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Status report of air quality in Europe for year 2020, using validated and up-to-date data
This report presents summarized information on the status of air quality in Europe in 2020, based on up-to date (i.e. prior to final quality control) and validated air quality monitoring data reported by the member and cooperating countries of the EEA. It aims at giving more timely and preliminary information on the status of ambient air quality in Europe in 2020 for five key air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO2 and SO2). The report also gives a preliminary assessment of the progress towards meeting the European air quality standards for the protection of health and the World Health Organization air quality guidelines, and compares the air quality status in 2020 with the previous three years. The preliminary data reported for 2020 shows that more than 10% of the monitoring stations exceeded the EU standards for PM10 and O3 and the WHO guidelines for PM2.5, PM10, O3 and SO2 in the EU-27 and UK. Exceedances of the NO2 limit value and WHO guideline still occur in 9 countries of the EU-27 and the UK.
ETC/ATNI
2021
Status report of air quality in Europe for year 2019, using validated data
This report presents summarized information on the status of air quality in Europe in 2019, based on validated air quality monitoring data officially reported by the member and cooperating countries of the EEA. It aims at informing on the status of ambient air quality in Europe in 2019 and on the progress towards meeting the European air quality standards for the protection of health, as well as the WHO air quality guidelines. The report also compares the air quality status in 2019 with the previous three years. The pollutants covered in this report are particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), O3, NO2, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), SO2, CO, benzene and toxic metals (As, Cd, Ni, Pb). Measured concentrations above the European air quality standards for PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO2 were reported by 21, 7, 24, and 22 European countries for 2019, respectively. Exceedances of the air quality standards for BaP, SO2, CO, and benzene were measured in, respectively, 14, 6, 3, and two European countries in 2019. Exceedances of European standards for toxic metals were reported by one country for Cd and Pb and by three countries for As and Ni.
ETC/ATNI
2021
Atmospheric nitrogen and sulfur deposition is an important effect of atmospheric pollution and may affect forest ecosystems positively, for example enhancing tree growth, or negatively, for example causing acidification, eutrophication, cation depletion in soil or nutritional imbalances in trees. To assess and design measures to reduce the negative impacts of deposition, a good estimate of the deposition amount is needed, either by direct measurement or by modeling. In order to evaluate the precision of both approaches and to identify possible improvements, we compared the deposition estimates obtained using an Eulerian model with the measurements performed by two large independent networks covering most of Europe. The results are in good agreement (bias <25%) for sulfate and nitrate open field deposition, while larger differences are more evident for ammonium deposition, likely due to the greater influence of local ammonia sources. Modeled sulfur total deposition compares well with throughfall deposition measured in forest plots, while the estimate of nitrogen deposition is affected by the tree canopy. The geographical distribution of pollutant deposition and of outlier sites where model and measurements show larger differences are discussed.
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021
Monitoring of the atmospheric ozone layer and natural ultraviolet radiation. Annual Report 2020.
This report summarizes the results from the Norwegian monitoring programme on stratospheric ozone and UV radiation measurements. The ozone layer has been measured at three locations since 1979: In Oslo/Kjeller, Tromsø/Andøya and Ny-Ålesund. The UV measurements started in 1995. The results show that there was a significant decrease in stratospheric ozone above Norway between 1979 and 1997. After that, the ozone layer stabilized at a level ~2% below pre-1980 level. 2020 was characterized by a strong, cold, and persistent Arctic stratospheric vortex, leading to extensive formation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs, mother-of-pearl clouds) and chemical ozone destruction with very low ozone values and high UV levels in the exposed regions in the spring.
NILU
2021
Vurdering av CLEO for norske reindriftsutøvere
Denne rapporten er en evaluering av Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network ved bruk av erfaringene fra pilottestene utført i perioden 2016-2020 av arktiske akademikere, urfolksinstitusjoner og samisk samfunn i Norge. Rapporten prøver å finne svar på hvordan man kan tilrettelegge for innrapportering av observasjoner på lokale miljøendringer blant norske reindriftsutøvere samt opprettholde en utstrakt bruk. Dette for å skape engasjement, bevisstgjøring, forsterke lokale stemmer og identifisere svar på viktige miljøutfordringer og mulige handlinger, og søke konstruktive og respektfulle måter å dele informasjon og samarbeid mellom ulike kunnskapssystemer.
Rapporten konkluderer med at for å gjøre det mulig for norske reindriftsutøvere å rapportere inn observasjoner av klimaendringer i miljøet, og legge til rette for en utstrakt og kontinuerlig bruk, bør det bygges en egen Sápmi løsning.
NILU
2021
Overvåking av langtransporterte atmosfæriske miljøgifter i luft og nedbør, årsrapport 2020.
Denne rapporten inkluderer miljøovervåkningsdata fra 2020 og tidstrender for programmet Langtransporterte atmosfæriske miljøgifter. Resultatene omfatter 200 organiske miljøgifter (regulerte og ennå ikke regulerte), 11 tungmetaller og et utvalg organiske kjemikalier som potensielt er av bekymring for Arktisk miljø.
NILU
2021
This report presents VOC (volatile organic compound) measurements carried out during 2019 at EMEP monitoring sites. In total, 19 sites reported VOC-data from EMEP VOC sites this year. Some of the data-sets are considered preliminary and are not included in the report.
The monitoring of VOC has become more diverse with time in terms of instrumentation. Starting in the early 1990s with standardized methods based on manual sampling in steel canisters and adsorption tubes with subsequent analyses at the lab, the methods now consist of a variety of instruments and measurement principles, including automated continuous monitors and manual flask samples.
Within the EU infrastructure project ACTRIS, data quality issues related to measurements of VOC are an important topic. Many of the institutions providing VOC-data to EMEP are participating in the ACTRIS infrastructure project, either as formal partners or on a voluntary basis. Participation in ACTRIS means an extensive effort with data-checking including detailed discussions between the ACTRIS community and individual participants. There is no doubt that this extensive effort has benefited the EMEP-program substantially and has led to improved data quality in general.
Comparison between median levels in 2019 and the medians of the previous 10-years period, revealed similar geographical patterns as in the previous years. Changes in instrumentation, procedures and station network with time make it difficult though to provide a rigorous and pan-European assessment of long-term trends of the observed VOCs. In this report, we have estimated the trends in NMHC over the 2000-2019 period at five sites by three independent statistical methods. All three methods gave comparable estimates of the trends, although the Mann-Kendall method based on annual data (compared to daily data for the other two methods) found fewer significant trends.
These estimates indicate marked differences in the long-term trends for the individual species. Small or non-significant trends were found for ethane during 2000-2019. Propane also showed fairly small reductions. On the other hand, components linked to road traffic (ethene, ethyne and benzene) showed the strongest drop in mean concentrations, up to 60-80% at some stations.
NILU
2021
Residential wood combustion (RWC) is a major source of air pollutants in the Nordic and many other countries. The emissions of the pollutants have been estimated with inventories on several scopes, e.g. local and national. An important aspect of the inventories is the spatial distribution of the emissions, as it has an effect on health impact assessments. In this study, we present a novel residential wood combustion emission inventory for the Nordic countries based on national inventories and new gridding of the emissions. We compare the emissions of the Nordic inventory, and especially their spatial distribution, to local assessments and European level TNO-newRWC-inventory to assess the spatial proxies used. Common proxies used in the national inventories in the Nordic countries were building data on locations and primary heating methods and questionnaire-based wood use estimates for appliances or primary heating methods. Chimney sweeper register data was identified as good proxy data, but such data may not be available in an applicable format. Comparisons of national inventories to local assessments showed the possibility to achieve similar spatial distributions through nation-wide methods as local ones. However, this won't guarantee that the emissions are similar. Comparison to the TNO-newRWC-inventory revealed the importance of how differences between urban and rural residential wood combustion are handled. The comparison also highlighted the importance of local characteristics of residential wood combustion in the spatial distribution of emissions.
Elsevier
2021
Calibration and assessment of electrochemical low-cost sensors in remote alpine harsh environments
This work presents results from an original open-source low-cost sensor (LCS) system developed to measure tropospheric O3 in a remote high altitude alpine site. Our study was conducted at the Col Margherita Observatory (2543 m above sea level), in the Italian Eastern Alps. The sensor system mounts three commercial low-cost O3/NO2 sensors that have been calibrated before field deployment against a laboratory standard (Thermo Scientific; 49i-PS), calibrated against the standard reference photometer no. 15 calibration scale of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Intra- and intercomparison between the sensors and a reference instrument (Thermo Scientific; 49c) have been conducted for 7 months from May to December 2018. The sensors required an individual calibration, both in laboratory and in the field. The sensor's dependence on the environmental meteorological variables has been considered and discussed. We showed that it is possible to reduce the bias of one LCS by using the average coefficient values of another LCS working in tandem, suggesting a way forward for the development of remote field calibration techniques. We showed that it is possible reconstruct the environmental ozone concentration during the loss of reference instrument data in situations caused by power outages. The evaluation of the analytical performances of this sensing system provides a limit of detection (LOD) <5 ppb (parts per billion), limit of quantification (LOQ) <17 ppb, linear dynamic range (LDR) 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 % confidence. This first implementation of a LCS system in an alpine remote location demonstrated how to obtain valuable data from a low-cost instrument in a remote environment, opening new perspectives for the adoption of low-cost sensor networks in atmospheric sciences.
2021
The Community Inversion Framework v1.0: a unified system for atmospheric inversion studies
Atmospheric inversion approaches are expected to play a critical role in future observation-based monitoring systems for surface fluxes of greenhouse gases (GHGs), pollutants and other trace gases. In the past decade, the research community has developed various inversion software, mainly using variational or ensemble Bayesian optimization methods, with various assumptions on uncertainty structures and prior information and with various atmospheric chemistry–transport models. Each of them can assimilate some or all of the available observation streams for its domain area of interest: flask samples, in situ measurements or satellite observations. Although referenced in peer-reviewed publications and usually accessible across the research community, most systems are not at the level of transparency, flexibility and accessibility needed to provide the scientific community and policy makers with a comprehensive and robust view of the uncertainties associated with the inverse estimation of GHG and reactive species fluxes. Furthermore, their development, usually carried out by individual research institutes, may in the future not keep pace with the increasing scientific needs and technical possibilities. We present here the Community Inversion Framework (CIF) to help rationalize development efforts and leverage the strengths of individual inversion systems into a comprehensive framework. The CIF is primarily a programming protocol to allow various inversion bricks to be exchanged among researchers. In practice, the ensemble of bricks makes a flexible, transparent and open-source Python-based tool to estimate the fluxes of various GHGs and reactive species both at the global and regional scales. It will allow for running different atmospheric transport models, different observation streams and different data assimilation approaches. This adaptability will allow for a comprehensive assessment of uncertainty in a fully consistent framework. We present here the main structure and functionalities of the system, and we demonstrate how it operates in a simple academic case.
2021
Extreme precipitation events in Norway in all seasons are often linked to atmospheric rivers (AR). We show that during the period 1979–2018 78.5% of the daily extreme precipitation events in Southwestern Norway are linked to ARs, this percentage decreasing to 59% in the more northern coastal regions and ~40% in the inland regions. The association of extreme precipitation with AR occurs most often in fall for the coastal areas and in summer inland. All Norwegian regions experience stronger winds and 1–2°C increase of the temperature at 850 hPa during AR events compared to the climatology, the extreme precipitation largely contributing to the wet climatology (only considering rainy days) in Norway but also in Denmark and Sweden when the rest of Europe is dry. A cyclone is found nearby the AR landfall point in 70% of the cases. When the cyclone is located over the British Isles, as it is typically the case when ARs reach Southeastern Norway, it is associated with cyclonic Rossby wave breaking whereas when the ARs reach more northern regions, anticyclonic wave breaking occurs over Northern Europe. Cyclone-centered composites show that the mean sea level pressure is not significantly different between the eight Norwegian regions, that baroclinic interaction can still take place although the cyclone is close to its decay phase and that the maximum precipitation occurs ahead of the AR. Lagrangian air parcel tracking shows that moisture uptake mainly occurs over the North Atlantic for the coastal regions with an additional source over Europe for the more eastern and inland regions.
Elsevier
2021
The who, why and where of Norway's CO2 emissions from tourist travel
We present emissions from Norway’s tourist travel by the available transport modes, i.e., aviation, maritime (ferries and cruises) and land-based transport (road and railways). Our study includes detailed information on both domestic and international tourist travel within, from and to Norway. We have coupled statistics from several large surveys with detailed emission data to allow us to separate the purpose of the travel (holiday or business).
Total transport emissions for tourists in 2018 were estimated to be 8 530 kt, equivalent to 19% of the reported Norwegian national emissions. Of these emissions, international tourists visiting Norway were responsible for 3 273 kt , whereas travel by Norwegians accounted for 4 875 kt , most of which occur outside Norway’s reporting obligations. Aviation and maritime transport were found to be the largest emission sources, responsible for 71% and 21% of total emissions, respectively. The reduction due to the COVID-19 pandemic was approximately 60% in 2020, and was sustained throughout the year.
Our study shows that officially reported emissions, as limited to the countries territory, are not suitable for accurate evaluation of transport emissions related to tourism. A consumer or tourist-based calculation gives a marked redistribution of emission responsibility. Our results indicate that emissions from Norwegian residents travelling abroad are 1 602 kt higher than those from tourists coming to Norway. This is driven by frequent trips to popular tourist destinations such as Spain, Thailand, Turkey and Greece. Globally consumer based calculations would shift the responsibility of emissions by tourists to the large wealthy nations, with the most international tourists. The understanding of emission distributed by population group or market support in addition the developing of marketing strategies to attract low emission tourist markets and create awareness among the nations with higher shares of international tourist.
Elsevier
2021
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2021
2021
Observational studies suggest that part of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) variability may be attributed to the spectral ultra-violet (UV) irradiance variations associated to the 11-year solar cycle. The observed maximum surface pressure response in the North Atlantic occurs 2–4 years after solar maximum, and some model studies have identified that atmosphere–ocean feedbacks explain the multi-year lag. Alternatively, medium-to-high energy electron (MEE) precipitation, which peaks in the declining phase of the solar cycle, has been suggested as a potential cause of this lag. We use a coupled (ocean–atmosphere) climate prediction model and a state-of-the-art MEE forcing to explore the respective roles of irradiance and MEE precipitation on the NAO variability. Three decadal ensemble experiments were conducted over solar cycle 23 in an idealized setting. We found a weak ensemble-mean positive NAO response to the irradiance. The simulated signal-to-noise ratio remained very small, indicating the predominance of internal NAO variability. The lack of multi-annual lag in the NAO response was likely due to lagged solar signals imprinted in temperatures below the oceanic mixed-layer re-emerging equatorward of the oceanic frontal zones, which anchor ocean–atmosphere feedbacks. While there is a clear, yet weak, signature from UV irradiance in the atmosphere and upper ocean over the North Atlantic, enhanced MEE precipitation on the other hand does not lead to any systematic changes in the stratospheric circulation, despite its marked chemical signatures.
MDPI
2021
Beregning av luftkvalitet ved Bjørnheimveien 26
NILU har blitt engasjert av Prem Partners II A/S for å vurdere utbredelse av luftsoner for dagens situasjon og en framtidig situasjon med foreslått boligblokk i Bjørnheimveien 26. Det er anvendt en Gaussisk spredningsmodell for linjekilder (Hiway-2). Når det tas hensyn til at E6 går på bru ved det aktuelle området, viser beregningene et vesentlig lavere konsentrasjonsnivå og dermed mindre utbredelse av rød og gul luftsone på bakkenivå. Videre viser beregningene at skjermingseffekten for eksisterende bebyggelse av en ny bygning er marginal. Dersom de samme forutsetningene om høyde av veg og høyde av terreng legges til grunn, viser beregningene god overenstemmelse med eksisterende luftsonekart.
NILU
2021
Moving forward in microplastic research: A Norwegian perspective
Given the increasing attention on the occurrence of microplastics in the environment, and the potential envi-ronmental threats they pose, there is a need for researchers to move quickly from basic understanding to applied science that supports decision makers in finding feasible mitigation measures and solutions. At the same time, they must provide sufficient, accurate and clear information to the media, public and other relevant groups (e.g., NGOs). Key requirements include systematic and coordinated research efforts to enable evidence-based decision making and to develop efficient policy measures on all scales (national, regional and global). To achieve this, collaboration between key actors is essential and should include researchers from multiple disciplines, policy-makers, authorities, civil and industry organizations, and the public. This further requires clear and informative communication processes, and open and continuous dialogues between all actors. Cross-discipline dialogues between researchers should focus on scientific quality and harmonization, defining and accurately communi-cating the state of knowledge, and prioritization of topics that are critical for both research and policy, with the common goal to establish and update action plans for holistic benefit. In Norway, cross-sectoral collaboration has been fundamental in supporting the national strategy to address plastic pollution. Researchers, stakeholders and the environmental authorities have come together to exchange knowledge, identify knowledge gaps, and set targeted and feasible measures to tackle one of the most challenging aspects of plastic pollution: microplastic. In this article, we present a Norwegian perspective on the state of knowledge on microplastic research efforts. Norway’s involvement in international efforts to combat plastic pollution aims at serving as an example of how key actors can collaborate synergistically to share knowledge, address shortcomings, and outline ways forward to address environmental challenges.
Elsevier
2021
Seasonal to interannual variations in the concentrations of sulfur aerosols (< 2.5 µm in diameter; non sea-salt sulfate: NSS-SO2−4; anthropogenic sulfate: Anth-SO2−4; biogenic sulfate: Bio-SO2−4; methanesulfonic acid: MSA) in the Arctic atmosphere were investigated using measurements of the chemical composition of aerosols collected at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78.9∘ N, 11.9∘ E) from 2015 to 2019. In all measurement years the concentration of NSS-SO2−4 was highest during the pre-bloom period and rapidly decreased towards summer. During the pre-bloom period we found a strong correlation between NSS-SO2−4 (sum of Anth-SO2−4 and Bio-SO2−4) and Anth-SO2−4. This was because more than 50 % of the NSS-SO2−4 measured during this period was Anth-SO2−4, which originated in northern Europe and was subsequently transported to the Arctic in Arctic haze. Unexpected increases in the concentration of Bio-SO2−4 aerosols (an oxidation product of dimethylsulfide: DMS) were occasionally found during the pre-bloom period. These probably originated in regions to the south (the North Atlantic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea) rather than in ocean areas in the proximity of Ny-Ålesund. Another oxidation product of DMS is MSA, and the ratio of MSA to Bio-SO2−4 is extensively used to estimate the total amount of DMS-derived aerosol particles in remote marine environments. The concentration of MSA during the pre-bloom period remained low, primarily because of the greater loss of MSA relative to Bio-SO2−4 and the suppression of condensation of gaseous MSA onto particles already present in air masses being transported northwards from distant ocean source regions (existing particles). In addition, the low light intensity during the pre-bloom period resulted in a low concentration of photochemically activated oxidant species including OH radicals and BrO; these conditions favored the oxidation pathway of DMS to Bio-SO2−4 rather than to MSA, which acted to lower the MSA concentration at Ny-Ålesund. The concentration of MSA peaked in May or June and was positively correlated with phytoplankton biomass in the Greenland and Barents seas around Svalbard. As a result, the mean ratio of MSA to the DMS-derived aerosols was low (0.09 ± 0.07) in the pre-bloom period but high (0.32 ± 0.15) in the bloom and post-bloom periods. There was large interannual variability in the ratio of MSA to Bio-SO2−4 (i.e., 0.24 ± 0.11 in 2017, 0.40 ± 0.14 in 2018, and 0.36 ± 0.14 in 2019) during the bloom and post-bloom periods. This was probably associated with changes in the chemical properties of existing particles, biological activities surrounding the observation site, and air mass transport patterns. Our results indicate that MSA is not a conservative tracer for predicting DMS-derived particles, and the contribution of MSA to the growth of newly formed particles may be much larger during the bloom and post-bloom periods than during the pre-bloom period.
2021
The study aimed at investigating the concentrations and geographical patterns of 11 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and 15 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in reindeer muscle samples (n = 100) collected from 10 grazing districts in Norway, 2009. Concentrations were examined for patterns related to geographical region as well as age and sex of animals. Concentrations measured for PCBs and OCPs in reindeer meat samples were generally low. Geographical patterns were revealed and districts with previous mining activities, military trenches, or those that were in the vicinity of the Russian border exhibited slightly elevated concentrations compared to other districts. Calves (10 months) exhibited higher concentrations than young (1.5 year) and old animals (>2 years) adjusted for sex, whereas males exhibited higher concentrations than females, adjusted for age. All PCB congeners inter-correlated strongly with each other, whereas oxy-chlordane and heptachlor epoxide were the strongest inter-correlated OCP compounds. Concentrations of PCBs and OCPs in reindeer meat were all considerably lower than the maximum levels set for those contaminants in foodstuffs for safe human consumption by the European Commission. Thus, reindeer meat is not likely to be a substantial contributor to the human body burden of persistent organic pollutants.
Elsevier
2021
Understanding aerosol–cloud–climate interactions in the Arctic is key to predicting the climate in this rapidly changing region. Whilst many studies have focused on submicrometer aerosol (diameter less than 1 µm), relatively little is known about the supermicrometer aerosol (diameter above 1 µm). Here, we present a cluster analysis of multiyear (2015–2019) aerodynamic volume size distributions, with diameter ranging from 0.5 to 20 µm, measured continuously at the Gruvebadet Observatory in the Svalbard archipelago. Together with aerosol chemical composition data from several online and offline measurements, we apportioned the occurrence of the coarse-mode aerosols during the study period (mainly from March to October) to anthropogenic (two sources, 27 %) and natural (three sources, 73 %) origins. Specifically, two clusters are related to Arctic haze with high levels of black carbon, sulfate and accumulation mode (0.1–1 µm) aerosol. The first cluster (9 %) is attributed to ammonium sulfate-rich Arctic haze particles, whereas the second one (18 %) is attributed to larger-mode aerosol mixed with sea salt. The three natural aerosol clusters were open-ocean sea spray aerosol (34 %), mineral dust (7 %) and an unidentified source of sea spray-related aerosol (32 %). The results suggest that sea-spray-related aerosol in polar regions may be more complex than previously thought due to short- and long-distance origins and mixtures with Arctic haze, biogenic and likely blowing snow aerosols. Studying supermicrometer natural aerosol in the Arctic is imperative for understanding the impacts of changing natural processes on Arctic aerosol.
2021