Variability of ambient air ammonia in urban Europe (Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK)

Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved..

This study addressed the scarcity of NH3 measurements in urban Europe and the diverse monitoring protocols, hindering direct data comparison. Sixty-nine datasets from Finland, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK across various site types, including industrial (IND, 8), traffic (TR, 12), urban (UB, 22), suburban (SUB, 12), and regional background (RB, 15), are analyzed to this study. Among these, 26 sites provided 5, or more, years of data for time series analysis. Despite varied protocols, necessitating future harmonization, the average NH3 concentration across sites reached 8.0 ± 8.9 μg/m3. Excluding farming/agricultural hotspots (FAHs), IND and TR sites had the highest concentrations (4.7 ± 3.2 and 4.5 ± 1.0 μg/m3), followed by UB, SUB, and RB sites (3.3 ± 1.5, 2.7 ± 1.3, and 1.0 ± 0.3 μg/m3, respectively) indicating that industrial, traffic, and other urban sources were primary contributors to NH3 outside FAH regions. When referring exclusively to the FAHs, concentrations ranged from 10.0 ± 2.3 to 15.6 ± 17.2 μg/m3, with the highest concentrations being reached in RB sites close to the farming and agricultural sources, and that, on average for FAHs there is a decreasing NH3 concentration gradient towards the city. Time trends showed that over half of the sites (18/26) observed statistically significant trends. Approximately 50 % of UB and TR sites showed a decreasing trend, while 30 % an increasing one. Meta-analysis revealed a small insignificant decreasing trend for non-FAH RB sites. In FAHs, there was a significant upward trend at a rate of 3.51[0.45,6.57]%/yr. Seasonal patterns of NH3 concentrations varied, with urban areas experiencing fluctuations influenced by surrounding emissions, particularly in FAHs. Diel variation showed differing patterns at urban monitoring sites, all with higher daytime concentrations, but with variations in peak times depending on major emission sources and meteorological patterns. These results offer valuable insights into the spatio-temporal patterns of gas-phase NH3 concentrations in urban Europe, contributing to future efforts in benchmarking NH3 pollution control in urban areas.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:185

Enthalten in:

Environment international - 185(2024) vom: 25. März, Seite 108519

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Liu, Xiansheng [VerfasserIn]
Lara, Rosa [VerfasserIn]
Dufresne, Marvin [VerfasserIn]
Wu, Lijie [VerfasserIn]
Zhang, Xun [VerfasserIn]
Wang, Tao [VerfasserIn]
Monge, Marta [VerfasserIn]
Reche, Cristina [VerfasserIn]
Di Leo, Anna [VerfasserIn]
Lanzani, Guido [VerfasserIn]
Colombi, Cristina [VerfasserIn]
Font, Anna [VerfasserIn]
Sheehan, Annalisa [VerfasserIn]
Green, David C [VerfasserIn]
Makkonen, Ulla [VerfasserIn]
Sauvage, Stéphane [VerfasserIn]
Salameh, Thérèse [VerfasserIn]
Petit, Jean-Eudes [VerfasserIn]
Chatain, Mélodie [VerfasserIn]
Coe, Hugh [VerfasserIn]
Hou, Siqi [VerfasserIn]
Harrison, Roy [VerfasserIn]
Hopke, Philip K [VerfasserIn]
Petäjä, Tuukka [VerfasserIn]
Alastuey, Andrés [VerfasserIn]
Querol, Xavier [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

7664-41-7
Air Pollutants
Ammonia
Europe
Journal Article
Meta-Analysis
Spatial variability
Temporal variability
Urban

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 26.03.2024

Date Revised 26.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.envint.2024.108519

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369180674