Based on the integrated monitoring of aerosol characteristics in the suburban region of Tomsk (2000–2017), a version of the classification of states of the surface atmospheric layer with...

Considering the wide range of variability of all aerosol characteristics (especially in the near-ground layer of the atmosphere near industrial centers), when creating a realistic empirical model of optical and microphysical characteristics, the optimal dividing of the total data array according to some multifactor signs is needed. In this paper, we analyze the main states of “dry” aerosol on the basis of the results of long-term regular measurements in the near-ground layer of the atmosphere near the city of Tomsk in 2000–2017. The following parameters were considered: aerosol number concentration and size distribution function, total and angular scattering coefficients, including the small-angle range 1.2° to 20°, mass concentration and size distribution of absorbing substances (equivalent black carbon), characteristics of the aerosol hygroscopic properties, and spectral aerosol extinction of radiation on an open long path in the wavelength range 0.45 to 3.9 µm. In our comprehensive study, we first proposed and developed an original approach (classification) to study the optical and microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol of various physicochemical origins (background, smoke, smog, anthropogenic, etc.) based on dividing the entire data array into characteristic subarrays (types of aerosol weather), which differ from each other in a different combination of scattering and absorbing properties of particles. To divide the total data array into types of aerosol weather including “Background”, “Haze-S”, “Smog”, and “Smoke haze”, the values of the scattering coefficient of the dry aerosol matter σ_d(λ = 0.51 μm) = 100 Mm⁻¹ and the ratio of the mass concentration of the absorbing substance to the mass concentration of submicron aerosol P = 0.05. The results showed that most of the seasonal average values of the aerosol parameters analyzed in the paper are statistically significantly different when comparing various characteristic types of scattering and absorbing atmospheric aerosol. The results of the research indicate that the application of the developed classification of types of aerosol weather for the analyzed optical and microphysical parameters of aerosol particles is quite effective and reasonable.

In the work dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the V.E. Zuev Institute of Atmospheric Optics, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (IAO SB RAS), experimental studies are reviewed in a certain chronology that have been milestones in the development of an integrated study of aerosol life in the atmosphere. We discuss briefly the main results from the series of expedition studies of the optical and microphysical properties of aerosol of marine coastal hazes, arid zones, and different geographic regions of the World Ocean. The modern set of methods and instrumentation that we use to measure the aerosol characteristics in the monitoring mode at the network of IAO SB RAS stations is described. The results of multiyear studies of tropospheric aerosol using aircraft laboratories are presented.

A large-scale comprehensive study of the composition of the troposphere over the Russian sector of the Arctic was carried out in September 2020 onboard the Tu-134 Optik aircraft laboratory. We studied the spatiotemporal variations in aerosol and black carbon (BC) concentrations. The sensing data were used to analyze the general and particular features of the spatial variations in the vertical profiles of aerosol and BC concentrations. The columnar BC concentrations at the Arctic and subarctic latitudes were obtained.

Background: Biological components of atmospheric aerosol affect the quality of atmospheric air. Long-term trends in changes of the concentrations of total protein (a universal marker of the biogenic component of atmospheric aerosol) and culturable microorganisms in the air are studied. Methods: Atmospheric air samples are taken at two locations in the south of Western Siberia and during airborne sounding of the atmosphere. Sample analysis is carried out in the laboratory using standard culture methods (culturable microorganisms) and the fluorescence method (total protein). Results: Negative trends in the average annual concentration of total protein and culturable microorganisms in the air are revealed over more than 20 years of observations. For the concentration of total protein and culturable microorganisms in the air, intra-annual dynamics is revealed. The ratio of the maximum and minimum values of these concentrations reaches an order of magnitude. The variability of concentrations does not exceed, as a rule, two times for total protein and three times for culturable microorganisms. At the same time, for the data obtained in the course of airborne sounding of the atmosphere, a high temporal stability of the vertical profiles of the studied concentrations was found. The detected biodiversity of culturable microorganisms in atmospheric air samples demonstrates a very high variability at all observation sites. Conclusions: The revealed long-term changes in the biological components of atmospheric aerosol result in a decrease in their contribution to the atmospheric air quality index.