Vol. 37, issue 11, article # 4

Abstract:

Air pollution is a serious danger not only to human health, but also to the environment. The study of the carbon isotope composition of atmospheric aerosol in cities is of particular interest and has great potential for determining the dominant sources of aerosol particles. The results of continuous monitoring of the isotopic composition of total carbon (δ¹³C) in atmospheric aerosol (with a resolution of 3 days) during the winter-spring season (November 2020 – May 2021) in Tomsk are presented. The δ¹³С value ranged from -29.4 to -24.7‰, with the carbon percentage ranging from 1.3 to 35%. For 67 samples of carbonaceous atmospheric aerosol, the mean δ¹³С value was -26.2 ± 0.3‰. The average δ¹³С values of aerosol were -25.9 ± 0.5‰ in winter and -26.5 ± 1‰ in spring. The widest scatter of δ¹³С values was observed during the spring, which indicates the presence of various sources of origin of carbonaceous aerosol particles. The main sources of carbonaceous aerosol particles were identified through the combined analysis of global map of wind (earth.nullschool.net), air masses backward trajectories (by NOAA HYSPLIT model), wind rose, and data on the variability of δ¹³C values. In winter, the dominant source of carbonaceous aerosol was the city thermal power plant GRES-2. The study results not only contribute to understanding the sources of origin and transformation processes of atmospheric aerosols in Tomsk, but also can be input parameters for modeling the transport of aerosol particles on the regional scale.

Keywords:

isotope ratio mass spectrometry, atmospheric aerosol, stable carbon isotope ratios

Figures:

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