Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Atmospheric abundance of HULIS during wintertime in Indo-Gangetic Plain: impact of biomass burning emissions

  • Published:
Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study reports for the first-time the ambient concentrations of HULIS mass (HULIS-OM, Humic-like substances) and HULIS-C (carbon) in PM10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm) from the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP at Kanpur, wintertime). HULIS extraction followed by purification and isolation protocol with methanol: acetonitrile (1:1 v/v) on HLB (Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balanced) cartridge has been established. Quantification of HULIS-C was achieved on a total organic carbon (TOC) analyser whereas HULIS-OM was determined gravimetrically. Consistently high recovery (> 90%) of HULIS-C based on analysis of Humic standard (sodium salt of Humic acid) suggested suitability of our established analytical protocol involving solvent extraction, purification and accurate quantification of HULIS. HULIS-OM varied from 17.3–38 μg m−3 during daytime and from 19.8–40.6 μg m−3 during night in this study. During daytime the HULIS-OM constituted 20–30% mass fraction of OMTotal and 10–15% of PM10 mass. However, a relatively low contribution of HULIS-OM has been observed during the night. This observation has been attributed to higher concentrations of OM and PM10 in night owing to nighttime chemical reactivity and condensation of organics in conjunction with shallower planetary boundary layer height. Strong correlation of HULIS-C with K+BB (R2 > 0.80) and significant day-night variability of HULIS-C/WSOC ratio in conjunction with air-mass back trajectories (showing transport of pollutants from upwind IGP) suggest biomass burning emission and secondary transformations as important sources of HULIS over IGP. High-loading of atmospheric PM10 (as high as 440 μg m−3) with significant contribution of water-soluble organic aerosols (WSOC/OC: ~ 0.40–0.80) during wintertime highlights their plausible potential role in fog and haze formation and their impact on regional-scale atmospheric radiative forcing over the IGP.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albinet, A., Minero, C., Vione, D.: Photochemical generation of reactive species upon irradiation of rainwater: negligible photoactivity of dissolved organic matter. Sci. Total Environ. 408(16), 3367–3373 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andreae, M.O.: Soot carbon and excess fine potassium: long-range transport of combustion-derived aerosols. Science. 220(4602), 1148–1151 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baduel, C., Voisin, D., Jaffrezo, J.L.: Seasonal variations of concentrations and optical properties of water soluble HULIS collected in urban environments. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10(9), 4085–4095 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, M.E., Cary, R.A.: Elemental carbon-based method for monitoring occupational exposures to particulate diesel exhaust. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 25(3), 221–241 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, L.M., Pio, C.A., Harrison, R.M., Smith, D.J.T.: Carbonaceous aerosol in urban and rural European atmospheres: estimation of secondary organic carbon concentrations. Atmos. Environ. 33(17), 2771–2781 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chakraborty, A., et al.: Water soluble organic aerosols in Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP): Insights from aerosol mass spectrometry. Sci. Total Environ. 599–600, 1573–1582 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choudhary, V., Rajput, P., Singh, D.K., Singh, A.K., Gupta, T.: Light absorption characteristics of brown carbon during foggy and non-foggy episodes over the Indo-Gangetic plain. Atmos. Pollut. Res. 9, 494–501 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2017.11.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Claeys, M., Vermeylen, R., Yasmeen, F., Gómez-González, Y., Chi, X., Maenhaut, W., Mészáros, T., Salma, I.: Chemical characterisation of humic-like substances from urban, rural and tropical biomass burning environments using liquid chromatography with UV/Vis photodiode array detection and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. Environ. Chem. 9(3), 273–284 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Decesari, S., Facchini, M.C., Matta, E., Mircea, M., Fuzzi, S., Chughtai, A.R., Smith, D.M.: Water soluble organic compounds formed by oxidation of soot. Atmos. Environ. 36(11), 1827–1832 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dinar, E., Taraniuk, I., Graber, E.R., Katsman, S., Moise, T., Anttila, T., Mentel, T.F., Rudich, Y.: Cloud condensation nuclei properties of model and atmospheric HULIS. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 6(9), 2465–2482 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Draxler, R.R., Rolph, G.D.: HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website. NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring (2003). http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html

    Google Scholar 

  • Duarte, R.M.B.O., Santos, E.B.H., Pio, C.A., Duarte, A.C.: Comparison of structural features of water-soluble organic matter from atmospheric aerosols with those of aquatic humic substances. Atmos. Environ. 41(37), 8100–8113 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falkovich, A.H., Graber, E.R., Schkolnik, G., Rudich, Y., Maenhaut, W., Artaxo, P.: Low molecular weight organic acids in aerosol particles from Rondônia, Brazil, during the biomass-burning, transition and wet periods. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 5(3), 781–797 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan, X., Song, J., Peng, P.A.: Temporal variations of the abundance and optical properties of water soluble Humic-Like Substances (HULIS) in PM2.5 at Guangzhou, China. Atmos. Res. 172–173, 8–15 (2016a)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan, X., et al.: Comprehensive characterization of humic-like substances in smoke PM2.5 emitted from the combustion of biomass materials and fossil fuels. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss. 2016, 1–39 (2016b)

    Google Scholar 

  • Feczko, T., Puxbaum, H., Kasper-Giebl, A., Handler, M., Limbeck, A., Gelencsér, A., Pio, C., Preunkert, S., Legrand, M.: Determination of water and alkaline extractable atmospheric humic-like substances with the TU Vienna HULIS analyzer in samples from six background sites in Europe. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 112(D23), (2007). https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008331

  • Fu, P.Q., Kawamura, K., Pavuluri, C.M., Swaminathan, T., Chen, J.: Molecular characterization of urban organic aerosol in tropical India: contributions of primary emissions and secondary photooxidation. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10(6), 2663–2689 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graber, E.R., Rudich, Y.: Atmospheric HULIS: how humic-like are they? A comprehensive and critical review. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 6(3), 729–753 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffer, A., Gelencsér, A., Guyon, P., Kiss, G., Schmid, O., Frank, G.P., Artaxo, P., Andreae, M.O.: Optical properties of humic-like substances (HULIS) in biomass-burning aerosols. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 6(11), 3563–3570 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanakidou, M., Seinfeld, J.H., Pandis, S.N., Barnes, I., Dentener, F.J., Facchini, M.C., van Dingenen, R., Ervens, B., Nenes, A., Nielsen, C.J., Swietlicki, E., Putaud, J.P., Balkanski, Y., Fuzzi, S., Horth, J., Moortgat, G.K., Winterhalter, R., Myhre, C.E.L., Tsigaridis, K., Vignati, E., Stephanou, E.G., Wilson, J.: Organic aerosol and global climate modelling: a review. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 5(4), 1053–1123 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaul, D.S., Gupta, T., Tripathi, S.N., Tare, V., Collett Jr., J.L.: Secondary organic aerosol: a comparison between foggy and nonfoggy days. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45(17), 7307–7313 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kawamura, K., Imai, Y., Barrie, L.A.: Photochemical production and loss of organic acids in high Arctic aerosols during long-range transport and polar sunrise ozone depletion events. Atmos. Environ. 39(4), 599–614 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keene, W.C., Pszenny, A.A.P., Galloway, J.N., Hawley, M.E.: Sea-salt corrections and interpretation of constituent ratios in marine precipitation. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 91(D6), 6647–6658 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiss, G., et al.: Characterization of water-soluble organic matter isolated from atmospheric fine aerosol. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 107(D21), 8339 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krivácsy, Z., Gelencsér, A., Kiss, G., Mészáros, E., Molnár, Á., Hoffer, A., Mészáros, T., Sárvári, Z., Temesi, D., Varga, B., Baltensperger, U., Nyeki, S., Weingartner, E.: Study on the chemical character of water soluble organic compounds in fine atmospheric aerosol at the Jungfraujoch. J. Atmos. Chem. 39(3), 235–259 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krivácsy, Z., Kiss, G., Ceburnis, D., Jennings, G., Maenhaut, W., Salma, I., Shooter, D.: Study of water-soluble atmospheric humic matter in urban and marine environments. Atmos. Res. 87(1), 1–12 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, V., Goel, A., Rajput, P.: Compositional and surface characterization of HULIS by UV-Vis, FTIR, NMR and XPS: Wintertime study in Northern India. Atmos. Environ. 164, 468–475 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, P., Huang, X.F., He, L.Y., Zhen Yu, J.: Abundance and size distribution of HULIS in ambient aerosols at a rural site in South China. J. Aerosol Sci. 41(1), 74–87 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ming, Y., Ramaswamy, V., Ginoux, P.A., Horowitz, L.H.: Direct radiative forcing of anthropogenic organic aerosol. J. Geophys. Res. 110(D20), D20208 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlovic, J., Hopke, P.K.: Chemical nature and molecular weight distribution of the water-soluble fine and ultrafine PM fractions collected in a rural environment. Atmos. Environ. 59, 264–271 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiao, T., et al.: Simultaneous monitoring and compositions analysis of PM1 and PM2.5 in Shanghai: Implications for characterization of haze pollution and source apportionment. Sci. Total Environ. 557–558, 386–394 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajeev, P., Rajput, P., Gupta, T.: Chemical characteristics of aerosol and rain water during an El Niño and PDO influenced Indian summer monsoon. Atmos. Environ. 145, 192–200 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P.: OM/OC ratio of polar and non-polar organic matter during wintertime from Indo-Gangetic plain: implications to regional-scale radiative forcing. Aerosol Science and Engineering. 2, 153–164 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-018-0032-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Sarin, M.M.: Polar and non-polar organic aerosols from large-scale agricultural-waste burning emissions in northern India: implications to organic mass-to-organic carbon ratio. Chemosphere. 103(0), 74–79 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Sarin, M.M., Rengarajan, R., Singh, D.: Atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from post-harvest biomass burning emissions in the Indo-Gangetic plain: isomer ratios and temporal trends. Atmos. Environ. 45(37), 6732–6740 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Sarin, M.M., Kundu, S.S.: Atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5), EC, OC, WSOC and PAHs from NE-Himalaya: abundances and chemical characteristics. Atmos. Pollut. Res. 4(2), 214–221 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Sarin, M., Sharma, D., Singh, D.: Characteristics and emission budget of carbonaceous species from post-harvest agricultural-waste burning in source region of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Tellus-B. 66, (2014a). https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v66.21026

  • Rajput, P., Sarin, M.M., Sharma, D., Singh, D.: Organic aerosols and inorganic species from post-harvest agricultural-waste burning emissions over northern India: impact on mass absorption efficiency of elemental carbon. Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts. 16(0), 2371–2379 (2014b)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., et al.: Wintertime source-apportionment of PM1 from Kanpur in the indo-Gangetic plain. Clim. Chang. 1(4), 503–507 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Gupta, T., Kumar, A.: The diurnal variability of sulfate and nitrate aerosols during wintertime in the Indo-Gangetic plain: implications for heterogeneous phase chemistry. RSC Adv. 6(92), 89879–89887 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Anjum, M.H., Gupta, T.: One year record of bioaerosols and particles concentration in Indo-Gangetic Plain: Implications of biomass burning emissions to high-level of endotoxin exposure. Environ. Pollut. 224, 98–106 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, P., Singh, D.K., Singh, A.K., Gupta, T.: Chemical composition and source-apportionment of sub-micron particles during wintertime over Northern India: New insights on influence of fog-processing. Environ. Pollut. 233, 81–91 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramanathan, V., Ramana, M.V., Roberts, G., Kim, D., Corrigan, C., Chung, C., Winker, D.: Warming trends in Asia amplified by brown cloud solar absorption. Nature. 448(7153), 575–578 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rengarajan, R., Sarin, M.M., Sudheer, A.K.: Carbonaceous and inorganic species in atmospheric aerosols during wintertime over urban and high-altitude sites in North India. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 112(D21), D21307 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salma, I., Ocskay, R., Chi, X., Maenhaut, W.: Sampling artefacts, concentration and chemical composition of fine water-soluble organic carbon and humic-like substances in a continental urban atmospheric environment. Atmos. Environ. 41(19), 4106–4118 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salma, I., Mészáros, T., Maenhaut, W., Vass, E., Majer, Z.: Chirality and the origin of atmospheric humic-like substances. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10(3), 1315–1327 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salma, I., Mészáros, T., Maenhaut, W.: Mass size distribution of carbon in atmospheric humic-like substances and water soluble organic carbon for an urban environment. J. Aerosol Sci. 56, 53–60 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samburova, V., Szidat, S., Hueglin, C., Fisseha, R., Baltensperger, U., Zenobi, R., Kalberer, M.: Seasonal variation of high-molecular-weight compounds in the water-soluble fraction of organic urban aerosols. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 110(D23), (2005). https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD005910

  • Samburova, V., Connolly, J., Gyawali, M., Yatavelli, R.L.N., Watts, A.C., Chakrabarty, R.K., Zielinska, B., Moosmüller, H., Khlystov, A.: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biomass-burning emissions and their contribution to light absorption and aerosol toxicity. Sci. Total Environ. 568, 391–401 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seinfeld, J.H., Pandis, S.N.: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - from Air Pollution to Climate Change, 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons, New York (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, A., et al.: Black Carbon and Elemental Carbon from Postharvest Agricultural-Waste Burning Emissions in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Adv. Meteorol. 2014, 10 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, J., He, L., Peng, P.’., Zhao, J., Ma, S.: Chemical and isotopic composition of humic-like substances (HULIS) in ambient aerosols in Guangzhou. South China. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 46(5), 533–546 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorathia, F., Rajput, P., Gupta, T.: Dicarboxylic acids and levoglucosan in aerosols from Indo-Gangetic Plain: Inferences from day night variability during wintertime. Sci. Total Environ. 624, 451–460 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, A.F., Draxler, R.R., Rolph, G.D., Stunder, B.J.B., Cohen, M.D., Ngan, F.: NOAA’s HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling system. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 96(12), 2059–2077 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, A.P., et al.: A method for on-line measurement of water-soluble organic carbon in ambient aerosol particles: results from an urban site. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31(13), L13105 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turpin, B.J., Lim, H.-J.: Species Contributions to PM2.5 Mass Concentrations: Revisiting Common Assumptions for Estimating Organic Mass. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 35(1), 602–610 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Varga, B., Kiss, G., Ganszky, I., Gelencsér, A., Krivácsy, Z.: Isolation of water-soluble organic matter from atmospheric aerosol. Talanta. 55(3), 561–572 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, R.J., et al.: A study of secondary organic aerosol formation in the anthropogenic-influenced southeastern United States. J. Geophys. Res. Atmos. 112(D13), D13302 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamasoe, M.R.A., Artaxo, P., Miguel, A.H., Allen, A.G.: Chemical composition of aerosol particles from direct emissions of vegetation fires in the Amazon Basin: water-soluble species and trace elements. Atmos. Environ. 34(10), 1641–1653 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yue, S., Ren, H., Fan, S., Sun, Y., Wang, Z., Fu, P.: Springtime precipitation effects on the abundance of fluorescent biological aerosol particles and HULIS in Beijing. Sci. Rep. 6, 29618 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zappoli, S., Andracchio, A., Fuzzi, S., Facchini, M.C., Gelencsér, A., Kiss, G., Krivácsy, Z., Molnár, Á., Mészáros, E., Hansson, H.C., Rosman, K., Zebühr, Y.: Inorganic, organic and macromolecular components of fine aerosol in different areas of Europe in relation to their water solubility. Atmos. Environ. 33(17), 2733–2743 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, F., Li, Z., Li, Y., Sun, Y., Wang, Z., Li, P., Sun, L., Wang, P., Cribb, M., Zhao, C., Fan, T., Yang, X., Wang, Q.: Impacts of organic aerosols and its oxidation level on CCN activity from measurement at a suburban site in China. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 16(8), 5413–5425 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, G., He, K., Duan, F., Cheng, Y., Ma, Y.: Measurement of humic-like substances in aerosols: A review. Environ. Pollut. 181, 301–314 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thankfully acknowledge internal funding support from IIT Kanpur. PR is thankful to the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, New Delhi, India for providing CSIR-Senior Research Associate-ship (Pool Scientist # 8934-A/2017). Authors thank both the anonymous reviewers for their fruitful comments and suggestions and Prof. E. L. Atlas for editorial handling of our manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering and APTL at Center for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE), IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, 208 016, India

    Varun Kumar, Prashant Rajput & Anubha Goel

  2. Laboratory for Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen, Switzerland

    Varun Kumar

Authors
  1. Varun Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Prashant Rajput
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anubha Goel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anubha Goel.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 83 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kumar, V., Rajput, P. & Goel, A. Atmospheric abundance of HULIS during wintertime in Indo-Gangetic Plain: impact of biomass burning emissions. J Atmos Chem 75, 385–398 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-018-9381-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-018-9381-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation