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2024
Understanding thermal comfort expectations in older adults: The role of long-term thermal history
Understanding how long-term thermal history affects thermal comfort expectations in older adults (65+) has implications for designing energy-efficient spaces in a changing climate. A growing number of studies focus on thermal sensation/preference votes to represent the current thermal comfort expectations, often overlooking their limitations. This study, however, investigates how factors shaping long-term thermal history link to the current 65+ adults indoor thermal comfort expectations during exposure to heat, by focusing on the upper limit of thermally acceptable temperature range, represented by a self-reported temperature threshold at which 65+ adults believe to feel uncomfortable by indoor heat (Tit). To find Tit, we use answers to “Above what temperature do you start feeling too hot indoors?” by survey respondents in Warsaw (n = 678) and Madrid (n = 527), who lived in their apartment ≥5 years. Statistically, we find indoor factors affecting long-term thermal experiences more significant in explaining 65+ Tit, when compared to outdoor factors such as distance to water, vegetation, or surface thermal radiance. Better-insulated buildings were associated with a lower Tit [...]
Elsevier
2024
A method was developed to analytically distinguish between the ventilated (v) and nonventilated (nv) fractions of water-soluble ions in deposits of particle indoors. The indicative method was based on low-cost passive outdoor and indoor sampling of the particle and ion deposits and NO2 gas and analysis of the regression values and residuals of the correlations between these parameters. The method was applied to measurements in the Pieskowa Skała Castle Museum in Poland. A dominating source of “soil and building dust” was indicated all year round, probably partly from renovation works of the castle, with larger total infiltration in the winter–spring (W-S) but with a higher proportion of ventilation ingress in the summer–autumn (S-A). About 60%–80%, by mass, of the water-soluble ions in the soil and building dust were calcium and probably some magnesium bicarbonate (Ca(HCO3)2, Mg(HCO3)2) and about 10%–20% sulfates (SO4−−) with calcium (Ca++) and several other cations. The other main source of the ion deposits was indicated to be air pollution, with chloride (Cl−), sulfate (SO4−−), and nitrate (NO3−), from outdoor combustion sources, like traffic, residential heating, and industry. These were mainly v from outdoors in the colder parts of the year, but also to the more open locations in the S-A. A small source of nv sulfate (SO4−−) was identified inside two showcases in the S-A. The study showed good enclosure protection of the museum objects against exposure to particle pollution, but also the need to avoid the trapping of particle pollution inside showcases or closed rooms. The identification of the probable different amounts and sources of v and nv ions in the castle aided preventive actions to reduce the pollution exposure.
John Wiley & Sons
2024
The ubiquitous and global ecological footprint arising from the rapidly increasing rates of plastic production, use, and release into the environment is an important modern environmental issue. Of increasing concern are the risks associated with at least 16,000 chemicals present in plastics, some of which are known to be toxic, and which may leach out both during use and once exposed to environmental conditions, leading to environmental and human exposure. In response, the United Nations member states agreed to establish an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, the global plastics treaty. The resolution acknowledges that the treaty should prevent plastic pollution and its related impacts, that effective prevention requires consideration of the transboundary nature of plastic production, use and pollution, and that the full life cycle of plastics must be addressed. As a group of scientific experts and members of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, we concur that there are six essential “pillars” necessary to truly reduce plastic pollution and allow for chemical detoxification across the full life cycle of plastics. These include a plastic chemical reduction and simplification, safe and sustainable design of plastic chemicals, incentives for change, holistic approaches for alternatives, just transition and equitable interventions, and centering human rights. There is a critical need for scientifically informed and globally harmonized information, transparency, and traceability criteria to protect the environment and public health. The right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment must be upheld, and thus it is crucial that scientists, industry, and policy makers work in concert to create a future free from hazardous plastic contamination.
Elsevier
2024
Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constitute a wide range of species, acting as precursors to ozone and aerosol formation. Atmospheric chemistry and transport models (CTMs) are crucial to understanding the emissions, distribution, and impacts of VOCs. Given the uncertainties in VOC emissions, lack of evaluation studies, and recent changes in emissions, this work adapts the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme Meteorological Synthesizing Centre – West (EMEP MSC-W) CTM to evaluate emission inventories in Europe. Here we undertake the first intensive model–measurement comparison of VOCs in 2 decades. The modelled surface concentrations are evaluated both spatially and temporally, using measurements from the regular EMEP monitoring network in 2018 and 2019, as well as a 2022 campaign. To achieve this, we utilised the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory to derive explicit emission profiles for individual species and employed a tracer method to produce pure concentrations that are directly comparable to observations.
The degree to which the modelled and measured VOCs agree varies depending on the specific species. The model successfully captures the overall spatial and temporal variations of major alkanes (e.g. ethane, n-butane) and unsaturated species (e.g. ethene, benzene) but less so for propane, i-butane, and ethyne. This discrepancy underscores potential issues in the boundary conditions for the latter species and in their primary emissions from, in particular, the solvent and road transport sectors. Specifically, potential missing propane emissions and issues with its boundary conditions are highlighted by large model underestimations and smaller propane-to-ethane ratios compared to the measurement. Meanwhile, both the model and measurements show strong linear correlations among butane isomers and among pentane isomers, indicating common sources for these pairs of isomers. However, modelled ratios of i-butane to n-butane and i-pentane to n-pentane are approximately one-third of the measured ratios, which is largely driven by significant emissions of n-butane and n-pentane from the solvent sector. This suggests issues with the speciation profile of the solvent sector, underrepresented contributions from transport and fuel evaporation sectors in current inventories, or both. Furthermore, the modelled ethene-to-ethyne and benzene-to-ethyne ratios differ significantly from measured ratios. The different model performance strongly points to shortcomings in the spatial and temporal patterns and magnitudes of ethyne emissions, especially during winter. For OVOCs, the modelled and measured concentrations of methanal and methylglyoxal show a good agreement, despite a moderate underestimation by the model in summer. This discrepancy could be attributed to an underestimation of contributions from biogenic sources or possibly a model overestimation of their photolytic loss in summer. However, the insufficiency of suitable measurements limits the evaluation of other OVOCs. Finally, model simulations employing the CAMS inventory show slightly better agreements with measurements than those using the Centre on Emission Inventories and Projections (CEIP) inventory. This enhancement is likely due to the CAMS inventory's detailed segmentation of the road transport sector, including its associated sub-sector-specific emission profiles. Given this improvement, alongside the previously mentioned concerns about the model's biased estimations of various VOC ratios, future efforts should focus on a more detailed breakdown of dominant emission sectors (e.g. solvents) and the refinement of their speciation profiles to improve model accuracy.
2024
The Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) officially became the 33rd European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) on April 25, 2023 with the support of 17 founding member and observer countries. As a pan-European legal organization, ACTRIS ERIC will coordinate the provision of data and data products on short-lived atmospheric constituents and clouds relevant to climate and air pollution over the next 15-20 years. ACTRIS was designed more than a decade ago, and its development was funded at national and European levels. It was included in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) Roadmap in 2016 and subsequently, in the national infrastructure roadmaps of European countries. It became a landmark of the ESFRI roadmap in 2021. The purpose of this paper is to describe the mission of ACTRIS, its added value to the community of atmospheric scientists, providing services to academia as well as the public and private sectors, and to summarize its main achievements. The present publication serves as a reference document for ACTRIS, its users and the scientific community as a whole. It provides the reader with relevant information and an overview on ACTRIS governance and services, as well as a summary of the main scientific achievements of the last 20 years. The paper concludes with an outlook on the upcoming challenges for ACTRIS and the strategy for its future evolution.
American Meteorological Society
2024
Testing ethical impact assessment for nano risk governance
Risk governance of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies has been traditionally mainly limited to risk assessment, risk management and life cycle assessment. Recent approaches have experimented with widening the scope and including economic, social, and ethical aspects. This paper reports on tests and stakeholder feedback on fine-tuning the use of ethical impact assessment guidelines (RiskGONE D3.6) and online tools adapting the CEN Workshop Agreement part 2 CWA 17145-2:2017 (E)) to support risk governance of nanomaterials, in the RiskGONE project. The EIA guidelines and tools are intended to be used as one module in a multicriteria decision support framework for risk governance of nanomaterials, but may also be used for a stand-alone ethical impact assessment.
Nanomaterials are new forms of materials with structures at sizes between 1 and 100 nanometres (a millionth of a millimetre). They can be particles, tubes, platelets or other shaped structures. Nanomaterials can be applied in many different products, ranging from medicine to solar panels. Researchers, governments and stakeholders have been concerned with potential risks for human health and the environment for decades. Also, how nanomaterials behave during the production, use and waste processing of the products they are included in has been investigated in Life Cycle Analysis. However, ethical issues which may be raised by the use of nanomaterials in those products are usually not investigated. In this article, the procedure for an ethical impact assessment described in the CEN Workshop Agreement CWA 17145-@:2017 (E) is adapted to nanomaterials. Users who want to perform this assessment are guided through the procedure by online tools. The guidelines and tools were tested on several case studies and discussed with stakeholders, who commented on the criteria which should be used and on who could use the tools. This results in recommendations for improving the guidelines and online tools.
2024
Background
Prioritisation of chemical pollutants is a major challenge for environmental managers and decision-makers alike, which is essential to help focus the limited resources available for monitoring and mitigation actions on the most relevant chemicals. This study extends the original NORMAN prioritisation scheme beyond target chemicals, presenting the integration of semi-quantitative data from retrospective suspect screening and expansion of existing exposure and risk indicators. The scheme utilises data retrieved automatically from the NORMAN Database System (NDS), including candidate substances for prioritisation, target and suspect screening data, ecotoxicological effect data, physico-chemical data and other properties. Two complementary workflows using target and suspect screening monitoring data are applied to first group the substances into six action categories and then rank the substances using exposure, hazard and risk indicators. The results from the ‘target’ and ‘suspect screening’ workflows can then be combined as multiple lines of evidence to support decision-making on regulatory and research actions.
Results
As a proof-of-concept, the new scheme was applied to a combined dataset of target and suspect screening data. To this end, > 65,000 substances on the NDS, of which 2579 substances supported by target wastewater monitoring data, were retrospectively screened in 84 effluent wastewater samples, totalling > 11 million data points. The final prioritisation results identified 677 substances as high priority for further actions, 7455 as medium priority and 326 with potentially lower priority for actions. Among the remaining substances, ca. 37,000 substances should be considered of medium priority with uncertainty, while it was not possible to conclude for 19,000 substances due to insufficient information from target monitoring and uncertainty in the identification from suspect screening. A high degree of agreement was observed between the categories assigned via target analysis and suspect screening-based prioritisation. Suspect screening was a valuable complementary approach to target analysis, helping to prioritise thousands of substances that are insufficiently investigated in current monitoring programmes.
Conclusions
This updated prioritisation workflow responds to the increasing use of suspect screening techniques. It can be adapted to different environmental compartments and can support regulatory obligations, including the identification of specific pollutants in river basins and the marine environments, as well as the confirmation of environmental occurrence levels predicted by modelling tools.
Springer
2024
Environmental dose-response functions of silk and paper exposed in museums.
This paper reports 1 year of data of the environments and changes in the molecular weight of silk and the degree of polymerization of sensitive paper measured externally and indoors in 10 European museums, and the dose-response functions that were obtained by statistical analysis of this data. The measurements were performed in the EU FP5 project Master (EVK-CT-2002-00093). The work provides documentation of deterioration of silk by NO2 and O3, and alternatively in combination with UV radiation. The indoor deterioration of the silk was only observed in one location with high UV radiation. The indoor deterioration of sensitive paper correlated with the UV radiation, the concentrations of NO2 and O3, and in addition with an SO2 concentration of 4 µgm−3 and a formic acid concentration of 50 µgm−3 in two different locations. If the observed dose-response effects are linear to lower doses and longer exposure times, then the lifetime to intolerable deterioration of the paper and silk would be 6–7 times longer overall in the enclosures than in the galleries.
2024
Marine litter and non-degradable plastic pollution is of global concern. Regular monitoring programs are being established to assess and understand the scale of this pollution. In Europe, the goal of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is to assess trends in Good Environmental Status and support large-scale actions at the regional level. Marine litter monitoring requires tailored sampling strategies, protocols and indicators, that align with specific objectives and are tailored for local or regional needs. In addition, the uneven spatial and temporal distributions of marine litter present a challenge when designing a statistically powerful monitoring program. In this paper, we critically review the existing marine litter monitoring programs in Europe. We discuss the main constraints, including environmental, logistical, scientific, and ethical factors. Additionally, we outline the critical gaps and shortcomings in monitoring MSFD beaches/shorelines, floating litter, seafloor litter, microplastics, and harm. Several priorities must be established to shape the future of monitoring within the MSFD. Recent developments in analytical approaches, including optimizing protocols and sampling strategies, gaining a better understanding of the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of litter and its implications for survey design and replication, and the inclusion of newly validated methodologies that have achieved sufficient technical readiness, must be considered. Although there are well-established methods for assessing beaches, floating and seafloor litter, it will be necessary to implement monitoring schemes for microplastics in sediments and invertebrates as robust analytical methods become available for targeting smaller particle size classes. Furthermore, the inclusion of indicators for entanglement and injury to marine organisms will have to be considered in the near future. Moreover, the following actions will enhance the effectiveness of monitoring efforts: (1) creating an inventory of accumulation areas and sources of specific types of litter (e.g., fishing gear), (2) monitoring riverine inputs of litter, (3) monitoring atmospheric inputs including microplastics, (4) accidental inputs during extreme weather events, and (5) studying how species at risk may be transported by litter. We provide recommendations to support long-term, effective, and well-coordinated marine litter monitoring within the MSFD to achieve a comprehensive and accurate understanding of marine litter in EU waters. This will allow the development of measures to mitigate the impacts of marine pollution and eventually to evaluate the success of the respective measures.
Elsevier
2024
2024
Surface-Bioengineered Extracellular Vesicles Seeking Molecular Biotargets in Lung Cancer Cells
Personalized medicine is a new approach to modern oncology. Here, to facilitate the application of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from lung cancer cells as potent advanced therapy medicinal products in lung cancer, the EV membrane was functionalized with a specific ligand for targeting purposes. In this role, the most effective heptapeptide in binding to lung cancer cells (PTHTRWA) was used. The functionalization process of EV surface was performed through the C- or N-terminal end of the heptapeptide. To prove the activity of the EVs functionalized with PTHTRWA, both a model of lipid membrane mimicking normal and cancerous cell membranes as well as human adenocarcinomic alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549) and human normal bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) have been exposed to these bioconstructs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the as-bioengineered PTHTRWA-EVs loaded with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPIO) cargos reach the growing tumor when dosed intravenously in NUDE Balb/c mice bearing A549 cancer. Molecular dynamics (MD) in silico studies elucidated a high affinity of the synthesized peptide to the α5β1 integrin. Preclinical safety assays did not evidence any cytotoxic or genotoxic effects of the PTHTRWA-bioengineered EVs.
American Chemical Society (ACS)
2024
Background
Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are industrial chemicals categorised as persistent organic pollutants because of their toxicity, persistency and tendency to long-range transport, bioaccumulation and biomagnification. Despite having been the subject of environmental attention for decades, analytical methods for CPs still struggle reaching a sufficient degree of accuracy. Among the issues negatively impacting the quantification of CPs, the unavailability of well-characterised standards, both as pure substances and as matrix (certified) reference materials (CRMs), has played a major role. The focus of this study was to provide a matrix CRM as quality control tool to improve the comparability of CPs measurement results.
Results
We present the process of certification of ERM®-CE100, the first fish reference material assigned with certified values for the mass fraction of short-chain and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively). The certification was performed in accordance with ISO 17034:2016 and ISO Guide 35:2017, with the value assignment step carried out via an intercomparison of laboratories of demonstrated competence in CPs analysis and applying procedures based on different analytical principles. After confirmation of the homogeneity and stability of the CRM, two certified values were assigned for SCCPs, depending on the calibrants used: 31 ± 9 μg kg−1 and 23 ± 7 μg kg−1. The MCCPs certified value was established as 44 ± 17 μg kg−1. All assigned values are relative to wet weight in the CRM that was produced as a fish paste to enhance similarity to routine biota samples.
Significance and novelty
The fish tissue ERM-CE100 is the first matrix CRM commercially available for the analysis of CPs, enabling analytical laboratories to improve the accuracy and the metrological traceability of their measurements. The certified CPs values are based on results obtained by both gas and liquid chromatography coupled with various mass spectrometric techniques, offering thus a broad validity to laboratories employing different analytical methods and equipment.
Elsevier
2024
Dechloranes and chlorinated paraffins in sediments and biota of two subarctic lakes
Our understanding of the environmental behavior, bioaccumulation and concentrations of chlorinated paraffins (CPs) and Dechloranes (Dec) in the Arctic environment is still limited, particularly in freshwater ecosystems. In this descriptive study, short chain (SCCPs) and medium chain (MCCPs) CPs, Dechlorane Plus (DP) and analogues, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in sediments, benthic organisms, three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) in two Sub-Arctic lakes in Northern Norway. Takvannet (TA) is a remote lake, with no known local sources for organic contaminants, while Storvannet (ST) is situated in a populated area. SCCPs and MCCPs were detected in all sediment samples from ST with concentration of 42.26–115.29 ng/g dw and 66.18–136.69 ng/g dw for SCCPs and MCCPs, respectively. Only SCCPs were detected in TA sediments (0.4–5.28 ng/g dw). In biota samples, sticklebacks and benthic organisms showed the highest concentrations of CPs, while concentrations were low or below detection limits in both char and trout. The congener group patterns observed in both lakes showed SCCP profiles dominated by higher chlorinated congener groups while the MCCPs showed consistency in their profiles, with C14 being the most prevalent carbon chain length. Anti- and syn-DP isomers were detected in all sediment, benthic and stickleback samples with higher concentrations in ST than in TA. However, they were only present in a few char and trout samples from ST. Dec 601 and 604 were below detection limits in all samples in both lakes. Dec 603 was detected only in ST sediments, sticklebacks and 2 trout samples, while Dec 602 was the only DP analogue found in all samples from both lakes. While there were clear differences in sediment concentrations of DP and Dec 602 between ST and TA, differences between lakes decreased with increasing δ15N. This pattern was similar to the PCB behavior, suggesting the lake characteristics in ST are playing an important role in the lack of biomagnification of pollutants in this lake. Our results suggest that ST receives pollutants from local sources in addition to atmospheric transport.
Frontiers Media S.A.
2024
Forecasting the Exceedances of PM2.5 in an Urban Area
Particular matter (PM) constitutes one of the major air pollutants. Human exposure to fine PM (PM with a median diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm, PM2.5) has many negative and diverse outcomes for human health, such as respiratory mortality, lung cancer, etc. Accurate air-quality forecasting on a regional scale enables local agencies to design and apply appropriate policies (e.g., meet specific emissions limitations) to tackle the problem of air pollution. Under this framework, low-cost sensors have recently emerged as a valuable tool, facilitating the spatiotemporal monitoring of air pollution on a local scale. In this study, we present a deep learning approach (long short-term memory, LSTM) to forecast the intra-day air pollution exceedances across urban and suburban areas. The PM2.5 data used in this study were collected from 12 well-calibrated low-cost sensors (Purple Air) located in the greater area of the Municipality of Thermi in Thessaloniki, Greece. The LSTM-based methodology implements PM2.5 data as well as auxiliary data, meteorological variables from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), which is operated by ECMWF, and time variables related to local emissions to enhance the air pollution forecasting performance. The accuracy of the model forecasts reported adequate results, revealing a correlation coefficient between the measured PM2.5 and the LSTM forecast data ranging between 0.67 and 0.94 for all time horizons, with a decreasing trend as the time horizon increases. Regarding air pollution exceedances, the LSTM forecasting system can correctly capture more than 70.0% of the air pollution exceedance events in the study region. The latter findings highlight the model’s capabilities to correctly detect possible WHO threshold exceedances and provide valuable information regarding local air quality.
MDPI
2024
Energetic particle precipitation influences global secondary ozone distribution
The secondary ozone layer is a global peak in ozone abundance in the upper mesosphere-lower thermosphere (UMLT) around 90-95 km. The effect of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) from geomagnetic processes on this UMLT ozone remains largely unexplored. In this research we investigated how the secondary ozone responds to EPP using satellite observations. In addition, the residual Mean Meridional Circulation (MMC) derived from model simulations and the atomic oxygen [O], atomic hydrogen [H], temperature measurements from satellite observations were used to characterise the residual circulation changes during EPP events. We report regions of secondary ozone enhancement or deficit across low, mid and high latitudes as a result of global circulation and transport changes induced by EPP. The results are supported by a sensitivity test using an empirical model.
Springer Nature
2024
Limits to graphite supply in a transition to a post-fossil society
Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) powered by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) aims at reducing emissions in the transportation sector, thereby decreasing fuel oil use and crude oil extraction. Yet, synthetic graphite, a crucial anode material for LIBs, is produced from needle coke, a byproduct of oil refining. This dependency could lead to bottlenecks in battery anode production. We found no obvious supply constraints for synthetic graphite in slow electrification scenarios based on different International Energy Agency scenarios. In contrast, net zero scenarios reveal drastic limitations in synthetic graphite supply, due to fast electrification and declining needle coke production. Natural graphite can mitigate supply limitations but faces environmental concerns, long development time and geopolitical concerns. Securing graphite supply while reaching the net zero goals requires comprehensive strategies combining (1) systematic graphite recycling, (2) overcoming current technical challenges, and (3) behavioral shifts towards reduced vehicle ownership and smaller vehicles.
Elsevier
2024
The Troll Observing Network (TONe): plugging observation holes in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica
Understanding how Antarctica is changing and how these changes influence the rest of the Earth is fundamental to the future robustness of human society. Strengthening our understanding of these changes and their implications requires dedicated, sustained and coordinated observations of key Antarctic indicators. The Troll Observing Network (TONe), now under development, is Norway’s contribution to the global need for sustained, coordinated, complementary and societally relevant observations from Antarctica. When fully implemented within the coming three years, TONe will be a state-of-the-art, multi-platform, multi-disciplinary observing network in data-sparse Dronning Maud Land. A critical part of the network is a data management system that will ensure broad, free access to all TONe data to the international research community.
2024
The extreme persistence and environmental mobility of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) make their presence ubiquitous in the marine environment. Target analysis of 20 most common PFAS revealed the presence of nine perfluoroalkyl acids at low levels in surface sediments from five Norwegian marine areas covering the vast region from the eastern North Sea in the south to the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard in the north. After correcting for sediment characteristics, no substantial difference in the sum of the nine PFAS (Σ9PFAS) between the five areas was found. Among separate compounds, PFOS, PFOA and PFNA dominate sample composition. Only two compounds, PFOS and PFUnDA, showed a statistically significant difference for one of the areas, the levels of these compounds being somewhat higher in the southernmost area than in the other areas. This may be due to local inputs in the fjords in this area. Open-sea and coastal sediments of the North-east Atlantic outside of locations with significant local sources seem to share a common, anthropogenic “PFAS background”, which may be part of a larger, global pattern.
Elsevier
2024
The acquisition and dissemination of essential information for understanding global biogeochemical interactions between the atmosphere and ecosystems and how climate–ecosystem feedback loops may change atmospheric composition in the future comprise a fundamental prerequisite for societal resilience in the face of climate change. In particular, the detection of trends and seasonality in the abundance of greenhouse gases and short-lived climate-active atmospheric constituents is an important aspect of climate science. Therefore, easy and fast access to reliable, long-term, and high-quality observational environmental data is recognised as fundamental to research and the development of environmental forecasting and assessment services. In our opinion article, we discuss the potential role that environmental research infrastructures in Europe (ENVRI RIs) can play in the context of an integrated global observation system. In particular, we focus on the role of the atmosphere-centred research infrastructures ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure), IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System), and ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System), also referred to as ATMO-RIs, with their capabilities for standardised collection and provision of long-term and high-quality observational data, complemented by rich metadata. The ATMO-RIs provide data through open access and offer data interoperability across different research fields including all fields of environmental sciences and beyond. As a result of these capabilities in data collection and provision, we elaborate on the novel research opportunities in atmospheric sciences which arise from the combination of open-access and interoperable observational data, tools, and technologies offered by data-intensive science and the emerging collaboration platform ENVRI-Hub, hosted by the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
2024
2024
Contribution of fluorescent primary biological aerosol particles to low-level Arctic cloud residuals
Mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) are key players in the Arctic climate system due to their role in modulating solar and terrestrial radiation. Such radiative interactions rely, among other factors, on the ice content of MPCs, which is regulated by the availability of ice-nucleating particles (INPs). While it appears that INPs are associated with the presence of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) in the Arctic, the nuances of the processes and patterns of INPs and their association with clouds and moisture sources have not been resolved. Here, we investigated for a full year the abundance of and variability in fluorescent PBAPs (fPBAPs) within cloud residuals, directly sampled by a multiparameter bioaerosol spectrometer coupled to a ground-based counterflow virtual impactor inlet at the Zeppelin Observatory (475 m a.s.l.) in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. fPBAP concentrations (10−3–10−2 L−1) and contributions to coarse-mode cloud residuals (0.1 to 1 in every 103 particles) were found to be close to those expected for high-temperature INPs. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of PBAPs, most likely bacteria, within one cloud residual sample. Seasonally, our results reveal an elevated presence of fPBAPs within cloud residuals in summer. Parallel water vapor isotope measurements point towards a link between summer clouds and regionally sourced air masses. Low-level MPCs were predominantly observed at the beginning and end of summer, and one explanation for their presence is the existence of high-temperature INPs. In this study, we present direct observational evidence that fPBAPs may play an important role in determining the phase of low-level Arctic clouds. These findings have potential implications for the future description of sources of ice nuclei given ongoing changes in the hydrological and biogeochemical cycles that will influence the PBAP flux in and towards the Arctic
2024
2024
Evaluation of isoprene emissions from the coupled model SURFEX–MEGANv2.1
Isoprene, a key biogenic volatile organic compound, plays a pivotal role in atmospheric chemistry. Due to its high reactivity, this compound contributes significantly to the production of tropospheric ozone in polluted areas and to the formation of secondary organic aerosols.
The assessment of biogenic emissions is of great importance for regional and global air quality evaluation. In this study, we implemented the biogenic emission model MEGANv2.1 (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature, version 2.1) in the surface model SURFEXv8.1 (SURface EXternalisée in French, version 8.1). This coupling aims to improve the estimation of biogenic emissions using the detailed vegetation-type-dependent treatment included in the SURFEX vegetation ISBA (Interaction between Soil Biosphere and Atmosphere) scheme. This scheme provides vegetation-dependent parameters such as leaf area index and soil moisture to MEGAN. This approach enables a more accurate estimation of biogenic fluxes compared to the stand-alone MEGAN model, which relies on average input values for all vegetation types.
The present study focuses on the assessment of the SURFEX–MEGAN model isoprene emissions. An evaluation of the coupled SURFEX–MEGAN model results was carried out by conducting a global isoprene emission simulation in 2019 and by comparing the simulation results with other MEGAN-based isoprene inventories. The coupled model estimates a total global isoprene emission of 443 Tg in 2019. The estimated isoprene is within the range of results obtained with other MEGAN-based isoprene inventories, ranging from 311 to 637 Tg. The spatial distribution of SURFEX–MEGAN isoprene is consistent with other studies, with some differences located in low-isoprene-emission regions.
Several sensitivity tests were conducted to quantify the impact of different model inputs and configurations on isoprene emissions. Using different meteorological forcings resulted in a ±5 % change in isoprene emissions using MERRA (Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications) and IFS (Integrated Forecasting System) compared with ERA5. The impact of using different emission factor data was also investigated. The use of PFT (plant functional type) spatial coverage and PFT-dependent emission potential data resulted in a 12 % reduction compared to using the isoprene emission potential gridded map. A significant reduction of around 38 % in global isoprene emissions was observed in the third sensitivity analysis, which applied a parameterization of soil moisture deficit, particularly in certain regions of Australia, Africa, and South America.
The significance of coupling the SURFEX and MEGAN models lies particularly in the ability of the coupled model to be forced with meteorological data from any period. This means, for instance, that this system can be used to predict biogenic emissions in the future. This aspect of our work is significant given the changes that biogenic organic compounds are expected to undergo as a result of changes in their climatic factors.
2024