Spectroscopic Characterization of Humic-Like Substances in Airborne Particulate Matter

In a standard reference air dust (NIST 1648 – urban particulate matter) as well as in airborne particulate matter collected in German urban and rural areas (Dortmund, Sauerland) 10% and more of the organic carbon can be attributed to macromolecular substances like humic and fulvic acids (HA, FA). Indirect evidence for the presence of humin was also obtained. HA and FA extracted from NIST 1648 and other urban and rural atmospheric particles using 0.1 m NaOH and isolated by ion-exchangers were characterized by their molecular-size distribution applying multistage ultrafiltration, their carbon content and their UV/VIS, Fourier-transformed infrared (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectra. Summarizing, the structural studies exhibit that these humic-like substances (HULIS) contained in air dust samples are small in their molecular size and rich in aliphatic and carbohydrate substructures compared to HA and FA from soils and aquatic systems.     

土壤溶解性有机碳测定方法与应用

溶解性有机碳是土壤圈中一种非常活跃的化学物质,它对土壤中化学物质的溶解、吸附、解吸、迁移和毒性等行为均有显著的影响。在现代土壤研究中,出现了与溶解性有机碳相关的众多术语,分析方法也各有不同。从溶解性有机碳、水溶性有机碳、活性有机碳、易氧化碳、微生物量碳、可矿化碳不同术语的角度,概述了这类碳分析意义和测定方法,以期对土壤有机质应用研究起到积极作用。     

Introduction to soil degradation processes in drylands

Two efforts by UN organizations to diagnose and map the distribution and trends of soil degradation in drylands are briefly described and compared.Soil degradation by water is greatly accelerated under poor vegetation cover in the Tropics and Subtropics, probably for two major reasons: high rates of decomposition of organic matter and high intensities of rainfall. The consequences of soil losses and high water runoff can reach far downstream in the river basin, causing damage by sedimentation on floodplains and in reservoirs.Damages by wind erosion and deposition are also much accelerated by overexploitation of the meagre vegetation cover of drylands. Overgrazing, overcultivation, firewood collection are the consequences of human and animal pressure, leading to more or less long-lasting desertification. The finer material, clay, silt, and organic matter, is blown by dust storms over long distances and can be deposited as dry or wet fallout in oceans or on land under the dust trajectories.Salinization often affects highly productive soils under poor irrigation practices. It is therefore a form of dryland degradation which causes particularly high losses of potential crops.     

Surface Tension Effects of Humic-Like Substances in the Aqueous Extract of Tropospheric Fine Aerosol

Organic aerosol constituents can influence the surface tension of nucleating cloud droplets and thereby modify the critical supersaturation necessary to activate aerosol particles. Model calculations, based on experiments carried out with different surrogates, led to contradictory conclusions on the effect of organic components on activation, indicating that the results depend very much on the surrogate selected. In order to reduce this uncertainty surface tension measurements were performed on real atmospheric aerosol components. Humic-like substances (HULIS) that accounted for 60% of the water-soluble organic carbon present in rural aerosol were isolated from 32 samples covering different seasons. The isolated organic matter present in a concentration of about 1 g L^–1, decreased the surface tension of the aqueous solutions by 25–42% as compared to pure water. This effect was further enhanced when humic-like substances were mixed with ammonium sulphate. In order to support model calculations Szyskowski functions were fitted to the data to formulate the surface tension effect as a function of concentration.Finally, natural humic substances (fulvic and humic acids) were investigated under the same conditions. The experiments revealed that the surface tension decreasing effect of atmospheric humic-like substances differed from that of the studied terrestrial and aquatic humic substances: the latter substances decreased the surface tension of the aqueous solution to a lesser extent (7–23%) than atmospheric HULIS. This deviation can be explained with the different composition (e.g. the ratio of aromatic to aliphatic moieties) of the substances investigated.     

Organic compounds in radiation fogs in Davis (California)

New stainless steel active fogwater collectors were designed and used in Davis (CA, USA) to collect fogwater for the speciation of organic matter. Organic compounds in fog samples were extracted by liquid–liquid extraction and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Numerous organic compounds, including various alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and alkanoic acids, have been identified in the fogwater samples. Higher molecular weight (MW) compounds are preferentially associated with an insoluble phase inside the fog drops, whereas lower molecular weight and more polar compounds are found predominantly in the dissolved phase. Concentrations in the dissolved phase were sometimes much higher than estimated by the compounds' aqueous solubilities.     

Chemical Characteristics of Carbonaceous Aerosols During Dust Storms over Xi'an in China

Characterization of carbonaceous aerosols including CC （carbonate carbon）, OC （organic carbon）, and EC （elemental carbon） were investigated at Xi＇an, China, near Asian dust source regions in spring 2002. OC varied between 8.2 and 63.7μgm^- 3, while EC ranged between 2.4 and 17.2 μ m^-3 during the observation period. OC variations followed a similar pattern to EC and the correlation coefficient between OC and EC is 0.89 （n=31）. The average percentage of total carbon （TC, sum of CC, OC, and EC） in PM2.5 during dust storm （DS） events was 13.6%, which is lower than that during non-dust storm （NDS） periods （22.7%）. CC, OC, and EC accounted for 12.9%, 70.7%, and 16.4% of TC during DS events, respectively. The average ratio of OC/EC was 5.0 in DS events and 3.3 in NDS periods. The OC-EC correlation （R^2=0.76, n=6） was good in DS events, while it was stronger （R^2=0.90, n=25） in NDS periods. The percentage of watersoluble OC （WSOC） in TC accounted for 15.7%, and varied between 13.3% and 22.3% during DS events. The distribution of eight carbon fractions indicated that local emissions such as motor vehicle exhaust were the dominant contributors to carbonaceous particles. During DS events, soil dust dominated the chemical composition, contributing 69% to the PM2.5 mass, followed by organic matter （12.8%）, sulfate （4%）, EC （2.2%）, and chloride （1.6%）. Consequently, CC was mainly entrained by Asian dust. However, even in the atmosphere near Asian dust source regions, OC and EC in atmospheric dust were controlled by local emission rather titan the transport of Asian dust.     

Organic matter of the troposphere — V: Application of molecular marker analysis to biogenic emissions into the troposphere for source reconciliations

Organic matter in tropospheric aerosols is derived from two major sources and is admixed depending on the geographic area. These sources are biogenic detritus and anthropogenic emissions. The biogenic materials in the solvent-extractable organic matter are comprised predominantly of higher plant waxes, with lesser amounts of resin and microbial detritus and the anthropogenic components are primarily vehicular emissions (e.g. oils, soot, etc.) and input from combustion (e.g. charcoal, thermally-altered biogenic matter, etc.). Both biogenic detritus and anthropogenic emissions contain organic compounds (C₁₂–C₄₀₊), which can be identified with unique and distinguishable distribution patterns. Molecular composition analysis has been applied to such extracts after suitable chemical separation into subfractions (i.e. hydrocarbons, ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, alcohols, and wax esters). Both homologous compound series and specific natural products (e.g. phytosterols, terpenes, etc.) are identified as molecular markers.Aerosols from rural and remote areas in the western United States, South America, Nigeria and Australia have been analyzed and all contained predominantly plant waxes. The loadings of hydrocarbons ranged approximately from 10–1400 ng/m³ of air, of fatty acids from 10–450 ng/m³ and of fatty alcohols from 10–1650 ng/m³. These higher molecular weight lipids primarily from flora comprise a major component of the organic carbon in rural and remote aerosols. They are thus important indicators for regional biogenic sources in the global cycling of organic carbon.Presented in part at the International Symposium on Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange, Mainz, E.R. Germany, March 16–22, 1986, for Part IV see Simoneit et al. (1988) Atmos. Environ. 22, 983–1004.     

无人直升机搭载大气颗粒物采样装置的前期地面评估

与搭载气溶胶观测和分析仪器测量相比,利用无人直升机搭载气囊采集高空大气颗粒物是一种经济、便捷和安全的采集方式。为了解无人直升机采样装置的采样效果,选择2014年10月至2015年3月的4次重污染天气过程,由无人直升机搭载气囊采集大气颗粒物,然后利用气溶胶采样器采集气囊内的大气颗粒物样品并计算采样时间,再利用气溶胶采样器采集相同时间段内的地面大气颗粒物(气囊外),并将两者进行对比。结果表明:在稳定的污染天气条件下,采集气囊内的大气颗粒物,与相同时间段内利用气溶胶采样器直接采集气囊外的大气颗粒物相比,两种方式采集到的大气颗粒物质量最大差值29%,最小差值11%,平均为21%;利用无人直升机的大气采样装置采集大气颗粒物对碳气溶胶组分影响很小,气囊内与气囊外OC/TC最大相差2.0%,最小相差0.5%。上述结果表明,无人直升机的大气采样装置有比较好的采集效率,利用气囊这种经济、便捷、安全的方式,搭载在无人机平台上,采集高空大气是一种获取气溶胶垂直廓线的有效方法,有望在未来的气溶胶气候和环境研究中提供宝贵数据。     

Carbonaceous materials in size-segregated atmospheric aerosols from urban and coastal-rural areas at the Western European Coast

A high-volume cascade impactor, equipped with a PM10 inlet, was used to collect size-segregated aerosol samples during the summer of 2004 at two Portuguese locations: a coastal-rural area (Moitinhos) and an urban area (Oporto). Concentrations of airborne particulate matter (PM), total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) were determined for the following particle size ranges: < 0.49, 0.49–0.95, 0.95–3.0, and 3.0–10 µm. The total PM mass concentrations at the urban and coastal-rural sites ranged from 22.8 to 79.6 μg m^− 3 and 19.9 to 28.2 μg m^− 3, respectively, and more than 56% of the total aerosol mass was found in the fractions below 3.0 μm. At both locations the highest concentrations of OC and EC were found in the submicrometer size range. The regional variability for the OC and EC concentrations, with the highest concentrations being found in the urban area, was related to the contribution of local primary sources (mostly traffic emissions). It was also verified an enrichment of the small size particles in WSOC, representing on average 37.3(± 12.4)% and 59.7(± 18.0)% of OC in the very fine aerosol at the coastal-rural and urban areas, respectively. The amount of secondary OC calculated by the minimum OC/EC ratio method indicates that secondary organic aerosol formation was important throughout the study at both sites. The obtained results suggest that long-range transport and favourable summer conditions for photochemical oxidation are key factors determining secondary OC formation in the coastal-rural and urban areas. The ultraviolet absorption properties of the chromophoric constituents of the WSOC fractions were also different among the different particle size ranges and also between the two sampling locations, thus suggesting the strong impact of the diverse emission sources into the composition of the size-segregated organic aerosol.     

Carbonaceous materials in size-segregated atmospheric aerosols from urban and coastal-rural areas at the Western European Coast

A high-volume cascade impactor, equipped with a PM10 inlet, was used to collect size-segregated aerosol samples during the summer of 2004 at two Portuguese locations: a coastal-rural area (Moitinhos) and an urban area (Oporto). Concentrations of airborne particulate matter (PM), total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) were determined for the following particle size ranges: < 0.49, 0.49–0.95, 0.95–3.0, and 3.0–10 µm. The total PM mass concentrations at the urban and coastal-rural sites ranged from 22.8 to 79.6 μg m^− 3 and 19.9 to 28.2 μg m^− 3, respectively, and more than 56% of the total aerosol mass was found in the fractions below 3.0 μm. At both locations the highest concentrations of OC and EC were found in the submicrometer size range. The regional variability for the OC and EC concentrations, with the highest concentrations being found in the urban area, was related to the contribution of local primary sources (mostly traffic emissions). It was also verified an enrichment of the small size particles in WSOC, representing on average 37.3(± 12.4)% and 59.7(± 18.0)% of OC in the very fine aerosol at the coastal-rural and urban areas, respectively. The amount of secondary OC calculated by the minimum OC/EC ratio method indicates that secondary organic aerosol formation was important throughout the study at both sites. The obtained results suggest that long-range transport and favourable summer conditions for photochemical oxidation are key factors determining secondary OC formation in the coastal-rural and urban areas. The ultraviolet absorption properties of the chromophoric constituents of the WSOC fractions were also different among the different particle size ranges and also between the two sampling locations, thus suggesting the strong impact of the diverse emission sources into the composition of the size-segregated organic aerosol.     

Precambrian Shield Wetlands: Hydrologic Control of the Sources and Export of Dissolved Organic Matter

Most Precambrian Shield forested catchments have some wetland component. Even small riparian wetlands are important modifiers of stream chemistry. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is one of the most important products exported by wetlands in streams. Stratigraphic control of hydraulic conductivity generally leads to decreasing conductivity with depth. Thus important flowpaths occur in the uppermost organic rich layers and are reflected in chemical profiles of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Accumulation of DOC in peat porewaters is the net effect of production, consumption and transport. DOC profiles vary with degree of interaction with the surrounding upland catchment and distance from the edge of the wetland as well as internal processes within the wetland. In wetlands, DOM production is offset by flushing resulting in decreasing DOC concentrations with increasing flows. Despite old carbon (2,000 to 3,000 years) at relatively shallow depths, 14C activity in DOC exported from wetlands is mostly modern (recent carbon), consistent with shallow flowpaths and export of DOM from shallow organic rich horizons. In contrast, the source area for DOM in upland catchments with developed B horizon soils increases with antecedent soil moisture conditions resulting in increasing DOC concentrations with higher stream flows. Activity of 14C in stream DOC from upland catchments span a range from low activities (older carbon) similar to B horizon soil water during dry moisture conditions to values slightly less than modern (more recent carbon) during high moisture conditions. The more modern carbon activities reflect the increased contribution of the organic rich litter and A horizon soil layers in the area immediately bordering the stream under wet antecedent moisture conditions. Reduced hydrologic export or loss of wetlands under drier climatic conditions may result in in larger fluctuations in stream DOC concentrations and reduced DOM loads to lakes.     

Influence of intrareservoir and meteorological factors on the rate of oxygen demand by valley reservoir sediments

Analyzed are the spatial and temporal variations of the sediment oxygen demand rate in the Mozhaisk Reservoir. It is demonstrated that this rate in summer depends both on the sediment characteristics and on the biological and meteorological factors. It is revealed that the content of labile organic substances in the silt is of great importance for the oxygen consumption rate (all other factors being equal). The inflow of these substances to the bottom is regulated by the water column stratification depending considerably on weather conditions. Estimated is the contribution of main organic matter consumers in the bottom sediments.     

Characterization of atmospheric surfactants in the bulk precipitation by electrochemical tools

Characterization of atmospheric surfactants in bulk precipitations was carried out by adsorption study at the mercury electrode/solution interface using phase sensitive AC voltammetry. The structure and permeability of the adsorbed organic films at the mercury electrode was tested using the redox processes of lead and cadmium ions as electrochemical tools. The effects of organic matter from the bulk precipitations (rainwater and melted snow) were compared to those obtained for aqueous solutions of model substances: aromatic hydrocarbon (naphtalene), anionic surfactant (sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, NDBS), protein (albumine) and selected model substances suggested to be representative of water soluble organic compounds (WSOC) in atmospheric water (monocarboxylic, dicarboxylic, and polyacidic compounds and levoglucosan). It was found that substances like humic acid and 3-hydroxybutanoic acid may play an important role in atmospheric heterogeneous chemistry because of their surface active potential.     

Structural Characterisation of Organic Matter in Fine Tropospheric Aerosol by Pyrolysis-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

The organic matter in tropospheric aerosol plays animportant, yet undetermined role in atmosphericprocesses. The bulk of organic carbon representing asignificant part of the fine aerosol mass is bound toa polymeric matter whose structure and properties areto date largely unknown. Here we use thefingerprinting technique of derivatization pyrolysis-gas chromatography-massspectrometry tosubstantiate that in terms of chemical structure partof this polymer in rural aerosol in summer can beregarded as natural humic matter. We suggest thatthese compounds are likely to be directly emitted bybiogenic sources.     

Organic Compounds in the Antarctic Coastal Ecosystem

Russian Meteorology and Hydrology - The paper presents the results of studying the granulometric composition of aerosol in the suspended matter of the surface water layer, and organic compounds...     

Managing cropland and rangeland for climate mitigation: an expert elicitation on soil carbon in California

Understanding the magnitude of and uncertainty around soil carbon flux (SCF) is important in light of California’s efforts to increase SCF (from the atmosphere to soils) for climate change mitigation. SCF depends, to a great extent, on how soils are managed. Here, we summarize the results of an elicitation of soil science and carbon cycle experts aiming to characterize understanding of current SCF in California’s cropland and rangeland, and how it may respond to alternative management practices over time. We considered four cropland management practices—biochar, compost, cover crops, and no-till—and two rangeland management practices, compost and high-impact grazing. Results across all management practices reveal underlying uncertainties as well as very modest opportunities for soil carbon management to contribute meaningfully to California’s climate mitigation. Under median scenarios, experts expect all the surveyed management practices to reverse SCF from negative to positive, with direct carbon additions via biochar and compost offering the best potential for boosting the soil carbon pool.     

Influence of olive mill waste application on the role of soil as a carbon source or sink

Organic matter (OM) is involved in the enhancement of soil quality since it acts on soil structure, nutrient storage and biological activity. Organic carbon (OC), the dominant element constituent of OM, and related soil properties are probably the most widely acknowledged indicator of soil quality. The typically Mediterranean climate of the South of Spain promotes low yields on crops and low organic carbon in soil. The present work was carried out to evaluate the effect of the application of alperujo, olive oil waste difficult to eliminate, on the fixation or emission of carbon on soil in an olive grove situated in Montoro (Córdoba, Spain). In the study three treatments were considered: 15 kg (A), 7.5 kg (B), 0 kg (C) of alperujo per tree and the implementation of the amendment has been made for three consecutive years. The results confirm the benefits of the amendment on the carbon content organic soil with a fixation with respect to control of 4.8 and 6.1 t ha^???1 for the first year and 8.7 and 6.8 t ha^???1 for the second in treatments A and B, respectively. Of the different climatic agents considered in the study, it was the temperature which had a major influence on the emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere and the flow of gas presented the highest values in soils treated with the highest dose.     

两级雷击电涌保护器配合的过电流和过电压变化特征

通过对电气系统受两级雷击电涌保护器（surge protective divice,SPD）配合保护下的过电流和过电压变化特性的分析研究,建立过电压两级保护线路的瞬态Kirchhoff方程组,对各SPD、级间电缆（或解耦器）和负载的端电压、电流进行模拟计算,绘制时序波形图,获得两级SPD（首级为火花间隙、次级为压敏电阻）配合保护下的雷击过电流的分流特性和负载过电压变化特性,为雷击过电压过电流的多级保护提供理论分析方法,可供电气系统多级雷电防护工程设计参考。     

Indirect Radiative and Climatic Effects of Sulfate and Organic Carbon Aerosols over East Asia Investigated by RIEMS

The indirect radiative and climatic effects of sulfate and organic carbon aerosols over East Asia were investigated using a Regional Integrated Environment Model System (RIEMS) with an empirical aerosol-cloud parameterization.The first indirect radiative forcing was negative and ranged from-9-0 W m-2 in the domain.The maximum cooling,up to-9 W m-2,occurred in the Chongqing District in winter,whereas the cooling areas were larger during summer than in winter.Organic carbon (OC) aerosols were more abundant in winter than in summer,whereas the sulfate concentration during summer was much higher than during winter.The concentrations of sulfate and OC were comparable in winter,and sulfate played a dominant role in determining indirect radiative forcing in summer,whereas in winter,both sulfate and OC were important.The regional mean indirect radiative forcings were-0.73 W m-2 and-0.41 W m-2 in summer and winter,respectively.The surface cooling caused by indirect effects was more obvious in winter than that in summer.The ground temperature decreased by ～1.2 K in most areas of eastern China in winter,whereas in summer,the temperature decreased (～-1.5 K) in some regions,such as the Yangtze River region,but increased (～0.9 K) in the areas between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers.In winter,the precipitation decreased by 0-6 mm in most areas of eastern China,but in summer,alternating bands of increasing (up to 80 mm) and decreasing (～-80 mm) precipitation appeared in eastern China.