Long-range transport and deposition on the Arctic snowpack of nuclear contaminated particulate matter.

The primary environmental concern related to nuclear power is the production of radioactive waste hazardous to humans and the environment. The main scientific and technological problems to address this are related to the storage and disposal of the nuclear waste and monitoring the dispersion of radioactive species into the environment. In this work, we determined an anomalously high C activity, well above the modern natural background, on surface and seasonal snow sampled in early May 2019 on glaciers in the Hornsund fjord area (Svalbard).

Characterization of long-range transported bioaerosols in the Central Mediterranean.

Airborne bacteria were characterized over a 2-y period via high-throughput massive sequencing of 16S rRNA gene in aerosol samples collected at a background mountain European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) Network site (Monte Martano, Italy) located in the Central Mediterranean area. The air mass origin of nineteen samples was identified by air mass modelling and a detailed chemical analysis was performed. Four main origins (Saharan, North-western, North-eastern, and Regional) were identified, and distinct microbial communities were associated with these air masses.

Spatiotemporal correlation of urban pollutants by long-term measurements on a mobile observation platform.

We conducted a three-year campaign of atmospheric pollutant measurements exploiting portable instrumentation deployed on a mobile cabin of a public transport system. Size selected particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen monoxide (NO) were measured at high temporal and spatial resolution. The dataset was complemented with measurements of vehicular traffic counts and a comprehensive set of meteorological covariates.

Deposition processes over complex topographies: Experimental data meets atmospheric modeling.

The present paper describes the assessment of the atmospheric deposition processes in a basin valley through a multidisciplinary approach based on the data collected within an extensive physico-chemical characterization of the soils, combined with the local meteorology. Surface soil cores were collected on a NNW-SSE transect across the Terni basin (Central Italy), between the Monti Martani and the Monti Sabini chains (956 m a.s.

Airborne bacteria and persistent organic pollutants associated with an intense Saharan dust event in the Central Mediterranean.

In this paper, we present a comprehensive taxonomic survey of the bacterial community and accurate quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) associated with an intense Saharan dust advection, which impacted Central Mediterranean area in the whole 2014-2015 period. This work is part of an intensive field campaign at the EMEP regional background site of Monte Martano (Central Italy), considered well representative of long-range transport in the Central Mediterranean area. 22 samples have been characterized in their provenance region and have been considered for the chemical and biological characterization.

Functional exploratory data analysis for high-resolution measurements of urban particulate matter.

In this work we propose the use of functional data analysis (FDA) to deal with a very large dataset of atmospheric aerosol size distribution resolved in both space and time. Data come from a mobile measurement platform in the town of Perugia (Central Italy). An OPC (Optical Particle Counter) is integrated on a cabin of the Minimetrò, an urban transportation system, that moves along a monorail on a line transect of the town.

Anion-dependent tendency of di-long-chain quaternary ammonium salts to form ion quadruples and higher aggregates in benzene.

The self-aggregation tendency of [N(CH(3))(2)(C(18)H(37))(2)]X [1X; X(-)=BF(4) (-), PF(6) (-), OTf(-), NTf(2) (-), BPh(4) (-), BTol(4) (-), BAr(F-), and B(C(6)F(5))(4) (-)] salts to form ion quadruples (IQs) and higher aggregates (HAggs) in [D(6)]benzene is investigated by means of diffusion NMR spectroscopy. The experimental results indicate that salts containing small anions (1BF(4), 1PF(6), and 1OTf) are present in solution as IQs even at the lowest investigated concentration of C=5×10(-5) M and show a limited tendency to further self-aggregate, reaching a maximum average aggregation number (N=V(H)/V(H)(0IP), where V(H)=measured hydrodynamic volume and V{H}{0IP}=hydrodynamic volume of the ion pair) of about 6-8 (C=0.050-0.