Origin, chemical composition and formation of submicron aerosol particles in the atmosphere /

• Main Author: Garbarienė, Inga
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: Lithuanian; English
• Published: Institutional Repository of Vilnius University 2014
• Subjects: aerosol particles; chemical composition; origin; aerosol mass spectrometer; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://repository.vu.lt/VU:ELABAETD2122622&prefLang=en_US

The objective of the work was to investigate physical and chemical properties and sources of the atmospheric aerosol particles in the submicron fraction by combining different analytical techniques. The dependence of concentrations of organic and elemental carbon in different air masses was determined and the contribution of regional and local sources to the net aerosol particle pollution was estimated. Analysis of the size distribution of carbonaceous aerosol particles in background and urban areas was performed. Biogenic organic aerosol made up 15 % of the organic aerosol mass at the Preila atmospheric pollution research station, but in the North Atlantic air masses this factor was up to 50 %. Aerosol and stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry has revealed that traffic is the primary source of aerosol particles in the city, while biomass burning is the primary source at the Rūgšteliškis background station. It was determined that secondary anthropogenic organic compounds were dominating (76 %) in Vilnius, while in Rūgšteliškis secondary biogenic organic compounds made up 50 % of the total organic aerosol mass. The influence of the long-range air mass transport on the local origin aerosol particle formation and transformation has been evaluated and it has been shown that volcanic aerosol particles can significantly change the concentration, chemical composition and size distribution of local aerosol particles in the submicron range.