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Analysis of Positive and Negative Atmospheric Air Ions During New Particle Formation (NPF) Events over Urban City of India

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Abstract

Simultaneous measurements of ion-mobility spectra of both polarities with a Neutral Air Ion Spectrometer (NAIS) operating in the mobility range 3.16–0.00133 cm2 V−1 s−1 (mass diameter range 0.36–47.1 nm) and concentration of Radon (222Rn) were carried out at Pune (18° 31′ N, 73° 55′ E, 560 m above mean sea level). 222Rn progenies measured by a Radon detector, RTM 2200, and surface meteorological parameters during the period January 2012 to December 2012 were analysed. During this period, NPF events were observed on 28 days and 222 days were without any event (non-event). NPF events mostly occurred by photochemistry in the morning hours of the pre-monsoon season (~ 62%) during the hottest months (April and May) of the year. Authors studied different features of new particle formation (NPF) events, and their dependence on meteorological parameters. The annual mean diurnal variations of different categories of ions show a primary maximum in the morning hour along with the secondary maxima in the evening hour and a minimum in the afternoon. The results are explained in terms of the atmospheric boundary layer changes and katabatic wind blowing along the hill slope surrounded by the measurement site. The computed ion production rate correlates (correlation coefficient R = 0.67) well with the observed small cluster ions. Also, the role of temperature and humidity on the ion concentration on both for the event and non-event days are discussed. Using the principal component analysis (PCA), the first five principal components were found to represent more than 98% of the total variance on event and non-event days. Even the first principal component explained about ~ 86% (65%) of the total variance on non-event (event) days. The statistical analysis also confirms that the small and large—ions on non-event days originated from a similar physical/chemical background.

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Acknowledgements

The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune is supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. Authors thank the India Meteorological Department Observatory at Pune for providing the meteorological data. Author thanks to Dr A. K. Kamra for valuable suggestions. This work is supported under the collaboration program of IITM, Pune, and BHU, Varanasi, India. We are thankful to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and valuable suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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  1. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi, Dr Homi Bhabha Road, Pashan, Pune, 41100, India

    Jeni Victor Nepolian & Devendraa Siingh

  2. Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    R. P. Singh

  3. Department of Physics, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, 246174, India

    Alok Sagar Gautam

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore, 641114, Tamil Nadu, India

    Sneha Gautam

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JV and DS are responsible for inception and, execution of project and preparation of the draft of the manuscript. JV and DS analyzed the ion data and metrological data. JV, DS, RPS and ASG contributed towards the analysis and interpretation of the observations. DS prepared final draft of manuscript. SG associated with draft editing and writing. All authors contributed to the discussion of the results.

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Correspondence to Devendraa Siingh, Alok Sagar Gautam or Sneha Gautam.

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Nepolian, J.V., Siingh, D., Singh, R.P. et al. Analysis of Positive and Negative Atmospheric Air Ions During New Particle Formation (NPF) Events over Urban City of India. Aerosol Sci Eng 5, 460–477 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-021-00115-4

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