning season in the area of Patras, Greece.
The aerosol emitted consists of organics, black carbon (BC), potassium, chloride, nitrate
and sulfate. In addition to NOx, O3, CO and CO2, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) such
as methanol, acetonitrile, benzene and toluene were also produced. The Aerosol Mass
Spectrometry (AMS) mass spectrum of otBB-OA is characterized by the m-z′s27, 29, 39,
41, 43, 44, 55, 57, 67, 69 and 91 and changes as the emissions react with OH and O3.
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that otBB-OA was
composed of 48% alkane groups, 27% organic hydroxyl groups, 11% carboxylic acid
groups, 11% primary amine groups and 4% carbonyl groups. The oxygen to carbon
(O:C) ratio is 0.29±0.04. The otBB-OA AMS mass spectrum differs from the other
published biomass burning spectra. The m-z60, used as levoglucosan tracer, is lower
than in most biomass burning sources. This is confirmed by Gas Chromatography
Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) analysis on filters where the levoglucosan to OC
mass ratio was between 0.034 and 0.043, close to the lower limit of the reported
values for most fuel types. This may lead to an underestimation of the otBB-OA
contribution in Southern Europe if levoglucosan is being used as a wood burning
tracer.
During the olive tree branches burning season, 20 days of ambient measurements were
performed. Applying positive matrix factorization (PMF) to the ambient organic data 3
factors could be identified: OOA (oxygenated organic aerosol), HOA (hydrocarbon-like
organic aerosol) and otBB-OA. The chamber organic AMS spectrum resembles the ambient
mass spectrum during olive tree branches burning events. We estimated an otBB-OA
emission factor of 3.45±0.2 g kg-1. Assuming that half of the olive trees branches are burned
2,300 tons of otBB-OA are emitted in Greece each winter. This is one of the most important
fine aerosol emission sources during the winter months in the Mediterranean countries in
which this activity is prevalent. |
|
|
|
|
|
|