A study of aerosol properties over Lahore (Pakistan) by using AERONET data

It is well established that aerosols affect the climate in a variety of ways. In order to understand these effects, we require an insight into the properties of aerosols. In this paper we present a study of aerosol properties such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), single scattering albedo (SSA) and aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) over mega city of Lahore (Pakistan). The data from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) have been used for the period December 2009 to October 2011. The seasonal average values of AOD, asymmetry parameter (ASY) and volume size distribution in coarse mode were observed to be highest in summer. On the other hand, the average values of Angstrom exponent (AE) and imaginary part of refractive index (RI) were found to be maximum in winter. The average value of real part of RI was found to be higher in spring than in all other seasons. The SSA exhibited an increasing trend with wavelength in the range 440 nm–1020 nm in spring, summer and fall indicating the dominance of coarse particles (usually dust). However, a decreasing trend was found in winter in the range 675 nm–1020 nm pointing towards the dominance of biomass and urban/industrial aerosols. As far as aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) is concerned, we have found that during the spring season ARF was lowest at the surface of Earth and highest at top of the atmosphere (TOA). This indicates that the atmosphere was warmer in spring than in all the remaining seasons.     

On radiative forcing of sulphate aerosol produced from ion-promoted nucleation mechanisms in an atmospheric global model

A significant fraction of the total number of particles present in the atmosphere is formed by nucleation in the gas phase. Nucleation and the subsequent growth process influence both number concentration of particles and their size distribution besides chemical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols. Sulphate aerosol nucleation mechanisms promoted by ions have been evaluated here in a tropospheric interactive chemistry-aerosol module for mass and number concentration in a global atmospheric model. The indirect radiative forcing of sulphate particles is assessed in this model; indirect radiative forcing is different for ion-induced (IIN) and ion-mediated (IMN) mechanisms. The indirect radiative forcing in 10-year simulation runs has been calculated as ?1.42?W/m² (IIN) and ?1.54?W/m² (IMN). The 5% emission of primary sulphate particles in simulations changes the indirect radiative forcing from ?1.42 to ?1.44?W/m² for IIN case, and from ?1.54 to ?1.55 W/m² for the IMN case. More precisely, owing to greater nucleation rates, IMN mechanisms produces greater cooling than the IIN mechanisms in the backdrop that both mechanisms produce almost identical distribution of CDNC in their pre-industrial runs. The inclusion of primary particles in simulations with IIN and IMN mechanisms increases both CDNC and the indirect radiative forcing.     

A comprehensive study on the surface chemistry of particulate matter collected from Jeddah,Saudi Arabia

In this work, the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) technique is utilized to analyze the surface chemical composition of particulate matter (PM) which was collected from various locations at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The main elements found on the surface of PM are carbon (C), oxygen (O) and silicon (Si) with combined percentage of 89.4–94.9 while traces of nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al), sodium (Na), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mg), and sulfur (S) were also present. The analyzed XPS chemical state of C, O and Si was further used to determine their bonding with other elements occurring over the surface of PM. Carbon was found in the form of carbides (18.86%), fluorides (2.39%) and carbonates (78.75%); oxygen was observed as oxides (21.05%) and hydroxides (73.42%) of other metals; and silicon was detected as silicones (12.16%), nitrides (82.53%) and silicates (5.25%). The particle size of a PM is also of great concern for health issues, and thus has been investigated by the Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). The Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) was employed for cross verification of detected elements by XPS.     

A long-term trend in precipitation of different spatial regions of Bangladesh and its teleconnections with El Niño/Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean Dipole

A long-term (1948 to 2012) trend of precipitation (annual, pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons) in Bangladesh was analyzed in different regions using both parametric and nonparametric approaches. Moreover, the possible teleconnections of precipitation (annual and monsoon) variability with El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) episode and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) were investigated using both average and individual (both positive and negative) values of ENSO index and IOD. Our findings suggested that for annual precipitation, a significant increasing monotonic trend was found in whole Bangladesh (4.87 mm/year), its western region (5.82 mm/year) including Rangpur (9.41 mm/year) and Khulna (4.95 mm/year), and Sylhet (10.12 mm/year) and Barisal (6.94 mm/year) from eastern region. In pre-monsoon, only Rangpur (2.88 mm/year) showed significant increasing trend, while in monsoon, whole Bangladesh (3.04 mm/year), Sylhet (7.17 mm/year), and Barisal (6.94 mm/year) showed similar trend. In post-monsoon, there was no significant trend. Our results also revealed that the precipitation (annual or monsoon) of whole Bangladesh and almost all of the spatial regions did not show any significant correlation with ENSO events, whereas the average IOD values showed significant correlation only in monsoon precipitation of western region. The individual positive IODs showed significant correlation in whole Bangladesh, western region, and its two divisions (Rajshahi and Khulna). So, in the context of Bangladesh climate, IOD has the more teleconnection to precipitation than that of ENSO. Our findings indicate that the co-occurrence of ENSO and IOD events may suppress their influence on each other.

     

Characterization of carbon monoxide,methane and nonmethane hydrocarbons in emerging cities of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and in Singapore

We investigate the composition of 63 C₂-C₁₀ nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), methane (CH₄) and carbon monoxide (CO), in Jeddah, Mecca, and Madina (Saudi Arabia), in Lahore, (Pakistan), and in Singapore. We established a database with which to compare and contrast NMHCs in regions where ambient levels and emissions are poorly characterized, but where conditions are favorable to the formation of tropospheric ozone, and where measurements are essential for improving emission inventories and modeling. This dataset will also serve as a base for further analysis of air pollution in Western Saudi Arabia including, but not limited to, the estimation of urban emissions and long range pollution transport from these regions. The measured species showed enhanced levels in all Saudi Arabian cities compared to the local background but were generally much lower than in Lahore. In Madina, vehicle exhaust was the dominant NMHC source, as indicated by enhanced levels of combustion products and by the good correlation between NMHCs and CO, while in Jeddah and Mecca a combination of sources needs to be considered. Very high NMHC levels were measured in Lahore, and elevated levels of CH₄ in Lahore were attributed to natural gas. When we compared our results with 2010 emissions from the MACCity global inventory, we found discrepancies in the relative contribution of NMHCs between the measurements and the inventory. In all cities, alkenes (especially ethene and propene) dominated the hydroxyl radical (OH) reactivity (k _OH) because of their great abundance and their relatively fast reaction rates with OH.     

Application of infrared thermography for temperature distributions in fluid-saturated porous media

Infrared thermography has increasingly gained importance because of environmental and technological advancements of this method and is applied in a variety of disciplines related to non-isothermal flow. However, it has not been used so far for quantitative thermal analysis in saturated porous media. This article suggests infrared thermographic approach to obtain the entire surface temperature distribution(s) in water-saturated porous media. For this purpose, infrared thermal analysis is applied with in situ calibration for a better understanding of the heat transfer processes in porous media. Calibration is achieved with a combination of invasive sensors which are inserted into the medium and non-invasive thermal sensors in which sensors are not inserted to measure temperatures but it works through the detection of infrared radiation emitted from the surface. Thermocouples of relatively thin diameter are used to minimize the disturbance for flow. Thermocouples give the temperature values at specified positions inside the porous medium, and these values are compared with the values suggested by the infrared thermographic device at the same positions, in the calibration exercise. The calibration process was repeated for different temperatures and flow rates to get the temperature distributions of the whole material inside the system. This technique enables us to measure accurate two-dimensional temperature distributions, which is not possible by using thermocouples only. Continuous point heat sources at different flow rates and temperatures are studied experimentally. Additionally, it offers numerical simulations of the experiments utilizing a finite element-based model. A two-dimensional density and viscosity-dependent flow and transport model accounting for thermal dispersion is utilized to simulate the experimental results. Possible small heat losses from the surface are incorporated in the model according to the properties and thickness of the Plexiglass material used for the construction of the experiment tank. The numerical results agree well with the experimental observations.