Istanbul, the biggest city of Turkey, is in a common route for air parcels. Air pollutants are carried over the city from Asian, African, and European continents. Sahara Desert, the largest dust source on earth, affects Turkey’s air qualities substantially due to millions of tons of mineral dust being transported from the African continent towards Turkey every year. Although the effect of Saharan dust transportation on PM 10 concentrations in Turkey was examined many times, its effect on PM 2.5 concentrations has not been studied yet sufficiently. In February 2015, Istanbul experienced a Saharan dust episode and during this event the concentrations of particulate matter rose to very high levels. This study focuses on particulate matter concentrations (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) during this Saharan dust episode to better understand the effect of dust transportation on Istanbul’s air quality. HYSPLIT trajectory model, satellite products, and air quality monitoring data from ground observations were utilized. We show that the PM 10 concentrations increased significantly during the dust episode while PM 2.5 concentrations didn’t increase considerably. There was only a slight rise in the values of PM 2.5 . The significant increase for the PM 10 values can be explained by the higher gravitational settling velocities of coarse particles in the atmosphere.

中文翻译：

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伊斯坦布尔撒哈拉沙尘暴期间的颗粒物（PM10 和 PM2.5）浓度

伊斯坦布尔是土耳其最大的城市，是航空包裹的共同路线。空气污染物从亚洲、非洲和欧洲大陆飘过这座城市。撒哈拉沙漠是地球上最大的沙尘源，每年有数百万吨矿物粉尘从非洲大陆运往土耳其，对土耳其的空气质量产生重大影响。尽管撒哈拉沙尘运输对土耳其 PM 10 浓度的影响已被多次研究，但其对 PM 2.5 浓度的影响尚未得到充分研究。2015 年 2 月，伊斯坦布尔经历了撒哈拉沙尘暴，在此期间，颗粒物浓度上升到非常高的水平。本研究侧重于颗粒物浓度（PM 10 和 PM 2. 5 ) 在这次撒哈拉沙尘暴期间，更好地了解沙尘运输对伊斯坦布尔空气质量的影响。利用了 HYSPLIT 轨迹模型、卫星产品和来自地面观测的空气质量监测数据。我们表明，在沙尘暴期间 PM 10 浓度显着增加，而 PM 2.5 浓度没有显着增加。PM 2.5 的值仅略有上升。PM 10 值的显着增加可以用大气中粗颗粒更高的重力沉降速度来解释。5 浓度没有明显增加。PM 2.5 的值仅略有上升。PM 10 值的显着增加可以用大气中粗颗粒更高的重力沉降速度来解释。5 浓度没有明显增加。PM 2.5 的值仅略有上升。PM 10 值的显着增加可以用大气中粗颗粒更高的重力沉降速度来解释。