The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula

The influence of three Saharan dust events (SDE) on particulate matter (PM) concentrations and aerosol optical properties (AOP) during February 2021 was studied. The physical characteristics of the African aerosol were different for each episode. Therefore, the impacts of the three events on PM and AOP were analyzed separately. The monitoring sites were placed in Elche, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The sites can be classified as urban background locations. The procedure used to obtain the contribution of SDE to PM10 mass concentrations was the 40th percentile method. Nearly half of the days during the study period were under the influence of Saharan air masses. The average contribution of mineral dust (MD) to the PM10 mean concentration was ~50%, which was the highest contribution during the month of February in the last 14 years. The results show that those events characterized by a high input of fine particles (PM1 and PM2.5) caused larger increases in the absorption (σap) and scattering (σsp) coefficients than SDE in which coarse particles predominated. Nevertheless, as expected, SAE (Scattering Angstrom Exponent) values were lowest during these episodes. AAE (Absorption Angstrom Exponent) values during SDE were slightly higher than those observed in the absence of African dust, suggesting some contribution from MD to the absorption process.