title: Carbonaceous PM(2.5) and secondary organic aerosol across the Veneto region (NE Italy).
abstract: Organic and elemental carbon (OC-EC) were measured in 360 PM2.5 samples collected from April 2012 to February 2013 at six provinces in the Veneto region, to determine the factors affecting the carbonaceous aerosol variations. The 60 daily samples have been collected simultaneously in all sites during 10 consecutive days for 6 months (April, June, August, October, December and February). OC ranged from 0.98 to 22.34 μg/m(3), while the mean value was 5.5 μg/m(3), contributing 79% of total carbon. EC concentrations fluctuated from 0.19 to 11.90 μg/m(3) with an annual mean value of 1.31 μg/m(3) (19% of the total carbon). The monthly OC concentration gradually increased from April to December. The EC did not vary in accordance with OC. However the highest values for both parameters were recorded in the cold period. The mean OC/EC ratio is 4.54, which is higher than the values observed in most of the other European cities. The secondary organic carbon (SOC) contributed for 69% of the total OC and this was confirmed by both the approaches OC/EC minimum ratio and regression. The results show that OC, EC and SOC exhibited higher concentration during winter months in all measurement sites, suggesting that the stable atmosphere and lower mixing play important role for the accumulation of air pollutant and hasten the condensation or adsorption of volatile organic compounds over the Veneto region. Significant meteorological factors controlling OC and EC were investigated by fitting linear models and using a robust procedure based on weighted likelihood, suggesting that low wind speed and temperature favour accumulation of emissions from local sources. Conditional probability function and conditional bivariate probability function plots indicate that both biomass burning and vehicular traffic are probably the main local sources for carbonaceous particulate matter emissions in two selected cities.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Dorsoduro 2137, 30123 Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Md Badiuzzaman
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Health and Risk Management, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masiol
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento Regionale Laboratori Servizio di Venezia, Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale del Veneto (ARPAV), Via Lissa 6, 30171 Mestre (VE), Italy.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Formenton
authors.affiliation: Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale della Puglia (ARPAP), Corso Trieste 27, 70126 Bari, Italy; Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Gilio
authors.affiliation: Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e Protezione Ambientale della Puglia (ARPAP), Corso Trieste 27, 70126 Bari, Italy; Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianluigi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Gennaro
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Dorsoduro 2137, 30123 Venezia, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agostinelli
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Informatica e Statistica, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, Dorsoduro 2137, 30123 Venezia, Italy. Electronic address: brown@unive.it.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pavoni
keywords: Elemental carbon; Long-range transport; Meteorological factors; Organic carbon; PM(2.5); Po valley; Secondary organic aerosol