Seasonal variations of aerosol size distributions based on long-term measurements at the high altitude Himalayan site of Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (5079 m), Nepal

The present paper investigates the diurnal and seasonal variability of the aerosol total number concentration, number and volume size distribution between 10 nm and 10 µm, from a combination of a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and an optical counter (OPC), performed over a two-year period (January 2006–February 2008) at the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (NCO-P) research station, (5079 m a.s.l.). The annual average number concentration measured over the two-year period at the NCO-P is 860 cm-3. Total concentrations show a strong seasonality with maxima during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons and minima during the dry and monsoon seasons. A diurnal variation is also clearly observed, with maxima between 09:00 and 12:00 UTC. The aerosol concentration maxima are mainly due to nucleation processes during the postmonsoon season, as witnessed by high nucleation mode integrated number concentrations, and to transport of high levels of pollution from the plains by valley breezes during the pre-monsoon season, as demonstrated by high accumulation mode integrated number concentrations. Night-time number concentration of particles (from 03:00 to 08:00 NST) are relatively low throughout the year (from 450 cm-3 during the monsoon season to 675 cm-3 during the pre-monsoon season), indicating the of high altitudes background level, as a result of downslope winds during this part of the day. However, it was found that these background concentrations are strongly influenced by the daytime concentrations, as theyshow the same seasonal variability. If nighttime concentrations were presumed to be representative of free troposphere (FT)/residual layer concentrations, they would be found to be two times higher than at other lower altitudes European sites, such as the Jungfraujoch. However, BL intrusions might contaminate the free troposphere/residual layer even at this altitude, especially during regional air masses influence. Nighttime measurements were subsequently selected to study the FT composition according to different air masses, and the effect of long range transport to the station.

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Karine Sellegri (Blaise Pascal University, CNRS) - Paolo Laj (CNRS Laboratory of Meteorology Physics - Laboratory of Glaciology) - Paolo Bonasoni (Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) - CNR) - Angela Marinoni (Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) - CNR) - Paolo Cristofanelli (Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) - CNR) - Elisa Vuillermoz (Ev-K2-CNR) - H.Venzac (Blaise Pascal University,CNRS) - Julien Boulon (Physical Laboratory of Meteorology, University Blaise Pascal,CNRS) - Jean Picard (CNRS/University of Clermont-Ferrand) - Paolo Villani (Blaise Pascal University,CNRS) (2010) . Seasonal variations of aerosol size distributions based on long-term measurements at the high altitude Himalayan site of Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (5079 m), Nepal. Copernicus GmbH (Copernicus Publications) https://geoportal.mountaingenius.org/geonetwork/srv/api/records/72b1205e-d036-4221-bf87-621ac63ebdfb

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File identifier: 72b1205e-d036-4221-bf87-621ac63ebdfb XML

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Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere
Environment
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Atmospheric Brown Clouds

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Himalayas , Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid , Nepal

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aerosol size distributions , aerosol

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SHARE , GAW , ABC

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Date ( Publication ): 2010-11-12T00:00:00

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The book contains the scientific papers by EvK2Cnr researchers in a special issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, entitled "Atmospheric brown clouds in the Himalayas "

"Seasonal variations of aerosol size distributions based on long-term measurements at the high altitude Himalayan site of Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (5079 m), Nepal "

K. Sellegri, P. Laj, H. Venzac, J. Boulon, D. Picard, P. Villani, P. Bonasoni, A. Marinoni, P. Cristofanelli, and E. Vuillermoz. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 10679-10690, 2010.