University of Pannonia

Abstract. Although the definition and measurement techniques for atmospheric "black carbon" ("BC") or "elemental carbon'' ("EC") have long been subjects of scientific controversy, the recent discovery of light-absorbing carbon that is not black ("brown carbon, Cbrown") makes it imperative to reassess and redefine the components that make up light-absorbing carbonaceous matter (LAC) in the atmosphere. Evidence for the atmospheric presence of Cbrown comes from (1) spectral aerosol light absorption measurements near specific combustion sources, (2) observations of spectral properties of water extracts of continental aerosol, (3) laboratory studies indicating the formation of light-absorbing organic matter in the atmosphere, and (4) indirectly from the chemical analogy of aerosol species to colored natural humic substances. We show that brown carbon may severely bias measurements of "BC" and "EC" over vast parts of the troposphere, especially those strongly polluted by biomass burning, where the mass concentration of Cbrown is high relative to that of soot carbon. Chemical measurements to determine "EC" are biased by the refractory nature of Cbrown as well as by complex matrix interferences. Optical measurements of "BC" suffer from a number of problems: (1) many of the presently used instruments introduce a substantial bias into the determination of aerosol light absorption, (2) there is no unique conversion factor between light absorption and "EC" or "BC" concentration in ambient aerosols, and (3) the difference in spectral properties between the different types of LAC, as well as the chemical complexity of Cbrown, lead to several conceptual as well as practical complications. We also suggest that due to the sharply increasing absorption of Cbrown towards the UV, single-wavelength light absorption measurements may not be adequate for the assessment of absorption of solar radiation in the troposphere. We discuss the possible consequences of these effects for our understanding of tropospheric processes, including their influence on UV-irradiance, atmospheric photochemistry and radiative transfer in clouds.

Soil plays a central role in food safety as it determines the possible composition of food and feed at the root of the food chain. However, the quality of soil resources as defined by their potential impact on human health by propagation of harmful elements through the food chain has been poorly studied in Europe due to the lack of data of adequate detail and reliability. The European Union's first harmonized topsoil sampling and coherent analytical procedure produced trace element measurements from approximately 22,000 locations. This unique collection of information enables a reliable overview of the concentration of heavy metals, also referred to as metal(loid)s including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb. Co, and Ni. In this article we propose that in some cases (e.g. Hg and Cd) the high concentrations of soil heavy metal attributed to human activity can be detected at a regional level. While the immense majority of European agricultural land can be considered adequately safe for food production, an estimated 6.24% or 137,000 km 2 needs local assessment and eventual remediation action. • The concentration of heavy metals including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co and Ni in soil of the EU was assessed. • An estimated 6.24% or 137,000 km 2 agricultural land needs local assessment and eventual remediation action. • A need for a comprehensive monitoring of HM in soil in the European Union is proposed. • Establishment of harmonized screening values for soil contamination in the EU is suggested.

Whereas terminological recommendations require authors to use mean intensity or mean abundance to quantify parasites in a sample of hosts, awkward statistical limitations also force them to use either the median or the geometric mean of these measures when making comparisons across different samples. Here, we propose to reconsider this inconsistent practice by giving priority to biological realism in the interpretation of different statistical descriptors and choosing the statistical tools appropriate to our decisions. Prevalence, mean intensity, and indices of parasite distribution (such as median intensity) are suitable descriptors to quantify parasites in a sample of hosts. These measures have different biological interpretations and need different statistical methods to be compared between samples.

Environmental monitoring plays a central role in diagnosing climate and management impacts on natural and agricultural systems; enhancing the understanding of hydrological processes; optimizing the allocation and distribution of water resources; and assessing, forecasting, and even preventing natural disasters. Nowadays, most monitoring and data collection systems are based upon a combination of ground-based measurements, manned airborne sensors, and satellite observations. These data are utilized in describing both small- and large-scale processes, but have spatiotemporal constraints inherent to each respective collection system. Bridging the unique spatial and temporal divides that limit current monitoring platforms is key to improving our understanding of environmental systems. In this context, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have considerable potential to radically improve environmental monitoring. UAS-mounted sensors offer an extraordinary opportunity to bridge the existing gap between field observations and traditional air- and space-borne remote sensing, by providing high spatial detail over relatively large areas in a cost-effective way and an entirely new capacity for enhanced temporal retrieval. As well as showcasing recent advances in the field, there is also a need to identify and understand the potential limitations of UAS technology. For these platforms to reach their monitoring potential, a wide spectrum of unresolved issues and application-specific challenges require focused community attention. Indeed, to leverage the full potential of UAS-based approaches, sensing technologies, measurement protocols, postprocessing techniques, retrieval algorithms, and evaluation techniques need to be harmonized. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the existing research and applications of UAS in natural and agricultural ecosystem monitoring in order to identify future directions, applications, developments, and challenges.

Individual aerosol particles collected over southern Africa during the SAFARI 2000 field study were studied using transmission electron microscopy and field‐emission scanning electron microscopy. The sizes, shapes, compositions, mixing states, surface coatings, and relative abundances of aerosol particles from biomass burning, in boundary layer hazes, and in the free troposphere were compared, with emphasis on aging and reactions of inorganic smoke particles. Potassium salts and organic particles were the predominant species in the smoke, and most were internally mixed. More KCl particles occur in young smoke, whereas more K 2 SO 4 and KNO 3 particles were present in aged smoke. This change indicates that with the aging of the smoke, KCl particles from the fires were converted to K 2 SO 4 and KNO 3 through reactions with sulfur‐ and nitrogen‐bearing species from biomass burning as well as other sources. More soot was present in smoke from flaming grass fires than bush and wood fires, probably due to the predominance of flaming combustion in grass fires. The high abundance of organic particles and soluble salts can affect the hygroscopic properties of biomass‐burning aerosols and therefore influence their role as cloud condensation nuclei. Particles from biomass burning were important constituents of the regional hazes.

If bone is considered as a composite of collagen (protein) and bioapatite (mineral), then three pathways of diagenesis are identified: (1) chemical deterioration of the organic phase; (2) chemical deterioration of the mineral phase; and (3) (micro) biological attack of the composite. The first of these three pathways is relatively unusual and will only occur in environments that are geochemically stable for bone mineral. However, because rates of biomolecular deterioration in the burial environment are slow, such bones would yield useful biomolecular information. In most environments, bones are not in thermodynamic equilibrium with the soil solution, and undergo chemical deterioration (path 2). Dissolution of the mineral exposes collagen to biodeterioration, and in most cases the initial phase of dissolution will be followed by microbial attack (path 3). Biological attack (3) also proceeds by initial demineralization; therefore paths 2 and 3 are functionally equivalent. However,in a bone that follows path 3 the damage is more localized than in path 2, and regions equivalent to path 1 may therefore exist outside these zones of destruction. Other biomolecules, such as blood proteins, cellular lipids and DNA, exist within the physiological spaces within bone.For these biomolecules, death history may be particularly important for their survival.

On the basis of a 2‐year comprehensive data set obtained within the CARBOSOL project, seasonal source apportionment of PM2.5 aerosol is attempted for five rural/remote sites in Europe. The approach developed combines radiocarbon measurements with bulk measurements of organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and two organic tracers (levoglucosan and cellulose). Source types are lumped into primary emissions from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning, bioaerosol, and secondary organic aerosol from precursors emitted by fossil and nonfossil sources. Bulk concentration ratios reported for these source types in the literature are used to estimate the source contributions which are constrained by measured radiocarbon concentrations. It has been found that while fossil‐related sources predominate EC throughout the year at all sites, the sources of OC are primarily biogenic and markedly different between summer and winter. In winter biomass burning primary emission is the main source, with sizable additional contribution from fossil fuel combustion. In contrast, in summer secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from nonfossil sources becomes predominant (63–76% of TC), with some contribution of SOA from fossil fuel combustion. The results agree well with recent findings of other authors who established the predominance of biogenic SOA for rural sites in summer in Europe. An uncertainty analysis has been conducted, which shows that the main conclusions from this study are robust.

Abstract Soil, through its various functions, plays a vital role in the Earth's ecosystems and provides multiple ecosystem services to humanity. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are simple to complex knowledge rules that relate available soil information to soil properties and variables that are needed to parameterize soil processes. In this paper, we review the existing PTFs and document the new generation of PTFs developed in the different disciplines of Earth system science. To meet the methodological challenges for a successful application in Earth system modeling, we emphasize that PTF development has to go hand in hand with suitable extrapolation and upscaling techniques such that the PTFs correctly represent the spatial heterogeneity of soils. PTFs should encompass the variability of the estimated soil property or process, in such a way that the estimation of parameters allows for validation and can also confidently provide for extrapolation and upscaling purposes capturing the spatial variation in soils. Most actively pursued recent developments are related to parameterizations of solute transport, heat exchange, soil respiration, and organic carbon content, root density, and vegetation water uptake. Further challenges are to be addressed in parameterization of soil erosivity and land use change impacts at multiple scales. We argue that a comprehensive set of PTFs can be applied throughout a wide range of disciplines of Earth system science, with emphasis on land surface models. Novel sensing techniques provide a true breakthrough for this, yet further improvements are necessary for methods to deal with uncertainty and to validate applications at global scale.

Atmospheric levoglucosan has been determined as a proxy for “biomass smoke” in samples from six background stations on a west–east transect extending from the Atlantic (Azores) to the mid‐European background site KPZ (K‐Puszta, Hungary). Concentration levels of levoglucosan (biannual averages) in the west–east transect range from 0.005 μ g/m 3 at the oceanic background site AZO (Azores) to 0.52 μ g/m 3 at AVE (Aveiro, Portugal). The atmospheric concentration of “biomass smoke” (biannual averages) was derived from the levoglucosan data with wood‐type‐specific conversion factors. Annual averages of wood smoke levels ranged from 0.05 μ g/m 3 at AZO to 4.3 μ g/m 3 at AVE. Winter (DJF) averages at the low‐level sites AVE and KPZ were 10.8 and 6.7 μ g/m 3 , respectively. Relative contributions of biomass smoke to organic matter (OM) range from around 9–11% at the elevated sites SIL, PDD and SBO, as well as for AZO, to 36% at the low‐level site AVE and 28% at KPZ. Surprisingly high relative concentrations of biomass smoke in OM (68 and 47%) were observed for wintry conditions at the continental low‐level CARBOSOL sites AVE and KPZ. Thus biomass smoke is a very important constituent of the organic material in the mid and west European background with summer contributions to organic matter of around 1–6% and winter levels of around 20% at the elevated mountain sites and 47–68% at rural flat terrain sites, not including secondary organic aerosol from biomass combustion sources.

The effect of drought and salt stresses on the water soluble carbohydrate content in wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings was examined to characterize the involvement of major sugar components in the adaptive processes. Hydroponically grown seedlings of four wheat varieties differing in drought and salt tolerance were exposed to consecutive water (polyethylene glycol, PEG) and salinity (NaCl) stresses. Total water‐soluble carbohydrate (WSC), glucose, fructose, sucrose, and fructan content of stems (non‐photosynthetic tissue) were determined. Tolerant genotypes accumulated more soluble carbohydrate than did sensitive ones. Both ionic and non‐ionic stresses increased the concentration of reducing sugars, sucrose, and fructans. Drought tolerant varieties accumulated sucrose to a significantly greater level than did sensitive ones under non‐ionic stress condition. Changes in fructan content of plants after transfer from PEG to NaCl containing solutions were genotype dependent, increasing in salt tolerant and decreasing in salt sensitive cultivars. These results indicate that WSC might be a useful marker for selecting genotypes that are more drought or salt tolerant. The type of sugar comprising the increase in WSC appears to be a less reliable marker since the initial response was an increase in monosaccharides and the delayed response was an increase in fructan.

Individual aerosol particles in smoke plumes from biomass fires and in regional hazes in southern Africa were studied using analytical transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which allowed detailed characterization of carbonaceous particle types in smoke and determination of changes in particle properties and concentrations during smoke aging. Based on composition, morphology, and microstructure, three distinct types of carbonaceous particles were present in the smoke: organic particles with inorganic (K‐salt) inclusions, “tar ball” particles, and soot. The relative number concentrations of organic particles were largest in young smoke, whereas tar balls were dominant in a slightly aged (∼1 hour) smoke from a smoldering fire. Flaming fires emitted relatively more soot particles than smoldering fires, but soot was a minor constituent of all studied plumes. Further aging caused the accumulation of sulfate on organic and soot particles, as indicated by the large number of internally mixed organic/sulfate and soot/sulfate particles in the regional haze. Externally mixed ammonium sulfate particles dominated in the boundary layer hazes, whereas organic/sulfate particles were the most abundant type in the upper hazes. Apparently, elevated haze layers were more strongly affected by biomass smoke than those within the boundary layer. Based on size distributions and the observed patterns of internal mixing, we hypothesize that organic and soot particles are the cloud‐nucleating constituents of biomass smoke aerosols. Sea‐salt particles dominated in the samples taken in stratus clouds over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Namibia, whereas a distinct haze layer above the clouds consisted of aged biomass smoke particles.

Aerosol particles are ubiquitous in the troposphere and exert an important influence on global climate and the environment. They affect climate through scattering, transmission, and absorption of radiation as well as by acting as nuclei for cloud formation. A significant fraction of the aerosol particle burden consists of minerals, and most of the remainder- whether natural or anthropogenic-consists of materials that can be studied by the same methods as are used for fine-grained minerals. Our emphasis is on the study and character of the individual particles. Sulfate particles are the main cooling agents among aerosols; we found that in the remote oceanic atmosphere a significant fraction is aggregated with soot, a material that can diminish the cooling effect of sulfate. Our results suggest oxidization of SO2 may have occurred on soot surfaces, implying that even in the remote marine troposphere soot provided nuclei for heterogeneous sulfate formation. Sea salt is the dominant aerosol species (by mass) above the oceans. In addition to being important light scatterers and contributors to cloud condensation nuclei, sea-salt particles also provide large surface areas for heterogeneous atmospheric reactions. Minerals comprise the dominant mass fraction of the atmospheric aerosol burden. As all geologists know, they are a highly heterogeneous mixture. However, among atmospheric scientists they are commonly treated as a fairly uniform group, and one whose interaction with radiation is widely assumed to be unpredictable. Given their abundances, large total surface areas, and reactivities, their role in influencing climate will require increased attention as climate models are refined.

There has been a growing interest in utilizing fibers as reinforcement to produce composite materials. Scientists prefer thermoplastic polymeric matrices than thermosets due to the low production cycle, lower cost of processing and high reparability of thermoplastics. Fiber-reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites have gained commercial success in the semistructural and structural applications. Various fibers are widely used as reinforcement in thermoplastic polypropylene (PP) matrix to prepare composites. Mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced PP composites (FRPCs) are studied by many researchers and few of them are discussed in this article. Various fiber treatments, which are carried out to improve the fiber–matrix adhesion to get improved mechanical properties, are also discussed in this article. This article also focuses on coupling agents and fiber loading which affect the mechanical properties of FRPCs significantly.

In this paper we present effects of four paired agricultural management practices (organic matter (OM) addition versus no organic matter input, no-tillage (NT) versus conventional tillage, crop rotation versus monoculture, and organic agriculture versus conventional agriculture) on five key soil quality indicators, i.e., soil organic matter (SOM) content, pH, aggregate stability, earthworms (numbers) and crop yield. We have considered organic matter addition, no-tillage, crop rotation and organic agriculture as “promising practices”; no organic matter input, conventional tillage, monoculture and conventional farming were taken as the respective references or “standard practice” (baseline). Relative effects were analysed through indicator response ratio (RR) under each paired practice. For this we considered data of 30 long-term experiments collected from 13 case study sites in Europe and China as collated in the framework of the EU-China funded iSQAPER project. These were complemented with data from 42 long-term experiments across China and 402 observations of long-term trials published in the literature. Out of these, we only considered experiments covering at least five years. The results show that OM addition favourably affected all the indicators under consideration. The most favourable effect was reported on earthworm numbers, followed by yield, SOM content and soil aggregate stability. For pH, effects depended on soil type; OM input favourably affected the pH of acidic soils, whereas no clear trend was observed under NT. NT generally led to increased aggregate stability and greater SOM content in upper soil horizons. However, the magnitude of the relative effects varied, e.g. with soil texture. No-tillage practices enhanced earthworm populations, but not where herbicides or pesticides were applied to combat weeds and pests. Overall, in this review, yield slightly decreased under NT. Crop rotation had a positive effect on SOM content and yield; rotation with ley very positively influenced earthworms’ numbers. Overall, crop rotation had little impact on soil pH and aggregate stability − depending on the type of intercrop; alternatively, rotation of arable crops only resulted in adverse effects. A clear positive trend was observed for earthworm abundance under organic agriculture. Further, organic agriculture generally resulted in increased aggregate stability and greater SOM content. Overall, no clear trend was found for pH; a decrease in yield was observed under organic agriculture in this review.

Abstract. In this paper we describe and summarize the main achievements of the European Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions project (EUCAARI). EUCAARI started on 1 January 2007 and ended on 31 December 2010 leaving a rich legacy including: (a) a comprehensive database with a year of observations of the physical, chemical and optical properties of aerosol particles over Europe, (b) comprehensive aerosol measurements in four developing countries, (c) a database of airborne measurements of aerosols and clouds over Europe during May 2008, (d) comprehensive modeling tools to study aerosol processes fron nano to global scale and their effects on climate and air quality. In addition a new Pan-European aerosol emissions inventory was developed and evaluated, a new cluster spectrometer was built and tested in the field and several new aerosol parameterizations and computations modules for chemical transport and global climate models were developed and evaluated. These achievements and related studies have substantially improved our understanding and reduced the uncertainties of aerosol radiative forcing and air quality-climate interactions. The EUCAARI results can be utilized in European and global environmental policy to assess the aerosol impacts and the corresponding abatement strategies.

Soil contamination is one of the greatest concerns among the threats to soil resources in Europe and globally. Despite of its importance there was only very course scale (1/5000km(2)) data available on soil heavy metal concentrations prior to the LUCAS topsoil survey, which had a sampling density of 200km(2). Based on the results of the LUCAS sampling and auxiliary information detailed and up-to-date maps of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Sb, Co and Ni) in the topsoil of the European Union were produced. Using the maps of heavy metal concentration in topsoil we made a spatial prediction of areas where local assessment is suggested to monitor and eventually control the potential threat from heavy metals. Most of the examined elements remain under the corresponding threshold values in the majority of the land of the EU. However, one or more of the elements exceed the applied threshold concentration on 1.2Mkm(2), which is 28.3% of the total surface area of the EU. While natural backgrounds might be the reason for high concentrations on large proportion of the affected soils, historical and recent industrial and mining areas show elevated concentrations (predominantly of As, Cd, Pb and Hg) too, indicating the magnitude of anthropogenic effect on soil quality in Europe.

“Tar balls” are amorphous, carbonaceous spherules that occur in the tropospheric aerosol as a result of biomass and biofuel burning. They form a distinct group of particles with diameters typically between 30 and 500 nm and readily identifiable with electron microscopy. Their lack of a turbostratic microstructure distinguishes them from soot, and their morphology and composition (∼90 mol % carbon) renders them distinct from other carbonaceous particles. Tar balls are particularly abundant in slightly aged (minutes to hours old) biomass smoke, indicating that they likely form by gas‐to‐particle conversion within smoke plumes. The material of tar balls is initially hygroscopic; however, the particles become largely insoluble as a result of free radical polymerization of their organic molecules. Consequently, tar balls are primarily externally mixed with other particle types, and they do not appreciably increase in size during aging. When tar balls coagulate with water‐bearing particles, their material may partly dissolve and no longer be recognizable as distinct particles. Tar balls may contain organic compounds that absorb sunlight. They are an important, previously unrecognized type of carbonaceous (organic) atmospheric particle.

Abstract. Absorption photometers for real time application have been available since the 1980s, but the use of filter-based instruments to derive information on aerosol properties (absorption coefficient and black carbon, BC) is still a matter of debate. Several workshops have been conducted to investigate the performance of individual instruments over the intervening years. Two workshops with large sets of aerosol absorption photometers were conducted in 2005 and 2007. The data from these instruments were corrected using existing methods before further analysis. The inter-comparison shows a large variation between the responses to absorbing aerosol particles for different types of instruments. The unit to unit variability between instruments can be up to 30% for Particle Soot Absorption Photometers (PSAPs) and Aethalometers. Multi Angle Absorption Photometers (MAAPs) showed a variability of less than 5%. Reasons for the high variability were identified to be variations in sample flow and spot size. It was observed that different flow rates influence system performance with respect to response to absorption and instrumental noise. Measurements with non absorbing particles showed that the current corrections of a cross sensitivity to particle scattering are not sufficient. Remaining cross sensitivities were found to be a function of the total particle load on the filter. The large variation between the response to absorbing aerosol particles for different types of instruments indicates that current correction functions for absorption photometers are not adequate.

Nature is still the main focus of scientific and technological research, particularly in nanotechnology and because of its remarkable properties; nanotechnology has acquired much interest in recent years. This review focuses on up-to-date overview of classification of nanoparticles, characterization, methods of preparation, characterization and application of nanoparticles. Initial section of the review gives insight on various techniques for the synthesis nanoparticles, encompassing both bottom-up and top-down approaches. Different methods for the synthesis of nanoparticles are discussed in details. Highlighting the importance of controlling shape, size, and composition to develop nanoparticles and enhance the properties of nanoparticles. These properties include enhanced surface area, unique optical, electronic, and magnetic characteristics, as well as improved mechanical properties. Understanding these attributes is essential for harnessing nanoparticles in different applications effectively. Broad spectrum of applications for nanoparticles is also discussed. Additionally, nanoparticles have found applications in catalysis, environmental remediation, and antimicrobial coatings, contributing to sustainable development and environmental protection. Overall, nanoparticles represent a progressive area of research with tremendous potential for innovation and societal impact. Our evaluation will serve as a solid reference, assisting the scientific community to comprehend the discussed topic better by showing the role of each technique in a comparable manner. As the field of nanoparticles is constantly evolving, this review incorporates the latest research, developments, and advancements up to the time of its publication. A comprehensive understanding of their properties, synthesis and applications is decisive for realizing the full potential of nanoparticles in various scientific and industrial domains.

Abstract. We present comprehensive results on continuous atmospheric cluster and particle measurements in the size range ~1–42 nm within the European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality interactions (EUCAARI) project. We focused on characterizing the spatial and temporal variation of new particle formation events and relevant particle formation parameters across Europe. Different types of air ion and cluster mobility spectrometers were deployed at 12 field sites across Europe from March 2008 to May 2009. The measurements were conducted in a wide variety of environments, including coastal and continental locations as well as sites at different altitudes (both in the boundary layer and the free troposphere). New particle formation events were detected at all of the 12 field sites during the year-long measurement period. From the data, nucleation and growth rates of newly formed particles were determined for each environment. In a case of parallel ion and neutral cluster measurements, we could also estimate the relative contribution of ion-induced and neutral nucleation to the total particle formation. The formation rates of charged particles at 2 nm accounted for 1–30% of the corresponding total particle formation rates. As a significant new result, we found out that the total particle formation rate varied much more between the different sites than the formation rate of charged particles. This work presents, so far, the most comprehensive effort to experimentally characterize nucleation and growth of atmospheric molecular clusters and nanoparticles at ground-based observation sites on a continental scale.