A closure study on aerosol extinction in urban air in Hungary

摘要

In this study, we present our results from an investigation into the use of visibility data as a viable tool for the survey of long-term variations in air quality. We found that visibility data in general can be used to estimate atmospheric aerosol extinction coefficients, and that PM10 can be successfully estimated from aerosol chemical composition. Our results indicate that PM10 concentrations provide a good basis for the reconstruction of aerosol extinction coefficients. It was also shown that both derived (from visibility) and reconstructed aerosol extinction coefficients were in good accordance with each other, mainly in the case of dry aerosols. Ambient values can be determined if an adequate hygroscopic growth rate for aerosol extinction is considered. We also found that a rather precise estimation of extinction coefficient can be reached if a modified version of the widely used IMPROVE formula is applied.