Plinius Conference Abstracts
Vol. 18, Plinius18-142, 2024, updated on 11 Jul 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-plinius18-142
18th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Risks
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Oral | Monday, 30 Sep, 10:00–10:15 (CEST)| Lecture room

Characterization of Water-Soluble Inorganic Ions and Carbonaceous Aerosols in the Urban Atmosphere in Amman, Jordan

Afnan Al-Hunaiti1,2, Zaid Bakri3, Xinyang Li4, Lian Duan4,5, Asal Al-Abdallat6, Andres Alastuey7, Mar Viana7, Sharif Arar1, Tuukka Petäjä4, and Tareq Hussein4,6
Afnan Al-Hunaiti et al.
  • 1Department of Chemistry, School of Science, University of Jordan, 11942 Amman, Jordan
  • 2Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, School of Chemical Engineering, Nanochemistry and Nanoengineering, Aalto University, Aalto, 00076, Finland
  • 3Department of Physics and Atmospheric Sciences Program, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
  • 4University of Helsinki, Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR/Physics), UHEL FI-00014, Helsinki, Finland
  • 5Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
  • 6Environmental and Atmospheric Research Laboratory (EARL), Department of Physics, School of Science, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
  • 7Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain

The Eastern Mediterranean is a unique region for air pollution because it is the crossroads between three continents exchanging air pollution transported between Africa, Asia, and Europe. Here, we investigated urban particulate matter (PM) carbonaceous and water-soluble ions for eleven months in Amman, Jordan. The PM2.5 total carbon (TC) annual mean was 7.6±3.6 µg/m3 (organic carbon (OC) 5.9±2.8 µg/m3 and elemental carbon (EC) 1.7±1.1 µg/m3), which was about 16.3% of the PM2.5. The PM10 TC annual mean was 8.4±3.9 µg/m3 (OC 6.5 ± 3.1 µg/m3 and elemental carbon (EC) 11.9±1.1µg/m3), about 13.3% of the PM10. The PM2.5 total water-soluble ions (TI) annual mean was 7.9±1.9 µg/m3(about 16.9%), and that of the PM10 was 10.1±2.8 µg/m3 (about 16.0%). The minor ions (F-, NO2-, Br-, and PO43-) constituted less than 1% in the PM fractions. The significant fraction was for SO42- (PM2.5 4.7±1.6 µg/m3 (10.0%) and PM10 5.3±1.9 µg/m3 (8.3%)). The NH4+ had higher amounts of PM2.5 (1.3±0.6 µg/m3; 2.7%) than that PM10 (0.9±0.4 µg/m3; 1.4%). During sand and dust storm (SDS) events, TC, Cl-, and NO3- were doubled in both PM2.5 and PM10, SO42- did not increase significantly, and NH4+ slightly decreased. Regression analysis revealed: (1) carbonaceous aerosols in Amman come equally from primary and secondary sources, (2) about 50% of the OC came from non-combustion sources, (3) traffic emissions dominate the PM, (4) agricultural sources have a negligible effect, (5)  SO42- is completely neutralized by NH4+ in the PM2.5 but there could be additional reactions involved in the PM10, and (6) (NH4)2SO4, was the major species formed by SO42-and NH4+ instead of NH4HSO4.

How to cite: Al-Hunaiti, A., Bakri, Z., Li, X., Duan, L., Al-Abdallat, A., Alastuey, A., Viana, M., Arar, S., Petäjä, T., and Hussein, T.: Characterization of Water-Soluble Inorganic Ions and Carbonaceous Aerosols in the Urban Atmosphere in Amman, Jordan, 18th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Risks, Chania, Greece, 30 Sep–3 Oct 2024, Plinius18-142, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-plinius18-142, 2024.