Articles | Volume 24, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9515-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9515-2024
Research article
 | 
29 Aug 2024
Research article |  | 29 Aug 2024

Insights into the sources of ultrafine particle numbers at six European urban sites obtained by investigating COVID-19 lockdowns

Alex Rowell, James Brean, David C. S. Beddows, Tuukka Petäjä, Máté Vörösmarty, Imre Salma, Jarkko V. Niemi, Hanna E. Manninen, Dominik van Pinxteren, Thomas Tuch, Kay Weinhold, Zongbo Shi, and Roy M. Harrison

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Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
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Cited articles

Beddows, D. C. S. and Harrison, R. M.: Receptor modelling of both particle composition and size distribution from a background site in London, UK – a two-step approach, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4863–4876, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4863-2019, 2019. 
Beddows, D. C. S., Harrison, R. M., Green, D. C., and Fuller, G. W.: Receptor modelling of both particle composition and size distribution from a background site in London, UK, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10107–10125, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10107-2015, 2015. 
Birmili, W., Weinhold, K., Rasch, F., Sonntag, A., Sun, J., Merkel, M., Wiedensohler, A., Bastian, S., Schladitz, A., Löschau, G., Cyrys, J., Pitz, M., Gu, J., Kusch, T., Flentje, H., Quass, U., Kaminski, H., Kuhlbusch, T. A. J., Meinhardt, F., Schwerin, A., Bath, O., Ries, L., Gerwig, H., Wirtz, K., and Fiebig, M.: Long-term observations of tropospheric particle number size distributions and equivalent black carbon mass concentrations in the German Ultrafine Aerosol Network (GUAN), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 355–382, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-355-2016, 2016. 
Bousiotis, D., Brean, J., Pope, F. D., Dall'Osto, M., Querol, X., Alastuey, A., Perez, N., Petäjä, T., Massling, A., Klenø Nøjgaard, J., Nordstrøm, C., Kouvarakis, G., Vratolis, S., Eleftheriadis, K., Niemi, J. V., Portin, H., Wiedensohler, A., Weinhold, K., Merkel, M., Tuch, T., and Harrison, R. M.: The effect of meteorological conditions and atmospheric composition in the occurrence and development of new particle formation (NPF) events in Europe, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3345–3370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3345-2021, 2021. 
Brean, J., Rowell, A., Beddows, D. C. S., Weinhold, K., Mettke, P., Merkel, M., Tuch, T., Rissanen, M., Maso, M. D., Kumar, A., Barua, S., Iyer, S., Karppinen, A., Wiedensohler, A., Shi, Z., and Harrison, R. M.: Road Traffic Emissions Lead to Much Enhanced New Particle Formation through Increased Growth Rates, Environ. Sci. Technol., 58, 10664–10674, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10526, 2024. 
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Short summary
Different sources of airborne particles in the atmospheres of four European cities were distinguished by recognising their particle size distributions using a statistical procedure, positive matrix factorisation. The various sources responded differently to the changes in emissions associated with COVID-19 lockdowns, and the reasons are investigated. While traffic emissions generally decreased, particles formed from reactions of atmospheric gases decreased in some cities but increased in others.
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