Temporal Variation of Aerosol Optical Properties at Măgurele, Romania

Abstract

ven though much research has been conducted regarding the study of atmospheric aerosols, significant uncertainties still exist in this direction. The uncertainties are related to different physical and microphysical properties of these fine particles, but they are also related to the complex processes of interactions between aerosols and other atmospheric components, such as water droplets in the clouds or gaseous molecules. Therefore, it is mandatory to understand aerosol physics with maximum precision in real time all over the world. In this paper, the results of the statistical analysis of atmospheric aerosol optical properties as the total scattering and the backscattering coefficients, the Ångström parameter, and the aerosol optical depth from M?gurele (Ilfov, Romania) are presented. The analysis covers the period between 1 June 2008 and 31 December 2009. The results showed significant differences in temporal variations of the optical parameters for the winter of 2008 and 2009. From spring 2009 to the winter of this year, a decreasing tendency of the total scattering coefficient and an increasing trend for the Ångström exponent were observed. The size-increase tendency, over 1 ?m, appears during the spring of 2008 and the summers of 2008 and 2009, coinciding with the local pollution or Saharan dust intrusion episodes. From the seasonal analysis, a certain monthly variation of the optical parameters was noticed. The results of the diurnal optical properties variations for the M?gurele area showed visible differences between the maximal and minimal values for the spring and summer seasons.