Characterizing the Afghanistan aerosol environment using size- and time- resolved aerosol chemical composition measurements

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Author
Fortun, Todd Allen
Keyword
Atmospheric aerosols
Afghanistan
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URI
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/8448
Abstract
The exposure to aerosols is one danger U.S. soldiers face in Afghanistan that may go unseen. Using the Davis Rotating-drum Universal-size-cut Monitoring (DRUM) cascade impactor, size- and time- resolved aerosol chemical concentrations from Bagram, Afghanistan were collected. These aerosol concentrations were combined with a meteorological analysis and Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model meteorological backward trajectories to establish source sectors. These sectors, along with time of year, were then used as a predictive tool for the chemical composition and relative concentration of aerosols in Afghanistan. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to determined potential source types. PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ were compared to military exposure guidelines and U.S. national ambient air quality standards. Results reveal aerosol concentrations in Afghanistan were at levels for which adverse health effects could be anticipated.
Description
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012
Table of Contents
1. Introduction -- 1.1. Definition and formation of aerosols -- 1.2. Thesis goals -- 1.3. Climatology of the Afghanistan region -- 1.3.1. Wind patterns -- 1.3.2. Diurnal cycles -- 1.4. Elemental sources and uses -- 1.5. Aerosol chemistry and seasonality -- 1.5.1. Geological dust -- 1.5.2. Anthropogenic aerosols -- 1.5.2.1. Pakistan -- 1.5.2.2. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- 1.5.3. Biomass burning -- 1.5.4. Aerosols over seas and oceans -- 1.6. Health concerns and standards -- 2. Experimental methods -- 2.1. Wind roses -- 2.2. DRUM aerosol impactors -- 2.3. HYSPLIT and sector analysis -- 2.4. Principla components analysis -- 2.4.1. PCA procedure -- 2.4.2. Eigenvector loadings -- 2.4.3. PCA on aerosol samples -- 2.5. Chemical mass balance (CMB) model -- 3. Results and discussion -- 3.1. Wind roses -- 3.2. Elemental concentrations -- 3.2.1. Geological dust -- 3.2.2. Heavy metal events -- 3.3. PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ concentrations and comparison to health safety standards -- 3.4. Sector analysis -- 3.5. PCA -- 3.6. CMB model -- 4. Conclusions -- 5. Future work -- References.
Date
2012-05
Type
Thesis
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