Identification of aerosol types over an urban site based on air-mass trajectory classification

Columnar aerosol properties retrieved from MICROTOPS II Sun Photometer measurements during 2010–2013 over Pune (18°32′N; 73°49′E, 559m amsl), a tropical urban station in India, are analyzed to identify aerosol types in the atmospheric column. Identification/classification is carried out on the basis of dominant airflow patterns, and the method of discrimination of aerosol types on the basis of relation between aerosol optical depth (AOD500nm) and Ångström exponent (AE, α). Five potential advection pathways viz., NW/N, SW/S, N, SE/E and L have been identified over the observing site by employing the NOAA-HYSPLIT air mass back trajectory analysis. Based on AE against AOD500nm scatter plot and advection pathways followed five major aerosol types viz., continental average (CA), marine continental average (MCA), urban/industrial and biomass burning (UB), desert dust (DD) and indeterminate or mixed type (MT) have been identified. In winter, sector SE/E, a representative of air masses traversed over Bay of Bengal and Eastern continental Indian region has relatively small AOD (τpλ=0.43±0.13) and high AE (α=1.19±0.15). These values imply the presence of accumulation/sub-micron size anthropogenic aerosols. During pre-monsoon, aerosols from the NW/N sector have high AOD (τpλ=0.61±0.21), and low AE (α=0.54±0.14) indicating an increase in the loading of coarse-mode particles over Pune. Dominance of UB type in winter season for all the years (i.e. 2010–2013) may be attributed to both local/transported aerosols. During pre-monsoon seasons, MT is the dominant aerosol type followed by UB and DD, while the background aerosols are insignificant. •The study deals with quantitative characteristics of AOD within different air-mass types over Pune.•In winter, lower altitude trajectories arriving from SE/E and N sectors favor transport of anthropogenic aerosols over Pune.•During pre-monsoon, air-masses reaching Pune from NW/W and SW/S produce larger average AOD with lower AE.•Based on AOD500nm and AE values, five aerosol types viz., CA, MCA, UI/B, DD and MT have been identified.